how loud can you go?

[guitar]

i was just wondering if any one knew which is the loudest amplifier ever made and how loud it was?

cheers

[fantasticsound]

Why? You don't like your hearing?

 

Most 100+ watt amps have more than enough power to damage your hearing. Why have more power than that? At that point, a large PA would be required to put vocals at balance with your guitar amp.

 

That said, there's been talk of a New 300w monster, I believe, from Peavey. Useless...

[GuitarWolf]

dude, that amp in Spinal Tap man! The dial went tooo 11 man!!!!!!!

[roy d]

Myles has an amp at his house that he rents with something ridiculous like 3000 watts of TUBE power! It comes with warnings not to use it indoors lest you damage the foundation of the building

Needless to say, I didn't listen to it

[DangerousDanimal]

Originally posted by roy d:

Myles has an amp at his house that he rents with something ridiculous like 3000 watts of TUBE power! It comes with warnings not to use it indoors lest you damage the foundation of the building

Needless to say, I didn't listen to it

Holy badass. Where can I get one?

[revolead]

Who cares about hearing?

 

Just kidding, but seriously my ears are for music. I don't care if I get damage playing guitar. I had fun in the process. That's what's important. Right?

[fantasticsound]

No!

 

Having fun and living to do it again another day is the point!

 

Yes, I had my "play too loud" phase. Realy dumb. Who knows how much hearing loss I've sustained from those highschool and college days?

 

SRV sufferred such severe hearing loss that it profoundly affected the sound the audience heard. He needed approx. 120dB SPL at his ears from the monitor rig. That's just stupid. It most certainly affected the overall sound.

 

Protect your hearing. You won't miss it until it's gone... but that may be sooner than you think.

[Tedster]

Huh?

[baronedo]

If you must play loud at a big venue, consider using a set of Hearos, ear attenuators. These soft ear plugs are pretty comfortable and take the shrill out of the noise while still allowing you to hear the sound. They will save your ears and still let you play.

 

I always bring a pair with me at rock concerts and get no more ringing in my ears after the concert.

[Sylver]

Why on earth in these days of nice PAs would someone want an ultra loud rig?

[NMcGuitar]

I've gotta echo the "save your hearing" posts. I'm very lucky that the damage I've done to my ears over the years is quite minimal (especially considering the bands I played in in H.S. & college!), but even that bothers me sometimes.

 

That said, I confess that there is something really satisfying about hitting a power chord and feeling like you might be doing structural damage to buildings in the next county...

[TieDyedDevil]

http://www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/Arena.html

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by Sylver:

Why on earth in these days of nice PAs would someone want an ultra loud rig?

Thank you!!! That says it all, Sylver!

[Georgebowen]

I agree, I went to a bar the other night to see some local bands and the set up was really nice, but the PA was loud enough to play for 500 people and way to loud for the 30 people there. It was a great PA with speakers about 10' tall and 4 18" subs but way overkill, they could have saved a couple hundred and gotten a smaller rig.

[jetboy]

listen to the words of wisdom,

 

you don't miss it until it's gone or until you can't sleep because your ears are ringing so loud it wakes you up.

 

Check out www.sensaphonics.com reasonably priced and not too much deadening. Used them at a sum41 concert (took my daughter) and I tested the sound by pulling them and putting them back in. The sound was actually better with them in, cut out all the syllabence(?) overtones and I could actually hear the vocals better. just seemed like a better balance.

 

Add that to the benefit of being able to hear after the concert and I'd say it was a winner.

[Gato]

There is a diference between music and noise, and a 300 watts amp is noise.

[The Bear Jew]

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by Sylver:

Why on earth in these days of nice PAs would someone want an ultra loud rig?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thank you!!! That says it all, Sylver!

Not to be an asshole here (but I will anyway), but not every venue has a nice PA.

 

My bands play a lot of DIY (do it yourself) venues, and the rooms are often really questionable. Much of the time, the PA only handles the vocals. In these cases, the vox are pumped like a mutha, but the band is barely registering. THAT'S when it's nice to have some extra headroom on both bass and guitar rigs.

 

I've said this before: I'd rather have extra wattage and not need it than need the wattage and not have it.

[revolead]

Sorry guys, I was joking. I realize that too loud can be too loud. I never play to where my eardrums end up bleeding. My biggest concern with my volume and future hearing damage is that I crank my headphones too loud. But other than that I never play to deafening levels. I will admit I play loud enough to hear me at the neighbors, but he plays louder anyway.

[myles_rose]

Originally posted by guitar?:

i was just wondering if any one knew which is the loudest amplifier ever made and how loud it was?

cheers

guitar? .........

 

This is what some folks think of as my second loudest amp....

 

http://www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/Dscf0010.jpg

 

It is 120 watts (60 per side) from the top amp (that drives 4 2x12 cabs, with four EL-34's).

 

and controls the bottom amp, which is 320 watts, 160 per side, with 8 GE 6550A tubes, and runs 4 4x12 cabs.

 

The 8 rack space rack is about 200 pounds.

 

If you want one that is louder and lighter:

 

http://guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/Arena.html

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by guitar?:

i was just wondering if any one knew which is the loudest amplifier ever made and how loud it was?

cheers

Marshall has the new 350W Mode 4.

Fender had the PS400 (I think) that had 4 6550's putting out close to 200W (again, not sure).

[myles_rose]

Originally posted by bluestrat:

Originally posted by guitar?:

i was just wondering if any one knew which is the loudest amplifier ever made and how loud it was?

cheers

Marshall has the new 350W Mode 4.

Fender had the PS400 (I think) that had 4 6550's putting out close to 200W (again, not sure).

bluestrat ..........

 

I guess you did not see my above post .... 8 6550's.

[fantasticsound]

Yeow!! Even the picture is loud, Myles!

 

(Could you resize the Rivera pic to, at least, fit the MP forum page? )

 

 

Anyway, the whole arena amp idea is a dinosaur. I've worked with plenty of name acts, from Aerosmith on down... none of them use ultra high power amps. In fact most name acts are moving to ear monitors, with amplifiers offstage. On the 1st KISS reunion tour, they had a set which had lots of 4x12 cabs mounted in aluminum or steel supports. Oh, almost forgot to mention... only one cabinet was active for guitar and one for bass!

 

CMDN... you can turn up all you like. Very quickly, in those DIY locations, you'll beat the sh*t out of 5 people in front of your rig while the rest of the place struggles to hear any recognizable notes from your rig. Physics, ba-beee! If they don't have adequate PA, it's time you brought your own.

[Chipotle]

Originally posted by myles111:

bluestrat ..........

 

I guess you did not see my above post .... 8 6550's.

While we're on the subject of loud, how about wiring a pair of these strange but ridiculously powerful triodes...

 

http://www.svetlanausa.com/index.asp?strType=Content&strPage=3CX300A1

[The Bear Jew]

CMDN... you can turn up all you like. Very quickly, in those DIY locations, you'll beat the sh*t out of 5 people in front of your rig while the rest of the place struggles to hear any recognizable notes from your rig. Physics, ba-beee! If they don't have adequate PA, it's time you brought your own.

It's just not possible for us to bring a suitable PA with us. No space or budget for it. Believe it or not, we actually make out OK with the strategy I mentioned above. Once the room starts to fill up, things sort of balance out. Videotapes made from various parts of these rooms bear me out. Like I said, it's not perfect, but it's close enough for rock n' roll.

[fantasticsound]

[myles_rose]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Yeow!! Even the picture is loud, Myles!

 

(Could you resize the Rivera pic to, at least, fit the MP forum page? )

 

 

Anyway, the whole arena amp idea is a dinosaur. I've worked with plenty of name acts, from Aerosmith on down... none of them use ultra high power amps. In fact most name acts are moving to ear monitors, with amplifiers offstage. On the 1st KISS reunion tour, they had a set which had lots of 4x12 cabs mounted in aluminum or steel supports. Oh, almost forgot to mention... only one cabinet was active for guitar and one for bass!

 

CMDN... you can turn up all you like. Very quickly, in those DIY locations, you'll beat the sh*t out of 5 people in front of your rig while the rest of the place struggles to hear any recognizable notes from your rig. Physics, ba-beee! If they don't have adequate PA, it's time you brought your own.

fantasticsound.........

 

I made the pix smaller. It is still a touch large, but it is off my website, so I do not want to make it much smaller than it is resized now ... but it now fits here better.

 

As far as your comment about arena amps ... you are totally correct, to the tune of about 500%.

 

On the Knopfler/Clapton event, the stage was full, but they were all amps of well under 50 watts for the most part, and a lot of tweed amps. Today, most venues have great sound systems, with tens of thousands of clean watts, so they are even stronger than just about any imaginable amp backline. Now these days, you get the tone and sound you want, from any amp, and just let the house system take it from there.

 

"CMDN... you can turn up all you like. Very quickly, in those DIY locations, you'll beat the sh*t out of 5 people in front of your rig while the rest of the place struggles to hear any recognizable notes from your rig. Physics, ba-beee! If they don't have adequate PA, it's time you brought your own." .....................

 

Again .......... 100% in agreement here with you. The worst amps in the past, were the Acoustic 260/360 with the folded horn enclosures. The sound did not develop until about 15-20 feet in front of the cab. The player would keep turning it up to hear it, and meanwhile, the first 20 rows were dying.

[myles_rose]

Originally posted by Chipotle:

Originally posted by myles111:

bluestrat ..........

 

I guess you did not see my above post .... 8 6550's.

While we're on the subject of loud, how about wiring a pair of these strange but ridiculously powerful triodes...

 

http://www.svetlanausa.com/index.asp?strType=Content&strPage=3CX300A1

Chipotle ..........

 

If you want one, I would be more than happy to build you one. Could probably have it in less than a month, as I already have the power supplies and other infrastructure, just a matter of some rail voltage changes.

[roy d]

I see that Myles chimmed in with the details regarding the arena... and I had exagerated the output in my earlier post... it isn't 3000 watts, it is only 1420 http://guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/Arena.html

[daddyelmis]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Anyway, the whole arena amp idea is a dinosaur. . .If they don't have adequate PA, it's time you brought your own.

Amen! I'm in a small band playing small and midsized venues and we run it ALL through the board to FOH. I only use small wattage amps so I can get tone at low volume, then let the Mackie and amps present it to the audience.

 

The other benefit of using the PA for room power is repeatability and consistency in your mix from room to room. We get essentially the same FOH mix whether we're playing 50 people in a small lounge or 350 people in a hotel ballroom. We noodle EQ and speaker placement, while the guitar and bass amps do what they always do.

[Chipotle]

Originally posted by myles111:

Chipotle ..........

 

If you want one, I would be more than happy to build you one. Could probably have it in less than a month, as I already have the power supplies and other infrastructure, just a matter of some rail voltage changes.

I was thinking it would make a nice SET Hi Fi amp, but I bet they're a bit expensive. If you could build a push pull pair with the 1800 volt power supply into a tweed deluxe enclosure, that would be quite a conversation piece. I guess it would make a good bass amp or perhaps a tube PA for Erik's band.

 

Anyway, I would have to agree with Erik. The last shows I've done have been no soundman, a little mackie and some speakers if we're lucky, and no mics! We ended up bringing PA augementation. You just have to get the best vocal sound you can and use your amp. I think Clapton and Knopfler can do whatever they want and it's not a valid point of comparison. For the gigs and type of music I do, I need to control the sound myself to convey the music properly; I can't rely on a soundman who doesn't know the set to boost and cut my volume at the required times. I also think it's counterproductive to have this great small amp and then run it through some cheap mic, into a cheap board with a "soundman" who probably will use the board's eq and some awful compressor. I have never seen any gear (compressors, eq, mics) that these small venues owns that could improve the sound I get straight out of my amp. I say leave the practice amps at home and bring something that allows you to obtain your sound at any volume (master volume, hotplate, etc.) without having to rely on anyone who wasn't at the last rehearsal; it's a lot less worries.