Minimum viable wattage

[hrnn1234]

I'm on a quest to find out what's the smallest usable amp.

I'm relatively new to bass, I've only been playing for the last couple of years. I've played drums several years in different bands, and guitar before that, but bass specific gear is just now starting to demystify. Using the internet as the source of information has already taught me the expensive lesson that not everything is as significant as people say online.

Years have passed and today speakers are much more efficient. There is no intrinsic need for an 8x10 if you need volume. Same goes for amps. You may prefer one sound over the other, but class D amps are loud and light with no compare.

The other thing is where I get to use my gear. I live and play in Vienna, Austria. Most of my gigs here so far have been in pubs with PA support. The one time we played a massive stage there was already a backline available. So far I never had to bring my cab to a gig although I bought a "light" 2x12 with that purpose. I only take my amp because it fits in the pedalboard (MB200 is the best thing ever) and I prefer to use that as a DI as whatever they have on the venue.

So this leaves the practice room to be the only place my rig gets to be used. And only turning the knob up until 9 o'clock, otherwise is too loud.

I'm in contact with a guy selling an Ampeg BA110, tiny "practice" amp, that according to someone in talkbass is "super loud", even for small church gigs. The thing is 35Watts, so I'm likely going too low, but the curiosity took the best of me. And for 30€ is a fun experiment.

Even trying to future proof this extreme concept I can see myself using an amp like this on stage just for monitoring purposes. After experiencing the venues around here a bit, I really see no point in going much bigger than this.

Yes, headroom. Yes, I can't turn it up to 11 and expect it to sound/behave the same. I'll let you know how this goes.

By the way, what's the smallest amp you gigged with?

Cheers!

[T-Bay]

I am pretty new to Bass and have messed about with a few amps and rigs over the last few months. It's hard to generalise really and one mans perfect sound would have someone else going back to the shop. Bigger isn't always better BUT generally I have found that bigger setups on low volume sound better than smaller setups cranked up to 11 to get the same volume. There is some amazing stuff out there that is small and light but it's not cheap!

[Muppet]

I did a loud blues gig once (drummer, two guitarists, violin) in a large pub with only backline using a borrowed AER Amp One. It was tiny and incredible.

[Steve Browning]

I have occasionally gigged with an old Portaflex in the past but concluded that Jamerson gigged at a time when everyone sat down at a gig and listened. Either that or no-one heard him!

[Truckstop]

I used an SWR Workingmans10 combo for a long time with a pub covers band.

80w, 10" speaker, was certainly loud enough for most applications. It's never going to fill a large room with the bass frequencies, but definitely for pubs and smaller clubs it was loud enough without having to struggle. Very very decent bit of kit.

I've seen a guy use the new Hartke 35w kickback combo for a small outdoors event; I heard the sodding thing from down the road! Very impressed!

I currently use a Fender Rumble100 (v3) and have used it in pubs and clubs and loud rehearsals and find it just fine. I do have a fairly bass-thin tone; anything below 100hz I completely cut.

[Beer of the Bass]

Since you've already got the MB200, why not keep that and pick up a small, light cab? I have done this with a GK MB200 and a 1x10" cab (I had an EA Wizzy 10 for a few years, and currently have a home built 1x10" for that job). It sounds a lot better than most cheap small combos and the head and cab together fit in a padded cajon bag with a shoulder strap.

[xgsjx]

Just a couple of watts might be fine if you have efficient cabs & the amp is capable.

I've gigged with a Vox Venue 30 (1x12 combo) with a blues band years ago & whilst it's not been trouser flapping, I wasn't drowned out by the rest of the band.

[EliasMooseblaster]

As others have mentioned, it does depend a great deal on the sound you want, and the kind of music you're playing. Just to throw my hat in the ring, I have played rock gigs with a 30W valve amp (Ashdown LB30) into a 1x15. It did the job remarkably well until our guitarist upgraded to a Blackstar amp!

[FinnDave]

Mainly gig with a 300 watt combo (but without extension speaker, so probably only 200w) and use a 500w head and 2x12 cab for outdoor events. Have used my 180w combo (again, into the internal 8 ohms speaker, so probably 130w or less) but generally find that a bit too quiet and thin for gigs.

[chris_b]

"Minimum viable wattage. . . . ?" How long is a piece of string?

I usually don't work with FOH so "minimum" is what it takes to fill the room with some left over.

[Phil Starr]

Watts are only half the story (keeping the story simple) the other half is the efficiency of the the speakers. The sensitivity tell you how many dB's you'll get with one watt and then you can work out how many you'll get with one particular amp.

Let's say you have a speaker that gives you 94dB for 1W, Doubling the power gives you an extra 3dB and ten times the power gives you 10dB extra. 100W will give you 114db through this speaker

Now swap the speaker for something efficient, 100db for each watt, this will give you the same 20dB extra with a 100W amp or 120dB.

To make the first speaker as loud you need two lots of 3db more power which means four times as much or 400W. Now 120dB happens to be about the sound level needed to work with an average drummer, and so long as your drummer is average that's the level to aim at, roughly.

A bit more detail if you want https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/the_guide_to/making_it_loud.html

Edited April 4, 2017 by Phil Starr

[hrnn1234]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1491289971' post='3271769']
I used an SWR Workingmans10 combo for a long time with a pub covers band.
[/quote]

that looks interesting!
[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1491292247' post='3271787']
Since you've already got the MB200, why not keep that and pick up a small, light cab? I have done this with a GK MB200 and a 1x10" cab (I had an EA Wizzy 10 for a few years, and currently have a home built 1x10" for that job). It sounds a lot better than most cheap small combos and the head and cab together fit in a padded cajon bag with a shoulder strap.
[/quote]

I'm actually waiting for the wood I ordered to build the basschat 1x12 cab

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1491298481' post='3271863']
Watts are only half the story (keeping the story simple) the other half is the efficiency of the the speakers. The sensitivity tell you how many dB's you'll get with one watt and then you can work out how many you'll get with one particular amp.

Let's say you have a speaker that gives you 94dB for 1W, Doubling the power gives you an extra 3dB and ten times the power gives you 10dB extra. 100W will give you 114db through this speaker

Now swap the speaker for something efficient, 100db for each watt, this will give you the same 20dB extra with a 100W amp or 120dB.

To make the first speaker as loud you need two lots of 3db more power which means four times as much or 400W. Now 120dB happens to be about the sound level needed to work with an average drummer, and so long as your drummer is average that's the level to aim at, roughly.

A bit more detail if you want [url="https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/the_guide_to/making_it_loud.html"]https://www.ultimate...ng_it_loud.html[/url]
[/quote]

nice writeup. details on that are always fuzzy, thanks.

[Adrenochrome]

I've done all my acoustic gigs with a Trace Elliot Boxer 30 (1x10, 30 watts), including an outdoor festival. I've seen full rock gigs done with the TE BLX 80 (the one with the slotted front).
Quite a few years ago everyone gigged with lower powered amps but loads of speaker area - it's all swung round now.

[bazzbass]

Mark Bass Little Mark 250 Blackline, 150w into 8 Ohms 250 into 4

pair it with a 2x10 cab, small light portable