Need your input!!! (Amps, pedals, etc)

GMartin2R · 10-02-2003, 01:30 AM

yea plus wiht tube amps isn't there a "sweet spot" volume wise to get the best performance out of it?

i know my stage 160 is as your hr DD2 with the volume deal. save for mine is even lower at .5-.75...

**thesteve** · 10-02-2003, 08:58 AM

i've been told there's a sweet spot. i know my amp sounds really thin when I'm running the clean side around 1.7 or so (remember this amp goes from 1-12, so it's a different scale). The highest I've played at is maybe 2.2 or so...and it sounds so much better there than 1.7. I haven't turned it past that yet...haven't had a reason to.

cloakerz · 10-07-2003, 12:23 AM

classic 30 is a great amp. Mine has awesome tube tone and stays rather "clean"
until volume is above 3 then starts to break up in a great blues kind of tone. You can change the preamp tubes to get more clean headroom if desired but the
thing mics out real well at church. It works great with the youth band on gain channel for 100+ teenagers so it has good volume. Just wish I could use it in main worship service but soundguys don't see the need to run an amp so I am
stuck using a pod or such. If you can use an amp, don't use a pod! Sound quality drops off dramatic when modeling devices are used in my opinion. Tube amp with good pedals is "My dream" to use someday at church.

Eddo · 10-11-2003, 04:24 AM

Hey dudedude2.. Sorry.. I was in a bad mood when I typed all that. I still stand by my opionion but am asking for forgiveness of my attitude.

**thesteve** · 10-11-2003, 05:45 PM

oh...i dont' disagree with you at all.

Major Tom · 10-12-2003, 07:55 PM

Eddo - the Classic 50 is a 50 watt amp. That's 50 watts of output into the proper load, no matter how many speakers make up that load - that's the most it can do. The 100 watt rating of a speaker indicates the amount of power it can handle without the voice coil burning up, it can't add to the power output, its a passive device. A 50 watt amp into 1 or 2 or 4 speakers rated at 100 watts each (at the proper total impedance ) is 50 watts.
The "sweet spot" people are refering to is when the power tubes are being driven to the pont where at least a little saturation occurs at that stage, which is typically approaching their rated output. This is not the same as turning the master volume down - that would be preamp tube saturation/distortion, which has a different sound and "feel" than power tube saturation/distortion. The bigger the amp, the louder it is at that point. That's why a lot of us try to match amp size to the venue restrictions, so we can achieve that sound you can only get when the power tubes are starting to sweat a little. I usually use a 20 watt 1x12 combo tube amp on the P & W team on a large stage, in a 600 seat HS auditoreum. In that setting, I still use an attenuator with it 'cause its a little too loud without it.