Where have I been? What's with all the small low wattage heads these days...

[ocnor]

So, long story short - yes, I agree, judged solely on power, smaller amps are more practical. However, thus far amp makers tend to target smaller amps to the "minimalist" player, while for guys like myself who want multiple channels and greater flexibility, we have no choice but to go with 50 or 100 watts.

That really hits the nail on the head. The low wattage amps are pretty much just a power section. That's fine and dandy if all you play is stuff like Layla and Bad To The Bone. Unless you pay some ungodly amount of cash for a boutique low wattage amp you won't get a decent built in preamp section. That makes most of the low watters undesirable for hard/progressive rock. Some people might say just use a dist/od pedal with the low watter. There isn't a single overpriced diode distortion pedal in the world that can compete with the sound of multiple 12ax7 tubes driving an EL34 or 6L6 power section. Tone is everything.

 

[didgijimmy]

What exactly does the THD Hotplate do? Does it let you hit the sweet spot on a tube amp without turning it up to ungodly levels? thats my guess, and if so I'm gonna get one. But how does it work? I don't see how You can get the tone you want at such a low volume. Why don't amps already have this option built in?
James

 

[Outlaws]

What exactly does the THD Hotplate do? Does it let you hit the sweet spot on a tube amp without turning it up to ungodly levels? thats my guess, and if so I'm gonna get one. But how does it work? I don't see how You can get the tone you want at such a low volume. Why don't amps already have this option built in?
James

Its a heat sink. It lets you get most of the tone. The speakers still need to move air, so the lower the volume, the more "muddy" it gets. The Hot Plate has features to compensate somewhat for that. But unless you are playing very lower volume (middle of the night), it is not terrible. It is an excellent product. A heavily attenuated tube amp that is cranked, still sounds 100x better to me than one with the master way down. Its the best "master volume" you can get.

The UniValve and BiValve has a somewhat limited version built in. But most don't due to cost.

 

[didgijimmy]

Thanks for the info outlaw, ill check these babys out.
james

 

[RejectionNinja]

Yeah, but that's the rub - for me, the low wattage WOULD be a feature. At the very least, the ability to switch the wattage down - I think the basic idea of the Express series Mesa just introduced is brilliant (25 and 50 watt amps that can be switched down to 5 watts), and I was all fired up to sell my Nomad and buy one when I first heard about it. That lasted until I played one, and absolutely did not get on with the preamp.
[...]
FWIW, I suspect Mesa will eventually deliver on this. They've done some VERY interesting things with poweramps lately, ever since the Road King's Progressive Linkage, and most new Mesas have channel-assignable poweramp wattage now. The Mark-V can be cut all the way down to 10 watts I think, between channel-assignable half power switches and a pentode/triode control. I'd probably grab one just for that, but while I loved the clips I heard from the 3rd channel, the problem for me is that you're not really left with a good high gain rhythm or "contemporary" lead sound from Channel 2. If I could get the Mark IV mode on channel 2 and the Mark IIC+ or Extreme modes on Channel 3, I'd be one happy puppy. Either way, I'll definitely want to play-test one.

Hey, you don't have to convince me. Low wattage is a feature in my book, too, but I don't think "you and me" is a very marketable demographic

Thanks for the info on the Mesas. I'll check them out.

 

[Tadpui]

Yeah, but that's the rub - for me, the low wattage WOULD be a feature. At the very least, the ability to switch the wattage down - I think the basic idea of the Express series Mesa just introduced is brilliant (25 and 50 watt amps that can be switched down to 5 watts), and I was all fired up to sell my Nomad and buy one when I first heard about it. That lasted until I played one, and absolutely did not get on with the preamp.

It's a problem, for me, that amp builders seem to view low-wattage amps as "toy" amps or "practice" amps, or "minimalist" amps. I happen to like power amp saturation - I want to be able to mate that with three channels and a high gain pre. So far, there really aren't many options...

FWIW, I suspect Mesa will eventually deliver on this. They've done some VERY interesting things with poweramps lately, ever since the Road King's Progressive Linkage, and most new Mesas have channel-assignable poweramp wattage now. The Mark-V can be cut all the way down to 10 watts I think, between channel-assignable half power switches and a pentode/triode control. I'd probably grab one just for that, but while I loved the clips I heard from the 3rd channel, the problem for me is that you're not really left with a good high gain rhythm or "contemporary" lead sound from Channel 2. If I could get the Mark IV mode on channel 2 and the Mark IIC+ or Extreme modes on Channel 3, I'd be one happy puppy. Either way, I'll definitely want to play-test one.

I have a feeling that manufacturers are starting to realize this. The JSX Mini-Colossal from Peavey is a good example of a low-wattage amp that still retains some good features and does away with the pholisophy of "small amps are for small jobs". I think that the ideal amp would be a 1x12 all-valve combo with the features found on 100W heads like effects loop, contour controls, variable output wattage/attenuation, line out/emulated speaker out, you know, bells and whistles! With the technology available today, this should be possible without sacrificing tone and without driving the price up to that of a botique amp. 5 watts through a saturated power section coming out of a 12" speaker shouldn't be an impossibility!

I just get the sneaking suspicion that we'll start to see this more and more in the coming years. There's obviously a market for it, what with the explosion of home recording technology.

 

[starbuck26]

You know what boggles my mind—all this talk about buying a small amp 'cause it's easy to move to and from gigs. Isn't there any glory in finishing a show covered in sweat and grunting and cursing while you drag a 100 pound guitar amp up some rickety stairs and out to the street where you moan like Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (you know, when he was trying to toss that sink fixture through the window) as you stuff it into the trunk of the car, landing it right on top of a pile of your handmade demos?

I like big amps, big sound, big beers, big asses. Plus, I LIKE hauling heavy gear. It's the reason I don't spend all that time in the gym.

I saw a 14 year-old punk with a misfits patch safety-pinned to his denims the other day. He was wheeling his backpack behind him. Someone should kick his ass.

 

[Roguetitan]

You know what boggles my mind—all this talk about buying a small amp 'cause it's easy to move to and from gigs. Isn't there any glory in finishing a show covered in sweat and grunting and cursing while you drag a 100 pound guitar amp up some rickety stairs and out to the street where you moan like Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (you know, when he was trying to toss that sink fixture through the window) as you stuff it into the trunk of the car, landing it right on top of a pile of your handmade demos?

I like big amps, big sound, big beers, big asses. Plus, I LIKE hauling heavy gear. It's the reason I don't spend all that time in the gym.

I saw a 14 year-old punk with a misfits patch safety-pinned to his denims the other day. He was wheeling his backpack behind him. Someone should kick his ass.

LMAO, YA... Big heavy assed amps are for "REAL" Men

And BTW Junior...since I was lugging these heavy assed amps around since before you was a gleam in yer mama and daddys eye I will gladly take the "little amps are for pussy's" status

 

[stevieb]

Nobody has mentioned output trannys. I'm faaar from an expert on anything electronic, but one of the things I like about power amp distortion and a tube amp on the verge is sag. And when you're running a 100 watt tube head into a 4x12, that output tranny is built not to take no for an answer. It's not on the edge yet.

Now, like I said, my knowledge is extremely limited, but I find it very interesting that the larger amps with larger transformers don't sag or "give," and they are the ones often more popular with metal or hard rock guitarists who need fast, precise response from their amps in order to pull off their rhythm playing. I'd like to hear a higher gain Valve Jr. with a monster output transformer - I bet the wattage would make much less of a difference.

I am told the way Fender got 135 watts out of the Twin Reverb in the late 70's was to simply spec a "bigger" output transformer- same tubes, same most everything else- and Suprise! an additional 35 watts.

 

[starbuck26]

LMAO, YA... Big heavy assed amps are for "REAL" Men

And BTW Junior...since I was lugging these heavy assed amps around since before you was a gleam in yer mama and daddys eye I will gladly take the "little amps are for pussy's" status

you little amp kids get yo ass whooped at a big amp bar. for real.

don't come around somerville ('cept maybe drew, he cool) with that 20 watt nonsense, we'll make you deaf.

 

[Roguetitan]

you little amp kids get yo ass whooped at a big amp bar. for real.

don't come around somerville ('cept maybe drew, he cool) with that 20 watt nonsense, we'll make you deaf.

how bout I bring dis

And deeze on each side of the stage

(((( CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? )))

that is about 9 thousand watts both sides combined. Ya there is another rack full of Peavey power amps on the other side of the stage right next to the other stack of versa Arrays grasshoppa.

 

[sarge117]

To be honest, I have yet to hear a single small tube amp, be it the fender champ, the black heart, the Tiny Terror (ok, this one does kick ass though) that sounds as good at bedroom volumes as my Mark IV. Period.

So sweat spot or not, I have yet to hear a small amp at it's best sound as good as my bigger amp not at it's best.

 

[tc4b]

Tone is everything.

Not for all of us, and I think that's the point. Some of us sacrifice tone for other considerations like napping babies in the house, small budgets, small spaces, just-recording-not-gigging, etc. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the kind of tone that my budget and lifestyle don't allow for right now, more power to ya, literally.

But my blackheart, set to 3w usually, with a fulltone ocd in front of it, it ain't half bad for recording, especially when the featured instrument in my songs is usually a piano or organ.

 

[Moonrider]

You know what boggles my mind—all this talk about buying a small amp 'cause it's easy to move to and from gigs. Isn't there any glory in finishing a show covered in sweat and grunting and cursing while you drag a 100 pound guitar amp up some rickety stairs and out to the street where you moan like Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (you know, when he was trying to toss that sink fixture through the window) as you stuff it into the trunk of the car, landing it right on top of a pile of your handmade demos?

I like big amps, big sound, big beers, big asses. Plus, I LIKE hauling heavy gear. It's the reason I don't spend all that time in the gym.

I saw a 14 year-old punk with a misfits patch safety-pinned to his denims the other day. He was wheeling his backpack behind him. Someone should kick his ass.

Wait till ya have to haul that crap up 4 flights of fire escape cause the venue doesn't want to have equipment hauled in past the customers.

Wait 'til ya you have the hernia operation 'cause that 100 pound combo slipped when you were hoisting it into a trunk.

You just haven't endured sufficient pain yet.

 

[Roguetitan]

So, long story short - yes, I agree, judged solely on power, smaller amps are more practical. However, thus far amp makers tend to target smaller amps to the "minimalist" player, while for guys like myself who want multiple channels and greater flexibility, we have no choice but to go with 50 or 100 watts.

there are always exceptions to the rules however most all class A amps and SS for that matter have clean and dirty channels and you can always throw a 7 band equalizer in the signal chain.
so there are ways to get what you need and still go small.

the thing about the whole thing is there is really nothing written in stone that you have to do something one particular way.

 

[RejectionNinja]

the thing about the whole thing is there is really nothing written in stone that you have to do something one particular way.

I agree. This should be written in stone. Er, wait, ok so there's ONE thing that's written in stone, and that's that nothing is written in stone, except this, and you don't have to do anything one particular way. Wait, that's two things right there. Ok so there's TWO things written in stone, which is there's nothing written in stone except for this and the next thing, and the next thing is that you don't have to do anything one particular way. But you could, if you wanted to. You just don't have to.

 

[ocnor]

I agree. This should be written in stone. Er, wait, ok so there's ONE thing that's written in stone, and that's that nothing is written in stone, except this, and you don't have to do anything one particular way. Wait, that's two things right there. Ok so there's TWO things written in stone, which is there's nothing written in stone except for this and the next thing, and the next thing is that you don't have to do anything one particular way. But you could, if you wanted to. You just don't have to.

 

[ggunn]

I've got these three... oops <crash>, er... two tablets... ;^)

 

[ocnor]

I've got these three... oops <crash>, er... two tablets... ;^)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L940yIeVZzE

 

[ggunn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L940yIeVZzE

That'd be what I am remembering, all right. I love Mel Brooks.