Is an 18 Watt head loud enough to gig with?

Baltar · November 03, 2011, 12:07:47 PM

I'm talking small clubs, against a drummer and bass player. Also, is an 18 Watt Class A, as loud as a 50 Watt A/B? I'm not in the market, but there's a guy down the street who builds them. Just curious.

dunwichamps · November 03, 2011, 12:22:37 PM

Quote from: Baltar on November 03, 2011, 12:07:47 PM
I'm talking small clubs, against a drummer and bass player. Also, is an 18 Watt Class A, as loud as a 50 Watt A/B? I'm not in the market, but there's a guy down the street who builds them. Just curious.

18W Class A? Make sure its actually in Class A. My money on it being in A/B with a hotter bias. Not to piss in anyone cornflakes but its not the easiest thing to make a PP amp Class A without the right design.

Its not as loud, but more importantly it will not have as much clean headroom all things being equal.

Baltar · November 03, 2011, 12:27:03 PM

I think that's it. The one he has seems to break up early and wasn't very loud to me. Here's a vid of it:

http://www.youtube.com/user/oldamps#p/a/u/2/4vFOk90Y8To

Sorry couldn't get it to embed.

dunwichamps · November 03, 2011, 12:48:15 PM

Quote from: Baltar on November 03, 2011, 12:27:03 PM
I think that's it. The one he has seems to break up early and wasn't very loud to me. Here's a vid of it:

http://www.youtube.com/user/oldamps#p/a/u/2/4vFOk90Y8To

Sorry couldn't get it to embed.

the Marshall 18W is a cathode biased Class AB amp. I will say that there is nothing wrong with being Class AB or Class A, they r just different beasts. I have a Single Ended El34 Class A amp and its got a nice tone while I have played plenty of AB amps 2.

Chovie D · November 03, 2011, 01:23:36 PM

I have an 18 watt head. marshall clone.
Is it loud enough to gig with? Yes I would say so as long as your bandmates arent playing at stupid volume levels, running full stacks etc.
You can run it thru a 2x12 or 4x12. I like the sound of mine dimed.

Ive seen a lot of people gig those 18 watt dr.z 's too, they sound great.

Baltar · November 03, 2011, 01:46:49 PM

Right on, it pays to do research. I have a buddy in Detroit that had a pair that he ran into a 1960 cab and it was LOUD.

dunwichamps · November 03, 2011, 01:50:26 PM

Quote from: Baltar on November 03, 2011, 01:46:49 PM
Right on, it pays to do research. I have a buddy in Detroit that had a pair that he ran into a 1960 cab and it was LOUD.

yea they can pretty loud. i have an 36W 4 x EL84 amp thats damn loud but doesnt have tons of clean headroom. Great for ripping on tho

Metal and Beer · November 03, 2011, 01:59:47 PM

Here's dudes' video. To embed, click the YouTube icon and just paste in this part: "4vFOk90Y8To" (no quotes) and omit the rest of the URL.

Chovie D · November 03, 2011, 02:08:18 PM

My buddy built an 18 wattish clone out of an old organ amp chassis and various parts, dont think he bought a single thing. It sounds great. He's really good at that shit tho.

I built my 18 watt as well, from a kit (mojo-do NOT get this kit, the diagram is wrong and they made some inexplicable changes to the original circuit). This amp (the bluesbreaker)originally powered a single low wattage 12 inch speaker i think? My clone is so loud thru a 2x12 with high powered new speakers, that one thing ive really wanted to do is get a singel 12 cab with a low wattage vintage speaker in there in the hopes of getting lower volume and more breakup.