So, I got my DC-2 back yesterday, pots cleaned, new power tubes.
Thanks for putting it in perspective of 'meant to played live in a mix'. I am a drummer first and a guitar owner second. I am unsure I'll ever be gig-ready on guitar. But I like how tubes sound over anything solid state. And I am coming to consider myself a tone chaser.
My DC-2 does well at a 'loud TV volume'. I guess for me bedroom level is a misnomer. I rarely play when the missus is around - I usually give it a good crank. Usually well over and above a loud TV level. This morning I waited until 8am to turn it up to respect the neighbors, and I live in a standalone house.
If 'loud TV volume' (or somewhat louder) is the goal line, do any and all of the 100- and 50W models work for my needs?
The Dual Rectifier amps are in a league by themselves. Roadster, MWDR both have the 50W power modes that can be set for each channel. Not sure about the Trem-o-verb. Most of the older versions before the MWDR came out, other than the Roadster or Road King, ran at a single power mode. Dual Recs were 100W, Triple Recs were 150W, and the single rec was 50W. Not sure if the Stiletto line had switchable power modes or if they were also fixed. ACE is 50W, Deuce was 100W and the Trident was 150W (?). It has been a while since I ran the MWDR. You can dial it back for lower output volume and get away with it at the 100W power setting. Even the Roadster can be run low enough but it sort of takes away from the full potential of the amp's characteristics when using it at gig level. Not at Stadium level, but it could probably do that too. Even the Badlander can rip with the best of the amps but is a bit easier to get a hot sound at a reduced volume as it is more of a hybrid mark/recto thing. When dropping the power down to the 50W, it does take on a different character but depends on how you are driving the amp. TV volume, not sure how loud you run your TV's. From someone else's perspective, it would be too loud. From the player's perspective, it is not loud enough. Depends on what you are used to in terms of volume. I have no experience with the DC series so it is difficult to relate it to the other amps I am familiar with.
I would rather run at 100W and get to feel the music let alone hear it. Sure the guitar is more immediate and you get that chest pounding feeling, When it comes to bass, there is something different, hammer out a strong note, the wait for it to bloom, Sure you hear it first but then you get this wall of air movement that increases then decreases as the note begins to decay.
Some of the later versions of the Mark amps are tamable at lower volumes. The older models are running at full tilt once you dial in the control past 3 (I assume that would be like the 9am-10am setting on the controls without numbers).
Amps that have the global volume and solo boost feature can be adjusted enough to get a reduced volume sound at its full power setting. MWDR, Roadster, TC, Mark V90. You will not be driving the power tubes hard enough though so the output character will be slightly different than it would be at gig level. The JP2C and the Mark VII do not have the global volume control feature, but the output volume is more useable at lower settings when comparing to the older models dating back to 1980 up to 2008 before the Mark V90 came out.
Badlander, yep, you can run it at a lower volume and still get plenty of distortion out of it since it does not fully rely on the power tube distortion to complete its sound. It does not have that dark tone as a MWDR or Roadster.
I am sort of the opposite, guitar player turned drummer. Not all that good at it but better than the other two guitar players in the group.
I went a little overboard with this kit. It just sounds so good though. Tama Star-Classic Birtch/Walnut. It shares the same hardware as the Star (top shelf drum kit from Tama). I wanted the cast hoops and not the formed and folded thin metal hoops that most kits use these days. The only drum that is different is the one 20inch kick drum, that is a Birtch/Bubinga, it is the one on the left, The one on the right is the 22 inch kick drum.
This was a few steps up from the Gretch Catalina Maple kit I had started as my first acoustic set. Before this, I was using a Rolland TD-15k E-drum kit. That made things easy to record. Do not have that option anymore.
The starter drum set.