Volume

[lojo]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1418562676' post='2631159']
The classic guitarist saying. And in defence, higher wattage amps don`t sound as good when not pushed.
[/quote]

Mate, who's side you here

As others have said classic guitarist approach

[blue]

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1418578747' post='2631360']
Fender Twins are great, classic amps but they are earth shattering loud. When I used to play guitar live I had a '59 Bassman reissue which was 40 watts and stupid loud, so I modded it to allow it to produce the tones I wanted at a lower output. Fender Hot Rods have the same, audience deafening quality/problem, especially the 4x10. The only answers are a smaller amp, max 30 watts, or, as has already been suggested, an attenuator like the THD. From a practical POV I'd go for a smaller amp, as the Twin, as well as being stupidly loud, is no lightweight either.
[/quote]

Yeah, even back in my day,(the 60s) twins were [i]"the amp"[/i], they were loud as hell.

When we were teenagers we didn't have nor could we afford, and as a matter of fact their was not a lot PA technology options at the time. Especially for bar bands.

I remember an innovative drummer miced his drums though a twin.

Blue

Edited December 14, 2014 by blue

[wateroftyne]

Twins are deafening. New amp time.

[Roger2611]

It still makes me smile, I used to play rhythm guitar in the band I now play bass in, the main guitarist always used to moan that his set up didn't sound as good as mine (I used a 15W Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Strat he still uses a 50W Marshall JVM and a Les Paul) Sure I was worried turning up to a gig with a 15W amp but it was absolutely fine and as I could push it to it's sweet spot I was getting the best out of the amp whereas he cannot run it above 2 on the volume so gets nowhere near the sweet spot. I still can't envisage persuading him to change to a smaller amp though

[Coilte]

People keep talking about the amp(s) as if it was to blame.

The problem lies with the knob at the front[size=4] [/size]

[size=4][size=2]To be taken as you see fit !!![/size][/size]

Edited December 14, 2014 by Coilte

[Guest BeardyBob]

are you kiddin' me? get bigger gigs!

[Mykesbass]

I think most modern Twins have a 100/25 watt selector switch on the back - see if his has one and get him to drive the amp but at the lower power.

[discreet]

Get him to stay in the van.

[ambient]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1418586141' post='2631487']
Get him to stay in the van.
[/quote]

Or the car park maybe ?

[scalpy]

This thread just triggers a recurring line of thought for me- musicians are one of the biggest causes of the slow death of live music, principally due to volume.

[White Cloud]

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1418557605' post='2631102']
After the gig He said that he couldn't go any lower to get the sound He needed to get ?
[/quote]
In fairness this is also my excuse of choice!

[JTUK]

Not a sustainable situation, tbh... something has to give..before your hearing does.

[Maude]

Stab his speaker cones with a screwdriver, he'll have a nice distorted sound at lower volume levels :-)

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1418586601' post='2631495']
Or the car park maybe ?


[/quote]
... or at home.

[DaveFry]

A guitarist I play with sometimes claims he has to play loud because he is deaf .
When asked what caused his deafness he replies " I used to have a Mesa Boogie 4x10 " .

[Twincam]

[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1418596571' post='2631642']
Stab his speaker cones with a screwdriver, he'll have a nice distorted sound at lower volume levels :-)
[/quote]

Haha I like it. Well the guy in the Kinks did that to his vox ac30. Not quite for the same reason. But it would work.

[RockfordStone]

my guitarist uses a fender amp, not a twin but a valve job none the less.

he plays his loud, but not so loud that the drummer and i can't hear ourselves. he appreciates that some of the venues we play are not large enough to crank his amp, and as such he has an array of pedals to accentuate the tones and has the amp set up to work with them to get the best out of both at a low volume level.

it is true that the sound breaks up the louder they get, but that is best saved for recording in a treated studio rather than a pub imo.

if he has to play loud to get his tone, then he is obviously lacking somewhere and needs to learn more about his gear

[bigd1]

In my band we had both guitar players who had the big is best way of thinking. After lots of rehearsals that you couldn't hear the vocals at, myself and the drummer (YES the drummer) told them both they had to do something about the volume. Guitar player 1 changes his Marshall half stack with 4x12 cab for a Vox tranny amp that has built in FX (can't remember the model) problem solved for him. Guitar player 2 gave the "I can't get my sound at any lower volume" excuse using a Fender hot rod deluxe. He wouldn't use a pedal etc. Now I know money was an issue for him, but we didn't expect him to buy new amp or anything. I even offered to loan him my tube screamer, or couple of other overdrive pedals I have. All to no avail.
We had to get rid, not something the rest of us were to happy about at the time but, some players and from my experience guitarist a) think its great to play loud. I can't disagree but its just not practical. Will never take advice from the bass player (what do we know abut playing an instrument ! )
As some have said I think it is a historical thing with guitar amps, more so with my group as we are all over the age of 50 and if the guitarist you use big amps, smaller amps have only recently started to sound really good, but thats no excuse to sound crap.

[lojo]

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1418589329' post='2631529']
This thread just triggers a recurring line of thought for me- musicians are one of the biggest causes of the slow death of live music, principally due to volume.
[/quote]

You might have something there

[discreet]

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1418658472' post='2632046']
my guitarist uses a fender amp...
[/quote]

Ours has a 1X12" Marshall valve job, sounds really great. It's 40W so can be bloody loud, but has a half-power option - that works really well.
He's pretty cool about keeping the volume down - I'm guessing he's not compensating for anything.

[Marvin]

Any musician that has to be loud to get 'their tone' has bought the wrong gear.

Apparently the reason for using large valve amps, say 100w plus is you still get a nice clean tone at what a guitarist would consider a gigging volume. Any smaller and it breaks up at too low a volume. That's what a guitarist told me, and who am I to disagree I'm just a bass player.

One guy I was in a band with had one of those blackstar 60w 212 combos. Made your ears bleed on 2

Edited December 15, 2014 by Marvin

[Froggy]

This thread has started me thinking. I'm new to playing, currently I practice in my truck with a tiny 2w Marshall mini amp, perfect for the cab, but I'm looking at buying a proper amp for home, and eventually, gigging if I ever get good enough. I was considering a 100w bass amp, my thinking being that I can play it turned down and adjust the volume to the venue as my experience grows. Most of the venues in my local area are going to be pyb/club gigs, am I going to be seeing problems running a 100w amp at lower volumes? Or is this primarily a guitar thing and bass amps sound fine at lower volumes? For anyone wondering I was considering a Hartke HD100A.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Froggy

[Guest BeardyBob]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1418672903' post='2632242']
Any musician that has to be loud to get 'their tone' has bought the wrong gear.
[/quote]

nah! it's like crack... once you've had that sweet hit nothing else will do...

[Guest BeardyBob]

[quote name='Froggy' timestamp='1418673067' post='2632244']
This thread has started me thinking. I'm new to playing, currently I practice in my truck with a tiny 2w Marshall mini amp, perfect for the cab, but I'm looking at buying a proper amp for home, and eventually, gigging if I ever get good enough. I was considering a 100w bass amp, my thinking being that I can play it turned down and adjust the volume to the venue as my experience grows. Most of the venues in my local area are going to be pyb/club gigs, am I going to be seeing problems running a 100w amp at lower volumes? Or is this primarily a guitar thing and bass amps sound fine at lower volumes? For anyone wondering I was considering a Hartke HD100A.
[/quote]

*when you get good enough! yea man, she'll be fine at lower volumes, in fact it's probably good to practice at a reasonable volume... harder to hide the mistakes! keep on... truckin'

HAHAHAH!!! LOL!! AHAHAH I made a funny cos you said 'truck'

[blue]

[quote name='Froggy' timestamp='1418673067' post='2632244']
This thread has started me thinking. I'm new to playing, currently I practice in my truck with a tiny 2w Marshall mini amp, perfect for the cab, but I'm looking at buying a proper amp for home, and eventually, gigging if I ever get good enough.
[/quote]

If your heart is in this and you have a high interest and passion to gig, you will gig.

Most younger guys coming up now have little to no interest in being in a band or gigging. When and where I grew up being in a rock band was a way of life. I thought everyone was in a band.

Blue

Edited December 15, 2014 by blue