A Louder Ac-30 Sound?

[j. pierce]

I've been playing this Crate V30H recently - for the money (around 500 dollars, I think?) it is a great amp. We'll see how reliable it is; I've had to do a lot of work on Crate tube amps in the past (I can fix/build electronics, my friends are poor, so when gear breaks, I'm the go-to guy. It gets old fast.) for stupid things that could have been avoided, but this one seems a little bit more solid. The circuit seems to be based around a Vox AC30, with a bit more gain to it, and, as such, that's pretty much what the sound is - very AC30ish, with a bit more gain available. I really love the sound out of it, and I've been running it through a home-built 4x12 cab and for my main rock'n'roll band it's been perfect. I put it through smaller cabs when I'm playing more layed back country-fied stuff or indiepop or something, and it's pretty good there too - not going to replace my old Fender for that stuff, but I'm more comfortable bringing it out.

The new group I'm now also playing with is a quite bit louder and faster, kind of thrashy actually, and I was using borrowed gear for it; 5150s, Randalls, whatever, we just felt like we needed something a little more bite. I brought the V30H one day though, and honestly, I loved it in this setting. There was plenty of "aggressiveness" with things topped off, although it wasn't nearly as "heavy" as you'd expect for a band of this type, I really loved the sound - it had enough clarity behind the distortion to let me add a bit more flourish and have it sound out without getting lost in the stereotypical hard rock tone. I think it also made the band more interesting, to not have the typical tone you'd expect for a band like this.

The only problem is there's just not quite enough volume, even through the 4x12. It shouldn't be a problem at any show with a PA, but being a kind of punkish band, we play a whole lot of shows where the PA is two vocal mics, maybe a bit of the drums. I don't want to be blistering loud or anything, I just need a little more volume. I know the cab is plenty on it's own when I'm using a more powerful head, so I'd rather look into a louder head than carry another cab or a larger cab or something.

So anyway, does anyone know of a head that still has that "AC30ish" sound, but is just a bit louder? Preferably something that isn't tons and tons of money.

Edited October 2, 2005 by j. pierce

[Mickguard]

I'm not trying to be a smartass or anything, but: how's your hearing?

I mean, if a 30-watt Class A amp isn't loud enough for practice, then you guys are practicing WAY too loud. Do you at least wear earplugs?

In fact, I'm looking for a FIVE watt amp for practice --and I'm in a band with two other guitars, a keyboard, a bass and drums. And I STILL wear my ear plugs for practice.

Of course, I got lucky in my younger punk days-- my ears were always clogged up anyway, so my hearing is still in the 'normal' range (got a nice tinnitus though). The other guys in my former band weren't so lucky.

Anyway, my understanding is that, in order to gain any significant volume increase, you'd have to jump up to something like 100 watts or more.

But it won't matter because at those volumes, without protection, you'll be deaf soon enough.

That's no joke.

[Daniel Sorbera]

How efficent are your speakers?

You can really up your sound level by putting efficnet speakers in there. this one has 102db sensitivity. Thats about as good as they come. 4db is a double in the perceived volume level. Changing your speakers (depending on what sensitivity the ones you have now are) will give you more volume than changing your amp to say a 50watt.

But going along with what idch said My friend has a peavey classic 50 and we have NEVER got that thing over about 7 (and i'm talking large venue). I seriously don't see how you need a huge amp. If your not deaf already you could SERIOUSLY AND PERMENENTLY damage your hearing by going with a large amp and turning it up loud.

Here is something from the National Campaign for Hearing Health.

85 dB and higher - prolonged exposure will result in hearing loss

90 dBA - no more than 8 hours per day (examples - lawn mower, truck traffic, hair dryer)

95 dBA - no more than 4 hours per day

100 dBA - no more than 2 hours per day (example - chain saw)

105 dBA - no more than 1 hour per day

110 dBA - no more than ½ hour per day

115 dBA - no more than ¼ hour per day (preferably less)

140 dBA - NO EXPOSURE TO IMPACT OR IMPULSE NOISE ABOVE THIS LEVEL (examples - gunshot blast, jet plane at takeoff)

The Academy of Pediatrics and the National Campaign for Hearing Health states 85 dB is the threshold for dangerous levels of noise.

a 30 watt amp pushing around a 96db speaker will get you somwhere aroung 115db at 1 meter. You can only have 15 minutes of that volume before subjecting yourself to hearing damage. I seriously doubt you guys practice for 15 minutes or less a day...

A 150 watt class A tube amp pushing 4x12 103db speakers produce around 138db. Read the chart... Thers no way anyone could need this much power unless you put the amp on stage and everyone (includeing you) sat in the back of the auditorium.

If you need more than 30 watts to keep up with your drummer you need to fire your drummer

Just trying to help

Edited October 3, 2005 by Godin SD

[Mickguard]

Hey, nice to see that the younger generation has learned from the mistakes of the old...

I'm getting ready to buy a new Valve Junior...five watts is more than enough (well, okay, our drummer's not a heavy hitter, that helps).