Possibly will be gigging soon need amp size recommendations

[Jimothey]

I’m possibly going to start gigging  soon and was wondering what size amp/Brands everyone would recommend for an average size pub gigs? Funds are quite tight so budget options would be great 👍🏻 

 

I’ve seen a Ashdown Electric Blue 180 that is local and reasonably priced? (£100)

Edited May 16, 2023 by Jimothey

[Downunderwonder]

There are pub gigs and PUB GIGS if you catch my drift. There is no average that will be all good for a PUB GIG.

 

The Ashdown could easily be all you need. It could also be inadequate.

 

A lot depends on whether you are joining a Big PA toting band or a Vocal PA toting band, or even a IEM toting band.

 

You may have ideas of playing outside with no PA support and a loud guitar based band? You can pretty much forget about the Ashdown combo for that.

 

It is very much horses for courses yada yada. All we really know is you have a four legged horse but we don't even know if it's steeplechase or gallops let alone track conditions.

[Mudpup]

Minimum of 500 watts into a 4 ohm load and a cab/cabs that equate to the 4 ohms. You can always turn it down but having to thrash it for volume isn't a good plan. This will cover pretty much anything you need in most pubs.

 

Buy used off the classifieds here. There are usually some bargains to be had on older bigger/heavier amps. Maybe find an Ashdown ABM500 or an old Peavey if you can? There's some cheap Trace Elliott and Mark Bass stuff around now and quite a bit of choice in the classifieds 

 

What's the budget?

Edited May 17, 2023 by Mudpup

[Downunderwonder]

An old Trace Elliot with 250w will keep up with any drummer outdoors given enough cab. Two or three in the classifieds at the moment.

 

500w is the Class D 'standard' only because so many puff up the ratings with burst power that won't put out more than a couple of milliseconds.

[chris_b]

On a pub gig, last week end, I used a 700 watt amp and 2 very good 112 cabs. It wasn't a particularly loud gig so the amp wasn't turned up high, but I want a clean sound so headroom is important.

 

Watts are cheap. You can always turn down but you have wasted your money if you find your amp isn't loud enough.

 

I haven't done a gig with less than a 500 watt amp in 25 years. 180 watts wouldn't cut it for me. 2 112 cabs gives you the option of taking 1 or both, depending on the gig.

[Downunderwonder]

1 minute ago, chris_b said:

Watts are cheap

OP is extra cheap so probably looking at old iron which was made when watts were harder to come by, expensive but real, and now proper cheap mostly thanks to being 14kg or more.

[Jimothey]

Thanks everyone for the replies I understand there’s no one size fits all answer I’m really just looking to get something to get me started if you know what I mean then if things carry on then upgrade to something better

 

I think I’ll look for around the 500w size but my budget is around £200 I’ve seen a few Trace Elliot’s for around that price………👍🏻

 

 

[Downunderwonder]

£200 is well used territory but you could bring the thunder if you shop very well.

 

There was a Trace combo that went for £150 I think in the end. Add extension cab later and stand well back. It can be done.

[Downunderwonder]

If the £100 Ashdown combo is working well it's a good prospect. By rights it should take an extension cab, you would have to check up on that, also that it has the original speaker which must be an 8 ohm.

 

Some old combos only took extension cabs by plugging in another in series as opposed to the usual parallel. This let them away with using a 4 ohm driver to "get all the watts" but it was an own goal because the extension lowered the output power when the 2nd cab plugged in taking away a lot of the usual extension cab benefit.

[gjones]

I had an Ashdown Electric Blue 150 watt combo 10 years ago and they are decent amps. My band wasn't very loud so it was fine for pub gigs. It also takes an extension cab, so if your drummer is loud that is always an option.

 

I once put it through an Ashdown ABM 1x15 and with 150 watts through two 15 inch speakers, it was extremely loud 😀

Edited May 17, 2023 by gjones

[Japhet]

You've got a few things to consider. What type of music are you playing, and how loud? What size venues and how much room to set up? How many in the band since it quickly eats up available space. Big enough car to shift it around?

 

Once you've worked that out I'd say you want 500W class D or 300W on an older type transistor like an Ashdown or a Trace.

[Phil Starr]

You don’t need to get too carried away with power. It matters but is only part of the story. What you need to do is to be able to match the sound levels of the loudest instrument in your band. Probably the drums. A drummer will typically produce an average sound level of around 100db @1m so for a 40db range you need to be able to produce around 120db.

 

Bass speakers vary in their efficiency/loudness but 97db/W is fairly typical so for 120db you need a gain of 23db which is 200W. For many years people used Trace and Peavey amps of just that power and we seem to have forgotten that.

 

There’s no harm in going bigger than that but ‘need’ is a bit strong if everything else is right about your choice. Make sure it gives that power into the speakers you choose. Having said that the bog standard for amps nowadays seems to be 300w into 8ohms and 500 into 4ohms so you’ll have a lot of choice of those. Choose based upon sound.

 

btw that 180w Ashdown is close enough to count as a 200W amp paired with something like a 2x12

[BassmanPaul]

I would just like to wish the OP in his new venture. Playing in front of a crowd is different than rehearsal time. I was part of a musical family so my dad had me singing on stage at the tender age of five! It was at a musical contest and I won! LOL

 

[JoeEvans]

If you don't mind the weight, an older Trace Elliot combo will give you an extraordinary ratio of volume and sound quality to the pound. You can pick up various models for well under £200 that will knock the socks off you.

I recently sold a GP7 1x15" combo that would have done you for any pub gig - any situation needing more volume than that could deliver would certainly have a big PA involved. 

If anything the problem with TE gear is that you don't often get the chance to crank it right up, when it starts really singing. I remember playing one gig in a London park with my old GP15 4x10 combo turned up to about number eight, and the tone and power were just awesome. But it weighed literally 40kg or something stupid like that...

Edited June 1, 2023 by JoeEvans

[Franticsmurf]

For rehearsals and smaller gigs, I'll use my TCE BAM200 and a 1x12 cab (I have a Warwick 1x12 and a pair of Trace Elliot 1x10s). The TCE BAM200 and Warwick cost me around £300 - I'm sure there are 2nd hand bargains to be had with this kit. The benefit of the separates is you can upgrade individual elements as the need (and funds) arise. I mostly go through the front of house mixer now but I still use the TCE and Warwick for rehearsals and the TCE has a DI out for the mixer if required. 

 

Another option is to get the amp and do a search on the threads on here about speaker builds - I've built my own 1x12 and a pair of 1x6s using plans and info provided by some really knowledgeable folks here.

[Jack]

The Electric Blue stuff from Ashdown was bottom rung for its time, can you maybe stretch to an Ashdown MAG combo? Old, heavy, covered in carpet. But you can get a 2x10, 1x15 or even a 4x10 combo that will provide around 180W internally and about 300W if you add a cabinet later. The 4x10 would pretty much cover any gig I've ever done and sound great doing it.

[Woodinblack]

I generally use my ashdown ABM600 and 2 1x12 TC speakers, just because everything fits together. The volume is generally at 1/4 - directly to the left. Before that (and still sometimes) I used my TC450, which was less and had no problem with that. But TBH, the most time in the previous band I used a TC250 1x12 combo and never had any issues with that. I am sure they are pretty cheap now, the only reason it changed was probably being on basschat!