If nobody actually needs a 100 W amp anymore, why are we still buying them?

I've bought them for one reason or another. Mostly because I liked them.
I've kept them all because...

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...but mostly because I like them.

That looks a lot like my neighborhood here in southern California.
san bernardino mountains clouds.jpg
 
No idea if there is a Julian Moore character inspired religion, so you're on your own with that one.

Edit: Scientology seems like some of the crazier stuff out there though, so maybe that'll do.

Already tried scientology.
I did not see any scientists.
I don't even believe any of the lizard people that were there were scientists.
 
My Herbert sounds best with the master at noon or higher and the channel volume barely cracked. Same with my UL. I wish I could do that with my Marshalls. When big power sections are cooking(not necessarily over driven), they sound bigger. Bolder. Hotter. However you wanna say it. Little amps sound fine. But I don't dig little amps or little speaker cabs. I don't even play little guitars. But I will share this shameful secret here and now. I am a 6'3 fatboy truck driver that drives a tiny car(scion xb). Go figue.

I swear, it seems like 90% of the guitar forum guys must be tiny and we're the only big dudes

It's always "looking for a les paul, must be 7 pounds 4 ounces or less" or "i'm getting a neo neo neo creamback 1x12 for use with my grab and go lunchbox"

am I the only person on earth who doesn't think its a big deal to carry a fucking guitar and amp to a gig?
 
I swear, it seems like 90% of the guitar forum guys must be tiny and we're the only big dudes

It's always "looking for a les paul, must be 7 pounds 4 ounces or less" or "i'm getting a neo neo neo creamback 1x12 for use with my grab and go lunchbox"

am I the only person on earth who doesn't think its a big deal to carry a fucking guitar and amp to a gig?

It drives me crazy when people are so concerned with how heavy something is. Stop asking me how much shit I’m selling weighs FFS…. I’m like….Weights… lift them!🤣
 
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I swear, it seems like 90% of the guitar forum guys must be tiny and we're the only big dudes

It's always "looking for a les paul, must be 7 pounds 4 ounces or less" or "i'm getting a neo neo neo creamback 1x12 for use with my grab and go lunchbox"

am I the only person on earth who doesn't think its a big deal to carry a fucking guitar and amp to a gig?
I am six foot four and about 210lbs. My heavy Twin is about 95lbs and the light one is about 85lbs. It's not a big deal to carry them to gigs. I prefer it to separate head/cab arrangements. We always pack a dolly for load ins and loud outs.I get tired of the "too heavy" crowd. At some point those guys just sound like dickless pussies. Exceptions made for people with bad backs. We used to help the keys player lug a Rhodes, get back to me on your 40lbs combo haha.....
 
I am six foot four and about 210lbs. My heavy Twin is about 95lbs and the light one is about 85lbs. It's not a big deal to carry them to gigs. I prefer it to separate head/cab arrangements. We always pack a dolly for load ins and loud outs.I get tired of the "too heavy" crowd. At some point those guys just sound like dickless pussies. Exceptions made for people with bad backs. We used to help the keys player lug a Rhodes, get back to me on your 40lbs combo haha.....

I honestly am concerned about some of these dudes

like apparently the entire guitar community has scoliosis and needs a balsa wood Strandberg that weighs 4 ounches and a direct HX stomp/quad cortex as their entire fucking guitar rig or else their wife's boyfriend is going to break all their Funko pops and Nintendo switch

I understand not going as large with your rig as I've done in the past (I'm 6'4" 260) - wet dry isn't for everyone

but it seems only online in guitar forums is a les Paul, a couple of pedals, and a twin or super or half stack or whatever an "outlandish" or ridiculously large gigging rig

At the shows I play EVERYONE has a large tube amp of some kind - it's kind of expected for a punk show
 
It drives me crazy when people are so concerned with how heavy something is. Stop asing me how much shit I’m selling weighs FFS…. I’m like….Weights… lift them!🤣

The guitars especially - the funny part is, WHO CARES IF THE LES PAUL IS 9 POUNDS IF YOURE ONLY EVER GOING TO PLAY IT AT HOME?

Like JFC if you're always sitting down who fucking cares about how much it weighs?
 
I honestly am concerned about some of these dudes

like apparently the entire guitar community has scoliosis and needs a balsa wood Strandberg that weighs 4 ounches and a direct HX stomp/quad cortex as their entire fucking guitar rig or else their wife's boyfriend is going to break all their Funko pops and Nintendo switch

I understand not going as large with your rig as I've done in the past (I'm 6'4" 260) - wet dry isn't for everyone

but it seems only online in guitar forums is a les Paul, a couple of pedals, and a twin or super or half stack or whatever an "outlandish" or ridiculously large gigging rig

At the shows I play EVERYONE has a large tube amp of some kind - it's kind of expected for a punk show

The bass community is just as bad; at least how it's portrayed in online forums. All they want is tiny lightweight amps that can fit in their backpack. Half of them don't even bother with speaker cabs and just want to go straight DI out.

The last time I meandered over to a bass forum to ask suggestions for a full tube amp + cab half of the responses were something along the lines of "why do you want to deal with all that weight" or "it's going to be super loud" "get a light Class D and go DI".

Yeah, the Class D amps are feather light and sound decent for what they are. Like lunchbox guitar heads, they just don't hit the same as a full tube 300 watt SVT. If you want big sound you need big iron. Weight just comes with the territory so stop being a puss and man up.
 
The bass community is just as bad; at least how it's portrayed in online forums. All they want is tiny lightweight amps that can fit in their backpack. Half of them don't even bother with speaker cabs and just want to go straight DI out.

The last time I meandered over to a bass forum to ask suggestions for a full tube amp + cab half of the responses were something along the lines of "why do you want to deal with all that weight" or "it's going to be super loud" "get a light Class D and go DI".

Yeah, the Class D amps are feather light and sound decent for what they are. Like lunchbox guitar heads, they just don't hit the same as a full tube 300 watt SVT. If you want big sound you need big iron. Weight just comes with the territory so stop being a puss and man up.

It's funny, at the local club that has weekly punk shows, i've literally never seen a class D amp

Its mostly SVTs and fridge cabs, and silverface bassmans with the 2x15s, with a handful of 6x10s and 4x10s

The interesting part is just how big of a difference big bass amps make as far as live sound - that feeling of your chest being thumped by an SVT is what I associate a good live show with. And all the direct and class D rigs fall woefully short
 
You'll have to bring me up to speed.
I don't click on links.



Probably not that high in elevation.
On the plus side I am shielded from what I would guess are world war three targets.
At least, according to the internet.
There's also more wildlife than a Disney cartoon.
So, there's that.
Dirt road is fun.
Unless it snows.
No Swiss.
Plenty of horns, though.

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could be top secret missile / military bases not far?


There's an interactive map of nuclear attack simulations in the USA: https://www.nuclearwarmap.com/

there's an interactive map to see what happens if your area is nuked: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

or you can search on: interactive nuclear targets map usa


According to the first map, I'm good unless they use a 2000kt or bigger bomb; and which way the wind is blowing, and where ground zero is located which is likely an airbase here.


Here's a list from the first site of probable nuclear targets: https://www.nuclearwarmap.com/targetlist.html Happy to say the nearby city and base isn't on this list, probably not in the first wave.
 
It's funny, at the local club that has weekly punk shows, i've literally never seen a class D amp

Its mostly SVTs and fridge cabs, and silverface bassmans with the 2x15s, with a handful of 6x10s and 4x10s

The interesting part is just how big of a difference big bass amps make as far as live sound - that feeling of your chest being thumped by an SVT is what I associate a good live show with. And all the direct and class D rigs fall woefully short

I guess it's a difference between online bedroom players and real life musicians. I haven't played out in a long time and don't do the club/bar scene anymore so I don't know how much of this silent stage mess is really out there. Back when I was playing the only real PA support a local club had was for vocals & drums. Everything else had to be turned up to be heard. You at minimum needed a 412 for guitars and 410 or 215 for bass. There were practice spaces you could rent and be able to crank a 100 watt Marshall as loud as you wanted all hours of the day/night. My mentality is stuck in this time frame. So even at home I'm still mainly playing through a large head/cab and pushing the volume to feel the air move.
 
but it seems only online in guitar forums is a les Paul, a couple of pedals, and a twin or super or half stack or whatever an "outlandish" or ridiculously large gigging rig

At the shows I play EVERYONE has a large tube amp of some kind - it's kind of expected for a punk show
Heck, I was at a jazz-leaning jam twice in the last two months, both times when they needed an amp I brought my VK100 and 4x12. Didn't crank the volume (small bar room, etc. ), but no one had a problem with the half-stack at all and some even seemed happy that I brought a "big" amp.
 
What sounds best? A 1w, 5w, 20w, 50w, 100w or more? For me, it's a no brainer as the 100w always sounds best at low, med or high vol. 50s are fine but have something different going on; sweeter tone maybe but doesn't fill out the spectrum like a 100w. Regarding the lower wattage amps, sure they CAN do the job, most gigs BUT they won't sound as full IMO when you have a 100/50 at the same vol as the 20...the 20 strains and sounds much thinner than the 50, and even more so the 100.

100w amps always just sound best, at any vol, compared to any other wattage to my ears anyway. I buy my amps because they sound best for what I want to hear. I've also never had a hard time using any higher wattage amp, at a super low volume...they still sound great no matter how loud/quiet they are.
Sometimes people think that the only way a 100w amp sounds good, is to dime it....not even close to being a true statement. Every amp sounds its best loud, of course, but they can also sound killer down low. I had a Wizard MC100 that had this killer super low vol tone, whisper quiet that sounded like it was about to blow.
I felt exactly like you for years. Anything less than 100 is masturbating. Then i took my 100 watt to @RedB4Black and we played his same model 50 and it was dead nuts same punch.

Not every builder can nail this, granted, but i immediately saw buying two power tubes instead of four and was a bit excited.

Lately, i went back to Matt's and took my 50 watter, and against the 100s and 150s, i cranked the volume all the way to try to keep up. Still didnt, but I was surprised it held together at that volume and didnt lose the tightness and go to pieces just becoming a rock amp.

I was a bit jealous not to be able to punch as hard as them, but 99% of the time I am not side by side with the top amps out there right now. And even being a little puny next to them, i thought my 50 watter did a great job
 
According to the first map, I'm good unless they use a 2000kt or bigger bomb; and which way the wind is blowing, and where ground zero is located which is likely an airbase here.
Fuck that. I’ll be driving very quickly towards Clarksville TN (101st airborne division). I’m leaving this earth quick. I’m not sticking around for what is next. There will be no power to run those 100 watters. Sitting around a campfire with bloody splotches on your body as the leukemia eats you, sharing roach and rat stew with a neighbor that you hated pre- apocalypse; thinking maybe a blowjob from him/her isn’t out of the question. 🫤. Let that fester for a moment.
 
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