50 vs 100 watts

[braintheory]

Depends on the amp. 100 watters and higher typically have the advantage of putting out sound with less effort/more efficiency aka more headroom and generally sound bigger, more extended lows and highs, but like others said the mids can be more relaxed or distant and tone and feel sometimes is a bit less interesting

I’d say amps that inherently don’t have interesting or that good tone in the midrange spectrum like most Boogie’s or Hermansson’s can benefit more from higher wattage versions to play up more to their inherent strengths, while amps that excel more in having a rich, complex tone or midrange content like Alessandro’s (as one example) can excel at lower wattage versions to most play up their inherent strengths

 

[gtr31]

Really depends on the genre and player
The 100 is going to generally have more low end ,feel a bit tighter and stiffer and is going to have a ton of headroom for clean tones ,

The 50s I find a bit rounder low end
A bit more compression and a softer feel More easily to breakup up on a clean tone but again there are exceptions to every rule

 

[7704A]

Generally I have always been a 100W fan for the bigger depth on the low end. However, the 5153 50W is the one amp I have that seems to break that trend.

I was impressed with a buddy's 5153 50W as well. First time I've felt bass in my chest. Not that I've played or heard many amps in the room. Maybe once I experience a 100W it'll be like getting bulldozed. We'll see.

 

[nightlight]

I’ve had 4 fifty watt heads - an Archon, a 5153, a Kraken and an Avenger. Of them all, the Avenger is the one I miss sometimes, but when I sold it, it was (I rationalised at the time) because it wasn’t as good as my hundred watt heads. So that’s the reason why I would go with 100 watt amps wherever possible, especially if they have a good master volume. Just sonically more pleasing to my ears.

 

[marvcus]

+3dB and some headroom in 100w vs 50w

 

[dave74]

Riffs are usually hulkier with 100w+, but I give the nod to 50w for leads.

 

[ZEN Amps]

IME it's more about the output transformer. An overspec'd, beefy 50W design will eclipse an underated 100 watter and keep up with an average one.

 

[heavision]

IME it's more about the output transformer. An overspec'd, beefy 50W design will eclipse an underated 100 watter and keep up with an average one.

That’s interesting!!

Part of why I’m curious about this is because I have a Bray 4450, it’s 50 watts—but it has 100 watt transformers, (or maybe just the output transformer? I’ll have to check).

Anyways, it sounds and feels spectacular. I’ve been trying to decide if it feels more like a 100 watt amp in certain respects.

 

[Bash_Man]

back in 2006/2007 i bought my Splawn Nitro (which I still have)...early days of owning it I used on 100w but not much longer after that I use it on 50w mode. My ears preferred the 50w mode. the overdrive/gain had more definition to it and the low end took better shape instead of just being a "thud response" all the time when doing palm mutes.

The cleans suffered a tiny bit by going to 50w mode, but nothing a 12at7 in V1 couldn't fix and make better. Now days still runs in 50w mode with a 12at7 in V1 (Clean) and V4 (PI).

Cheers

 

[dave74]

back in 2006/2007 i bought my Splawn Nitro (which I still have)...early days of owning it I used on 100w but not much longer after that I use it on 50w mode. My ears preferred the 50w mode. the overdrive/gain had more definition to it and the low end took better shape instead of just being a "thud response" all the time when doing palm mutes.

The cleans suffered a tiny bit by going to 50w mode, but nothing a 12at7 in V1 couldn't fix and make better. Now days still runs in 50w mode with a 12at7 in V1 (Clean) and V4 (PI).

Cheers

Much the same here with my multi-watt triple. I generally use 50w with high-gain and 150w with cleans. I do sometimes switch to 150w if on vintage mode, but modern is always 50w. Perhaps in a loud live/band I would always use 150w(?), but for home playing that thud can get absurd.

 

[rottingcorpse]

I have a 50 watt jcm800 that Brent Gutierrez did his Satanic Hispanic/Langner variation mod on. It has a depth knob too and has some thump, but it's not ground shaking thump. But damn, it's a bad ass bitch for sure. Fifty watt Marshall 800s kick ass anyway.

 

[311splawndude]

back in 2006/2007 i bought my Splawn Nitro (which I still have)...early days of owning it I used on 100w but not much longer after that I use it on 50w mode. My ears preferred the 50w mode. the overdrive/gain had more definition to it and the low end took better shape instead of just being a "thud response" all the time when doing palm mutes.

The cleans suffered a tiny bit by going to 50w mode, but nothing a 12at7 in V1 couldn't fix and make better. Now days still runs in 50w mode with a 12at7 in V1 (Clean) and V4 (PI).

Cheers

Same. I don't gig or record though. Nor use cleans much. All things being generally equal - I'd rather save on the tubes as well.

That’s interesting!!

Part of why I’m curious about this is because I have a Bray 4450, it’s 50 watts—but it has 100 watt transformers, (or maybe just the output transformer? I’ll have to check).

Anyways, it sounds and feels spectacular. I’ve been trying to decide if it feels more like a 100 watt amp in certain respects.

I'm going to guess that with that amp (like the Splawns) the big iron used and the emphasis on the mids will probably reduce the differences between 50 and 100 watts - so it is kind of a nothing burger.

 

[Bash_Man]

Same. I don't gig or record though. Nor use cleans much. All things being generally equal - I'd rather save on the tubes as well.

Actually that's something I've also started to do in the last year or so, is removing 2 tubes since I am using half power mode.

 

[dave74]

I wonder what happens if you would switch the amp to full power without having all four tubes installed. (?)

 

[romanianreaper]

I wonder what happens if you would switch the amp to full power without having all four tubes installed. (?)

I thought it only would do 50 watts

 

[dave74]

I thought it only would do 50 watts

That is probably correct, I just wasn't sure if it was the same with multi-watt amps (of any brand) as it is with non-switchable amps.
I have used my Tremoverb with only one pair for 50w (always with half the ohms of the load) but it doesn't have the power-scaling option.

 

[Ultradeaf]

It does not matter for recording, or a mic'd live setup. You'll never play louder than minimal volume in those settings, it sounds like shit when you crank up an amp and place a mic right next to the speaker.

The biggest difference is going to be those settings where you are playing live and loud, and not mic'ing the guitar amp. And even then- the usual caveat- is that there is minimal difference in db between 50w and 100w amp. Wattage is "power". Most people report having more low end at 100 watts, but I don't believe that to be a real rule of thumb.

In any case, it depends on the player's ear and their taste. It matters less if you are mic'ing it properly, though. Play what sounds good to you for the for the situation you are in.

 

[311splawndude]

I wonder what happens if you would switch the amp to full power without having all four tubes installed. (?)

In this case we are talking about a Splawn, but they all work the same basically. The 100w Splawns, as others, have a half power switch. You can switch that down to 50w with one move. It then disables the outer two tubes but the heaters are still on. If you plan to run like that consistently, you then just pull the outer tubes and rebias the amp. But yeah, like @romanianreaper is saying - if you go the other way, nothing will happen.

 

[Rex Rocker]

+3dB and some headroom in 100w vs 50w

It's actually +3dB of headroom.

 

[311splawndude]

It's actually +3dB of headroom.

I didn't know dB's = headroom necessarily

I thought it had more to do with power tube clipping. Full windings of a big Output Transformer mean more headroom no?