2 full stacks

[Ken]

Ken, I actually prefer to run my 50 watter out of a single cabinet so I get some speaker breakup. A 50 watter doesn't push two cabinets very hard.

I couldn't say since my 50 is pushing 320 watts of speaker rating per cabinet. That's 640 watts of capacity! I get "pure" amp distortion with no speaker contribution with just a 50.

Maybe Jon et. al. can chime in on the dynamics of pushing 2 cabs over 1. It seems to me that since 8 speakers draw more power than 4, the amp will be pushed more since it has more of a load. OTOH, the 4 extra speakers must be adding volume as they push more air.

So the question is what's louder: an amp pushing 4 speakers or 8 at the same setting? I'm thinking it's about the same with the amp working harder to push the 8.

Ken

 

[Guitargearfreak]

My drummer eats 5w amps for breakfast....the only way i could get by with one is if they made it into and earbud....lol

of course! I mean for practice alone at home.

Anyway, when I walk into a small club and see a guy with a full stack (or 2) I don't think it looks cool. I just think it looks like a guy taking a space shuttle to go to the grocery store... overkill... of course if you play big stadiums or outside festivals it's a different story. but for clubs, a 50 watts head into an oversized 2x12 or 4x12 is enough to crank your amp, get the best tone out of it, be heard on stage, have a good mix on the PA, and don't be killed by the singer and the soundman at the end of the night.

I do think that my DSL sounds like a bunch of bees until 4 on the master, and then pow! all the mids and the thickness of the tone came to life! It's true that you don't need to cranked them to have GAIN (which was impossible with old marshalls), but you still need to crank them to have TONE. The power section needs to do his job. A lot of 400$ pratice amp I tried sounds better than a 100 watts Marshall at bedroom level, imo. I only use my marshall on stage, and my 4x12 is always in the trunk. But that is just my ears...

 

[Ken]

I do think that my DSL sounds like a bunch of bees until 4 on the master, :

Try it with a full stack and get back to me! Go light on the EQ too. DSL's get buzzy when people add too much EQ thinking they're adding tone.

Ken

 

[Frankie]

8 speakers is definitely louder, you're physically moving more air. I'm using 100 watt cabinets, so my 50 watter pushes one cabinet hard. It pushes two nicely, but it's a little more refined, like you say, and is more pure amp distortion. I push both cabs with my 100 watters for the same results as the 50 on one cab.

 

[blues_n_cues]

I couldn't say since my 50 is pushing 320 watts of speaker rating per cabinet. That's 640 watts of capacity! I get "pure" amp distortion with no speaker contribution with just a 50.

Maybe Jon et. al. can chime in on the dynamics of pushing 2 cabs over 1. It seems to me that since 8 speakers draw more power than 4, the amp will be pushed more since it has more of a load. OTOH, the 4 extra speakers must be adding volume as they push more air.

So the question is what's louder: an amp pushing 4 speakers or 8 at the same setting? I'm thinking it's about the same with the amp working harder to push the 8.

Ken

the speakers will draw no more than what the amp pushes.
i have a 50wt tube head but my cab is rated for 400wts rms so it's all clean power through the speakers.
i plugged this cab into my 300wt p.a. & it never "honked" so the amp ain't gonna kill it.

 

[Clammy]

I'm with you, Clammy! Here's our practice space:

Wow, that's a tight space you guys jam in! It must be bone-crushingly LOUD, hehehehehe.... I hope your drummer wears ear plugs!

The funny thing is that my 2 stacks are at home in my bedroom, and I only run a single (double-headed) stack in our rehearsal room. This is it:

P.S.: I have 2 more cabs coming from California, hehehe... I'm a GAS-o-holic!!!

Cheers!

 

[Clammy]

I couldn't say since my 50 is pushing 320 watts of speaker rating per cabinet. That's 640 watts of capacity! I get "pure" amp distortion with no speaker contribution with just a 50.

Maybe Jon et. al. can chime in on the dynamics of pushing 2 cabs over 1. It seems to me that since 8 speakers draw more power than 4, the amp will be pushed more since it has more of a load. OTOH, the 4 extra speakers must be adding volume as they push more air.

So the question is what's louder: an amp pushing 4 speakers or 8 at the same setting? I'm thinking it's about the same with the amp working harder to push the 8.

Ken

I can tell you from experience that more speakers = more volume from the same power input.

Cheers!

 

[Clammy]

of course! I mean for practice alone at home.

Anyway, when I walk into a small club and see a guy with a full stack (or 2) I don't think it looks cool. I just think it looks like a guy taking a space shuttle to go to the grocery store... overkill... of course if you play big stadiums or outside festivals it's a different story. but for clubs, a 50 watts head into an oversized 2x12 or 4x12 is enough to crank your amp, get the best tone out of it, be heard on stage, have a good mix on the PA, and don't be killed by the singer and the soundman at the end of the night.

I do think that my DSL sounds like a bunch of bees until 4 on the master, and then pow! all the mids and the thickness of the tone came to life! It's true that you don't need to cranked them to have GAIN (which was impossible with old marshalls), but you still need to crank them to have TONE. The power section needs to do his job. A lot of 400$ pratice amp I tried sounds better than a 100 watts Marshall at bedroom level, imo. I only use my marshall on stage, and my 4x12 is always in the trunk. But that is just my ears...

When I played guitar in various local bands, I always ran a Marshall 100W full stack. From 50 seaters to 1000 seaters, the stack was on stage with me. Never had any complaints from the singer or the sound man (after I learned to make sure the stack wasn't pointing directly at the sound booth, hehehe...), or anyone, and it DID look very cool! In fact I got a lot of compliments. A big part of any live show is visual, and big ol' Marshall stacks are VERY visual!

Cheers!

 

[Guitargearfreak]

When I played guitar in various local bands, I always ran a Marshall 100W full stack. From 50 seaters to 1000 seaters, the stack was on stage with me. Never had any complaints from the singer or the sound man (after I learned to make sure the stack wasn't pointing directly at the sound booth, hehehe...), or anyone, and it DID look very cool! In fact I got a lot of compliments. A big part of any live show is visual, and big ol' Marshall stacks are VERY visual!

Cheers!

rock on man! that's the spirit! In fact sometime I stack my cab and head vynil covers beside my real half stack, so it looks like a second half stack on the stage... haha! music is for fun after all...

 

[charveldan]

This by itself will pretty much handle anything.

 

[Frankie]

It's actually not as bad as it looks because that room is sound dampened to death, but yeah, it's really loud still. Our drummer wears earplugs sometimes, but he's a man, so he can handle it. He also jokes that since that SVT is right behind him that he'll never get kidney stones. I think he's right, that bass amp is retardedly loud.

 

[tonefreak]

right now i've only got the half stack, but i'm workin on getting a b cab, so i can run a full stack with my dsl




then it's a 2204, or a jvm. probably a 2204, and 2 more cabs.

 

[Clammy]

It's actually not as bad as it looks because that room is sound dampened to death, but yeah, it's really loud still. Our drummer wears earplugs sometimes, but he's a man, so he can handle it. He also jokes that since that SVT is right behind him that he'll never get kidney stones. I think he's right, that bass amp is retardedly loud.

Heheheh... no doubt! Especially if it's running TWO fridges (slang for Ampeg 8x10 cabs, for those who are wondering )!!!

I actually wear custom molded ear plugs at rehearsal (too many years of standing in front of cranked Marshall stacks with no plugs has left me with tinnitus, and some hearing loss), but not when we play live. I just can't "feel" the music live with them in. Also, the stage volume, while loud, is usually well dispersed, so I almost never have after-gig ringing in my ears.

Cheers!

 

[Frankie]

2203 or GTFO!

Clammy, you said it! He sometimes just runs one at practice, but with both on and that thing at half, good lord! He's been playing a P-Bass loaded with DiMarzio's lately too, so it just pushes the amp to the absolute maximum.

 

[Clammy]

2203 or GTFO!

Clammy, you said it! He sometimes just runs one at practice, but with both on and that thing at half, good lord! He's been playing a P-Bass loaded with DiMarzio's lately too, so it just pushes the amp to the absolute maximum.

Hehehe... I'm surprised you still have walls standing in that room!!!!

Cheers!

 

[custom53]

Still working on it...

 

[Frankie]

Hehehe... I'm surprised you still have walls standing in that room!!!!

Cheers!

We kinda do. The wall at stage right, where I stand, is pretty much gone, but that's because my big ass has gotten drunk and fallen into it many times. There's a big like 5 foot hole behind the black sheet we have hung up on the wall now. My bad!

 

[rustyrat]

I'm 51 and and play a stack and a half. Everywhere! I aint in no country band.

RR

 

[Clammy]

We kinda do. The wall at stage right, where I stand, is pretty much gone, but that's because my big ass has gotten drunk and fallen into it many times. There's a big like 5 foot hole behind the black sheet we have hung up on the wall now. My bad!

Sounds like you guys have a blast at rehearsal. That's awesome!!!

Cheers!

 

[Australian]

4 full stacks! I mean the paintwork on the back wall of some of those venues is appalling.