Head and Cab vs Combo?

[britheguy]

Why people buy 100watt valve amps is beyond me.

TBH I hav eno idea. Might be from years ago when the PA's were rubbish and the guitarist wanted to be heard past drummers or screaming fans.

Could be something to do with getting a decent clean sound at high volumes. I've had 100w amps and never even got them near flat out. Gee even a 30w AC30 is loud as fook.

Interesting the bass players seem to like bigger wattage though like 400-500 watts or something.

[colb]

I disagree with this. Playing through a valve amplifier live or a digital modelling amp live, I will pick the valve amp every single time. My reasoning is that the amplifier I am playing through effects how I play, and that in turn will change the performance. My main complaints against digital modelling of (some) solid state amps is that they don't push air in the same was as a valve amp, giving you a less dynamic response to your playing. It almost feels like you are listening to the guitar tone through a hi-fi, rather than organically generating it yourself. Throwing a fuzz pedal into a valve amp and cranking it sounds a whole lot different to putting it through, say a Fender Frontman 212R. Modelling stuff is great for recording though, I'll give it that.

I've yet to turn up to a gig where the backline is a frontman 212, in that case of course I'd take my own kit - in general though, as long as there's a half stack that does loud and clean I can do the rest with pedals.

[jon]

Some interesting points here. I currently have three amp set ups (I need to sell some stuff!), and each set up has its merits.

First up is a JCM900 head and a 4x12 cab. Big, heavy, inconvenient, yet pretty iconic. Interestingly, even when I played the Barras, I still had it set to run at half wattage. Other than recording, I never use it at full wattage.

Second is an ENGL Thunder 50 and a Mesa Boogie 1x12. This is ace, and is the sound that I had throughout the first Curators album and gigs. However, it's not hugely versatile, and I do like the reverb options of the JCM900.

However, now that I'm an old married man I bought an Orange Tiny Terror combo plus extension cab, and it's that set up that I have been using since. It's loud as fuck, fits in the boot and I can't see when it would not be suitable. Even without the cab, I really like how it sounds.

I don't entirely agree with the statements above about it not really mattering what you play through for gigs. In my experience, the exact opposite is true. A shit amp will sound shit, regardless of what you run into it. I remember playing a festival where you had to use house amps and I just couldn't get the sound I wanted. If your guitar sound is really important to you, try to use your own gear if possible, or at least make sure that the house gear is good (e.g. The Moorings). I am terminally allergic to modelling amps for live sound. Every single time I've used or heard one, it has sounded poor. Fine for demoing, but that's as far as it goes for me.

Basically, being a gear snob is lame, but you do need decent gear to sound good. Anyone want to buy a head and cab? ;-)

[scottyboy]

One thing to maybe bear in mind is that when the old Fenders, Vox(es?) and even Marshalls were established, not only were guitarists bypassing shit PAs or whatever, but they wanted the sound to stay clean: distortion was considered a bad thing. They presumably needed all the power to have enough headroom volume, and would never have cranked it as loud as modern users complain about not being able to do.

 

And then once it became unnecessary, still, if you like Marshalls and ones made before 19whatever sound the best, and they only made them in 50 or 100W versions, what are going to do. Or something.

[Bigsby]

I have an old Fender (will turn 50 in December!) and it is indeed only clean until unbearably loud. Luckily I just play clean.

[Steviepearce]

I look back to when I was younger and realise how much of a dick I was. I used to play gigs in venues the size of practice room 4 in toms and take a peavey 5150 and 2 4x12s. 100 watts to me these days is ridiculous. But disagree with the space issue as my head and 2 1x12 would take up less space than a fender twin combo for etc. Now even the 30 watts I have is louder than I need. I will always use my head when gigging tho otherwise it's no point spending so much money to get the tone you want, then not use it. Tubes all the way for me. Until I need to change all 9 at once.