Question about Volume..

[Nightrain]

Lo, if say I had a 100W amp, and I wanted to play at low volumes with it, would the sound quality still be as good as say playing a 30W at med-high volume?

Maybe that's a daft question

I'm getting a new amp at the end of the month, one of the MG series from Marshall.. either a 30W or 50W for playing at home, just wondering if it's worth me just getting the 50W for the hell of it, just in case I do something bigger. (doubtful )

Cheers

 

[onedaycloser]

Don't Get an MG first off and it's been my experience that running a smaller amp higher sounds better than trying to run a big amp lower. You just won't get the big amp working in it's sweet spot running such little volume through it.

Edit to add - if you're in England there's all sorts of wonderful British based amp makers, I'd beat the bushes (craigslist, pawnshops, for sale adds, local music scene) for a deal on something used in the 30-50 watt range. That would be more than enough for most realistic use.

 

[Syn]

I have a Marshall AVT50 combo that I've gigged with. It's just used as a backup to my stack now, but really you can use any amp to gig with as long as you have a PA to mic it up with. If you get the 50 obviously you have a bit more output if needs be, and with it being a solid state amp the sound at lower volumes shouldn't be a mile off loud. Valve amps on the other hand, need to be played at loud volumes to drive the tubes hard enough for the amp to reach it's full potential.

EDIT: I just saw above post and have to agree, if you can find a better amp for the price, try and avoid the MG. Look at the AVT's even, I can vouch that they're a great amp. You can run a 4x12 with them aswell.

 

[Nightrain]

You just won't get the big amp working in it's sweet spot running such little volume through it..

That's what I was wondering about, thanks.

Why not an MG?

 

[onedaycloser]

There's some here that say that the MG series are alright amps, I just sold my Marshall Micro Stack the other day actually. It sounded ok when ran clean, I wasn't fond of the OD tones though they just sounded fizzy and artificial.

For similar money (400-500 USD?) you could get a very good used tube amp.

 

[Nightrain]

Hmm ok, I'll look into that a little further. Could you name a few ~$450 quality tube amp's to get me in the ballpark? I have no idea about 'em.

Thanks again.

 

[MineGoesTo11]

Go immediately to your nearest shop and try an Orange Tiny Terror. A decent price for a lot of tube gain.

 

[onedaycloser]

A Peavey Classic 30 or possibly a Classic 50 would be a good find, and you might be able to get one in that range.

There's several good Fender amps that would be in your range as well, but you might want to use a pedal for your OD/Heavy tones.

Go shopping, hunt around - that's 80 percent of the fun of it (for me at least).

 

[MineGoesTo11]

I have a Classic 50 2/12, and it is a good amp, more for rock and blues than anything else. Reasonable resale values. I didn't mention it because I assume people don't want Peaveys. Again, the Tiny Terror will give you TONS of gain and I've played a LP through one, sounds great. Probably a better choice if you are looking for a more high gain setup.

 

[Xavier_32]

A 30w is plenty enough to be heard over a band, even with a 2x12, especially if you're mic'd. A 30w with a 4x12 is going to definitely have enough power to be heard over a band. a 30w with a 2x12 cab at low volumes is going to have tons of headroom and not get pushed into the sweet spot, but it won't be as bad as a 50w at bedroom levels.

If you want to jump right into a 30w or 50w, but also want to play at bedroom levels, either get an attenuator, or get a practice combo amp to go along with your good amp.

I rock a tiny 1x12 Crate practice amp in my bedroom, and the 30w Orange stays in the studio.

 

[Nightrain]

Well I'd only get a 1x12 30W, to be perfectly honest, I've had a 15W amp for ~6 years now, the same amp, I just want to expand and have more things to tweak to get different sounds, and have higher quality over all.

 

[Xavier_32]

A 1x12 30w should be fine at bedroom levels, as long as you don't live in an apartment building with thin walls and cranky neighbors. You won't be heard over a drummer that hits with decent force once you play an actual venue though, not without being mic'd anyway.

If you want the best of both worlds but are more likely going to stay in the bedroom with the possibility of occasional gigging, I'd highly recommend an Orange Tiny Terror or an Egnator Rebel. Both can be found used for around $300-$400 if you have patience, and you can find a decent used 2x12 for around $200-$300 if you look around. $500 ain't too bad for a pretty good sounding rig.