Small or big gigs for me...SM58 is always pointed at my amp...I haven't needed or wanted anything over 40 watts since the 60's...How about you?

I love my Bandmaster and that's around 40ish watts. It's enough to hear pretty well amongst the rest of the band, which is pretty bloody loud. I can usually get enough of it without having it in my monitor. I do like to have a bit in my monitor but sometimes you're dealing with absolute cretins and I can't even be bothered asking.

In general I tend to go for lower watt amps and mic up, I guess most of the amps that I really like are lower watt amps for whatever reason--I'm not a big fan of the 'stage rig and separate studio (or at home) rig' approach.

When I was doing concert volume Rock&Roll outdoors we needed big amps because nothing but vocals and a couple drum mic's went to the P.A. (decades ago). I used Ampeg V-4's, 4X12 cabs, Boogies, etc.

Now I use either a 1X12 SF1 Champ circuit clone (5 very loud tube watts)...

... or more usually a Roland Cube "Street" (battery-powered).

Boy do I love not hassling with power at venues while the rest of the guys are trying to get their power cords where they need to be.

My music stand light is now battery powered too. LED's are a great thing.

40 watts is a big amp. back when I was a FOH engineer, if someone walked on my stage with a 40 watt tube amp cranked they never made it in to the pa. which kinda stinks. I understand most people want there tone to be as natural as possible and they want the sound of there amp on stage. but what most don't realize is that a larger pa is time aligned, so all drivers in different bands are firing at different times so that the subs waves are leaving the box at the same time as the horns which are a much faster wave. with that being said. if the guitar player is too loud and can't be put in the pa, it makes the band sound unnatural. because now the engineer has to bring the rest of the band up to match the guitar player. which is not aligned with the pa. I think any thing over 20 watts with out a master volume is way to much. and that is with a 4way 50,000 watt system. with a small bar/vocal pa. a deluxe reverb is to much at 22 watts. 4 or 5 on that amp, is to much for my 600watt pa head and 115 w/horn cabs. it is tough for my 300 watt bass head and 4x10 to compete with. I am a firm believer that with a mic'ed amp and medium to large pa a guitar amp shouldn't be much louder then the loudest thing on stage. which would be the snare drum. with an unmic'ed rig i think it should be close to 1.5 - 2 times the volume or the snare drum. With all of that being said, I love small amps. but not to small. just lower wattage if there is no mast volume. a 15 watt amp is plenty loud enough if mic'ed, and 22-35 is way more then enough when not mic'ed. unless you are playing death metal, then 50 watts is plenty. For most stuff I think a 15 watt rig with 2x12 would sound great, full and loud. but that is my opinion. I could be totally wrong. one of the best guitar sound I have heard in a bar was a mic'ed 5 watt tube amp and a tele.

I have a Vibro-King, black Pro Reverb, and a blonde Bassman that I have barely turned on over the last ten years. I use my Princeton and Vibrolux almost exclusively, and am really considering a Deluxe just to have another one-hand option. Not too many folks play the size clubs where you'd need more than that these days - I haven't in a long time. My big amps have amazing tone, but really, they are a bit redundant at this stage of the game.

When I was still gigging the club circuit, no one had sound systems or soundmen and the only mics were in front of the singers hooked to a PA like a Shure Vocalmaster. So I used a 40w amp for smaller venues and my Twin Reverb for bigger venues.

Small or big gigs for me...SM58 is always pointed at my amp...I haven't needed or wanted anything over 40 watts since the 60's...How about you?

-- MMike

40 watts is a pretty big amp.

you just cant get an amp to work if its too big for the venue, i have a friend who loves his widdly playing, you know,can't wait for the solo, he has marshall jcm800's and carvin legacy's running through 4x12's and plays in pubs to small crowds, then wonders why the amp wont go over 1 on the dial, so buys a power soak, but the speakers still aint moving, so buys pedals to create boost, i just don't understand!!!!!! I just loaned an epiphone valve junior, 5w through my showman cab, awesome!!

I recently got a Kustom Defender V15. After reading Billy Zoom's advice, I replaced the stock tubes with Sovtek EL84M's. I can't believe the difference in clean headroom. It's like having a 24 lbs, 10" combo version of my '67 Bandmaster.

A few of my friends came over to jam, with their wives. I switched the amp to the 4 watt mode. I was drowning out the drummer (my wife), and I still couldn't get any overdrive out of the amp. I had to use a pedal, if I wanted any distortion.

I currently have three 10" combo's, that I gig with:

Kustom Defender V15 (2-EL84M's), Fender SCXD (2-6V6's), VHT Special 6 (1-5881).

For outdoor shows, I bi-amp two 10" combo's. I've sold my 4-6L6, 4X10 amp.

I'm a 30-watt, 1x12 kind of guy. I like to mic my shiznit.

I try to kiss the sound man's arse if it's worth it; if he's a moron, well... They're out there.

I played with my '63 Blond Bassman from '87 until three years ago and actually I'm pretty sure I could have gotten along fine with a little less. I used a Twin Reverb before that and that was just ridiculous. I can imagine that for the gigs I did then around 25W would have really been enough.
I can't see myself needing anything over 22 Watts (Deluxe) ever again. And if I could help it I wouldn't ever need anything except my '60 Tweed Deluxe. But I admit that that is pushing it every now and then.

BTW, I guess I started this thread as I was GASSING over this little gem. I was imagining owning ONLY this one amp...

http://gretschpages.com/forum/other-amps/cool-fender-amp-coming/47303/

I try to kiss the sound man's arse if it's worth it; if he's a moron, well... They're out there.

As a sound guy, yeah there's a lot of morons out there that call themselves sound techs. It's kind of disturbing actually how bad most of them are. And the good ones, you don't need to kiss their asses, just be civil, it goes a long way.

As for amps, I mostly gig with a Peavey Classic 50, usually with an additional cabinet (though mostly for tone not volume). It's usually running at 60-70% of max volume with my current band, but I always side wash my amp. I aim it in such a way that it doesn't interfere with FOH, and my band mates can hear me without monitors. This makes a big difference because the other guitarist doesn't have an amp, he uses a Line 6 pedal into the PA (yes it sounds as bad as you'd expect).

I've worked with a lot of loud as hell tube amps on stage as a sound guy, there's really no need to ask them to turn down. Two options. A, side wash the amp (as described above). B, tip it up so it hits their ears and nothing else. I haven't asked a guitarist to turn down in years. There's always another way that satisfies everyone.

@MMike I think that is going to be a cool little amp. and like I said 15 watts into a 15" speaker should make for some interesting sounds. I am sure it is plenty loud enough for gigging. depending on what type of music you are playing and how loud yer drummer is. and depending on the tone you are looking for. I think playing with a drummer it wont stay very clean. but I like that.

MMike, that amp look's cool. But, the thing that scares me, is the lack of tone controls. It looks like it just has a Bright/Dark switch. Two of my 10" combo's have a single Tone control. That can be pretty limiting. Fortunately, I already knew, what speakers that I that I generally like. 15" speakers are expensive to change, trying to find your sound. Of course, you could always use an EQ pedal to shape the sound.

I recently got a Kustom Defender V15. After reading Billy Zoom's advice, I replaced the stock tubes with Sovtek EL84M's. I can't believe the difference in clean headroom. It's like having a 24 lbs, 10" combo version of my '67 Bandmaster.

A few of my friends came over to jam, with their wives. I switched the amp to the 4 watt mode. I was drowning out the drummer (my wife), and I still couldn't get any overdrive out of the amp. I had to use a pedal, if I wanted any distortion.

I currently have three 10" combo's, that I gig with:

Kustom Defender V15 (2-EL84M's), Fender SCXD (2-6V6's), VHT Special 6 (1-5881).

For outdoor shows, I bi-amp two 10" combo's. I've sold my 4-6L6, 4X10 amp.

-- chicagoslim

Good to see someone else who appreciates the Kustom Defender V15. It's a fantastic little amp, although I use the matching 1x12 enclosure instead of a 10" cab. Looks like I'm going to have to get the Sovtek EL84M's as well-- I mainly run a clean amp with my dirt & OD on the front end. Sometimes the stock tubes break up a little earlier than I'd like.

no I dont need one. but, I want one

"When I was still gigging the club circuit, no one had sound systems or soundmen and the only mics were in front of the singers hooked to a PA."

Bear: We're still set up like that! We have a Yamaha PA (about 250W per side) that is purely for vocals. The guitars and bass are backline only and the drummer hits as hard as he feels he needs to. Generally, if everyone is sensible, it seems to work OK, given the places we play. We do a couple of instrumentals and the singer (non-player) will take a listen from the back of the club or hall to check on the balance.

Because I use a clean tone most of the time, I need an amp that doesn't break up. At the moment I use either a vintage Traynor 50W valve head into a Marshall 1x12 cab, or a Peavey ValveKing 2X12 combo (with upgraded speakers). The Peavey might seem like overkill, but I can get a decent clean sound out of it (I don't like, or use, the drive channel) with the volume about one-third up. It has a much more gradual volume control than the Traynor, which is blasting away on "1" and starts breaking up on "4" even with a Strat or Tele. From then on it doesn't get much louder at all, just creamier — if you want that sort of sound at that sort of volume it's one great amp.

What I think I need is a 15W or 20W head to stick on top of the Peavey and connected to one of the Peavey's speakers, with the Peavey amp section just running the other speaker, a Celestion 100W G12 which is beefy enough to take it. Then I'll just switch between amps to get clean or crunchy tones. And if one amp goes belly up, I've got a spare on hand.

All I have left are two amps, hate 'em both. A twin thats 100/25W switchable, and a Tweed Blues Deville 4 x 10 60W that goes from 0 to way too loud. The twin at 25W just sounds terrible, the DeVille just never gets pushed to a sweet spot. I'd love to find something sweet around 30-40W

I'd love to find something sweet around 30-40W ...

I had a Fender Tweed Deluxe issued about 1996...

I hated the sound...Cool looking bad overdrive..

I replaced it with a 40 watt Traynor...I love it!

Demo here...Not me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wjIE7s-zp4

I'm a mid-power guy. Something between 20 and 40 watts. No band, no shows at the moment but using a larger stable cabinet always helped with my amps. Deluxe reverb through a closed 212 sounds killer. Open cabs for Vox.

I played '60's Feders, for over 25 years. I sold them once I got my Kustom '36 Coupe. I just got the Defender V15 10" combo. Now, they are releasing a Defender V30, with a 12" speaker, two EL34's, swithable to 6L6's/5881's. The Kustoms sound somewhere between a tweed and blackface. Tweed with more clean headroom, or blackface with more Mids.

Big amps are for Roadies to carry. I like mine to be managed with one arm so I can have the guitar case on the other.

I currently gig with a Marshall PA20 top (18 watt?) into a marshall 2 x 12 (celestion G12H) Big sound from a small rig, I wish I'd discovered it years ago.