15 watts...I don't get it

jrgtr42 · Mar 7, 2020

Cliff Gress said:
Another option might be the new Tone Master Fender SS amps. Deluxe & Twin.

Those amps didn't exist when the poster commented...

CK6 · Mar 19, 2020

drewbaby said:
Howza 'bout a Fender Pro Jr. (Woody) with a Weber 10F150T ceramic? I've got around $15k in amps (SLO-100, Vibroking, old Plexi etc..), and this, by far, is my favorite. Oh, I also just picked up an OLD 5w Magnatone lap steel amp( early '50's) with a moto covered cabinet, and this little bastard absolutely kills!! If you read Tonequest, it's the same one as Steve Wariner has pictured in last month's issue. If you ever happen to find one of these... buy it!!! Picked mine up for $175.

I have the new pro junior, and it sounds awesome! It’s perfect for a small gig and it cuts through amazingly well.

gmann · Mar 19, 2020

CK6 said:
I have the new pro junior, and it sounds awesome! It’s perfect for a small gig and it cuts through amazingly well.

I got one late last yr, my VV and my Bassman are just too loud for some places. It's loud and it sounds great! With just a vol. and tone knob it's super easy to dial in.

CK6 · Mar 20, 2020

gmann said:
I got one late last yr, my VV and my Bassman are just too loud for some places. It's loud and it sounds great! With just a vol. and tone knob it's super easy to dial in.

Agree 100% - with volume at 3 o'clock it sounds killer, and I'm sure running two in stereo would sound huge for a bar gig. A lot of people say that a pine cab would improve the sound but its good enough for my purposes. Any thoughts?

concert410 · Mar 23, 2020

15 watts or 120 watts..... you still get told to turn down at about the same volume.

agogetr · Mar 25, 2020

hoss said:
The sound is great. The stock speaker is not the best. Has no FX loop, if you should need that.

I currently have three tube amps, all pretty low power. A 7W home built Champ, a 20W Marshall JCM2000 DSL201 and a 50W Fender Blackface Bassman.
I had a 15W Blues Jr., 50W JCM800 2205 and an Echolette Junior (70s Vibro Champ clone).

Low power amps are the best. Also for gigging, because your are miced into the PA anyhow and the soundman does not want a screaming 100W stack on stage.

Good speakers are important. I have 12" Celestion Vintage 30 and Greenback and 10" Jensen Ceramic Vintage Reissues.

Watt vs. Volume (from the aga.rru.com FAQ)
OK. So is a 20 watt amp twice as loud as a 10 watt amp?
I found this info somewhere on the web and found it very useful.

Relative to the standard amp power of 50 watts:

50 mW - thousandfold decrease in power (1/8 as loud) 3 orders of magnitude

0.5 W - hundredfold decrease in power (1/4 as loud) 2 orders of magnitude

5 W - tenfold decrease in power (1/2 as loud) 1 order of magnitude

15 W - threefold decrease in power (about 2/3 as loud)

100 W - twofold increase in power (maybe 25% louder)

500 W - tenfold increase in power (twice as loud)

1/8 the volume of a 50 watt amp sounds like the level I want to hear. Everyone can agree, 1/8 the volume would be nice. But let's look at the amazing decrease of power that will give this result. A 1/8 decrease in volume amounts to 3 orders of magnitude of power, yielding just 50 mW-- a thousandfold decrease in power. Three orders of magnitude! A 50 watt amp is a thousand times too powerful. X% louder = 2^log10(P2/P1) * 100%

40 watts is 94% as loud as 50 watts.
30 watts is 86% as loud as 50 watts.
25 watts is 81% as loud as 50 watts.
22 watts is 78% as loud as 50 watts.
20 watts is 76% as loud as 50 watts.
18 watts is 74% as loud as 50 watts.
15 watts is 70% as loud as 50 watts.
12 watts is 65% as loud as 50 watts.
10 watts is 62% as loud as 50 watts.
9 watts is 60% as loud as 50 watts.
8 watts is 56% as loud as 50 watts.
7 watts is 55% as loud as 50 watts.
6 watts is 53% as loud as 50 watts.
5 watts is 50% as loud as 50 watts.
4 watts is 47% as loud as 50 watts.
3 watts is 43% as loud as 50 watts.
2 watts is 38% as loud as 50 watts.
1 watt is 31% as loud as 50 watts.

i understand the whole low wattage thing. i once sat in with a band.. the guitar player handed me his guitar and said 'hey.. we have a really low stage volume' the amps were set low and had pedals for tone. everything basically was coming at you through the monitors. it was crazy quiet. it was kind of cool i had to get used to it but at the end of it all it kind of all sounded 'radio'
i always had problems hearing my guitar at deiffernt points on the stage even though i had 100 watts. til i met rick neilson (sold him a couple lap steels) i got to see his set up and he used a non desirable silverface twin reverb on the side of the stage pointed at him as a side fill. problem solved! i started parking one of my high power tweed twins to the side and even the bass player and drummer liked the extra sound!

concert410 · Mar 31, 2020

I have played many 15 watters at various jams. They have always done the job. I use mine for a lot of gigs. I used to think they were toys and that I needed 50 watts at least. I have learned......

Texas Blues · Mar 31, 2020

It ain't the wattage.

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15 watts...I don't get it

jrgtr42

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CK6

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gmann

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CK6

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concert410

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agogetr

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concert410

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Texas Blues

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