Low wattage clean amp questions?

[technicoloraudio]

laney l5t. i picked one up for around five bills a few years ago. an awesome amp. takes the pedals real nice.

[mathias]

Currently trying to figure out a speaker setup for the hybrid practice amp I'm building. Smaller than a 10-12" doesn't seem to have the punch of a bigger amp.. but I'm also running into issues of just the fact that a practice amp isn't as loud, so necessarily isn't moving as much air, and has a different "feel"... fuzzes feel tiny and thin with the same settings that sound great on a louder amp, etc.

What do you guys think about cab simulators ala Tech21, and something with a wider response range than guitar speakers, just studio monitor speakers? Just curious

[AngryGoldfish]

Cab simulation can't hurt necessarily, as long as it has a stock setting, but I'd rather a traditional guitar speaker than a full range studio monitor. I could just play into the house PA then or straight into the computer if at home.

[mathias]

Cab simulation can't hurt necessarily, as long as it has a stock setting, but I'd rather a traditional guitar speaker than a full range studio monitor. I could just play into the house PA then or straight into the computer if at home.

Yeah, that was kind of my thinking, along with the cab simulation (would rather just have the real thing.)

I'll run some experiments with stuff from Parts-Express and see what it sounds like..

Edit: I'm tempted to try some Neo speakers for greater power handling and lighter weight, but they're expensive

[mathias]

Made a thread in DIY for my project: viewtopic.php?f=151&t=29037&p=514734#p514734

[AngryGoldfish]

That's funny, this is the second time I've heard of those speakers today, and I have never heard of them previous to this.

[goroth]

I hate full range speakers - I just feel that guitar signals are meant to be attenuated at certain frequencies. The Hexe dude has a really good page comparing various speaker simulators and basically concludes that a speaker is a complicated thing and modelling a speaker/mic without DSP is difficult. You can get close but not that close. Or at least, that's how I interpreted it. There's a lot of info there. http://www.hexeguitar.com/diy-cabsims_e
I also think guitars sound funny through less than 10 inch speakers. 10s are great, 12s are great. 8s are meh and 6s suck balls.

[mathias]

I hate full range speakers - I just feel that guitar signals are meant to be attenuated at certain frequencies. The Hexe dude has a really good page comparing various speaker simulators and basically concludes that a speaker is a complicated thing and modelling a speaker/mic without DSP is difficult. You can get close but not that close. Or at least, that's how I interpreted it. There's a lot of info there. http://www.hexeguitar.com/diy-cabsims_e
I also think guitars sound funny through less than 10 inch speakers. 10s are great, 12s are great. 8s are meh and 6s suck balls.

Thanks, I am adding this to my references for my amp project. I'm going to try using something with speaker simulation (Sansamp or one of the Korg Toneworks multiFX or something), but obviously I can't build one of those into my amp.

No idea what the full-ranges will yield until I get them here. I have in mind to build a pair of hifi stereo speakers out of them, though, so they're only for demoing/comparing.

I understand the bit about attenuating freq's / having a certain frequency response, I'm just afraid that a practice amp (or rather, small low wattage amp) just doesn't push speakers in a way that will induce that kind of freq response, and so you don't get that "driven amp" feel with quieter speakers.

And yeah, I'm starting with 10's and comparing to my "reference" 8" speaker. Sorry, most of this is in my giant amp project DIY thread, so I'm kind of rambling /repeating myself at this point..

[penelope tree]

I've got a VHT Special 6 and I doubt it would be possible to get a much better small tube amp within in its price range. However, it's impossible to get an overdriven tone at bedroom volumes without using a pedal.

[lapsteel]

Another vote for the Special 6.... so far it has been loud enough to keep up with most drummers (pushed dirty of course), and this weekdend I played for three hours straight with a guitarist playing through one of those peavey tnt 200 bass dinosaurs and a drummer, and it really was the first time I felt a little overwhelmed, but it could keep up for the most part. So I would have to say it is pretty loud for a 6 watts class A. It does the bedroom thing okay, take pedals like a champ and when it is pushed it can play with a small band just don't expect any crystal clear tones.

[goroth]

There's not a huge difference in max output between 6 watts and 100 watts. Headroom yeah, but max noise, not so much as you'd think.

[chutneyfarmer]

This thread has ignited severe GAS in me for a VHT. I've always prefered simple amps so reckon I'll be picking up a special 6 head and cab. I've read that the combo has a little trouble sounding tight when the volume's cranked.

[lapsteel]

This thread has ignited severe GAS in me for a VHT. I've always prefered simple amps so reckon I'll be picking up a special 6 head and cab. I've read that the combo has a little trouble sounding tight when the volume's cranked.

Get the combo. It has extension out for all the popular ohmages. Once the speaker breaks in a bit it responds better,
it is a pretty nice sounding and reliable 10" speaker. You get easy portability and bedroom level capability and still have the option of running into any cab you want....Win Win, no?