Technical question for the live sound experts (amp issues)...

[jimmyohio75]

Ok, let's assume you are playing a small gig at a small club. You are playing mic'd through the house PA and you play primarily dirty, distorted sounds.
Does it make a difference to your overall sound whether you are playing through a 1x12 5 watt combo or a 50 watt head with a 4x12 cab?

It seems to me that since you're being mic'd the sound dispersion and projection won't matter since all the sound is being pushed through the house PA.

Is my thinking correct here?

Real life scenario:
I am gigging with a '59 Bassman which has 4x10's. I am mic'd at almost all our gigs. The amp is big and bulky and I'm thinking of buying something small and portable for these gigs.

It makes sense to me that a quality, all tube 5 watt amp will sound just as "big" as my Bassman in this environment because I am mic'd. Am I correct?

 

[JiveJust]

As long as you are cool with the tone coming from the PA it's a good option. I bought a 25 Watt Zinky Blue Velvet 1x12 combo for small gigs. They usually stick a mic in front of it but I have the ability to crank it up if that option doesn't exist. It's not the same as feeling the roaring 50 watts of my Zinky 2x12 MOFO cab but much easier to lug around to gigs.

 

[Blue Strat]

All tonal things being equal, the smaller rig is better since the soundman has less chance of hearing your stage rig and pulling you down in the house mix.

 

[rickenbackerkid]

I'm in the same boat, but due to too many people on stage and not enough monitors, so I still need my amp as a monitor. Hopefully in the future I down size to a 10 watter and a single 10'.

 

[205]

You should give a Fender Pro Junior a try, I think you'll like it.

 

[Mattbedrock]

I am both guitarist and soundman for my band for most club gigs. I have a variety of amps in the 30 - 50 watt range that I use - Orange, Fenders, Marshalls, etc. For me, my stage rig is to make it sound good to me where I'm standing. I like it pretty loud, wear hearing protection and want both clean headroom and a good lead tone that I can hear above my drummer (he's big and powerful). I guess if you never want cleans, a small amp would work, but why wouldn't you want to be able to play a clean rhythm part? I run my PA system in stereo and generally pan my guitar to the opposite side so it balances the sound coming off the stage and fills the room. For smaller rooms I tend to use my Orange Rocker 30 or a Fender Tremolux and use my 50 watt Bassman, Plexi or JCM900 in bigger venues. Maybe overkill, but why not be heard?

 

[jimmyohio75]

I am both guitarist and soundman for my band for most club gigs. I have a variety of amps in the 30 - 50 watt range that I use - Orange, Fenders, Marshalls, etc. For me, my stage rig is to make it sound good to me where I'm standing. I like it pretty loud, wear hearing protection and want both clean headroom and a good lead tone that I can hear above my drummer (he's big and powerful). I guess if you never want cleans, a small amp would work, but why wouldn't you want to be able to play a clean rhythm part? I run my PA system in stereo and generally pan my guitar to the opposite side so it balances the sound coming off the stage and fills the room. For smaller rooms I tend to use my Orange Rocker 30 or a Fender Tremolux and use my 50 watt Bassman, Plexi or JCM900 in bigger venues. Maybe overkill, but why not be heard?

My band plays the same local club almost all the time. The sound guy always mics my amp through the house PA. I asked him if this is necessary and he tells me "yes, if you want it to sound good". My Bassman, although an awesome amp barely gets going at low volumes and I feel like it needs to be turned up a bit more to sound its best.
Now I am looking at a 5-15 watt tube amp for these types of gigs so I can get the tubes cooking into the sweet spot, even when mic'd.

I am looking at:

Blackstar HT-5
Fender Blues Jr NOS Tweed (would need to use my Crunch Box with this)
Budda Superdrive 18 ( a bit too expensive)

Of course being mic'd there may not be much difference between these 3 amps.

 

[Telecaster62]

Jimmy,
I've used a Pro Jr. and a Gibson GA-5 on small to medium indoor gigs and they work great mic'd. Get an amp stand and get the amp off the floor and right behind you and you're golden. It actually does help the FOH soundman get a good mix because my stage volume is not affecting what he's hearing. Our group plays a good many gigs with very small stage amplifiers and we like the quieter yet still full stage volume.