Big amps - Why?

  • Thread starter Thread starter noisedude
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The other thing to keep in mind are the speakers. A 20W amp driving 4 12" speakers will be louder than 200W amp driving 1 6" speaker. So if you want to compare amp A to amp B, make sure you run it through the same speakers.

You can use a small amp to drive 1 or 2 speakers, but when it comes to driveing 4-8 speakers, you do need some power to drive them efficiently. Speakers have more to do with the amount of sound than the power does. The power has more to do with the overall tone and the capability to keep that sound over a larger range of actual volume.
 
noisedude said:
So my question is - why are people still using big, heavy stacks and half-stacks? I just don't seem to have any setting in which one would be useful.
Nik

Because they kick ass. :D

P.S. I love those budda amps. Those are the best amps I have ever heard.
 
treymonfauntre said:
you honestly sound like an old lady. if the band sounds like crap live then they sound like crap on cd.. you just don't realize it until after seeing them suck live.

not true, it's possible to suck live and have amazing cds.
 
dietcookie said:
not true, it's possible to suck live and have amazing cds.
Ahhh, the advantage of Pro-Tools and other recording software. I believe if you're a real good band live, then you won't need all the studio gimmics.

I've had people tell me that my amp was "so fucking loud" and I have a 60w Fender DeVille 2x12 combo and the volume was only about half way. You don't need a 100w head with 2 4x12's. Yes it looks cool but it's not nessessary unless you're playing outdoor arenas or stadiums. Though it helps to have a sound guy who knows what he's doing when you're using a small amp. My 2x12 tube combo is enough power for the gigs we play and i've powered 2 4x12 4ohm cabs with it. I do like the sealed back sound of the 4x12s but I hate lugging that shit around. I'll get a separate head and cab someday and I'll just get a sealed 2x12 cab. Amp in one hand and cab in another, and if I want four 12's then i'll stack the 2x12s and they're alot easier to move around.
 
I play a 150 watt RMS head into a 4x12 cabinet if I'm playing rock. It's an old Music Man amp. Pros drool over the sound on the rare times I play out.

I prefer small amps when recording. I think people don't realize that a loud amp needs a larger room than you'll find in many studios.
 
ozraves said:
I play a 150 watt RMS head into a 4x12 cabinet if I'm playing rock. It's an old Music Man amp. Pros drool over the sound on the rare times I play out.

I prefer small amps when recording. I think people don't realize that a loud amp needs a larger room than you'll find in many studios.
I agree on the small amps for recording. YOu don't need to be that loud to record. Just enough to get a little feedback, depending what you're doing.
 
OK, maybe I'm weird but a Fender Princeton Chorus slaved into an Ibanez 60 watt bass combo works for me, small enough to haul around and enough punch and growl to hold my own with the full stacks. Yeah, I have to admitt all those massive stacks look impressive and in most cases sound great but since I cant afford roadies and have to reserve a little strength for playing a couple of combos slaved makes a lot more since to me. Way back in the late 60s and 70s I used to drag a Les Paul amp around, it was big as a small house and was so heavy that going up stairs should have been a crime, the head lit up like a 747 cockpit and looked super cool on stage, but my back could stand a lot more abuse way back then, come to think of it, my ears could too. Yep, a wall of sound is cool but in most of the places where I play the massive bulk of gear is just overkill or as others have said for visual impact.
 
my super reverb has now become to big, or I have become to little? :eek:
 
There ain't nothing like a couple of 4/12 cabs on a good sized stage!!The sound of the front of the house when stand at the edge of the stage kikin' back...When that all comes together..you feel like you can play anything! I miss playin' for those moments, not for the times I've had some small combo rammed up my ass with the all too present comment of turn it down..Its rock n roll your supposed to at least somewhat obnoxious :cool:
 
I am with you guys - that a small amp can sound sweet. But it just doesn't sound big enough for hard rock or metal. I don't mean lound enough, I mean BIG enough. A 1x12 just does not have the same sound as a 4x12 half stack -wattage be damned. Even for recording metal music, a big mic'd 4x12 cab just gives it's own sound. You could run the same head through a 1x12 and it would not sound the same.

So I don't buy the argument that you can get by just as well with a tiny little combo. Yes, it would work, yes you could mic it and run it through the house PA and get a good sound - but for some of us that love heavy music, it just doesn't sound right - you don't get that 'wall of sound' in the front of the stage that metal heads in the audience love.

Nothing fires me up, like watching a band play and the gutiarist stepping up to blast out a massive solo while standing in front of his stack. Call it old school if you want to. I just call it Cool...

amra
 
I'm with amra on this one also. I used to do all my recording thru a 1x12 combo. I never got a good distortion, just never seemed to have any meat to it. So I went out and bought a 1960. I never looked back, I can hear and feel how much better the sound is maybe its just the step up in speaker quality? I just don't think my combo compares sound wise to the 4x12 even at equal volumes.
 
Big amps/stacks get hotter chicks..... A guy playing direct won't get laid after a gig.... :D
 
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