50W vs. 100W

[Disco_Dave]

For guitarists I would say that for 95% of uses a 1/12 will do the job. As a bass player though I wouldn't give up by 4/10...so much more projection and rumble.

Oh and no one has mentioned the really important thing about big amps and cabs......they look so much cooler. I mean a guy could get an inferiority complex if everybody else had a rig.....

 

[Kramer]

I've always preferred 50 watt amps.Most 100 watt Marshalls require a Break on them when playing in small venues.Without it the stage volume will blow the rest of the bands monitor mixes away.....damn I hate an amp that drowns out everybody elses stage volume.

Monty,
Those fender bassman heads are sought after by many guitarist.I played through one with a 4x12 Ampeg cab for a few years and that thing rocked.

 

[fonts]

...I am considering simply carrying my ax and my GT-6 to the next gig(if there is one)and going right into the snake with it...

 

[philboyd studge]

Shouldn't have sold the '63 Tremolux
Shouldn't have sold the '67 Super


The blackface 50w Bassman stays.

 

[64Firebird]

Shouldn't have sold the '63 Tremolux
Shouldn't have sold the '67 Super


The blackface 50w Bassman stays.

The 50w bassman is THE amp. But mine is blond.

 

[tvaillan]

50 vs 100 vs 150

If you're into solid state amps, skip this comment. My comments compare 50W tube amps to 100W tube amps based on my personal experiences and deals with sound more than perceived volume level.

The day someone clearly, 100% explained to me and proved to me what the difference between tubes and solid state amps where, was the day i started being really serious about amps. For months I looked high (stack) and low (combo) for the best sound for my money.

Not my fav amps, but we have a Marshall store close to my place and I went out and tried all the amps that I could.

I settled on the JCM2000 (I didn't buy it , it was just the best sounding amp there). It was the 100W head. It had great dynamics, excellent bass response, crunchy rythm, clear clean .. etc. It had a nice low growling quality and emanated an omni prescent aura of blissful sonic hapieness. (I tried it on a 2x12)

Then I tried it's little brother. There was a 50W head bearing the same name. Later I found that it had the same amount of preamp tubes .. it was basically identical .. or so it seemed. Unfortunately it sounded like crap. Had no body. No balls. Underpowered. No bass response. irrespective of the settings. Perhaps the tubes where dying?

So I progressed to the mesa boogie store, the used store etc .. and compared stacks to combos (tube only of course) and 50W heads to 100W heads.. guess what? I found that, for some strange reason, the 100W amps had more balls than any of the 50 watters.


Perhaps it's just luck of the draw . I now own a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier 150W head as well as a Ampeg VL1002 100W. They both sit on top of my Boogie 4x12 loaded with celestions. Together they have 24 tubes.

You tell me it's obsolete? .. I laugh at you. I have made the comparisons around my fair city of Ottawa Ontario, Canada and trust me, the music store guys are sick of me ... 100W amps are where it's at.

There was a SINGLE exception. At Songbird music (songbirdmusic.ca), they had a Bedrock 50W head. It sounded pretty decent 'prescence' wise but certainly didn't have any ball ratling capabilities.

I love physics and it certainly does take a tenfold increase in power to double the volume of an amp. I am truly perplexed as to why my expriences show me however that more powerful tube amps simply sound better (at low volumes too) than their smaller balled counterparts of same name.

 

[savageblues]

I used to have a Dual Showman and a 4x12, and it was just plain way too loud to get a good overdriven sound at reasonable volume. I switched to an open back 4x10 with Alnico speakers, and it seemed to match better for a rock sound at lower volume.

A Blackface Bassman with the 4x10 is where I finally found the tone I was looking for.

I always think of clean headroom when I think of 100W tube-amps. That Dual Showman had gobs of it, so does any Twin I've ever played.

That Boogie Triple would shake the whole club that we play at before it delved into power-tube distortion. Cool if you are playing out-doors, or at an arena though.

 

[Toki987]

one of my guitar player buddys uses a 100 watt Matchless with a 12 and 10 in it. Its one of the smoothest sounding I have ever heard.
Another buddy uses a 50 watt Mesa combo with an EV 12 in it. It sounds louder than a lot of 100 watters I`ve been around and stays pure.

 

[tvaillan]

True enough about the triple rect shaking the club before the power tubes kick in.

I actually get very decent distortion for what I play at almost bedroom levels .. it's odd. And yeah, the power tubes aren't contribuing much to my sound. With both of my monster amps, I get wonderful sound . (The ampeg VL1002 has a built in power attenuator, btw).

I guess my comments wheren't really properly related to the initial post. Both my amps have 5 preamp tubes and all the amps i've been trying have 5 preamps tubes as well. When I play, the volume is quite low and I have personally found that the sound of the bigger amps (100W) is almost always better than the 50Watters. (strictly speaking of the amps that have 5 preamp tubes)

Keep in mind that I only use the Triple Recto Boogie, Ampeg VL1002, (and JCM2000, which does not have 5 preamp tubes, head on occasion) .. my opinions may be biased as I beleive these manufacturers put less 'love' into their smaller 50W type of amps. (I'm only refering to Marshall in this case because the JCM2000 comes in 100W and 50W packages)

I'd personally only buy a 50W amp for specifically clean sound... like a nice Fender or Roland, where balls don't really matter.

I have a friend who bought a smaller amp cause his woman 'convinced' him to. LOL. He gave me the right to adress him as 'fool' shortly thereafter. He sorely misses his fender (i don't know which one) and wishes he didn't buy his 50 watter. It sounded OK in the music store, and according to reviews, he claims it totally rocked.

.. i laughed and told him to buy a pod. He told me to fuck off.

(Pod's are fine I suppose, but once you've owned a good , versatile tube amp , that exhibits the tasty playing dynamics you wouldn't trade it for the world. .. same goes for a trusty 100W tube head.)

I encourage anybody to go to a used music store and try out some 100 W tube amps and compare that with similar 50Watters and see for yourself. It's more than just volume. (My own scientific mind has a dificult time beleiving what I just said)