Amp suggestions for live gigs.

[ggunn]

lol. its not just 'my boat' though. im in full agreement with everything youre saying. im just speaking in general terms. i think most fans of live rock or metal like seeing impressive amps. fans of everything else probably dont care. i personally like seeing big amps in the right situation. i also really appreciate great tone coming from a small amp on a chair. it just depends on the music. hell, i mainly play the drums, so i try to drown out everyone.

One of the most impressive gigs I attended was a Grateful Dead show in Las Vegas where there were no speaker cabs on stage of any kind, just heads and processor racks. The linear array mains were all the cones there were; the whole band was monitoring via wireless in-the-ear. Not that there wasn't plenty to look at; it was one of the most mesmorizing light shows I have seen anywhere.

Another was DEVO; when I saw them all their amps were all backstage somewhere and mic'ed. The Cars used to do it that way, too. Once I saw Zappa where Adrian Belew was out front playing his Strat with no amp visible. I saw Pink Floyd once where Gilmore's amp was concealed. All those shows had very elaborate sets and lighting, it's just that amplifiers weren't part of it.

Even in high end rock, there are other ways to impress an audience visually than stacks of amps. Metal... well, I dunno; the last metal show I went to was Blue Oyster Cult in the 70's, and I don't know if today's metal fans even consider them in the genre.

Of course, this is pretty far afield from the OP's question of what makes a good gigging amp. I don't think there's a pat answer to that one; it really depends on a lot of things. Appearance may be a consideration, maybe not. He may need 100 watts, maybe not.

 

[Greg_L]

Of course, this is pretty far afield from the OP's question of what makes a good gigging amp. I don't think there's a pat answer to that one; it really depends on a lot of things. Appearance may be a consideration, maybe not. He may need 100 watts, maybe not.

lol. thats all i was really trying to say. i dont know why it turned into this big amp vs little amp saga.

 

[Lt. Bob]

One of the most impressive gigs I attended was a Grateful Dead show in Las Vegas where there were no speaker cabs on stage of any kind, just heads and processor racks. The linear array mains were all the cones there were; the whole band was monitoring via wireless in-the-ear. Not that there wasn't plenty to look at; it was one of the most mesmorizing light shows I have seen anywhere.

Another was DEVO; when I saw them all their amps were all backstage somewhere and mic'ed. The Cars used to do it that way, too. Once I saw Zappa where Adrian Belew was out front playing his Strat with no amp visible. I saw Pink Floyd once where Gilmore's amp was concealed. All those shows had very elaborate sets and lighting, it's just that amplifiers weren't part of it.

Even in high end rock, there are other ways to impress an audience visually than stacks of amps. Metal... well, I dunno; the last metal show I went to was Blue Oyster Cult in the 70's, and I don't know if today's metal fans even consider them in the genre.

Of course, this is pretty far afield from the OP's question of what makes a good gigging amp. I don't think there's a pat answer to that one; it really depends on a lot of things. Appearance may be a consideration, maybe not. He may need 100 watts, maybe not.

I saw a Yes show that was like that ... a wedding cake layered stage with no amps at all ..... just white flat stage .... looked great under the lights too .... it was mid 70's or so and I think before in-ear monitors. I went up to the stage to see how they did it and they had their regular amps mounted face up under the stage firing up thru a metal grill they stood on. The bassist (Squire? ) was standing over 4-15"s!!

Ok ..... back on topic.
Whatever you do ....do not go buy an amp based on any reccomendations you get here or anywhere else without going and trying the amp. This is a definite case where Your Milage May Vary!!!!
OK? So take whatever info you glean from us and your guitar and go play thru some amps. If you have to drive a little ways then do it. Even a moderate priced amp is still a significant amount of money and there's nothing worse than playing thru an unsatisfactory amp. It's just miserable ......
So try before you buy.

 

[Micter]

LOL It cracks me up how people think a 100 watt stack sounds better than a small combo. I can get great tone with a 15 watt class A amp mic'd up. A 100 watt stack (which I own a few of) is only going to sound good run wide open. How often can you run a 100 watt amp wide open? Anyway, watts are a bit deceptive. 100 watts isn't twice as loud as 50 watts. There is actually only about a 3 dB difference between the two. That is barely noticable to most people. You have to get down to about 15 watts from 100 to cut the dB's in half. A small tube amp cranked will yield better tone most of the time. I personally use 15, 30, and 50 watt combos. If I use a 100 watt amp I'll yank two of the power tubes (or run it in half power mode). I like to get the glass hot and push the speaker hard to get tone. Another thing I do is mod amps to get a specific voicing/tone quality but that's another thread.