Will a 22w tube amp be loud enough?

[VintageTone]

hey, im looking at the bugera v22, will it be loud enough to play gigs with?, at the moment i have a marshall mg30dfx , and thats plenty loud enough, i never normally have it past half way, plus anywhere past half, things start getting a little messy , thanks VT

 

[Grandturk]

Unless you're talking to a stack-a-holic, yes, it should be loud enough. Whether it sounds good that loud is another question.

 

[VintageTone]

Well, the v22 is a valve, arnt they surposed to sound better at higher volumes?

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Well, the Bugera is also a Behringer with its pro's and con's.

Generally a 22W tube amp will be more than loud enough in a club/pub/bar setting if a "tube grit" sound is what You're after. Getting clean sounds out of it may be a struggle though if the band is loud.

Regards
Sam

 

[VintageTone]

Hey thanks for the reply, the amp is only £260 which is perfect for me, i really want the marshall haze, but it's just way out of my price range, i'm hoping to get it as a birthday present, as i've had my mg for nearly two years, and its the only amp i've got, so i'm looking forward to a new amp!

 

[PaoloJM]

IMO 20 - 30 watts through a decent set of speakers will be plenty loud enough for any club venue.
It's plenty for bars on its own, and any larger clubs will have a house PA where you can be miked anyway. I've bought my own 57 for those shows as I think it sounds best for guitar amps. Many of the clubs PAs have only vocal type mikes, and they don't sound as good to me.

 

[Purgasound]

A 22w tube amp should be louder than your current 30w solid state. A 50w tube amp is almost twice as loud as a 100w solid state.

 

[thrawn86]

A 22w tube amp should be louder than your current 30w solid state. A 50w tube amp is almost twice as loud as a 100w solid state.

+1
My brother's rig has always been a 120w SS Crate, and my all-valve 401 is still louder despite being 1/3 the wattage.

 

[Grandturk]

A 22w tube amp should be louder than your current 30w solid state. A 50w tube amp is almost twice as loud as a 100w solid state.

What's the calculation for Solid State wattage to decibels vs. tube to decibels? Is it just wattage x 2?

 

[PaoloJM]

What's the calculation for Solid State wattage to decibels vs. tube to decibels? Is it just wattage x 2?

It's exactly the same.
Valve amps generally don't adhere to the HiFi definitions for output wattage measurement and have different frequency emphasis, making them appear louder when compared to SS amps.
SS power amps do not/cannot distort by design whereas valve power amps in guitar amps do get overdriven, and so a 100 Watt valve amp may put out 150 Watts at full tilt whereas a 100 Watt SS amp puts out 100 Watts at full tilt.
Also SS amps tend to be cheaper and have less efficient speakers installed, this also makes a massive difference.