-
You know what I mean (if you are old enough). Not to be taken literally. I just think it's comical that someone nowadays uses what is supposedly a 2 or 3 hundred watt amp and they still can't be heard. Just my old school brain.
Originally Posted by Mick-7
-
06-13-2026 02:46 PM
-
In my youth, in the UK, Fender gear was out of reach for me. Quite unexpectedly, at the age of 14, I acquired a Simms Watts 100w full stack. A poor man's Marshall but no matter how loud it was it wouldn't break up but it would go crazy loud. Ultimately the 2 4x12s became 4 2x12s and were used for PA. The amp was sold to a bass player friend. I moved to Vox AC30s then and later a Musicman RP65 which I still use. The MM can raise the roof. My spare is a British Sessionette 75 solid state. That's terrifyingly loud. I have used my MM and S75 for rock and function bands. For jazz it's Polytones but that's never loud. Originally Posted by bluejaybill
-
A watt is not a measurement of loudness, it is a measurement of output power.
-
Unfortunately, we are only interested in how loud an amp is not what the output power is. Will it compete with a drummer etc etc. Why tell a musician what the output power is? Originally Posted by BreckerFan
-
Good point there, I overlooked that. I've had one of the TC BQ500's on back order for months (like a lot of people). When I finally get it, it will be interesting to compare the power of the MB 500 to the TC 500. But the MB 58 has a couple of really cool features. A choice of flat or scooped starting eq, and a knob called "Old School," that sort of acts like an overall single-knob tone control. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Last edited by Woody Sound; 06-13-2026 at 07:44 PM.
-
I bought a BQ500 a while ago. It’s everything you want in a little head (except reverb) - awesome power, great tone from the TC FET preamp, silent, great EQ, XLR balanced out, and a compressor that works very well. The only weird thing is that it only has a Speakon jack for speaker out - no 1/4”. Fortunately, Rich made my RE 10 cab with a Speakon input and I followed suit when I ordered my RevSound 8RS. So I have several Speakon cables. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
You’ll love the BQ. I only bought it because was dirt cheap and I thought a backup amp with the same power as the main one was a good idea. It sounds fantastic for archtop jazz and takes effects very well for fusion, blues etc. I don’t miss reverb (much…). Of course, it’s a killer bass amp too.
-
I've tried various amps, but my Tonemaster Twin is the only amp that really and reliably cuts the mustard in my big band.
-
33 pounds, 2x12" Celstions, and makes a fantastic pedal platform as well. Love mine Originally Posted by Simon1234
That said, the Fuchs ODH 112 is only 22 pounds, and sounds better but is about $2000.
-
TBH, the Fuchs ODH head is the only amplifier for which I still have a serious Jones. For blues and fusion, I'm a died-in-the-wool Dumblehead, and my Smokin' Amp Company Zensation pedal comes mighty close to Robben Ford's ODS. But I'm closer to buying an ODH every day. It's a fantastic amplifier! When my Quilter Overdrive 202 and my Ibanez AF207 have sold, I'll be headed to northern New Jersey to check out an ODH in person. Originally Posted by jim777
-
They really do sounds fantastic. Andy Fuchs recently overhauled my '67 Bassman head (added a half power switch where the old ground switch was, and a master volume) and I played the ODH for a bit. I really need the FBS bass head more, but I may just stick with my old Hartke and get an ODH as well. It's a fantastic little amp! Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
-
I play in a big band and have used a Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb, which had ample headroom.
How loud are the other players? Personally if a 200 watt amp isn't cutting it, I'd say they're playing way too loud.
A frustration of mine is drummers and bass players in big bands that play too loud. Leaves no room for dynamics for the rest of the band.
-
@Nevershouldhavesoldit
(Trying not to derail this thread)
I am also interested in possibly getting a Fuchs ODH, but they are difficult to get in Germany.
If you do purchase an ODH would you please post some thoughts and an audio clip?
I would also like to know how loud the fan is, and if you find it problematic.
-
I play in a 19 pc band (piano amplified) and a 17 pc band (no amplification of piano). Both amplify the bass, but not the drums.
The Little Jazz wasn't loud enough. And, I got a complaint about the sound from a knowledgable player.
The Blu managed the one time I tried it, but it was dimed.
Roland JC55 is loud enough.
JBL Eon One Compact (fed by ME70>Joyo American) is loud enough. That's what I've been using for some months now.
One very experienced bandleader told me that the guitar should be at about the same volume as the hihat. Anybody else heard that advice?
I generally figure that the guitar chording needs to be at or below the piano's volume, for a lot of the music, including the older swing style. The opposite may be true for bossa nova, rock or funk or ??
-
This and then some. I grabbed one awhile back at a "Sure, why not?" price, thinking it would be a cute little practice/recording amp. Turns out it's a little beast! Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
-
A bit of a back story. Months ago I bought a Roland Cube 60 which, when I got it home, cut in and out. I took it to my repair guy and then didn’t hear from him for five months.
He finally returned my messages a few days ago. He said he couldn’t find anything wrong. I suddenly had a flash of guilt and wondered “what cable did I use to try it out when I bought it?”
I picked it up from the repair guy’s place and sure enough it was just fine.
I took it to rehearsal the following morning and after brief discussion with the band leader about Roland Cubes being built like tanks, went to plug in my guitar and found that the plastic ring surrounding the input jack had broken and the jack had fallen into the head. Luckily the regular guitarists stores his amp, a nasty old Peavey, on site and I played through it.
On the way home to get my backup, I decided to drop the amp off at the LMS and while there I inquired about rentals while my amp was repaired. They had a used Katana 50 available for less than $1/day, so I took that. I thought for a moment that would save me the drive home.
The Katana worked great. Not too heavy, sounded fine, easy to set up on the clean setting. They miked it and I could hear it very well in the monitor and beside me.
So when my Cube 60 is ready I’ll probably see how much this rental unit costs or maybe try a Gen 3 unit.
Katanas don’t seem to get much love on this forum. I get that they maybe aren’t the last word as far as jazz guitar amps go, but they seem to do the job well enough.
-
This is turning into more of an adventure than I had expected. I picked up my Roland 60 from the shop. Very quick repair at a very reasonable cost.
However, the moment I inserted my cable, the new plastic ring (jack nut) supporting the input jack shattered. So it’s back to the repair shop today.
-
Played an outdoor bbq for about 80 people. No electricity.
Pianist had a power supply the size of a picnic cooler and brought a few Bose S1's which have batteries. Bassist played through a Bose S1, which worked fine.
I brought the JBL Eon One and the Joyo American, both run on batteries. I left the ME70 (which can be run on batteries) at home.
The kb was pretty loud on "stage". I switched the JBL to mic on ch 1 and cranked it. Plenty loud. I stumbled a bit in getting the reverb working. Not sure exactly why. You have to set both send and return (like a mixer, which it is) -- I did that, or so I thought, but didn't get reverb until suddenly I did. The app works, but you're moving between screens and it can get a little complicated.
I'm now running the JBL flat in most situations and using the Joyo's 3 band EQ and the knob on the guitar (treble cut).
I'm pretty well convinced that the Joyo gives me warmth that I can't get by EQing the JBL.
-
The last word. The shop repaired my amp and got it back to me in record time. No extra charge.
I plugged in my Epi 335 and it immediately sounded great, exactly what I like, with no tweaking required. Much to my surprise it was on the Brit Combo setting, which I would never have bothered trying.
Maybe it’ll all go to hell at the Friday’s rehearsal but for now I’m pretty happy.
-
TC is boasting 200 watts; but I bet that's just 200 watts PEAK power, not RMS power (average power-what folks have been calling the old rating.)
-
Yeah, tc has been called out just about everywhere for fudging the power on all their published amplifier specs...and not even a simple fudging, such as conflating Peak power with RMS power, it's more arbitrary than that. Originally Posted by Doug B
I recently read the results of one engineer's lab testing of the BQ500 (which tc refers to as "500 watts"), and it came in around 375 watts RMS into a 4 ohm load.
If the BAM200 scales similarly, that would make it ~150 watts RMS into a 4 ohm load
...so probably somewhere between half that and 70% of that into 8 ohms.
Still oughtta be enough power for jazz guitar in a big band, so I agree the OP's speaker sensetivity is the issue.
Reply With Quote
Interesting Acoustic-Electric 7-String
Today, 06:32 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos