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Author Topic: Gigging with a small wattage amp.  (Read 4968 times)

Offline ebacoids

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Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« on: January 03, 2017, 06:15:37 PM »
Sino dito nakapag gig na gamit 5-15 watt tube amp at saan? Was it too loud or too soft? Did you run it distorted or clean? How's the clean headroom when using small amps in the normal bar ie. saguijo or route 196? Anong genre ng tugtugan niyo?

Offline Skybox

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2017, 06:20:40 AM »
Here's a great article on amp wattage:

http://proguitarshop.com/andyscorner/appropriate-wattage
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Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2017, 09:49:21 AM »
Sino dito nakapag gig na gamit 5-15 watt tube amp at saan? Was it too loud or too soft? Did you run it distorted or clean? How's the clean headroom when using small amps in the normal bar ie. saguijo or route 196? Anong genre ng tugtugan niyo?

a 15 watt tube amp will be more than enough for saguijo and route. below that, I don't think the clean headroom will be enough, but definitely it will be loud enough as long as it is paired with good speakers.

I've seen guys playing in open areas using a 15 watt tube head going into a 1x12 cab and he sounded just fine.

yung 15watt tube mo, enough na yan kahit 70's bistro pa.
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha

Offline Skybox

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2017, 12:38:36 PM »
a 15 watt tube amp will be more than enough for saguijo and route. below that, I don't think the clean headroom will be enough, but definitely it will be loud enough as long as it is paired with good speakers.

I've seen guys playing in open areas using a 15 watt tube head going into a 1x12 cab and he sounded just fine.

yung 15watt tube mo, enough na yan kahit 70's bistro pa.

Do they mic cabs sa 70's Bistro bro?
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Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2017, 12:44:08 PM »
Do they mic cabs sa 70's Bistro bro?

They do, but it doesn't really help dahil hindi maganda yng house speakers. barely na nga maririnig yung bokalist, imamic pa si gitarista. best talga to bring an amp sa 70's.  one that is loud enough.
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha


Offline ebacoids

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2017, 05:39:22 PM »
na try niyo na po ba mag gig with a tweed champ or clone?

Offline fretzburner

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2017, 09:58:12 PM »
Tried my cub10 on a gymnasium using DIY cabsim direct to FOH and sounded fine but at the stage as a monitor very weak. maybe
1x12 ext.cab is sufficient for stage monitor purposes.
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Offline kevinmax

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2017, 10:23:41 PM »
Used a blackstar ht5 sa isang gymnasium, pag naka 75% ang volume nya and practice dun sa venue e malakas sya. But nung event na mismo and napapalakas na ang palo ng drummer and volume ng lahat e hindi ko na nadidinig ung amp ko. Hehe.

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Offline Skybox

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2017, 09:11:23 AM »
Used a blackstar ht5 sa isang gymnasium, pag naka 75% ang volume nya and practice dun sa venue e malakas sya. But nung event na mismo and napapalakas na ang palo ng drummer and volume ng lahat e hindi ko na nadidinig ung amp ko. Hehe.

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Naka Mic yung amp mo and yung drums bro? May monitors kayo?
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Offline Queroberos

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2017, 09:22:26 AM »
Depends on the venue pero most of the time bitin ang 15 watts. Lunod yan sa drummer. Best bet is buy a pre-amp pedal or EQ if you want to bring your "home" tone outside. I've seen people gigging with Joyo pre-amp pedals na rekta sa PA and they sound great.
to each his own...

Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2017, 09:27:09 AM »
Depends on the venue pero most of the time bitin ang 15 watts. Lunod yan sa drummer. Best bet is buy a pre-amp pedal or EQ if you want to bring your "home" tone outside. I've seen people gigging with Joyo pre-amp pedals na rekta sa PA and they sound great.

tube amp, 15 watts, 12 inch speaker? bitin pa rin? that drummer is a monster then.
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha

Offline Skybox

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #11 on: January 05, 2017, 10:41:13 AM »
Depends on the venue pero most of the time bitin ang 15 watts. Lunod yan sa drummer. Best bet is buy a pre-amp pedal or EQ if you want to bring your "home" tone outside. I've seen people gigging with Joyo pre-amp pedals na rekta sa PA and they sound great.

tube amp, 15 watts, 12 inch speaker? bitin pa rin? that drummer is a monster then.

The difference between a 15 watt and a 30 watt amp is only 3db which is pretty hard to perceive by the human ear. The only difference is the 15 watt amp will break up sooner.

Baka may Fender Princeton owners dito who can share their experience. I never thought the 15W 1x10 Princeton has ever been "bitin".
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Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #12 on: January 05, 2017, 10:51:00 AM »
The difference between a 15 watt and a 30 watt amp is only 3db which is pretty hard to perceive by the human ear. The only difference is the 15 watt amp will break up sooner.

Baka may Fender Princeton owners dito who can share their experience. I never thought the 15W 1x10 Princeton has ever been "bitin".

exactly my point. because I am a drummer as well, and a very heavy hitter at that (got kicked out of a band because of that), and i'm pretty sure I cant get any louder than a 15 watt tube amp that's cranked, especially with a 12 inch cab.
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha

Offline Skybox

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #13 on: January 05, 2017, 11:27:27 AM »
exactly my point. because I am a drummer as well, and a very heavy hitter at that (got kicked out of a band because of that), and i'm pretty sure I cant get any louder than a 15 watt tube amp that's cranked, especially with a 12 inch cab.

Agree. My brother is a hard hitting drummer and back in the day, he used to always ask me to turn down a dimed Micro Terror (20 watts) coz it's too loud. You'd be surprised even the Blackstar HT1 (1 watt) head into a 1x12 can be heard over a drummer.
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Offline Skybox

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #14 on: January 05, 2017, 11:32:13 AM »
I think we need to differentiate between sheer volume versus getting the "spread". Although most low wattage amps can be loud enough to compete with an unmiced drummer, you still find spots where your sound is either overpowering or completely non-existent at all. This is due to most guitar amps being very directional or "beamy". To get your sound to spread more evenly across the venue, obviously you would need to mic up or use your line out.

But if the question is simply, "can a 15 watt amp be heard over a drummer", the answer is definitely yes.
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Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #15 on: January 05, 2017, 11:53:24 AM »
Agree. My brother is a hard hitting drummer and back in the day, he used to always ask me to turn down a dimed Micro Terror (20 watts) coz it's too loud. You'd be surprised even the Blackstar HT1 (1 watt) head into a 1x12 can be heard over a drummer.


exactly. isa pang major factor ang speakers eh.

I think we need to differentiate between sheer volume versus getting the "spread". Although most low wattage amps can be loud enough to compete with an unmiced drummer, you still find spots where your sound is either overpowering or completely non-existent at all. This is due to most guitar amps being very directional or "beamy". To get your sound to spread more evenly across the venue, obviously you would need to mic up or use your line out.

But if the question is simply, "can a 15 watt amp be heard over a drummer", the answer is definitely yes.


agreed. you would have to mic up, or get more speakers to push more air. pero kung sa volume at volume lang, definitely no match si drummer sayo pag nagtaas ka na ng volume/gain knobs.
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha

Offline kevinmax

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #16 on: January 05, 2017, 12:04:03 PM »
Naka Mic yung amp mo and yung drums bro? May monitors kayo?
Yes. Mic'ed ung speaker ko and ung drums. Cant hear na din ung sa out ko nung malakas na lahat. Hehe.

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Offline Skybox

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #17 on: January 05, 2017, 11:19:07 PM »
Yes. Mic'ed ung speaker ko and ung drums. Cant hear na din ung sa out ko nung malakas na lahat. Hehe.

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I think the PA ain't half decent brother. Dont blame the amp.
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Offline Stoop

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #18 on: January 05, 2017, 11:30:15 PM »
Did this at least twice. The 1st one was using a cub10 (unmic'd) running pretty dirty (volume around 2-3 o'clock, gain around 1 o'clock + OD and Dirt Pedals) at BKB IIRC and it sounded just fine. The other time was with the IRT studio (volume at 12-1 o'clock, running both clean and dirty with OD pedal just as a boost) which is running at 15 watts (also unmic'd) at Verdandi and it still sounded good paired with its 1x12 extension cabinet.

Never had a problem keeping up with a loud drummer both on studio and in a gig. And also I don't think wattage matters much in terms of VOLUME, what people need to understand its just that if you're running clean stuff headroom ang magiging kalaban mo at dun ka mabibitin for smaller wattage amps. It was never about the volume.

Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #19 on: January 06, 2017, 09:38:40 AM »
I think the PA ain't half decent brother. Dont blame the amp.

I don't even think its the PA. I think its the mixing, or worse, the mic-ing of the amp. malamang sa malamang, yun yung oldschool style na nakasabit lang yung mic sa handle nung amp hahahaha
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha

Offline tackielarla

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #20 on: January 06, 2017, 03:36:07 PM »
From my experience after gigging with a TT, Ibanez TSA 15 and a Laney Ironheart 15 - 15 watts can be ok IF a) your band plays rock and you don't need a clean tone and b) you play at church where everything is controlled. Speakers/cabs used is also a huge factor. I've tried gigging a 7-watt VHT through a 212 cab with very efficient speakers (Swamp Thang + CV75) and I had to dime the amp to be heard, vs during rehearsals where I was owning a 100-watt solid-state mustang. Good thing we were playing alternative songs at the time so no need for cleans. :wink:

I ended up getting a 30-watter with power scaling for those gigs that don't need 30 watts. And yes, I can perceive a considerable volume difference between my 15-watt TT vs TH30.  :-D
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Offline Queroberos

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #21 on: January 06, 2017, 03:48:34 PM »
That's why I said it depends on the venue. Good point on the speaker but a 12 inch speaker is good for 30 to 40 people in a small to medium sized bar and that is already stretching it.

Bare bones yan. Tipong naka-asa ka lang sa amp mo. Tipong walang monitor at di ka na naka-connect sa PA.

Lalo na kung mic-ed ang drummer. GG ka dun, repa.
to each his own...

Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #22 on: January 06, 2017, 03:59:43 PM »
That's why I said it depends on the venue. Good point on the speaker but a 12 inch speaker is good for 30 to 40 people in a small to medium sized bar and that is already stretching it.

Bare bones yan. Tipong naka-asa ka lang sa amp mo. Tipong walang monitor at di ka na naka-connect sa PA.

Lalo na kung mic-ed ang drummer. GG ka dun, repa.

70's bistro easily holds 100++, played a gig there with a 15 watt Goldea, 1x12 extension cab with Celestion V30s. played mostly clean. non mic-ed, not connected to the PA. didn't sound like I was stretching it.

drummer was mic-ed and all, still fine.

kung mic-ed ang drummer, more often than not, I ma-mic ka din. kung di ka marinig sa PA, di kasalanan ng amp yun. kasalanan ng nag mix yun, or mali pagkakamic.

in the first place, bakit ka magma-mic ng drums, pero hindi ka mag mamic ng combo na amp hahaha I've only seen that setup when the sound system is generous enough to provide a 4x12. its usually the other way around naman eh, the amps will be mic'ed first way before the drummer gets a mic (in most PH venues)
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha

Offline Queroberos

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #23 on: January 06, 2017, 04:09:11 PM »
Try mo tumugtog sa mga "normalan" na prod. Yung tipong maingay talaga yung hindi talaga tatagos yang amp na nabanggit. Tama din yung nabanggit na you need to consider the spread.

Also, genre. Blues, slow rock, and the likes, sige lang. Dinig ka diyan.

Pero kung mga tugtugpak-punks not dead o mabigatan. Alaws talaga.

I've seen people bring their own tube amp during those types of gig at napapailing nalang sila at panay kalikot ng amp.

Sana nag dala nalang sila ng 100w Line 6 or kung ano mang modeler/solidstate amp para isang powerchord lang datingan na ang mga otoridad LOL!
to each his own...

Offline Ralph_Petrucci

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Re: Gigging with a small wattage amp.
« Reply #24 on: January 06, 2017, 05:04:06 PM »

Sana nag dala nalang sila ng 100w Line 6 or kung ano mang modeler/solidstate amp para isang powerchord lang datingan na ang mga otoridad LOL!


ano bang depinisyon mo ng normalan na prod? :D may prod ba na hindi normal? :D


hindi ganung kalakas ang 100W line6 spider. a friend has both a 150W line6 spider, 2x12 and a 30W tube amp 1X12 combo. mejo malayo ang clean headroom capacity nila. mas okay pa yung headroom nung 30W tube kesa dun sa 150W line6.

fyi, this friend of mine plays metal ha.
hahaha ako binibiyak ko muna yung wetpaks para makita kung may yellow thingy hahahaha