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

  • Thread starter Thread starter mightywarlock
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alund said:
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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I am not as dramatic as you, but in the same boat. I like creature comforts. I could probably survive for a long time if I wanted, but I like to Live, not exist. I always tell people in a zombie apocalypse, I would be one of the first to die just trying to see what my kill count could be in 10 minutes.

I always thought the battles of old with swords and axes would have been more my speed. Pure fucking carnage.
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
I am not as dramatic as you, but in the same boat. I like creature comforts. I could probably survive for a long time if I wanted, but I like to Live, not exist. I always tell people in a zombie apocalypse, I would be one of the first to die just trying to see what my kill count could be in 10 minutes.

I always thought the battles of old with swords and axes would have been more my speed. Pure fucking carnage.
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Yeah. And I say this not knowing the circumstances. Easy to say hard to do. If one recalls that old movie “the day after” chances are most would side with me. The image of the bomb going off in Kansas and all those people getting incinerated is still “burned” in my brain.

 
alund said:
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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Hopefully, I'll have my sailboat by then; I'll head out to the Bahamas, no targets there! However there could be Russian subs in the area.
 
It will all come around again.. I lived through the rack days lol
 
mightywarlock said:
Most professional, bands, touring acts etc. are using modelers or going direct or micing their cabinets. Most people at home are buying a lower powered amplifiers. 10 W 20 W 40 W 50 W Most people playing shows in bars and clubs can’t turn up as loud as their amplifier needs to be to sound good.
And yet, a 100 W amplifier is still the standard and is still too loud for most people to actually use properly. So why are we still buying 100 W amps? For the headroom? When are 100 W actually needed nowadays?
I know myself, I own too many amps, but I own everywhere from 1w to 25w, 50 W and 100 W heads. And yet, I feel like I can never really get the volume loud enough at home to sound great, And some amps even at 100 W don’t seem loud enough sometimes with the band, especially during rehearsals
So what is your reasoning for the certain wattage of amplifier that you buy?

Just curious.
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The omph!
Everybody needs at least 1 100 Watt Amp.
 
100 watt heads were the first tube amps I played in those formative years and it just stuck with me as, what an amp needed to sound right in a band. Never would have considered a 2204 or 1987 back then (one caveat being my brief love affair with Bassman heads when they were $200 or less 😔). I did play a certain 2204 one day that made me realize, OK this would work, but it was rare.

Haven’t played out since 2007 and I’m still drawn to amps that are at least 50. With new amps it depends on how much more the 100 watt version is. If it’s only $100 more, it’s the 100W for sure. But once the difference is climbing towards $3-500 more, that 50 starts looking right 😂

The last new amp I got was the Tone King Royalist and if it had been available as a 100 watter, I would have got that but tube/rec 45 watts is all they got. I kind of get it as they were trying to do JTM sounds as well. Something like that needed the Mesa touch of power section engineering. 100/45/10 and tracking for tube or SS Rec.

I’ll take 50-100 watts attenuated all day, if it’s available. I have smaller wattage amps but I bought them for the particular sound they have. For recording…shit..anything goes when you’re recording. One of my best recording amps for hard rock is 20 watts. I’ve let go of a lot of my “rules” on what is needed for a good guitar sound in a mix.
 
All four of my tube rigs are 100-120w. I think I just like big iron, big bottle amps, and I'm partial to EL34s. I'm still only ever playing at club volumes or less though. An amp can be 100w and still be designed with a usable master volume. Pairing them with the right cab goes a long way too. If you know your gear, you can use 100w amps in a lot of places.
 
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I always played higher wattage amps with bands, minimum 100w. When I started performing less and in more indoor places, I still used the 100w for a good while. Then I swapped to my 25w Rivera. Clubster Royale Recording model
This amp sounds huge for what it is. Must be the oversized Transformer or something. Even my deaf ass hell dad was commenting on how full and great it sounds at lower volumes (12w mode when kids were sleeping). This thing is plenty loud with a lot of thump. My other lower wattage amp, which is a Marshall, has to have vol and gain dimed, but damn does it sound good! Not at all like the Rivera though. Even the 40w HK I used for awhile didn't sound as huge as this amp. Idk how they did it. Saw a video with Bonamassa playing a little combo of one, and they were commenting how loud and full it was.


If I had to go with another amp design or make, 50w would be the lowest I could see myself going, as higher wattage amps have a thump I enjoy. An 'ear drum' shake, if it were.
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
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
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One thing you can try is, pull 2 tubes and then halve the impedance on your 100w amps. If you really want a 50w, there it is. Just gotta ask the builder WHICH 2 to pull. In a vintage Marshall, outer 2/inner 2.
 
Countless pros are still using large amps, only a small percentage are on modelers. Get out more and quit paying attention to the internet. The fact is, the bigger and more reliable your venues are, the more you can lean on small amps, modelers, etc. The smaller and sketchier your venues are, the more horsepower you might need, you can never be certain of being miked, or what system the place has. This is evident to anybody who's done many tours and aren't playing the corner at their local restaurant or bar. You have any situation cover with a good traditional amp, and if you want the silent DI capabilities, an additional loadbox or something. I've been gigging happily for a few years with a Badlander, but I have simple needs. I've done basement/living room shows with a cabinet no mic, mic'd small gigs with a cabinet, and gone DI at a few larger stages more for convenience of teardown than anything else. 100w amps are necessary for many players and many styles of music. Others, you can get by on a combo, or a modeler... different tools for different jobs, but in any scenario, a large amp covers more ground than other options. (also subjective, but they simply sound better haha)
 
1. Small heads on big cabs look F’n stupid

2. Amps have great master volumes now

3. Those that preach things like smaller amps user are usually the ones that have never been there or done that

4. It’s not like a 25 or 50 watt version is much quieter or cheaper other than tube replacement
 
I enjoy my tube amps: 100W amps (I have 5), 50W (I have 2); and 180W (I have one, still getting it working). I also like my computer software rig.

I'm definitely a warm/tropical beach / ocean person. No desert, mountains and no more snow, for me.

This is a view of sunset from the southside of my island, across the water is another larger island that is a nature preserve and uninhabited. To the left is the Atlantic Ocean.

Common to see dolphin, stingray and sharks in this area, and off the eastern shore (Atlantic) we have right whales, shark, dolphin and jellyfish, including occasional Portuguese Man-o-war. We also have bald eagles, hawks, buzzards, coyotes, snakes (including eastern diamondbacks, copperheads, etc.) and gators. My house is about 530 meters from the Atlantic ocean; with palm trees in the yard.

south-side-sunset.jpg
 
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