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Post subject: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 7:04 pm
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Hey folks!
Sorry I have not posted in a while. Been going through challenging times.
I was just curious to know. I have a solid state (made in China) 10 watt Marshall practice amp.
Has anyone ever . . . ever . . . . ever gigged with a small amp like that in a coffee shop type setting? As in a one man show with out a drummer or with?

What is the smallest amp you have successfully gigged with?
I know those amps are not made for live settings but there is no rule etched in stone as what not to do or to do.


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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 8:37 pm
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Well, before I had my Fender and Orange bass amps, I played a couple of club shows with this cheesy 50 watt Peavey Basic 60 combo that I had that was my girlfriend's. We had electronic backing music, so I suppose it didn't matter too much, since I didn't have to compete with any acoustic drums, or another guitarist, for that matter. They had everything hooked up to the house PA and everything worked. It's something that I wouldn't do again, because I have gear now, but I guess it was better than nothing.

As for your Marshall, I'm not really sure how well something like that could work in a coffee shop setting, especially without PA support. It depends on how small the place, and how many people are there. If you had PA support, and you were alone, you probably could pull it off, or even with other people, as long as they had similar volume settings. You could also elevate the amp on a table or chair to hear it better. I would have my doubt doing it with a drummer, unless he was just playing on some sort of percussion, and not bashing a full size kit.

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:00 pm
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Give it a try, it would be good for a laugh.


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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 6:59 am
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Fender Pro Junior (a little bit tricked out with Bill M mods).

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:56 am
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Heya, reno2atlanta. Can you use that small wattage amp for gigging? Well, never say never. I like breaking the rules. :wink: Perhaps, in a coffee house with full attention from the audience, but you may need more wattage to drown out that guy that keeps yelling, "Turn it down!" :lol:
Kidding aside, unless using a PA to reenforce the amp's output, I wouldn't depend on it. Having acoustic drums I definitely wouldn't go with 10 watts unless the drums were isolated as with a plexi screen or if the drummer uses brushes (good luck on that). Maybe, a controllable drum machine would be okay, I can't say. Studios can use 5 watt amps all day long to appease the recording engineer and to satisfy even Led Zeppelin.

If you gig with a lesser amp, just make sure it isn't one that will present listener fatigue over a lengthy period. Quality, clean, and dirty definitely have some bearing. IMHO.

Without getting into branding I thought these informative videos may be of use knowing that one size does not fit all.





Rules are meant to be broken, just make sure it's not your gig that fails. Let us know how you made out.

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:46 pm
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If your gig is busking, then maybe even smaller...


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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:59 pm
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Nice, Mike. The kid is flaming hot on that axe. Thanks, for posting.

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 1:19 pm
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After thinking on it for a bit I think a Deluxe Reverb is the probably the smallest amp I've ever gigged with.

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 1:50 pm
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You certainly could do a lot worse than a Deluxe Reverb, BMW-KTM. 8)
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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 5:50 pm
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Fender Strat Brat wrote:
Heya, reno2atlanta. Can you use that small wattage amp for gigging? Well, never say never. I like breaking the rules. :wink: Perhaps, in a coffee house with full attention from the audience, but you may need more wattage to drown out that guy that keeps yelling, "Turn it down!" :lol:
Kidding aside, unless using a PA to reenforce the amp's output, I wouldn't depend on it. Having acoustic drums I definitely wouldn't go with 10 watts unless the drums were isolated as with a plexi screen or if the drummer uses brushes (good luck on that). Maybe, a controllable drum machine would be okay, I can't say. Studios can use 5 watt amps all day long to appease the recording engineer and to satisfy even Led Zeppelin.


Thanks for the response. I live in a small space and my family thinks this solid state 10 watt is plenty loud. I am not a professional musician by the far stretch . . . However I am considering investing in a 15 watt tube amplification (as I get better) Thanks for the You Tube clips too! I really appreciate that!


If you gig with a lesser amp, just make sure it isn't one that will present listener fatigue over a lengthy period. Quality, clean, and dirty definitely have some bearing. IMHO.

Without getting into branding I thought these informative videos may be of use knowing that one size does not fit all.





Rules are meant to be broken, just make sure it's not your gig that fails. Let us know how you made out.

FSB


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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 7:28 pm
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You are very welcome, reno2atlanta. Glad to be of help.

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:52 pm
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Good to see your post reno2atlanta !
When I first started playing electric my first amp was a small 20 watt open back no name with a 10" speaker.

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:04 am
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Used a Mustang I regularly in a church praise team environment. It sat on tilted amp stand and pointed directly at me so it was amp/monitor combination. Hung a Sennhieser e609 in front of the amp to feed into the PA.

It worked very well except that I got a lot more highs with the amp pointed at my head.

This praise team varied in participants but occasionally it could be a lot of folks on the stage. We had drums, piano, bass, several vocalist, and two guitarist every Sunday. On some occasions we had a small horn section added to that mix. I NEVER had problems hearing myself.

Obviously such a small amp would never work without a PA.

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 3:57 pm
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1977 Silver Faced Bassman Ten! It's all I had. Good for rehearsals and small bar gigs and parties. Traded it in in 1979 for a Fender Studio Bass Amp. Much Better!

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Post subject: Re: The smallest amp you have gigged with
Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 5:39 pm
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Not exactly a gig, but we recorded quite a few songs in the studio live with my '59 Harvard cranked using a mike set about a foot back. We had half wall separators so we could see each other but cut down on the bleed over. Lots of 12 watt fun!

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