15 watts...I don't get it

[Thunder]

OK,...disclaimer...I don't really know squat about amps. I hear a lot of people talk about, "I use a 15 watt fender and it sounds great" or "When I play slide, I use a 5 watt Umpty Fratz and it screams." I don't get it.

I played a friends 15 watt fender and I thought it sounded like amateur hour (insert sloppy playing technique jokes here...). I normally use a 100 watt Yamaha, hardly a great amp by Marshall or Fender standards, but it sounds a whole lot better than the 15 watt fender my friend has.

What am I missing? It's not a tube amp, granted, but it seems with it's tiny speaker...Are we both terrible judges of tone or not setting it up correctly?

 

[hoss]

It's not a tube amp

Which is the problem.
I have a 7W Champ clone (home built). Rock'n'Roll

 

[GeeJay]

Get yerself a tube Fender Champ, crank the sucker up a tad and see if that answers your question.

Low power tube amps can really rock. Cornford Harlequin for example is only 6W, but it sounds awesome. Not cheap though....

 

[DrRobert]

All kidding aside, tube amps are capable of putting out almost twice as much wattage as their rating, solid state amps are stuck at their power rating, so a 15w tube amp is nearly twice as loud as a 15w SS amp. More importantly is the KIND of sound, a 15 tube amp (at least a well built one) will pummel you with tone, it can hang nicely with a fairly loud drummer. And a well built amp like the Bruno UG30 can take your head off with "only" 30 watts. You really owe it to yourself to play a good quality tube amp and feel the difference...

 

[Wilko]

any cranked tube can sound a lot better than almost any tube amp running on "2"

You get some weak little amp and put a 12" or a couple 10's on it and crank it up. That's where the magic is.

Try to get 100 watts to sound like that and you better be in a large place.

 

[moonpie]

So let's just say, hypothetically of course, that a fellow had a 70s champ laying around. Let's assume the trannys and speaker are shot, and of course it's gonna need a cap job and new tubes.

Help me make out my parts list.

 

[hoss]

Help me make out my parts list.

If it has the AA764 circuit (most likely, and can be seen on label inside the chassis), there are schematics and layout files all over the web (and on my website). No big deal.

 

[digitrack]

You may have been trying a friends 15 watt Fender bullet amp or other little solid state practice amp that Fender churns out. Those are basically crappy solid state versions that were never meant to leave the bedroom, design as a practice amp or for beginers. Do not confuse tha with vintage blackface Fender all tube Champ, Princeton or other models. Tube amps made in the sixties that were designed well, made somewhat by hand, and sound like heaven when cranked up. Duane Allman and Eric Clapton recorded most of the electric guiatr tracks on the Layla album playing through a blackface Fender Champ running full up on 10, placed on top of the piano players grand piano on a rubber mat and miked up into the console. Listen to that album and check out their tone. Dr. Robert knows his prescriptions...a 15 watt tube amp outperforms it's solid state equivalent 2 to 1 in volume, and 100 to 1 in tone.

 

[Mike M.]

I have a Carvin Vintage 16, and while I'm not crazy about the tone ( at least in it's stock form) the volume that that amp produce's will make your ears ring.

 

[professor]

Most of my amps are low-powered. I currently own nothing over 40 watts.

For example, I have an Alessandro Beagle - 10 watts - and it's one of the most awesome-sounding amps I've EVER played. Through a 1x12 it sounds great. Through a 1x15, it sounds massive. Through a full stack it sounds God-like. And, I gig with it regularly.

 

[60pinstripe]

Any comments on the new Blues Juniors?

 

[burstone]

Any comments on the new Blues Juniors?

Screw that! You ought to check out Marshall Studio 15 from the late '80s. Awesome plexi-like tone in a small package, and when fully cranked, it's as loud as my '66 VR (just serviced by Pete) on 8! :yay

 

[60pinstripe]

Just serviced by, and almost purchased by?

 

[burstone]

Just serviced by, and almost purchased by?

Yes, but refused by DD.

 

[60pinstripe]

You dangled it?
You have no conscience, bastid.
:nono

 

[burstone]

You dangled it?
You have no conscience, bastid.
:nono

It's all about DD's tone, all the time!:lol2

Would you let it go if it sounds like Bloomfield when turned up to 8 - 10? :ahem

 

[60pinstripe]

I guess I need to hear it for myself.
He serviced mine not long ago. Mind boggling.

 

[535faultless]

Watts does not equal decibels. A 15 watt class A amp will be louder than a 15 watt class a/b amp.

I lke the way PA speakers are rated by Db's @ 1 watt @ 1 meter. I would like to see the difference in DB's between a Vox AC30 and a 50 watt Marshall fully cranked.

Something I read recently: 20 watts is not twice as loud as 10 watts, and a 100 watt marshall is not twice as loud as a 50 watt. Watts are exponential...so that means 100 watts is twice as loud as 10 watts (as long as you are comparing the same class type). Do you guys agree with that?

 

[FatStrat]

Watts does not equal decibels. A 15 watt class A amp will be louder than a 15 watt class a/b amp.

I lke the way PA speakers are rated by Db's @ 1 watt @ 1 meter. I would like to see the difference in DB's between a Vox AC30 and a 50 watt Marshall fully cranked.

Something I read recently: 20 watts is not twice as loud as 10 watts, and a 100 watt marshall is not twice as loud as a 50 watt. Watts are exponential...so that means 100 watts is twice as loud as 10 watts (as long as you are comparing the same class type). Do you guys agree with that?

it really doesn't matter if I agree. That's scientific fact. It's physics, not personal opinion.

 

[NewOldCokeDave]

but it seems with it's tiny speaker

Here's one MAJOR factor alone.. Tiny, ineffiecent speakers = tiny tone

Try a Champ thru a 4x12 wired for 4 ohms.. A LOT more...

But the Champ of any flavor has a lot going on and it's only 4 - 7 watts depending on the era...