High wattage guitar amps?

[ScreamingHead69]

What? Did you say something? ;^)

I beleve he said somthing to the effect of "if it's too loud you're too old"

 

[Zed10R]

Yes, louder is not necesarilly better, but to my ears (and I'm talking about bass amps here, NOT GUITAR AMPS WHICH EVERYONE STILL SEEMS TO THINK I'M ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR, just thought I should point that out) higher wattage amps just seem to sound better. Even if the volume is only around 3 (which still gives up plenty of kick drum) it still sounds fuller then 100 watts at 5. But that's just my opinion.

Zed, what amp are you using?

Ampeg SVP Pro pre, Audio Centron MP1200 power amp, and a PR410HLF cab.
Sweetness.....

 

[Zed10R]

oh...just wanted to point out one abvious thing....

It takes less power to make higher frequncies REALLY FUCKING LOUD. I can't tell you how many guitar players I've jammed with that were proud of how loud they could get their Marshalls to go, but seemed to ignore the fact that all the sound was screechy, high piched, squealy garbage the actually HURT you ears...it wasn't the thick, tight, solid, kicking ass shredding sound that IMO metal is supposed to be all about. The squealy sound that a lot of those super mega wattage dual full stack kids are getting is less like....METAL!!!! and more like.......does anyone remeber Nitro?? I'm not saying that is you use a shit load of power for your guiater that you must suck....I'm just saying that if you use the power you have wisely, you will most likely SOUND better than someone who does use a shitload of power in thier guitar rig. And THAT is very metal.

 

[mixsit]

There's also the consideration that guitar amps are very directional, so if you're projecting a bazillion watts into the crowd from the stage and you're not in the PA, you're killing the folks right in front of your amp while the people off to the side still can't hear you over the bass and drums.

Ding.
So- why not do it like they did at those big '69 style gigs with no pa? Get several normal great sounding heads and wall or whatever of speaker stacks. Fit the rigs to the gigs.
Done.

Then, when it wears off/or you get tired of being in the trucking business do like The Dead did- outfit some local bands.

By the way. You know there's another way to pick for some more Spl/watt, go efficient..

'Joshua'
1967'
Guit1 Fender 'Twin (4) D-130
Bass (2) Sunn 200s (4) D-140 (2) D-130
Guit2 Sunn 1000s (2) D-130 (he was the only one blowing drivers
Drummer ...broken heavy crashes.

 

[jimmycs780]

We played a medium size club with a really bad PA and they only had one poweramp and two monitors for vocals. So that means no guitar to bring back through the stage monitors, so that means i was totally relying on my amp for any and all of my sound for what i could hear on stage.




Why did youu take such a gig or at least bring in a rental PA and tech?

 

[faderbug]

metal has nothing to do with volume .
Tony Iommi on a valve junior would still be metal.

 

[timthetortoise]

Whoa, people who don't loathe Peavey for no reason? I'm liking this board more and more every day!

But seriously, follow the advice of these guys. Even your bass amp doesn't need that much wattage. My band is loud (it's a doom/sludge/post-metal band, so I'll safely assume it's much louder than yours) and none of us play with a head that's over 200 watts - even the bassist. And yes, we tune to low B! I play through a 130 watt Musicman HD130 (it NEVER gets past 3 on volume, never gets past 2 if I'm actually practicing with the band, otherwise no one can keep up in terms of volume), my other guitarist plays through a Line 6 Flextone II HD (he's about a quarter of the way up in volume, if I go to 3 he has to go to 5. This is why he's getting a Peavey VTX, which will probably smoke my head with no problem), and our bassist plays through a Peavey Max 400 head, used at 8 ohms which is 150 watts. Our drummer has a tough position trying to keep up without being miked. You can hear us from outside of a sealed storage unit with no problem, you can hear us at the Taco Bell down the road, you could probably hear us at the airport. It is LOUD. And probably none of us are pushing more than 40-50 watts (aside from the Line 6). Take all the advice you've been given in here (ahem, except for the Fender Metalhead one). These people know their shit.

 

[HangDawg]

This is what you need for bass

http://www.ampeg.com/products/classic/svtcl/index.html

That along with their 8x10 cab is all you'll ever need.


As far as guitar amps go. 100W is all you need. Period. Any more is a waste of time and money.