Bigger is not always better...?

[ricksdisconnected]

25-watt Superlead clone

they dont even sound the same Game.

 

[lovehifi]

I downgraded from a full stack in my music room to a half stack. Does that count? Will not go smaller than that. A 4x12 just does it for me vs a combo or even a 2x12 cab. Just added a 410h so now I can switch from my BE 50 Deluxe when I feel like some more tonal flavors. In saying all that though I have sold off a few guitars and have simplified my guitar collection.

 

[spacerocker]

So I'm one of those guys who has spent an embarrassing amount of time tweaking my setup, adding/subtracting gear, and looking for the best possible combination of equipment. That led me to having a room in my house dedicated to guitars and amps. My main amp was a JVM410HJS through a 1960B 4x12. Guitars? Well, I had a bunch.

While this was great, I felt it was a little overkill for someone who never plays outside his house. I also felt that the sound was too "big", if that makes any sense.

I've recently paired down to a JVM205C (and a backup SS amp incase the JVM needs servicing) and two guitars (Gibson Les Paul and a boutique band Les Paul type; one with '59 Tributes and one with hotter SDs). It feels like the "Goldilocks" of setups, and sound is more "intimate", while still being large.

The end result? I more enjoy the experience of playing guitar as my setup is much more simplified. I spend more time playing and less time building a room. I still feed my need to tweak, looking for pedals (my cap is 4), and rolling tubes. 100% personal preference and I admire those who have literally forgotten more about gear than I have ever known. May be due to having a touch of OCD, but I find that the KISS principle works for me.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

I totally agree, and have been saying as much for years! I CAN use my JVM in my practice room, but in my opinion the volume that it starts to sound good is just a bit too loud for extended practice. I would estimate that volume as about 95dB - OK for 10 minutes or so, but not great for 45 minutes of practice! Also as I usually practice my vocals at the same time, it's just too loud to sing over!

So i use my AVT20 Hybrid amp for home practice (though a vintage 4x12 Cab) - sounds great (better than the JVM at low volume) - it cleans up nicely has quite a lot of gain available and has a great, bright sound! It's only a basic single -channel amp, but that is fine for practicing in my small practice room!

I play about 15 gigs a year - and for that my modded JVM and V30 4x12 is the only choice in town! But for playing at home, the AVT is all I need!

 

[newfiesig]

I totally agree, and have been saying as much for years! I CAN use my JVM in my practice room, but in my opinion the volume that it starts to sound good is just a bit too loud for extended practice. I would estimate that volume as about 95dB - OK for 10 minutes or so, but not great for 45 minutes of practice! Also as I usually practice my vocals at the same time, it's just too loud to sing over!

So i use my AVT20 Hybrid amp for home practice (though a vintage 4x12 Cab) - sounds great (better than the JVM at low volume) - it cleans up nicely has quite a lot of gain available and has a great, bright sound! It's only a basic single -channel amp, but that is fine for practicing in my small practice room!

I play about 15 gigs a year - and for that my modded JVM and V30 4x12 is the only choice in town! But for playing at home, the AVT is all I need!

It's the small things (excuse the pun) that counts. With my 4x12 with 2xV30s and 2xH30s, I find that I need to step to the side of the amp or it's too grating on my ears (I put the V30s in the bottom to help, but still an issue). With the 2x12, with 1 V30 and 1 H30 I can stand in front of the amp at louder volumes as the sound hits my legs. Hell, the day I got my amp I bough an amp stand to tilt the amp up, I returned it the next day as it made it sound to harsh.

Don't get me wrong, if I was gigging it would be a different story. But for playing at home, I've decided that I actually prefer the 2x12 as apposed to the 4x12. It's more intimate while still sounding big.

 

[Lukas]

I was pondering something today as I recently went from a full stack to a 1/2 stack. Will tubes last longer powering a 1/2 stack rather than a full stack? I played a full stack for about 10 years and sold my 1960A cab yesterday.... I was kinda leary and had that weird feeling like I hope I don't regret this. I played that 1960B 1/2 stack today loud for about an hour and I don't think I'll regret it, it's awesome and I wouldn't say that much different volume wise at all. Running the B cab alone tho is sure different. The bottom end is absolutely crushing. Looking at it now it looks funny and small. It's good but I think I'm gonna blend the G12T'S with a couple V30's in an X.

 

[mickeydg5]

I was pondering something today as I recently went from a full stack to a 1/2 stack. Will tubes last longer powering a 1/2 stack rather than a full stack? I played a full stack for about 10 years and sold my 1960A cab yesterday.... I was kinda leary and had that weird feeling like I hope I don't regret this. I played that 1960B 1/2 stack today loud for about an hour and I don't think I'll regret it, it's awesome and I wouldn't say that much different volume wise at all. Running the B cab alone tho is sure different. The bottom end is absolutely crushing. Looking at it now it looks funny and small. It's good but I think I'm gonna blend the G12T'S with a couple V30's in an X.

Half stack versus full stack has no different affect on the power tubes. It is a matching load thing.
Once you get to 4 speakers total on a 50 or 100 watt amplifier the loudness starts to diminish power wise. So a full stack is counter productive connected to one amplifier.
Notice a lot of times you may see or used to see two cabinet stacks with two heads on top.

 

[El Gringo]

I am with gringo here I like playing my 2 50 watt Origin’s, with the 3210 lead 100 mosfet, and the only pedals are the MXR10 band eq, and sometimes an SD1 clean boost.
And also my Dsl40c’s with another 3210, with either the Vox tone lab, or the MXR10 band eq, I have 8 MG cabs , 5 gibsons 3 strats, and I feel fine with this amount of fire power.
Cheers
Mitch

That's right , and besides the fun the tone is massive . The way I figure it if you can get away with it why not blast away ? . Let your ears guide you and at the end of the day it's all about having fun . At first when I was thinking about getting the second half stack (2555Xm 2551AV cab ) it was to be a spare just in case right . Then when I unpacked it I was like I have to try it to make sure everything works properly and from there it was like how can I not use the new one with the first one and I have not looked back since I got it ! Seriously a lot of fun blasting away !

 

[Lukas]

Half stack versus full stack has no different affect on the power tubes. It is a matching load thing.
Once you get to 4 speakers total on a 50 or 100 watt amplifier the loudness starts to diminish power wise. So a full stack is counter productive connected to one amplifier.
Notice a lot of times you may see or used to see two cabinet stacks with two heads on top.

Yes I’ve seen that lots, or two full stacks with two heads up top for a total of 4 heads and 4 cabs. I thought they were running the full stack in stereo that way.

 

[mickeydg5]

Yes I’ve seen that lots, or two full stacks with two heads up top for a total of 4 heads and 4 cabs. I thought they were running the full stack in stereo that way.

If they are stacked it could be run as dual-mono or some sort separate channel sound system. (My thinking is that stereo has at least a left and right, separated stage presence.)


My point earlier was that while using one speaker type, a 4x12 will put out more SPL than 2 4x12 at the same amplifier settings.
But, but but butbut, more speakers will move more air, have a larger presence and allow the user to turn up the amplifier more since the power is being divided into so many speakers.
If you use enough speakers an attenuator will not be required, sort of speak. Although that will be a lot of speakers .

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

That's right , and besides the fun the tone is massive . The way I figure it if you can get away with it why not blast away ? . Let your ears guide you and at the end of the day it's all about having fun . At first when I was thinking about getting the second half stack (2555Xm 2551AV cab ) it was to be a spare just in case right . Then when I unpacked it I was like I have to try it to make sure everything works properly and from there it was like how can I not use the new one with the first one and I have not looked back since I got it ! Seriously a lot of fun blasting away !

When I first bought my Dsl40c’s it was meant to be running both of them together, then from reading here on the forum I learned how to hook up the 3210 mosfet, when I bought the Origin, I really had no plan of running a pair, but then the gas sat in , and I bought another one, now I have 2 rigs that to my ears sound fantastic, and I am going to stay with these 2 rigs.
Cheers Mitch

 

[kustombob]

I like running 2 amps also. Just a fuller sound. I also mike one of them into my PA . I have a big basement where we jam and I have all the gear here. Drums ' Bass setup
keys ' other amps ect. So no one needs to bring any heavy stuff unless they want. I think playing though a PA helps with timing. Here are a few pics of my room ' and some grand kids hogging it up. Thanks

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

I like running 2 amps also. Just a fuller sound. I also mike one of them into my PA . I have a big basement where we jam and I have all the gear here. Drums ' Bass setup
keys ' other amps ect. So no one needs to bring any heavy stuff unless they want. I think playing though a PA helps with timing. Here are a few pics of my room ' and some grand kids hogging it up. Thanks

That’s some cool pics right there,
And the grandkids are the next rockers !!
Thanks for sharing
Mitch

 

[ampmadscientist]

I like running 2 amps also. Just a fuller sound. I also mike one of them into my PA . I have a big basement where we jam and I have all the gear here. Drums ' Bass setup
keys ' other amps ect. So no one needs to bring any heavy stuff unless they want. I think playing though a PA helps with timing. Here are a few pics of my room ' and some grand kids hogging it up. Thanks

Looks like ingredients of some impending hippie culture music festival.
The rock idols of tomorrowland.

 

[JBA]

Simplified for me (at this point) is not lugging more gear than I need, but mostly simplicity for me is just plugging directly into one of my amps (at home), setting up a just a little crunch then cranking it until I push the power section with NO effects connected what so ever! It's revealing and sounds F N Amazing! I "disconnect" to reconnect with my amps like this about once every month or two. It puts a big ass smile on my face every time I do it.

 

[mickeydg5]

I like running 2 amps also. Just a fuller sound. I also mike one of them into my PA . I have a big basement where we jam and I have all the gear here. Drums ' Bass setup
keys ' other amps ect. So no one needs to bring any heavy stuff unless they want. I think playing though a PA helps with timing. Here are a few pics of my room ' and some grand kids hogging it up. Thanks

awe yeas
Nice room.

 

[nhbg]

I've always found that the busier I am with stage work, the less tweaking I tend to do. Back when I was full-time, I did none at all. I found a setting that got me in the ballpark, tone-wise, and that's what I stuck with for month after month. And anyway, 90% of what the crowd hears is in the hands of the sound techs. Bill Machrone once said one of the most-brilliant things about tone chasing I've ever heard: If the minuscule tweaks you're sweating about can be nullified by a slight EQ adjustment up at the board, then you're wasting your time. House EQ and compression (and how the compression is implemented) have far more impact on how we sound to our audiences than we tend to realize.

I'm not saying we shouldn't try to come up with a decent tone. I just don't think it's wise to push it to the point where we "chase after wind." I'm guilty of doing that myself. I've got 48 two-tube preamp designs I've come up with over the past four years sitting in my files. 90% of them sounded perfectly fine live. Was it fun building all those configurations and running them on stage? Sure. I just wonder whether my time could've been spent more-productively -- practicing more, for instance.

 

[dodona]

I've recently paired down to a JVM205C (and a backup SS amp incase the JVM needs servicing) and two guitars (Gibson Les Paul and a boutique band Les Paul type; one with '59 Tributes and one with hotter SDs). It feels like the "Goldilocks" of setups, and sound is more "intimate", while still being large. The end result? I more enjoy the experience of playing guitar as my setup is much more simplified. I spend more time playing and less time building a room.

the JVM205C is the best amp I ever had and I owned a lot (still have 4 tube amps).

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

the JVM205C is the best amp I ever had and I owned a lot (still have 4 tube amps).

Welcome to the forum

 

[El Gringo]

they dont even sound the same Game.

Rick are you giving Marshall a compliment /plug ? I can feel the love you know (maybe even just a little for Gibson ? ) You know what's funny , I like both Fender and Gibson guitars which is no biggie , so it's like the Stratocasters is like pulling teeth/hair to get them to sound right and the Tele in all her ugly glory is so easy to make her sing .Then the Gibson Les Paul ( my very first electric as a kid ) with the boxes of knobs (still cracking up with that ) is so easy to get the sound and now I am not even trying anymore with the Fenders .

 

[ricksdisconnected]

is so easy to get the sound and now I am not even trying anymore with the Fenders .

try H/S/S on the strat. im not huge on singles myself honestly there are times however that they are called for.
i do love the way most of them play though.