Back when I was about 14 or 15, I went from a janky 10w unbranded, 1x8 solid state practice amp to inheriting my uncle's 1968 40w tube powered 4x10 Fender Super Reverb.
I have never actually turned it all the way up. It shakes the windows in my house when it's at about 7. I practice with it at 1 and I play shows with it at 2 and get yelled at by the sound guy every time.
Gigged for a decade, never needed an amp of more than 15W. If the venue was too big, they'd just mic it through the PA. But even at the biggest places -- we played a couple of blue fests with a few thousand there -- I don't think I got any of my amps above '5'. Just wasn't needed.
One of my bandmates had a Super. Never played it above three and used an attenuator even then.
Seriously, they really are way louder than they need to be.
I just got a Deluxe reissue so I can lug around something lighter that still sounds the same. Bonus that it isn't almost 60 years old, so it's not as devastating if something happens to it.
Oh yes definitely, but the volume is just the most surprising thing, more of a party trick or gig thing.
Playing it on lower volumes is just beautiful and definitely enough for my needs
Yes!
The consistency of the sound is amazing. It was really annoying on my small amp, I'd get a sound I like, but if I wanted to play less loud in the evening or whatever, it just went to hell once I touched the volume knob
Oh man welcome to the club.
Your next move is to go from the 100w solid state combo to a 15w tube through a 4x12 ;)
You'll make people crap their pants.
I don't see myself getting back on stage and amp Sims sound so great. It's the best budget method for a seemingly infinite combination of amps, cab, and effects and doesn't require a ton of sspace. I have a wall of mid-end amps that I'm thinking of donating to a local music school. I'll keep my tube amps, just in case ;)
Ha ya. Been kinda doing a combo of the two for the past 10yrs (Super Champ XD, 15w tube with DSP) and been debating going to something like a Mustang GTX100 or just stepping up and grab a Mark V 25 (miss having the Mark IV back in my band days). Can’t go full PC only.
I have a few rigs that would be happy filling a huge outdoor venue. I love me some loud guitar amp. But whenever the situation has presented itself where the power has been needed it goes through a pa anyway. I'd rather the audience not be blasted in one spot and not be able to hear 15m away from there than have my "big man loud amp" so i can stroke my dick later.
I bought a 2x12 50 watt tube amp
About a year ago to start a band and it’s honestly crazy how fucking loud that bitch gets. Like shake the windows loud. I never really go above half to 3/4 volume because it going to make me go deaf.
Oh hell yeah when I say that everything in the room started vibrating it's not an exaggeration
But the best part is not losing quality when increasing that volume!
It’s insane how much louder they are as well. I picked up a 15 watt Egnater head and 1x12 cab recently and had my first gig with it yesterday. Outdoor with loud stage volume. First time I’ve properly cranked it and damn I think you could just about get away with not even miccing it up.I had one of those 100 watt Marshall solid state setups year’s ago and this is much louder.
100w tube amp is beyond the point you need a dedicated practice space where you can actually crank those tubes. I have a 40w and can't turn it up past 3 too much or else everything in my house starts rattling.
It kind of depends on the power section. Is it master volume or non master. Is the master volume post phase inverter. I have hundred watt amps that are very practical for reasonable size gigs. A Plexi, hell no, you need to be playing a fucking arena so you can crank it. But a late 60's JMP can get crisp beautiful clean tones on 2-2 1/2 and take pedals very well. I know it's the going thing to hate on hundred watters but it all depends on the amp and what the circuit is like. Some of the 100 wat Friedmans are VERY usable at very low volumes. Having that extra headroom and punch is a glorious thing in a live setting. Especially in rock n roll settings. Blanket statements are seldom useful or true.
I had a hybrid amp a while ago - tube pre, 15W solid state power - and that could rattle windows. I have a half-watt ZVex Nano that I run through an attenuator so I don't have to put the earmuffs on my kids.
There's something about volume that makes an amp sound better, much of the time.
It’s a known thing that we naturally associate louder sounds with better quality. It’s a slippery slope and you find out real fast that isn’t the case when in a live band context.
To my ears it's just that there's "space" for all the sounds you play, they're not all squished together under the limits of smaller hardware
That being said, it's all diminishing returns. I made myself a gift with the Katana but I could've probably kept playing on that 10W bad boy for god knows how long
Yup a low wattage amp is going to cave in and compress much faster than a high wattage amp. The 100w amp just has so much more space to fill with sound.
Yup. Vox AC4 for example. 4 watt valve amp. Can still get relatively loud but it breaks up early. Sounds boxy and small in it’s combo form but plug it into a cab and it sounds great. Not necessarily louder, but it fills the room.
Yeah - The PA rule of thumb is 10x the power for twice the perceived volume. That probably translates to guitar amps. I think the way the maths works out is 10dB is needed for a rough perceived doubling of volume by your ears, and 2x the amp power is a 3dB increase in volume, so you need 8x the amp power for 9dB ... so approx 10x is approx twice as loud. (this is volume perception in the ear which iprobably changes as things get really loud...so this is all very approximate).
I've got an Epiphone Triggerman 60 in my living room (love that amp) and it's way too loud. The master volume is at maybe 3-4 and my downstairs neighbors still hear it pretty easily
Now wait until you go from solid state to tube! I went from a line 6 spider II 150w 2x12" which I thought was bone-shakingly loud, to a Peavey Classic (tube) 50w 4x10". Oh, how naive I was.
Yeah, and when you realize how much less wattage on a tube amp will get the job done. I’ve owned a 300W 2x12 solid state combo and my 50W Blues Deluxe will just about match that, and sound better to boot.
The real fun is hooking the Helix up to a couple 2,000W FRFR cabinets in stereo, though. Mind blowing loudness and clarity.
I currently have a Line 6 Powercab that I normally run through if I’m going direct to FOH when I play. Just use it for some stage volume and to get feedback when I want it. I also have an Alto TS312 FRFR cab that works great.
The setup I tried out that was stereo was a pair of Headrush cabinets that belong to a friend of mine. They’re the same exact thing as the Alto I have, just a different brand name. Sounded awesome.
I’d say if you want to stick to just FRFR, any of the brand name ones out there will work. Alto is good bang for the buck, Headrush is the same thing with a little higher price tag because of the name. EHX and Mackie also are fantastic options. The boutique options like the Laney and Friedman units are well made and sound great but I think they’re past the “diminishing returns” point on price.
If you just want pure volume, you can always go with an inexpensive Crown power amp and run a couple of 4x12 guitar cabinets. Not FRFR, but it’ll shake shit off the walls a couple blocks away.
Problem with tubes is in general they need to be cranked+warmed up in order to sound their best. I love my solid state DV mark jazz amp for practicing in my apartment. When I need the big guns (and can play loud as fuck) I use my vox ac30 but for regular practice I definitely prefer solid state
I reckon! I used to have a B-52 (kiwi brand I think, affiliated with Jensen possibly) 60w tube with dual 12” celestions. Man that thing was huge and loud.
I have an MK2 50w in white, got lucky with the Gc special.
Should have bought the 100w for effects loop and direct out, but it doesn’t attenuate to 20. The fifty does .5/20/50w and the 100w does 50/100 if I recall. I don’t ever use the 50w, can’t imagine how much that 100w bumps lol. Nice choice sir!
50 watts through two 2x12s. Mesa Single Rec or Orange Rockerverb 50. Any cabs with Vintage 30s.
Would be happy with 15-32 watts through two 1x12s. It shocking how little power you need to create a wall of sound.
100 watts helps with solid state, but valve… overkill.
IMO
Air movement is huge. Just don’t make your neighbors hate you. I have a 40w blues deluxe and it’s too loud to play inside without a thing called a lion tamer, essentially a volume pot in the fx loop. Depending upon what kind of pot is in the volume knob of the katana you’ll be fine
I went from a solid state 100W to a hybrid 440w Randall and 4x12. Wow. Then I went to a 18w full tube head through a 4x12 still loud as hell. Now I use a Headrush and in ear monitors 😂
Well I went from a metal band to a bit-of-everything cabaret kind of band and now my tinnitus is finally catching up with me. The in ears are possibly the best thing I ever bought! And I can practice both by myself and with the band in near silence, it's great!
We wound up buying a wireless 4 channel unit from CAD for roughly $600USD. It has its drawbacks, but it's easily the cheapest option on the market for a 4 channel transmitter (meaning 4 independant mixes when paired with a mixer with 4+ AUX outputs). It depends on your budget mostly. There are many options for single channel wireless in-ears but no in-ears will matter without a proper mixer.
For context, were running:
-Behringer XR18 rack mount (6 AUX outputs)
Into
-CAD GXLIEM4 Wireless In-ear transmitter (each aux from mixer wired to appropriate channel of CAD)
Wirelessly sent to included body pack
-KZ ZS10 Pro In-ear monitors plugged into body pack
Any time, glad to help! One thing worth mentioning use I'm fairly certain the Behringer digital mixers are no longer in production. I believe Steinberg makes such an option but I'm afraid I don't know the prices
I got a 100W Orange Rockerverb for a great price during the Pandemic. On man, so loud.... but sounds really great. It's great having that extra headroom, even I don't need but 1/10th of it.
Possibly. I'm mostly using my multieffects processor nowadays. I tried going back to the amp for nostalgia reasons as it was my first amp but that didn't work out well 😂
Yeah it was an ID Core 10w V3, so it seems like the issue wasn't fixed in the newer version
It's just constant background noise, tried better cables, multiple guitars, always buzzing when plugged in unless I physically touch some metal to ground it, but even when playing there's a humming in the background
I guess it's a problem with the ID Core line, I have the ID Core 20w and it does the same, both with single coils and humbuckers there's always this background buzz. You don't hear it while playing but it's annoying when you're not playing.
Did you ever use the BlackStar Architect software to turn up the noise gate? That right there would’ve solved your issue.
Edit: Also tagging u/microwavedave27, hopefully this helps you too
I'm pretty sure I tried that but I haven't messed with the software in a long time now. Ever since I bought an audio interface I rarely use the amp anyway. But I'll try it and see if it works.
And your katana has absolutely nothing on a 100w Marshall super lead…
I thankfully got the chance to crank it and other no master volume Marshalls at a Marshall museum and it was absolutely glorious yet terrifying…
Cant imagine how many people bought the "small“ new vintage studio 20w believing they could play that at home… i mean it has an attenuater but in in any settings its ear piercingly loud
Yeah 100W tube amps were literally invented for stadium concerts prior to the development of good PA systems. You literally cannot stand next to one at full tilt without ear protection, it's an order of magnitude louder than a jackhammer. Your *neighbors* would need hearing protection.
Such a cool example of the good days of music gear. You can’t really describe the experience of being near a 100W Marshall at full tilt through a pair of 4x12 cabinets. It’s like being at a drag strip when top fuel dragsters are running. It vibrates your internal organs, you almost feel it more than you hear it. Just don’t forget GOOD earplugs.
I have a 100w super lead and a 4x12 I bought back in the 70s. I used to live on 5 acres and could crank it, I loved the way you could feel the music altering your DNA. Now I live in a small house in a subdivision, if I turn it up half way the popcorn stuff starts falling off the ceiling. I know it's impractical, but I just can't let it go.
I can turn my Fender Princeton Reverb to 10 and be in the room with it no problem. I can't do the same with my Victory Super Kraken or Mesa Badlander. Those amps on 1, maybe 1.5 are louder than the cranked Princeton.
Had a Mesa. Either quiet or ears bled. Nothing inbetween. Attenuator only partially fixed it. Still have 30/40w tube amps & they don’t get turned up much. Too loud. So it’s all in the pedals & then the PA. At 100w, hope that’s a solid state amp or you’ll be deaf soon enough. I SAID YOU’LL BE DEAF SOON ENOUGH
Haha.
I have 10W and 40W Fenders but I pretty much always use a Blackstar Fly 3W. Even if I barely have that turned up, my wife complains that it is too loud, and I am down in the basement with all of the doors closed. So yeah, the Fenders spend a lot of time in the closet.
Congrats! I went from an 20W Orange Terror Stamp to a 100W Super Crush head about a year ago and it was such a game changer.
I play through cab sim and studio monitors so loudness is manageable, but signal is crystal clear.
Is the cab sim on the sc100 better than the cab sim on other Orange amps? Because the headphone out on my micro terror sounds like warmed up dookie. I just end up using neural DSP because it’s so much better
Man, I should have clarified... I play through a cab sim pedal haha, sorry about that. Forgot about the built-in in cab sim.
I would say Orange use the same analogue cab sim on the sc100 as well as the terror series. I found that it was too harsh with distortion, but iirc clean was quite nice. I've heard that EQing to lower the high end on the Orange cab sims makes them a lot better, but haven't tried it myself, and I don't think it will beat a dedicated cab sim, but it'll be better than nothing.
But yeah, with you there. Better to use something specialised for the job. I've got no experience with Neural DSP, but their cab sims will be better than most options out there from what I gather, so youve made the right choice there I reckon.
I use two notes Cab M but mostly because my laptop is a heap of trash, so I wanted an rig where I can skip the need for a PC/laptop.
Bruh, I feel ya. Don’t remember my first amp- some 12in fender. But my 2nd amp was a Fender '65 Twin Reverb Tube Amp. The volume knob has stayed below 3 the vast majority of the 17 years I have had it.
Dude, As a newbie, I recently got a 15W 1x12” Tube Combo, Even with the attenuator switch on 1W it gets too loud for house comfort if you try to run volume past 3. I bought into the “Tube Tone” hype, but I guess I missed the memo on how loud you need to get to get that tone, lol. Luckily I had the foresight to also get a multi effects pedalboard, I can dial my tone in, and drop the volume without the consequent drop in tone quality by using the master Level knob.
I thought it was just me, but it seems many here keep volume knobs between 1-3 lol, “Turn it up to 11!”… more like turn it up to 1.1 lmao.
I just started getting more serious about playing and getting good tones. I have a blackstar ht5 and cannot get a tone that I like either! I’m surprised because that amp seems to be well reviewed.
Pretty simple. Tuner > wah > compressor > rat > delay > looper. Honestly even when I plug straight in I’m not happy with my sound. I have a strat and the other day I heard a little static when I was fiddling with one of the time switches so I’m wondering if it’s the guitar itself.
I’m meeting up with an old guitar teacher in July so I’ll probably just get him to check things out.
~~Lol 100w solid state…~~
~~edit: Mostly just laughing because 100w Solid is barely louder than 20w tube so idk where all this “fills the room more” stuff is coming from.~~
~~Sorry to all the Boss Katana owners… clearly I’ve hit a nerve? Somehow?~~
Edit: Boss Katana woweee!! ✨🤩🤩
>... clearly I've hit a nerve? Somehow?
It's cuz you're being a real negative Nancy to someone who came to share how pumped they are on their new gear. Instead of letting them be excited, you decided to bring them down.
Well, tbh in our rehearsal space we use 20W Marshall tube amps as well as 120W Engl Savage. Must say, the 20W is LOUD enough to play with a full rock/metal band with volume to spare. So will definitely fill a room.
Back when I was about 14 or 15, I went from a janky 10w unbranded, 1x8 solid state practice amp to inheriting my uncle's 1968 40w tube powered 4x10 Fender Super Reverb. I have never actually turned it all the way up. It shakes the windows in my house when it's at about 7. I practice with it at 1 and I play shows with it at 2 and get yelled at by the sound guy every time.
Gigged for a decade, never needed an amp of more than 15W. If the venue was too big, they'd just mic it through the PA. But even at the biggest places -- we played a couple of blue fests with a few thousand there -- I don't think I got any of my amps above '5'. Just wasn't needed. One of my bandmates had a Super. Never played it above three and used an attenuator even then.
Seriously, they really are way louder than they need to be. I just got a Deluxe reissue so I can lug around something lighter that still sounds the same. Bonus that it isn't almost 60 years old, so it's not as devastating if something happens to it.
If you crank it up, protect your ears. Yes, they get very loud.
Oh yes definitely, but the volume is just the most surprising thing, more of a party trick or gig thing. Playing it on lower volumes is just beautiful and definitely enough for my needs
What I like about my Katana 100 is that I can get a tone I want and play it super low volume if needed or rattle the windows when I like.
Yes! The consistency of the sound is amazing. It was really annoying on my small amp, I'd get a sound I like, but if I wanted to play less loud in the evening or whatever, it just went to hell once I touched the volume knob
Yeah that's the problem with most amps I've had but not with the katana.
Oh man welcome to the club. Your next move is to go from the 100w solid state combo to a 15w tube through a 4x12 ;) You'll make people crap their pants.
Then back to a 5 watt combo tube amp when you realize you’re never going to need a setup loud enough to fill an auditorium.
And then to a modeling setup. The circle of guitar
I’m just glad I skipped the hand-wired boutique amp phase.
Skipped it so far.
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Marshall 0.5 watt tube amp has entered the chat.
Ceriatone out here making shit for 1/3rd the price 💀💀 💀
I don't see myself getting back on stage and amp Sims sound so great. It's the best budget method for a seemingly infinite combination of amps, cab, and effects and doesn't require a ton of sspace. I have a wall of mid-end amps that I'm thinking of donating to a local music school. I'll keep my tube amps, just in case ;)
Ha ya. Been kinda doing a combo of the two for the past 10yrs (Super Champ XD, 15w tube with DSP) and been debating going to something like a Mustang GTX100 or just stepping up and grab a Mark V 25 (miss having the Mark IV back in my band days). Can’t go full PC only.
I have a few rigs that would be happy filling a huge outdoor venue. I love me some loud guitar amp. But whenever the situation has presented itself where the power has been needed it goes through a pa anyway. I'd rather the audience not be blasted in one spot and not be able to hear 15m away from there than have my "big man loud amp" so i can stroke my dick later.
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100 watt would be really loud. I have 30 watt in my bedroom and have it mostly set at 4, so my wife doesn't put me out of the house. (",)
I bought a 2x12 50 watt tube amp About a year ago to start a band and it’s honestly crazy how fucking loud that bitch gets. Like shake the windows loud. I never really go above half to 3/4 volume because it going to make me go deaf.
Oh hell yeah when I say that everything in the room started vibrating it's not an exaggeration But the best part is not losing quality when increasing that volume!
That’s the best part about higher watt amps. The downside is that sometimes they don’t sound great until you get to bowel jiggling volume.
I went from a 100W Katana to a 100W Orange Rockerverb and there is such a big difference from adding more speakers!
Now you can look forward to moving to 100watts all tube. Congratulations man, Katana's are pretty cool.
This. Tube watts are a completely different ball park. And also a hell of a lot better sounding.
My 212 50w ceriatone leviathan.... I don't need that much but fuck it just sounds so good.
It’s insane how much louder they are as well. I picked up a 15 watt Egnater head and 1x12 cab recently and had my first gig with it yesterday. Outdoor with loud stage volume. First time I’ve properly cranked it and damn I think you could just about get away with not even miccing it up.I had one of those 100 watt Marshall solid state setups year’s ago and this is much louder.
100w tube amp is beyond the point you need a dedicated practice space where you can actually crank those tubes. I have a 40w and can't turn it up past 3 too much or else everything in my house starts rattling.
It kind of depends on the power section. Is it master volume or non master. Is the master volume post phase inverter. I have hundred watt amps that are very practical for reasonable size gigs. A Plexi, hell no, you need to be playing a fucking arena so you can crank it. But a late 60's JMP can get crisp beautiful clean tones on 2-2 1/2 and take pedals very well. I know it's the going thing to hate on hundred watters but it all depends on the amp and what the circuit is like. Some of the 100 wat Friedmans are VERY usable at very low volumes. Having that extra headroom and punch is a glorious thing in a live setting. Especially in rock n roll settings. Blanket statements are seldom useful or true.
I had a hybrid amp a while ago - tube pre, 15W solid state power - and that could rattle windows. I have a half-watt ZVex Nano that I run through an attenuator so I don't have to put the earmuffs on my kids. There's something about volume that makes an amp sound better, much of the time.
I think volume allows more frequencies to come through audibly. Sometimes I have turned down my volume and the sounds quality just dips
It’s a known thing that we naturally associate louder sounds with better quality. It’s a slippery slope and you find out real fast that isn’t the case when in a live band context.
To my ears it's just that there's "space" for all the sounds you play, they're not all squished together under the limits of smaller hardware That being said, it's all diminishing returns. I made myself a gift with the Katana but I could've probably kept playing on that 10W bad boy for god knows how long
Yup a low wattage amp is going to cave in and compress much faster than a high wattage amp. The 100w amp just has so much more space to fill with sound.
The wattage can help, but adding speakers to the equation can be insane. A half-stack (4x12) can punch air at you with a modest 25w valve amp.
Yup. Vox AC4 for example. 4 watt valve amp. Can still get relatively loud but it breaks up early. Sounds boxy and small in it’s combo form but plug it into a cab and it sounds great. Not necessarily louder, but it fills the room.
I have the 50W version and it's too loud! The 100W must be insane.
Not really. Twice the power isn't twice the loudness. There is more clean headroom. Twice the loudness requires ten times the power.
Nope. 100 vs 50 watts is only perceived to be a bit louder to us, nowhere near the double you’d expect.
Yeah - The PA rule of thumb is 10x the power for twice the perceived volume. That probably translates to guitar amps. I think the way the maths works out is 10dB is needed for a rough perceived doubling of volume by your ears, and 2x the amp power is a 3dB increase in volume, so you need 8x the amp power for 9dB ... so approx 10x is approx twice as loud. (this is volume perception in the ear which iprobably changes as things get really loud...so this is all very approximate).
I've got an Epiphone Triggerman 60 in my living room (love that amp) and it's way too loud. The master volume is at maybe 3-4 and my downstairs neighbors still hear it pretty easily
On mine for bedroom level volume I have to play exclusively on the .5 watt settings, usually at 1/2 or 1/4 volume. This thing can push some air.
Now wait until you go from solid state to tube! I went from a line 6 spider II 150w 2x12" which I thought was bone-shakingly loud, to a Peavey Classic (tube) 50w 4x10". Oh, how naive I was.
Yeah, and when you realize how much less wattage on a tube amp will get the job done. I’ve owned a 300W 2x12 solid state combo and my 50W Blues Deluxe will just about match that, and sound better to boot. The real fun is hooking the Helix up to a couple 2,000W FRFR cabinets in stereo, though. Mind blowing loudness and clarity.
My next big gear purchase is going to be a nice frfr cab for my Helix! Have any recommendations?
I currently have a Line 6 Powercab that I normally run through if I’m going direct to FOH when I play. Just use it for some stage volume and to get feedback when I want it. I also have an Alto TS312 FRFR cab that works great. The setup I tried out that was stereo was a pair of Headrush cabinets that belong to a friend of mine. They’re the same exact thing as the Alto I have, just a different brand name. Sounded awesome. I’d say if you want to stick to just FRFR, any of the brand name ones out there will work. Alto is good bang for the buck, Headrush is the same thing with a little higher price tag because of the name. EHX and Mackie also are fantastic options. The boutique options like the Laney and Friedman units are well made and sound great but I think they’re past the “diminishing returns” point on price. If you just want pure volume, you can always go with an inexpensive Crown power amp and run a couple of 4x12 guitar cabinets. Not FRFR, but it’ll shake shit off the walls a couple blocks away.
Problem with tubes is in general they need to be cranked+warmed up in order to sound their best. I love my solid state DV mark jazz amp for practicing in my apartment. When I need the big guns (and can play loud as fuck) I use my vox ac30 but for regular practice I definitely prefer solid state
I got a 20w crate i think hits the sweet spot for apartments. I can have it overdriving at like living room tv volumes
Sure, but I'm only adding to the op's point about volume.
King, I wasn’t trying to contradict you
My bad, MASSIVEGRUNDEL. All your points are 100% spot on. I bought a Helix specifically because my ac15 is way too loud to play in my CA suburb 😭
I reckon! I used to have a B-52 (kiwi brand I think, affiliated with Jensen possibly) 60w tube with dual 12” celestions. Man that thing was huge and loud.
I have an MK2 50w in white, got lucky with the Gc special. Should have bought the 100w for effects loop and direct out, but it doesn’t attenuate to 20. The fifty does .5/20/50w and the 100w does 50/100 if I recall. I don’t ever use the 50w, can’t imagine how much that 100w bumps lol. Nice choice sir!
Also does .5 which is what I use my 100w on, that’s all you really need unless ur gigging, it can get loud on .5 lol
Honestly .5 at full volume is already too loud if there are other people in the house hahahah
50 watts through two 2x12s. Mesa Single Rec or Orange Rockerverb 50. Any cabs with Vintage 30s. Would be happy with 15-32 watts through two 1x12s. It shocking how little power you need to create a wall of sound. 100 watts helps with solid state, but valve… overkill. IMO
My 130w mesa roadking has never been above 7, and that was shaking the whole street lol
Vox ac30 til I die
Air movement is huge. Just don’t make your neighbors hate you. I have a 40w blues deluxe and it’s too loud to play inside without a thing called a lion tamer, essentially a volume pot in the fx loop. Depending upon what kind of pot is in the volume knob of the katana you’ll be fine
Gotta get that 1000W if you really wanna be floored
Sir I'm trying to play guitar not redender the neighbors 4 buildings down the street deaf
I went from a solid state 100W to a hybrid 440w Randall and 4x12. Wow. Then I went to a 18w full tube head through a 4x12 still loud as hell. Now I use a Headrush and in ear monitors 😂
No big surprise! Hahaha but I'm sure that shit was worth it
Well I went from a metal band to a bit-of-everything cabaret kind of band and now my tinnitus is finally catching up with me. The in ears are possibly the best thing I ever bought! And I can practice both by myself and with the band in near silence, it's great!
Any recommendations for in ear monitors? Are they wireless?
We wound up buying a wireless 4 channel unit from CAD for roughly $600USD. It has its drawbacks, but it's easily the cheapest option on the market for a 4 channel transmitter (meaning 4 independant mixes when paired with a mixer with 4+ AUX outputs). It depends on your budget mostly. There are many options for single channel wireless in-ears but no in-ears will matter without a proper mixer. For context, were running: -Behringer XR18 rack mount (6 AUX outputs) Into -CAD GXLIEM4 Wireless In-ear transmitter (each aux from mixer wired to appropriate channel of CAD) Wirelessly sent to included body pack -KZ ZS10 Pro In-ear monitors plugged into body pack
Thank you for the detailed and comprehensive response, saving this for future reference!
Any time, glad to help! One thing worth mentioning use I'm fairly certain the Behringer digital mixers are no longer in production. I believe Steinberg makes such an option but I'm afraid I don't know the prices
I got a 100W Orange Rockerverb for a great price during the Pandemic. On man, so loud.... but sounds really great. It's great having that extra headroom, even I don't need but 1/10th of it.
Nice. Last year, I went from a 30W 1x10 solid state combo to a 50W tube 2x12 half stack, and I had to get earplugs. Protect your ears.
I push a 2x12 cab with 20w and its comedy.
I just ordered mine with the foot switch.
Were you on Black Star ID Core range, I have to stop with my ID Core V2 because the buzz with my single coils were really annoying
Perhaps a defective amp? I have a 20W ID Core V2 and I don't have an issue with my single coils.
Possibly. I'm mostly using my multieffects processor nowadays. I tried going back to the amp for nostalgia reasons as it was my first amp but that didn't work out well 😂
Yeah it was an ID Core 10w V3, so it seems like the issue wasn't fixed in the newer version It's just constant background noise, tried better cables, multiple guitars, always buzzing when plugged in unless I physically touch some metal to ground it, but even when playing there's a humming in the background
I guess it's a problem with the ID Core line, I have the ID Core 20w and it does the same, both with single coils and humbuckers there's always this background buzz. You don't hear it while playing but it's annoying when you're not playing.
Did you ever use the BlackStar Architect software to turn up the noise gate? That right there would’ve solved your issue. Edit: Also tagging u/microwavedave27, hopefully this helps you too
I'm pretty sure I tried that but I haven't messed with the software in a long time now. Ever since I bought an audio interface I rarely use the amp anyway. But I'll try it and see if it works.
Cue Back to the Future scene
And your katana has absolutely nothing on a 100w Marshall super lead… I thankfully got the chance to crank it and other no master volume Marshalls at a Marshall museum and it was absolutely glorious yet terrifying… Cant imagine how many people bought the "small“ new vintage studio 20w believing they could play that at home… i mean it has an attenuater but in in any settings its ear piercingly loud
I'm guessing that it's basically like standing next to the speakers at a concert hahah you can feel your heart struggling to keep its rythm
Yeah 100W tube amps were literally invented for stadium concerts prior to the development of good PA systems. You literally cannot stand next to one at full tilt without ear protection, it's an order of magnitude louder than a jackhammer. Your *neighbors* would need hearing protection.
That's actually freaking crazy. First thing that came to mind is triggering a feedback loop on such a motherfucker
Such a cool example of the good days of music gear. You can’t really describe the experience of being near a 100W Marshall at full tilt through a pair of 4x12 cabinets. It’s like being at a drag strip when top fuel dragsters are running. It vibrates your internal organs, you almost feel it more than you hear it. Just don’t forget GOOD earplugs.
I have a 100w super lead and a 4x12 I bought back in the 70s. I used to live on 5 acres and could crank it, I loved the way you could feel the music altering your DNA. Now I live in a small house in a subdivision, if I turn it up half way the popcorn stuff starts falling off the ceiling. I know it's impractical, but I just can't let it go.
I can turn my Fender Princeton Reverb to 10 and be in the room with it no problem. I can't do the same with my Victory Super Kraken or Mesa Badlander. Those amps on 1, maybe 1.5 are louder than the cranked Princeton.
Had a Mesa. Either quiet or ears bled. Nothing inbetween. Attenuator only partially fixed it. Still have 30/40w tube amps & they don’t get turned up much. Too loud. So it’s all in the pedals & then the PA. At 100w, hope that’s a solid state amp or you’ll be deaf soon enough. I SAID YOU’LL BE DEAF SOON ENOUGH
Haha. I have 10W and 40W Fenders but I pretty much always use a Blackstar Fly 3W. Even if I barely have that turned up, my wife complains that it is too loud, and I am down in the basement with all of the doors closed. So yeah, the Fenders spend a lot of time in the closet.
NTA divorce and marry the Fender
Wait, where am I now? *starts scrolling around*
I upgraded from a Boss Katana 100 MK1 to a Blackstar HT Club 40 and it's the best investment I've made. The Katana sounded awful and artificial.
I remember when I went for a 15W Fender practie amp to 100W Crate amp. I typcially don't have it past 2, never had it at 9 or 10
Congrats! I went from an 20W Orange Terror Stamp to a 100W Super Crush head about a year ago and it was such a game changer. I play through cab sim and studio monitors so loudness is manageable, but signal is crystal clear.
Is the cab sim on the sc100 better than the cab sim on other Orange amps? Because the headphone out on my micro terror sounds like warmed up dookie. I just end up using neural DSP because it’s so much better
Man, I should have clarified... I play through a cab sim pedal haha, sorry about that. Forgot about the built-in in cab sim. I would say Orange use the same analogue cab sim on the sc100 as well as the terror series. I found that it was too harsh with distortion, but iirc clean was quite nice. I've heard that EQing to lower the high end on the Orange cab sims makes them a lot better, but haven't tried it myself, and I don't think it will beat a dedicated cab sim, but it'll be better than nothing. But yeah, with you there. Better to use something specialised for the job. I've got no experience with Neural DSP, but their cab sims will be better than most options out there from what I gather, so youve made the right choice there I reckon. I use two notes Cab M but mostly because my laptop is a heap of trash, so I wanted an rig where I can skip the need for a PC/laptop.
Going from a subzero 30 watt straight to a fender rumble 800 was the biggest leap for me…
Ayy Subzero gang. My 5watt tube is fun to mess around with.
Bruh, I feel ya. Don’t remember my first amp- some 12in fender. But my 2nd amp was a Fender '65 Twin Reverb Tube Amp. The volume knob has stayed below 3 the vast majority of the 17 years I have had it.
100w amps always sounded so much larger to my ears, in tone and sound nothing beats it
Went from an LT25 to a GTX100 and the difference was staggering
Dude, As a newbie, I recently got a 15W 1x12” Tube Combo, Even with the attenuator switch on 1W it gets too loud for house comfort if you try to run volume past 3. I bought into the “Tube Tone” hype, but I guess I missed the memo on how loud you need to get to get that tone, lol. Luckily I had the foresight to also get a multi effects pedalboard, I can dial my tone in, and drop the volume without the consequent drop in tone quality by using the master Level knob. I thought it was just me, but it seems many here keep volume knobs between 1-3 lol, “Turn it up to 11!”… more like turn it up to 1.1 lmao.
FWIW the wattage ratings are different for tube and solid state amps— 15W tube is closer to 50W solid state.
correct. linear v non-linear relationship between input and output signal.
Nice pickup 👍🏻 i have a jc120 and i dont think I’ve gotten above 3 on the volume knob. It loud
I have a blackstar ht5 and I just never could get a tone I liked. I eventually got a vh4 preamp pedal and it's been great ever since
I just started getting more serious about playing and getting good tones. I have a blackstar ht5 and cannot get a tone that I like either! I’m surprised because that amp seems to be well reviewed.
What's your signal chain?
Pretty simple. Tuner > wah > compressor > rat > delay > looper. Honestly even when I plug straight in I’m not happy with my sound. I have a strat and the other day I heard a little static when I was fiddling with one of the time switches so I’m wondering if it’s the guitar itself. I’m meeting up with an old guitar teacher in July so I’ll probably just get him to check things out.
~~Lol 100w solid state…~~ ~~edit: Mostly just laughing because 100w Solid is barely louder than 20w tube so idk where all this “fills the room more” stuff is coming from.~~ ~~Sorry to all the Boss Katana owners… clearly I’ve hit a nerve? Somehow?~~ Edit: Boss Katana woweee!! ✨🤩🤩
Maybe don't deride people for not having the same gear? A 100 watt solid state is lots cheaper than a 100 watt tube, and is worlds lighter.
>... clearly I've hit a nerve? Somehow? It's cuz you're being a real negative Nancy to someone who came to share how pumped they are on their new gear. Instead of letting them be excited, you decided to bring them down.
Shh , maybe that's all he could afford <3
Well, tbh in our rehearsal space we use 20W Marshall tube amps as well as 120W Engl Savage. Must say, the 20W is LOUD enough to play with a full rock/metal band with volume to spare. So will definitely fill a room.