djroge1 Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 These days most of it is for show and just dog gone looks cool. They may still use one or two 100watt heads because there is something to be said about feeling the raw power of the amp(s). But honestly you really could mic a small amp for just about any gig. The guys who used to really power up all that sound are at least partially deaf ~ nugent comes to mind. I still remember one of his adverts. 6 Super Twin Reverbs and 6 Dual Showman enclosures is enough to give my audience a taste of WW3... Yeah no wonder his hearing is shot in one ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 PA systems have come a LONG way since the days when guitarists needed banks of 200w HiWatt amps to fill up big places like Fillmore West or Shea Stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 Pete Towenshend is also damn near deaf from years of high wattage amplifers. It's just amazing the amount of music that was recorded on small, low wattage amplifiers. In the following video, Joe Bonamassa has several of the Marshall Class5 amplifiers up on stage with him. The truth is he only used two. [YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE] The Carr Raleigh is a killer 3 watt amplifier. [YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Arcadius Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 When it comes to clean tone' date=' small amps can rock your world.When it comes to gain tone, small amps will sound like ****...well most of them. [/quote'] Funny, I got it the other way around...:- Are you sure you didn't mis-typed that Dimitri...? Thanks anyway. It was real fun reading that little ***-whoping at the office this morning...! BTW, there was a relative article on the Gibson Lifestyle column a couple of moths ago. Even Steve Perry used a Fender Champ on the ENTIRE recording of ''Honkin' on bobo'', as I read in there... Ah, maturity does not come easy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiz Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I just got a Valve Jr a couple months ago, so I'm pretty new to the whole world of low-watt amps. My love for metal had me convinced that amps had to be 100 watts or more to sound good. I've since discovered that isn't necessarily true. I'm getting some really amazing tone from that little guy. It's like hearing my guitars for the first time again. :- I <3 my Epiphone Valve Jr just as much as my 5150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Depends on the sound you're going for and the situation. Pick the right tool for the job. I saw Dread Zeppelin play some 20 years ago and they were playing live with all really small Fender amps (probably Champs or Princeton or similar) with weirdo guitars and they were getting GREAT tones out of them and I get some very cool sounds out of my old Champ at home. Conversely, for me with my band, there's nothing else like the thud of a 100w amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 The OP was about tone. The tone we crave (generally) is the tone of a cranked tube amp. You can get that tone with large or small amps. Small amps just let you do it less painfully. I had a great 50 watt Bassman head for years - absolutely amazing tone between 5 and 10 on the volume knob. Some of my best tones ever came for that baby wide open with a Les Paul Custom. Drop the volume on the guitar for rhythm and crank it for leads. However, it was painful! I could only use that rig in a large room with no one sitting in its path. A follow up question had to do with using small amps in larger venues with mics. Yep - it will work fine. There is one issue, however, and Rich alluded to it - stage volume. Many players want a reasonable stage volume and presence to their sound. If you have a loud drummer and perhaps a rhythm guitarist, a small amp may not give you the thump you need. It can be hard to "feel" it if you are relying on sound pumped back through the monitors. Works fine for some players - others need that power to feel connected to the playing on stage. A final thought - small amps work well in pairs. Yeah, I get a great tone from my Princeton - but I get a better tone from two, and I've solved that stage volume/presence problem. Stereo rules in the small amp world. :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 If you know what you're doing, you can get usable tone out of pretty much anything... even a battery powered amp. The real question usually is "Usable for what?". /shrug Just my personal experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Jump in and correct me' date=' but didn't Jimmy Page use a Fender Princeton for a lot of LZ's early stuff?[/quote'] .....and a small supro combo to record the legendary 'stairway' solo. the fender blues jr has my vote. its very pedal friendly. 15W. i play in an original act and a cover band, both play in smallish clubs. it has plenty of volume for both and i have not miked it at a gig yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Here's a couple Fender 57 Champ videos I found. Talk about tone, this amp is certainly worth owning. [YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brundaddy Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 For gain, frying multiple power tubes through 2 or more speakers is the only way I've ever gotten the sound I prefer (and believe me, it ain't 'Layla'). I like the tone that comes with cranking a lil one-tuber, and like everybody says the cleans are lovely & you can hit the sweet spots at low dB's, but for raw gain I've never heard better than my Evil Twin or my Marshall Plexi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeVeeWee Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 It's a secret, but I'll make it public over here 'cause we're on our own in here...Fender Princeton 12W ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAS44 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Great thread, loads of info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 [YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 This is a great thread for someone like me. I've limited experienced with amps cus I've had mostly acoustic training(sitting on my bed no audience unplugged). I traded a beat up no-name electric guitar for a Kustum 10watt with built in effects (i don't use the effects cus i've my pedal) when I decided to go electric. Because I saw all my garage band friends with these huge 'stacks', I was under the impression that I had to have an amp my height to make my guitar sound better. My uncle Tony has been playing blues/rock for ages (30+ years) and he told me he really loves a little amp he got at a garage sale. That made me think maybe I don't need a huge set up to jam in my house. Having read through this post, I know I will get a smaller amp for sure. Now to decide what's good I play calmer rock (Radiohead), classic rock (learning Led Zep AC/DC) and punky rock (yeah yeah yeahs). When I use the acoustic I play folk. If anyone wants to follow up with advice I'd appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Izzy, a lot of it really comes down to in what sort of environment you plan to use the amp and what your own personal preferences are. Going on the types of bands you're into (which are all rock and roll), if you're playing just at home, a small 5 watt amp will be great unless you like to make your ears bleed once in a while. If you're playing in a band with a drummer who doesn't hit terribly hard, you can go with something 15 watts and up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Walrus Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Last week a drummer made push a little more of my Fender Bassman. I never played so loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Izzy' date=' a lot of it really comes down to in what sort of environment you plan to use the amp and what your own personal preferences are. Going on the types of bands you're into (which are all rock and roll), if you're playing just at home, a small 5 watt amp will be great unless you like to make your ears bleed once in a while. If you're playing in a band with a drummer who doesn't hit terribly hard, you can go with something 15 watts and up. [/quote'] Thanks, no plans on jamming with a drummer so the 5 will do me just fine. ^^V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Arcadius Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 [YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE] Astonishing sounds from that GA-5! Better than many Fenders, IMHO. Too bad small in size / wattage does not mean ''light on your pocket'' as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiz Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Astonishing sounds from that GA-5!... +1. Woa. That's some nice tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Walrus Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 What impresses me even more than the quality of tone is the massive amount of overdrive this amp could achieve with a LP Junior and stock p-90s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Lesson learned: You can get BIG sound and quality sound from small amps. However, if one is playing a gig in a large room with other loud instruments then more wattage is needed or mic the amp thru the PA system. Don't underestimate the sound and usefulness of small amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted November 13, 2009 Author Share Posted November 13, 2009 Too bad small in size / wattage does not mean ''light on your pocket'' as well... You have to look for prices that fit your budget. Also it doesn't hurt to ask. I got my GA-5 for $375.00 out the door. In Sept. I found the same amp (a floor model) in a store for $999.00. There's no way I'd pay that much. I would keep looking and asking dealers what they would take for it. They've been in the store for some time' date=' they want to get rid of it. You have to ask questions. You have to know price. I do love mine. It's a nice amplifier. And there are many out there just as good. Know what you want. Know what you are willing to pay for it. Know how to ask questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brundaddy Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Izzy, yknow stay with that kustom until you find just the little amp that makes you flip your wig. If you don't have a gig next week/must buy now, do not do not do not rush. Take your sweet time, play through lots of amps at shops & friends's houses, and get familiar with different tones & textures. If you have a chance to try some of the amps people brag about in here, fine - just listen to your ears and not what anybody else says sounds good (cuz it's either their ears talkin, their taste is different from yours, or else they're stuck on copycattin somebody else's sound on account of they have a fanboy complex). Don't take my advice, but I say find the cheapest tube amp you can find and put a pedal or 2 in front of it. You will learn a lot experimenting with tone that way, it will be fun, and you won't have a bunch of money tied up in gear. (if you buy something pricey & end up not liking it, it's a hassle to sell & you end up losing money) - there is NO need to spend more than $150 on a small beginner rig (amp + couple of choice pedals) if you're smart and patient. I love the yeah yeah yeahs (before they ditched the guitar in favor of synth/dance beats anyways) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Or you can get a switchable amp. Like I said my Mesa 5:25 works just like a 5 watt amp when in that setting with the added advantage that I have a full EQ and Reverb. If I need more headroom on the clean channel or the fullness that only 2 or more tubes can provide I simply switch to the 25 watt (30 really) mode and there you go. There is something really nice about 1-knob tube amps though, feels like going back to basics every time I plug that way. I have made every effort to have a head and cab now I am gassing for a small combo that is easy to carry. The Vox AC4 with the 10" speaker is the most likely candidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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