Hi folks need a bit of advice please on amps! Ive not much experiance in this department, using a vox vt 15 at moment, i play in a church worship band with a pro jet and mainly play clean with a bit of dirt on tap on when needed, im look in for a tube amp and there isnt a lot of shops in the n east of scotland to go try some out. My friends told has advised me to go 40 watts but i dont use the 15watt amp i have at moment all out! As it is mic up, so need advice on wattage to go for and make.... Looking online at fender blues deluxe and the junior version and blackstar ht20, also the vox ac15cc1 , any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Merry xmas

Thinking i might have started this thread in wrong area.... Sorry!!

I like the Roland Cube 80xl. Good clean sound with some nice effects at a pretty decent price. Also has a line out you could use to direct out to the churches sound system.

If your amp is being miked, I don't think you need to worry so much about watts - for your praise band. The question I have is are you likely to play anywhere outside of church where you would need all of that extra volume from your amp? There are lots of great small tube amps out there. I'd worry more about finding a sound that is pleasing than finding a volume that you may or may not need. I also play in the praise band at my church, so I completely understand your dilemma. This is just my opinion, ultimately the choice is yours. Good luck in your quest!

That's my concern with buying a smaller amp, if and when you need the vol either in church unmiced or outside church means another amp purchase.
I have a 40w valve amp and IMO sounds good clean at quite low vol tho not quite as good distorted maybe.
I also wonder if you have the volume and spread of sound of a decent amp would it not sound better not miced rather than through a PA?

I've also owned amps that I've found too small and too big and the 40w I'm playing just now is perfect. Could play with master vol on 2 in my house and sounds great clean but also gig with it and haven't went above master vol 7 yet

Hi Accy,

don't have a ac15cc1 (diode rectified), but an ac15HH (tube rectified), while it sounds great, even with very efficient speakers, clean headroom is *not* its strong point at all. Have never had the chance to A/B it with a cc1 the diode rectifier on the cc1 *may* (Vox says "Rectifier: silicon rectifier with passive SAG circuit.") help give it more headroom. The 15w Nighttrain (diode rectified) in bright mode and with the Master dimed and using the gain as the channel volume offers more in clean than the ac15HH (and is easier to tote), almost Fender like even with a heavy handed drummer.. but retains some of el84/Vox chime. The thick mode and dialing the master down and gain up give it oodles of dirt. (BTW, I'm *not* a fan of the otherwise good looking and easy to carry matching V112NT cab, very boxy sounding [even with a different speaker] and the G12M Greenback speakers really don't sound good with a Vox or clean.. I find at least).

A very helpful place to search for info on the mind boggling various modern Vox models is:
http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=2

Otherwise "mainly play clean with a bit of dirt on tap on when needed" makes me think much more Fender DR[RI] or BDRI than lower wattage Voxes... Michiel had both at he same time to A/B, perhaps he can chip in here (or search with "Advance Search" to find DRRI and BDRI Posts by User "Michiel", he documents things very well and in detail here :D) ?

If you are micing the amp, perhaps a Princeston RI could do as well? DRRI/BDRI/PRRIs and AC15s on the Isles are pretty common and would think you should be able to find some in music shops to compare and try out (fairly at least) near you.

cu!
Henry

40 watts is a good general purpose "size," in my experience.

Thanks for the replys so far... Lots to think about! , at the moment i dont play at all out of church and house and as most worship band players will know the other band members dont want to hear you on stage!!! Or is this just my church!! The 15 watt vox took members time to accept!! Id like 40 watts but maybe buying wattage id never use??? Their is one music shop in aberdeen but they dont like you touching stuff!!! Sad but true so maybe a trip to dundee is a option!!

Accy, I love my Peavey Delta blues. I changed the speaker to a vintage JBL D130 I found on eBay. Just a suggestion.

To me it sounds like 15-22 watts will be ample for you. 40 watts o tube amp is LOUD. You can play an small/club/church gig with 40 watt tube amp and never need to mic it. Trust me, it's overkill. Unless your friend is talkin about solid state watts, in which case you'll need more. If you like clean sounds and pedals, go for the DRRI. A little less in your face and easier to turn up for the warm tube tones, as some poster suggested, would. E the Princeton reverb reissue. Smaller and more portable too.

IMHO, IMHE (In My Humble Experience), 15 watts is pretty good for many applications. Larger gigs might require more but unless the worship band is quite loud I would think that 15 would do the trick. It takes twice as many watts to increase volume by 3db so going to 30 watts wouldn't make a huge difference. I use a Deluxe Reverb for almost every gig, the exception being outdoors gigs which are mostly car shows. For those gigs I use an 85 watt Twin and rarely get past 3 on the volume control.

There isn't a right or wrong answer here. It come down to a matter of degrees. Too large of an amp will sound sterile, too small of an amp will run out of clean headroom. I find that the Deluxe, at 22 watts, is just about perfect . . . for me. I usually run near the top of the clean range which gives lots of overtones and a nicely textured sound. If I really push it, depending to some degree upon the pickups, I get into light breakup; just enough to crunch a bit without sounding fuzzed out.

As a general observation, I think that a lot of people buy amps too large for their needs. The Jeff Beck's Rock 'n' Roll party DVD seems to reveal a back line of Fender Blues Jr. amps and a great deal of the time he was playing clean. The Cliff Gallup stuff was sparkling clean.

Another factor that I never hear discussed is that sound is perceived differently at different volumes. Our auditory sense actually smooths out sounds that are louder, perhaps to protect us from rapid transients. It's long been my contention that the main thing people find pleasing in an overdriven guitar sound is compression which occurs naturally at higher volumes and is produced within the amp once it's saturated. What this suggests to me is that when someone tries out an amp at the store, cranked up a bit in a large room they could well be disappointed with that same amp at home in a smaller room and at lower volume. A compressor might help but in all reality, no piece of gear is the same at home as it will be at a gig or even a band rehearsal.

Cheers everyone, im convinced that 15-20 watts is for me, lets face it if need more because of change in situation then the wife will have to realese more funds!!, has anyone any expr of the blackstar ht20??

A 15-20 watt amp tends to get dirty rather soon when you turn it up.
I've found I prefer ~40 watt amps with my 8-piece jazz combo. They give me enough clean headroom to turn it up, but stay clean enough for my taste. I use the guitar's master volume to make the guitar blend into the 'mix'. When I solo, I just turn up the master volume a bit.

I you have the opportunity to drive the extra 60 miles south, I can recommend visiting 'Guitar Guitar' in Edinburgh.
Big Bonus: they have one of the largest collections of Gretsches in the whole of the UK! There's bound to be a good selection of amps for you to try out.:)

Thanks prob rite, really need to try a few, bought a few thing from guitarguitar very good shop!! Pity they wouldnt open one in aberdeen!!

For what it's worth, I would look at getting a 50 watt Fender Bassman head, 2x12 cab, and an attenuator. That way you can get a nice tube breakup at a lower volume!

I'm very happy with my 1968 Bassman. It works for a variety of settings for me, and if you get a Silverface, it will be very, very clean (for a tube amp).

A 15-20 watt amp tends to get dirty rather soon when you turn it up.

This.

I learned the hard way what it's like to run a "wattage deficit." Nothing like being in the middle of a show, and the rest of the band gets carried away... and your amp simply CANNOT keep up.

There's no way to add watts on the fly. You can ALWAYS turn down.

Thanks for advice guy im looking for either a blues deluxe or hotrod deluxe, but havent decided between the 2 yet!!

Fender hotrod deluxe with loads of mods bought!! Thanks for advice guys

Congrats on the hotrod accy!

try out a hughes and kettner 25 anniversary 20 watt tube.. impressive tones clean and dirty...