Guitar Stacks

[DFMJoe]

I have a peavey 60 watt triumph tube amp

I know this is a recording forum.. but everyone is usually helpful with any question.

we are playing a show soon.. and we all have "amps"

all the bands I see playing at this club have stacks.. and they don't mic them.

we are using the clubs pa... so we have to do it their way pretty much.

I'm thinking of selling my amp.. and getting myself a half stack.

the thing is.. can u buy a different brand head, and cabinet or do they have to be the same brand?

 

[Whoopysnorp]

They can most certainly be different brands. Use the combination that sounds best to you.

Don't think you have to use the same type of amp as everybody else at the club, though. I remember reading an interview with the guitarist from Cake who said he suffered from stack envy, so he built himself a false stack facade, inside which was concealed his little combo amp. If the soundman isn't absolutely worthless, he'll have no problem micing that amp and making it sound good through the P.A. I saw a band at my local rock dive whose guitarist was using a tiny practice amp. It was sort of a comedy band, but nevertheless it didn't really sound bad.

 

[MarkoPolo]

You can do anything you want even putting a fender 50 watt
on top of a marshall full stack. have fun

 

[coplinger]

keep in mind the tone you get from a stack will be different than a small combo. I've always preferred 1 12" myself even for the heavy distorted stuff. Also, I think the monitor mix on stage in a small club sounds better when the amps are miced at a lower volume & put in the monitors than when everyone has their amps cranked.

 

[Dr_simon]

Problem with having nothing but a big bad stack is that all you can hear (on stage, in front of the stack) is well guitar...no monitors, no drums no bass ! This can be a nightmare and Id go with miking the combo and running it through the PA every time.

Another problem with big bad tube heads is that you often have to crank them to get the tome right which can explode everyone in a 10 mile radius.

 

[coplinger]

oops double post

 

[DFMJoe]

ok get this

ok, u already know I have a peavey 60 watt tube amp, our other guitarist has a peavey bandit 112, and the other has a marshall 100 watt solid state. The bass player has a crate combo. I was thinking of getting a lil behringer cab... but should we mic the amps? I mean can't u mic the stacks? I dunno.. I just wanna make sure we have What we need to play with.

 

[Moonrider]

Re: ok get this

ok, u already know I have a peavey 60 watt tube amp, our other guitarist has a peavey bandit 112, and the other has a marshall 100 watt solid state. The bass player has a crate combo.

Do you LIKE the sound you're getting? If the answer to that is yes, then mike them amps up.

The bass player in my band uses a 15 watt Vox combo miked up through the PA as his preferred setup. His other amp is a 200 watt Fender stack. The Fender just can't compete with the tone that itty-bitty Vox gets.

 

[Scottgman]

Stick with your combo amp and mic it up. I've used a combo amp for most of the gigs I've played. It's all you need in a small club. The only time it could be a problem is when there are poor or no monitors. What I do is put my combo on a chair so it's off the stage and easier for me to hear. That way, if I can't hear myself in the monitors, I can just kind of stay in front of my amp to hear what I am playing.

There is a local rock band in my area whose guitarist use TWO Marshall full stacks to play small clubs. I just don't understand that... you don't even need a half-stack for these places. I think it's an ego thing.

Besides, it's easier to carry a combo amp-- you don't need to beg people to help carry your heavy speaker cabinet.

 

[Scottgman]

Also... I saw Nirvana when they were touring for the In Utero album. Kurt used those little mini-Marshall stacks-- the ones that are about 3-foot tall. And this was an arena-sized venue.

 

[slimcamp]

i think the most important thing to think about is.... are you going to have to carry this... i used ot have a crate combo, well actually i still have it but dont use it, but i ahev an ampeg stack and the cab i sheavey and the hartke head in the avail rack is very very very heavy, and i was in a band wiht a guitarist that had a marshal/peavey full stack, and peavy cabs are very heavey, welll my point is, go for sound first, but then think about if u can mic it why go big, unless your goign for tone not show

 

[willovercome]

60-watts of tube will usually be enough volume for almost an small venue. if you like the sound of the amp stick with it. it should be able to compete with the rest of teh band's equipment.