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I'm asking this mainly in regard to bass, but I guess
it applies to guitar as well. With a 100 watt
Vibrosonic I don't think that volume will ever be an
issue with me on guitar, but I gig as a bassist and up
to this point have been using a solid state 100 watt
Ampeg B100R combo with a single 15" speaker. Sounds
good at every volume I've played it at and has been
suitably loud for small rooms to medium-sized bars. I
recently got an opportunity to purchase an early 70's
Sunn Sonaro head for cheap and did it. Point to
point, all-tube head for about $200 that puts out
around 65 watts I'm told.
I don't have a cabinet so I took the head over to a
friend's house and plugged it into his 2x15 cabinet
and on 5 the thing was noticeably louder than my
little Ampeg combo and sounded absolutely killer. My
friend, who had practically beseached me to buy this
head, has been using one for a while (he has been
gigging for a long time) and swears by it. He uses
this instead of his newer, higher-powered SWR head.
Now all the guys over at the Fender bass forum
immediately scoff at the idea of using this head for
anything except for small practices because of it's
wattage, citing headroom, break-up, etc, but so far
I've gotten by with 100 watts solid state and this 65
watt tube amp seems to be crankin' more than enough to
keep up with that.
My questions are--should I purchase a larger cabinet,
such as a 2x15, instead of a smaller 1x15 or 2x10? I
know that the more square inches of speaker you have
on stage, the more volume you can push, right? Would
the head be as loud with 1x15 as with 2? If I am on
the line in terms of suitable stage wattage, do I need
more speakers to make up for this? Or should I
relegate this to practice amp and start shopping for a
higher-powered head?
Richard
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Richard:
As a bassist for over 25 years, I say do what works for you
and pleases your ears. If the Sunn sounds good to you,and
it seems loud enough and clear enough for your live
gigs...well, then go for it.
A good general rule for judging bass amp power goes like
this:
Tube amp power is usually "2.5 times louder" than rated
transistor power. So in other words: 100 watts of tube
power sounds louder than approximately 250 watts of
transistor power. Tubes also sound "warmer" and have
better "harmonic overtones" and "transient dynamics"...
in other words, tube tone rocks!...
So, my little 50 watt Bassman head can easily keep up with
a 100-150 watt Sunn transistor combo amp...get the idea?
Nayway,I play a couple of setups depending upon the gig:
I have an old "Silverface" Fender Bassman 50 head that I
use in my home studio...it has that great warm full
Fender-tone but it breaks up and starts to distort at
around "7" on the volume knob...not too cool for loud live
gigs, unless you're looking for vintage "fuzz" or
Entwistle-style bass tones. I take this amp out for pool
parties and warehouse gigs and jamming with the pals...but,
not to clubs and big gigs...
For live situations, I use a Gallien-Krueger 800RB biamp
setup. The GK 800RB is really two amps in one: 300 watts
low-end into 4 ohms, and 100 watts high-end into 8 ohms.
For this setup, I use an old Fender 4X12
Eminence-300watt-loaded cabinet for the 4-ohm low-end and a
home made 2x12 Celestion-100 watt-loaded cabinet for the 8
ohm high-end. I run at about "4-5" volume levels during
gigs, and it is plenty loud and clear. The lows sound full
and great, while the highs are crisp and well-defined. I
also use a "Blue Tube" pre-amp to get a little tube drive
in the mix...but not too much...just enough for a slight
growl. I could use more speakers (like 2 x 15" or an big
old 18") but I find that 6x12 total speakers seems to be
loud enough to keep up with any band that plays at "Dick
Dale" volume level.
The solid state amp is so hassle-free and gig-friendly, and
I don't have to worry about breaking or losing my cherished
Bassman at some gig. Getting gear ripped off or damaged at
a gig always sucks, but losing a cool tube amp sucks the
worst.
So, I guess my two cents boils down to this: I would use
the tube amps for recording and at home...I would schlep
the transistor amp out to the gigs.
In the past, I have used Ampeg and Sunn bass amplification,
both solid state and tube...both are great sounding amps...
my old Sunn was a little wimpy at 150 watts (transitor),
while my Ampeg SVT was freaking HEAVY AND LOUD at @100watts
(tube).
Anyway...as you can see, there are many different ways to
approach this issue. Ultimately, I say do what sounds best
to your ears, and is the easiest on your back and wallet.
good luck,
dp
--- Richard <> wrote:
>
>
> I'm asking this mainly in regard to bass, but I guess
> it applies to guitar as well. With a 100 watt
> Vibrosonic I don't think that volume will ever be an
> issue with me on guitar, but I gig as a bassist and up
> to this point have been using a solid state 100 watt
> Ampeg B100R combo with a single 15" speaker. Sounds
> good at every volume I've played it at and has been
> suitably loud for small rooms to medium-sized bars. I
> recently got an opportunity to purchase an early 70's
> Sunn Sonaro head for cheap and did it. Point to
> point, all-tube head for about $200 that puts out
> around 65 watts I'm told.
>
> I don't have a cabinet so I took the head over to a
> friend's house and plugged it into his 2x15 cabinet
> and on 5 the thing was noticeably louder than my
> little Ampeg combo and sounded absolutely killer. My
> friend, who had practically beseached me to buy this
> head, has been using one for a while (he has been
> gigging for a long time) and swears by it. He uses
> this instead of his newer, higher-powered SWR head.
> Now all the guys over at the Fender bass forum
> immediately scoff at the idea of using this head for
> anything except for small practices because of it's
> wattage, citing headroom, break-up, etc, but so far
> I've gotten by with 100 watts solid state and this 65
> watt tube amp seems to be crankin' more than enough to
> keep up with that.
>
> My questions are--should I purchase a larger cabinet,
> such as a 2x15, instead of a smaller 1x15 or 2x10? I
> know that the more square inches of speaker you have
> on stage, the more volume you can push, right? Would
> the head be as loud with 1x15 as with 2? If I am on
> the line in terms of suitable stage wattage, do I need
> more speakers to make up for this? Or should I
> relegate this to practice amp and start shopping for a
> higher-powered head?
>
> Richard
>
>
>
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