Lfan
Hi there guitar guru's of the world.
I am a church guitarist and I play with a mic'd 30w solid state amp with the vol about halfway.
We use in-ear monitors and try to keep the stage vol not too loud
I want to transition to a tube amp and was wondering how many watts is good enuf to get a good tone, as mentioned I currently use a 30w solid state amp with the vol halfway. Will a 1watt full tube amp cut it?
Please can I have some advice as I do not want to do the wrong thing, also if u guys have any recommendations that would be great. I was thinking about a Blackstar HT-1
Thanks!!!
warrenpridgeon
What we have done is gotten perspex enclosures with acoustic padding isolation stuff... I can run my DSL 401 pretty loud without it raising the stage vol too much... When we first started with inears I forgot to put mine in...I couldn't even hear my amp in the enclosure... oops... hahaha...
That's always an option... otherwise if you do get a bigger amp you could get a powersoak or hotplate... basically a huge resistor which sits between your speaker and your amp... you can still crank the amp loud, but it lets through less "power" to your speaker... wears your tubes out a little quicker tho...
Shibbibilybob
I imagine the Blackstar would be a little bit too dirty for a church show?
If it were me, I would look for a 5 watt or a 15watt. Depending on your application. (do you play clean? dirty? with a powerful drummer? and so on).And then mic it up.
I have an Ibanez tsa15h with the accompanying 12" cab, and I would recommend it to anyone. I think it's great.And it has a swicthable 5watt/15watt rating. However, I would get the combo version. (the combo had not been released yet when I picked up my mini half stack).
Four4
Hi. I don't have a direct answer to your question in terms of what wattage amp you should get. But I can tell you how we solved this problem at my church. If you have a spot backstage where you can setup your amp and run a mic to it then you can remove the problem of the amp being too loud on stage. Set your volume at a point where you are getting the tone you like from the amp and since you're already using in-ears for monitoring you're good to go.
Good luck in your search for an amp!
Lfan
Thanks guys!
Unfortunately, the amp will be on stage. The stage is relatively big so cranking up an 30w solid state amp halfway doesnt really effect anyone or anything. Everyone else also uses in ears.
I'm not sure what the difference is in the ratio between the wattage and volume of solid state amps to valve amps, I know valve amps are generally louder than solid state amps of the same wattage and valve amps need to be cranked up quite high to get its full potential Hence I was thinking about a 1wat or even a 5wat.
Thanks for your advice
rikus
It would depend on your setup.
Are you an amp overdrive guy or do you get your drive from pedals? How clean/dirty do you usually play? Do you use real drums or electronic? A 1w tube amp (or the 1w setting on a bigger amp) would have very little clean headroom (i.e. it'll start distorting at very low volumes) meaning that getting a nice usable clean tone could be difficult. I played with a 5 watt valve amp for quite a while and getting a decent clean tone at usable volume levels was a tad difficult for me, but I was playing with a real drum kit. 5 watts should work if you're using an electronic drum kit...
Warren
My 1W amp breaks up quite quickly, even on the clean channel, so there is no real clean headroom at all.
I'd think you'd need to look at a 5W amp at a minimum, and possibly a 15W amp (which is quite loud indeed) just to be safe.
Many of the amps in the 15W - 20W range are switchable down to 7.5W or 5W if you find the full setting too loud.
Where are you based, and what sort of sounds do you use? Do you use pedals at all? Which guitar do you use?
EDIT: what Rikus said, beat me to it.
IceCreamMan
Duo, as others have said 1W will break up early , however u may find the same with a 5w ....
I have a blackstar 1 W , welcome to come mess around with it ....
cheers
Kalcium
If the amp is mic'd it doesn't matter if the clean volume is very low...I have the blackstar HT-1R that I use for church and I set it clean, just before breakup and then use pedals to push it into overdrive for solos. On its own it isn't loud enough to be heard over the drummer but I just ask for more guitar in the monitor and then its fine...in this way you get a good idea of the tone the house sound hears from your guitar which is cool...
So a 1w or 5w will be fine since you are mic'd and have monitors. A 15w will probably be fine unmic'd as far as monitoring yourself goes. So essentially any wattage in the 1-15w range will be fine and not too loud on a big stage. The choice then really comes down to how loud you'd like it for its secondary use, ie at home or in another band situation where your amp is the only monitor. A 15 watt switchable to 5w is probably the most versatile option.
throwfirewoodatme
5W Blackstar all the way.
I play an AC30 and a Blues Junior (15w) in church too. The Blackstar is awesome and if you do want it to break up, just wind the master all the way up and face it across the stage rather than off the stage.
Johnny-B
I also play in church (which seats about 450) and use a Blackstar HT-5. I place the amp in front of me tilted upwards as a monitor, mic'd up through the house system. I can get good clean tone and heavy distortion when required. I have overdrive pedals on my board but usually use the overdrive channel on the HT-5.
Garth-S
I would highly recommend a Laney Cub 12. You can switch between the 15 watt and the 1 watt setting and I've only had good experiences with these in a church context.
Lfan
Thanks guys
I use my pedals for any drive/dirt, so my amp is always on clean. So I guess I should be looking between 5w to 15w as I do use allot of clean sounds and 1w might break out. I also play with one in ear phone out cos I like to hear the raw sound of the amp as opposed to earphones. So 1w might be a little low taking these things into consideration. Our drummers are quite loud as well. I wasnt sure abt a 1w cos u can try it at home or in a music shop and it might sound loud, but take it on stage with other instruments, its a whole other story
Much appreciated.
IceCreamMan
Duo wrote:
Thanks guys
I use my pedals for any drive/dirt, so my amp is always on clean. So I guess I should be looking between 5w to 15w as I do use allot of clean sounds and 1w might break out. I also play with one in ear phone out cos I like to hear the raw sound of the amp as opposed to earphones. So 1w might be a little low taking these things into consideration. Our drummers are quite loud as well. I wasnt sure abt a 1w cos u can try it at home or in a music shop and it might sound loud, but take it on stage with other instruments, its a whole other story
Much appreciated.
something I just thought about on the HT1R and don't quote me but mebbe others can corroborate ...in order to beef it up I believe its quite simple to get the output to around 5 watt anyway....if I recall correctly and very possibly I do not its a matter of upping the tubes used or something.....
oh, and happy happy Duo, may it be a great day for you
AlanRatcliffe
Duo wrote:
I use my pedals for any drive/dirt, so my amp is always on clean.
In that case, 15W. The Ibanez TS is a great clean platform that takes pedals well.
Lfan
WOW! Thanks Allot, That was a really good price for that amp. I actually called the guy just now and it was sold :'(
StefStoep
Things that i would need to know before giving advice:
1) How big is your church? Average service, 500 people, 1000?
2) Are you the only electric guitar in the band?
3) Will you use this amp only at church or at other places as well?
The reasons for theses questions are: i play through a 15w Fender Blues Jr and either a LP or SG and when i'm the only electric guitarist it is perfect, the cleans just start breaking up, just how i like it. Keep in mind it depends on what guitar/pickups you have how soon the break up will happen. Every now and then we have a second electric on stage and then i would like some more headroom on my amp, as i also use pedals for extra dirt. I use to play in other bands, outside the church and the longing to do other songs is growing so i would also want a slightly bigger amp if i ever start playing else where.
Our church is about 750 people in the morning services but can be up to a 1000.
For me i would like 25 - 30 watt if i had to buy again
Lfan
Sold as well :'(
Thanks anyway
