I hear all these wonderful low power amps, and I am mightily impressed by a few of them, but I still like the bigger amps. Yeah, they're louder. But I think they are more to my taste in the National Department of Fullness and Headroom.
Back in 1966 I daisy-chained two 1x12 Ampeg Reverberocket IIs to get the kind of fullness my friends were getting with their Twins and Bandmasters. In '68 I got myself a BF Bassman 50 Watt head and what seemed like a gigantic (at the time) 4x12 cab that Fender was making for it. I replaced it after a very long time with one of the first 85 Watt Mesa Tremoverbs. I went on to buy a lot more amps over the years, most of the 50-100 watt variety.
Every time I bought an amp with less than 30 watts of power, it didn't stay very long. 30 Watts seemed to be my floor.
In fact, I found I couldn't really gig with a 30 watt amp unless it was a very loud one, like a Vox AC30. It's not that I play all that loud, I'm a moderation kind of player, but I like the headroom and the ability to cut through a mix using the guitar's volume and tone controls as needed.
And I seem to like 2x12s a lot more than 1x12s. I like the phasing and swirl that a 2x12 has, not to mention the fuller sound.
To be able to record with fewer room mode issues, I went from a 50 watt HXDA through a 2x12 to a 30 through a 1x12. There isn't that much tone difference between the 30 and the 50 once they're dialed in properly, and since I close-mic a cab when recording it's not that big a deal, but I miss the push the 50 had from time to time just being in the room, and while I love the 1x12 for recording, I'm a 2x12 guy all the way for everything else, and plan to get another 2x12 for that amp (I have a DG 2x12 PRS cab, but it's ported, and I like closed back with the HXDA).
I like chamber music a lot, but I also need to hear Beethoven's Fifth with a full orchestra!
So there you have it - let's hear your thinking on amplifier power and speaker cab sizes.
Back in 1966 I daisy-chained two 1x12 Ampeg Reverberocket IIs to get the kind of fullness my friends were getting with their Twins and Bandmasters. In '68 I got myself a BF Bassman 50 Watt head and what seemed like a gigantic (at the time) 4x12 cab that Fender was making for it. I replaced it after a very long time with one of the first 85 Watt Mesa Tremoverbs. I went on to buy a lot more amps over the years, most of the 50-100 watt variety.
Every time I bought an amp with less than 30 watts of power, it didn't stay very long. 30 Watts seemed to be my floor.
In fact, I found I couldn't really gig with a 30 watt amp unless it was a very loud one, like a Vox AC30. It's not that I play all that loud, I'm a moderation kind of player, but I like the headroom and the ability to cut through a mix using the guitar's volume and tone controls as needed.
And I seem to like 2x12s a lot more than 1x12s. I like the phasing and swirl that a 2x12 has, not to mention the fuller sound.
To be able to record with fewer room mode issues, I went from a 50 watt HXDA through a 2x12 to a 30 through a 1x12. There isn't that much tone difference between the 30 and the 50 once they're dialed in properly, and since I close-mic a cab when recording it's not that big a deal, but I miss the push the 50 had from time to time just being in the room, and while I love the 1x12 for recording, I'm a 2x12 guy all the way for everything else, and plan to get another 2x12 for that amp (I have a DG 2x12 PRS cab, but it's ported, and I like closed back with the HXDA).
I like chamber music a lot, but I also need to hear Beethoven's Fifth with a full orchestra!
So there you have it - let's hear your thinking on amplifier power and speaker cab sizes.
