Downsizing amps

[Ceepers]

Two ideas I’ll float…..,

If it’s an ac4tv you own, that’s pretty close to the normal channel of an ac30 tone wise? Maybe run that with an ac10 in parallel / stereo?

The ac10 is pretty loud. Admittedly my drummer is fairly quiet but I’ve. Done a lot of pub gigs with an in mic’d ac10


Left field suggestion. Orange rocker 15. Clean channel has vox like chime. Drive channel is orange flavour Marshall ish. Built in attenuator gives you 1/2 , 1, 7 & 15 watt options.

Loud, quiet loud indeee

[fuzzjunkie]

Two ideas I’ll float…..,

If it’s an ac4tv you own, that’s pretty close to the normal channel of an ac30 tone wise? Maybe run that with an ac10 in parallel / stereo?

The ac10 is pretty loud. Admittedly my drummer is fairly quiet but I’ve. Done a lot of pub gigs with an in mic’d ac10


Left field suggestion. Orange rocker 15. Clean channel has vox like chime. Drive channel is orange flavour Marshall ish. Built in attenuator gives you 1/2 , 1, 7 & 15 watt options.

Loud, quiet loud indeee

Interesting. I am only familiar with the big Orange amps and have ignored the small ones. This one has the same complement of tubes as the AC-15. I’ll have to add it to my list to try out and hear what it sounds like.

The AC4 is a nice little amp, but I don’t think it sounds that much like an AC30. It has the basic Vox sound though. I haven’t tried the AC10 yet, but I have 2 concerns:
1) it’s just a bigger AC4 with digital reverb added.
2) the power tubes are situated right behind the speaker. The cabinet lacks depth and you can’t put in a bigger speaker because there’s no room. The tubes could also be susceptible to vibration being so close to the speaker.

[Maggieo]

If you could find an XiTs 10, I bet you'd love it. I played through one and really wished I'd had the dosh to buy it.

[fuzzjunkie]

If you could find an XiTs 10, I bet you'd love it. I played through one and really wished I'd had the dosh to buy it.

Didn’t you have a Super Beetle Maggie? I think they look sharp, but have some sort of tube modeling circuitry?

The XiTs 10 reviews sound interesting.

[Maggieo]

If you could find an XiTs 10, I bet you'd love it. I played through one and really wished I'd had the dosh to buy it.

Didn’t you have a Super Beetle Maggie? I think they look sharp, but have some sort of tube modeling circuitry?

The XiTs 10 reviews sound interesting.

I do have a Super Beatle! It uses the Korg Nu-Tube tech. With the 12" speaker, it sounds pretty good. I dislike the onboard reverb and trem, so it's definitely a pedal amp. My Caroline pedals play well with it.

[zhivago]

I'd personally keep the amps, and get a Suhr Reactive Load IR (or similar) with a pair of great speaker monitors.

This way you can run your amps flat out and not annoy anyone. I switched my amp setup to the Suhr + a pair of Genelec studio monitors about a year ago and never looked back. I run my Matchless Lighting or Friedman Smallbox 50 wide open and they give me the best amp sounds I've ever had. Attenuators don't come close and I've tried a bunch of them.

A good reactive load device kills them all.

https://www.suhr.com/electronics/tone-t ... e-load-ir/

I really should start sending John Suhnr a Christmas post card once a year!

[JSett]

I'd personally keep the amps, and get a Suhr Reactive Load IR (or similar) with a pair of great speaker monitors.

This way you can run your amps flat out and not annoy anyone. I switched my amp setup to the Suhr + a pair of Genelec studio monitors about a year ago and never looked back. I run my Matchless Lighting or Friedman Smallbox 50 wide open and they give me the best amp sounds I've ever had. Attenuators don't come close and I've tried a bunch of them.

A good reactive load device kills them all.

https://www.suhr.com/electronics/tone-t ... e-load-ir/

I really should start sending John Suhnr a Christmas post card once a year!

Would these work with, say, a Champ (4ohm)?

[fuzzjunkie]

I'd personally keep the amps, and get a Suhr Reactive Load IR (or similar) with a pair of great speaker monitors.

This way you can run your amps flat out and not annoy anyone. I switched my amp setup to the Suhr + a pair of Genelec studio monitors about a year ago and never looked back. I run my Matchless Lighting or Friedman Smallbox 50 wide open and they give me the best amp sounds I've ever had. Attenuators don't come close and I've tried a bunch of them.

A good reactive load device kills them all.

https://www.suhr.com/electronics/tone-t ... e-load-ir/

I really should start sending John Suhnr a Christmas post card once a year!

I will have to look into this. The reactive load and speaker simulation makes it sound like the UA OX, but at less than half the price. I don’t need the recording interface that I think the OX has? That’s probably why the difference in cost is so much? I have a UA Apollo and they run about what the difference is.

I have Yamaha NS monitors so should be fine with those. It would certainly save me from having to buy and sell a bunch of amps and possibly end up unsatisfied with the results.

[echobaseone]

Having just upsized to keep up with our bassist in an unmiked venue, I do keep this in the back of my mind. One day I WILL downsize. The trouble for me is that (in my experience) little amps lack bass. As I was dinking around with an Orange progression, I noticed that the OR15 had a LOT less bottom end in comparison to the AD30 (both EL84 powered). Not sure if this is related to transformers or what, as they were both played through the same 2X12 cabinet.

[Dr Tony Balls]

Having just upsized to keep up with our bassist in an unmiked venue, I do keep this in the back of my mind. One day I WILL downsize. The trouble for me is that (in my experience) little amps lack bass. As I was dinking around with an Orange progression, I noticed that the OR15 had a LOT less bottom end in comparison to the AD30 (both EL84 powered). Not sure if this is related to transformers or what, as they were both played through the same 2X12 cabinet.

Those are entirely different amps. You'd want to compare the AD15 to the AD30 and, given the same speaker setup, I think you'd find that they sound the same.

[fretbuzzard]

On the Fender side, if you haven’t tried a Tone Master, you should at least give it a shot. Modeling tech has come a long way since the Pod.

15 watts (whether an AC15 or a Princeton) is still a damn loud amp for most purposes these days.

[marqueemoon]

15 watts (whether an AC15 or a Princeton) is still a damn loud amp for most purposes these days.

Agreed. Even 5 watts can be pretty loud.

One topic that hasn't been really touched on in this thread is power scaling. Anyone have thoughts on/experience with this?

[zhivago]

I'd personally keep the amps, and get a Suhr Reactive Load IR (or similar) with a pair of great speaker monitors.

This way you can run your amps flat out and not annoy anyone. I switched my amp setup to the Suhr + a pair of Genelec studio monitors about a year ago and never looked back. I run my Matchless Lighting or Friedman Smallbox 50 wide open and they give me the best amp sounds I've ever had. Attenuators don't come close and I've tried a bunch of them.

A good reactive load device kills them all.

https://www.suhr.com/electronics/tone-t ... e-load-ir/

I really should start sending John Suhnr a Christmas post card once a year!

I will have to look into this. The reactive load and speaker simulation makes it sound like the UA OX, but at less than half the price. I don’t need the recording interface that I think the OX has? That’s probably why the difference in cost is so much? I have a UA Apollo and they run about what the difference is.

I have Yamaha NS monitors so should be fine with those. It would certainly save me from having to buy and sell a bunch of amps and possibly end up unsatisfied with the results.

Definitely have a look into IRs, and I would avoid the OX...it is fairly outdated by this point as well, many people lately have been complaining for the lack of updates for it.

The Suhr has everything in one simple box, and you can expand its capabilities by plugging into a computer (which I don't bother doing).

The only thing that Reactive Load boxes miss is the moving of air from the speakers, but we were never going to get that at home anyway...but aside from that it has revolutionised my playing at home.

One thing to note is, that if you want to run effects in an FX loop after the amp's signal, the Fryette version gives you the option. I think it is called Power Load IR...I've been thinking about picking that up too at some point to shoot it out against the Suhr that I have.

[zhivago]

I'd personally keep the amps, and get a Suhr Reactive Load IR (or similar) with a pair of great speaker monitors.

This way you can run your amps flat out and not annoy anyone. I switched my amp setup to the Suhr + a pair of Genelec studio monitors about a year ago and never looked back. I run my Matchless Lighting or Friedman Smallbox 50 wide open and they give me the best amp sounds I've ever had. Attenuators don't come close and I've tried a bunch of them.

A good reactive load device kills them all.

https://www.suhr.com/electronics/tone-t ... e-load-ir/

I really should start sending John Suhnr a Christmas post card once a year!

Would these work with, say, a Champ (4ohm)?

I would double-check with Suhr...but someone asked on TGP the other day and apparently it is ok to do so (for anyone reading this that doesn't know the Suhr RLIR needs 8 Ohm amps).

[CorporateDisguise]

If you don’t mind dropping the coin, I would look into the Fryette Power Station. It takes the idea of a load box/ attenuator, and solves alot of the inherent issues associated with them. It’s one of the few solutions you can take down to whisper quiet, still using your cab( not studio monitors) without the tonal degradation you get from a regular attenuator, which tend to lose alot of treble content, and also starts to feel weird. The only part of the equation you miss, is the speakers doing their thing at full volume.

If you’re just looking to shave a few Db of though, a standard attenuator, like the weber mass series can be great. I have a Mass 100 that I use to take the edge off my Black Cat 30 and it works great. But if you try to put the amp on 10, and then drop the volume to talking level, it both sounds, and feel weird.

Also, the precieved volume difference of a 15 watt amp in the sweet spot, and a 30 watt amp in the sweet spot is pretty low. A cranked 15 watt amp is still LOUD as heck. Heck, I’ve heard some 5 watters that’ll take your head off.