Why the insane wattage?

[ryanformato]

Why are all these companies producing such high wattage amps (including Marshall, MESA, Bogner, etc...)

Who needs 50/100/150 watts of tube...I just don't get it. It makes our work as guitarists harder to achieve better tone.

Why don't they make a switch that allows us to go from

5/15/25/50/100 watts of tube in a "head"?

 

[MetalMatt]

ummm... Lone Star Special?

 

[53crew]

Depends what you're going for. For tight bottom end, there's no substitute for the headroom of a 100+ watt amp. You're right though. It takes some insane volume to get to the point of power tube breakup, so you have to just figure out what you need..... Lower volume breakup, or tight bottom end with balls.
-Steve

 

[ashjn]

Some people like the headroom. I know most Mesa amps have switchable watts, but the Lone Star and Road King can get pretty low. The Bogner Esctacy can also switch down to about 25 watts

 

[disassembled]

The Mesa 20/20 is loud as hell too but has a lot of break up compared to a 6L6 based amp.

 

[Storm]

The Roadster had a switch that can select either 50 or 100watts.

Ciao ...

 

[Jaroslav]

There are stages, where I begin to feel lack of headroom on my DR (but if I had more speaker cabs, it would be ok). I kind of prefer hearing myself from the back with only a little hint from the monitor.

 

[cheekymonkey]

Good point.

I just picked up a Roland Micro Cube. Certainly not the tone of a tube amp but great for a little practise amp. It's rated at 2W and I'd say that it was loud for just bedroon jamming.

 

[phantomlord2oo]

Haha the Roland Micro Cube is AWSOME! I always have it in my car. You never know when you'd need it!

+Mike+

 

[Guitarzan]

Zoom Fire's sound a bit better than the Cubes. .02

 

[Red Suede]

Try playing with a bass player running 1500 - 2000 watts and a modern drummer and keyboard player. If you use the clean channel at all, you need the headroom. I can get a 20 watt amp to get loud enough in the lead channel, but the clean channel is a whole nother ballgame. 100 watts minimum, for me.

 

[Gary K]

Why don't they make a switch that allows us to go from
5/15/25/50/100 watts of tube in a "head"?

The combination of the Lone Star Special (5/15/30) and Lone Star Classic (50/100) would get you there. Between these two you have all the classic power/wattage options.

I believe many of these power levels are covered with the Mesa Road King in a "single box" format.

Nowadays, guitarists can mike a small guitar amp through the PA so you might not need the volume, bulk, and expense of a "full stack".

-Gary K

 

[drunkdolphin]

The High Power is nothing new for Mesa,
I have a Mark iiB coliseum? ( it is early here, forgive me if my spelling is off)
It is supposed to clock in at over 180w.
s

 

[RR]

The High Power is nothing new for Mesa,
I have a Mark iiB coliseum? ( it is early here, forgive me if my spelling is off)
It is supposed to clock in at over 180w.
s

Somethin like this?

 

[Guitarzan]

The High Power is nothing new for Mesa,
I have a Mark iiB coliseum? ( it is early here, forgive me if my spelling is off)
It is supposed to clock in at over 180w.
s

Somethin like this?

Sweet!

 

[drunkdolphin]

Thats the one RR,
Not as clean condition,
I was thinking of sending it to MB for a re-furb.
it has alot of issues.
I would love to be able to wind it up one day!!!!
Steve

 

[RR]

Thats the one RR,
Not as clean condition,
I was thinking of sending it to MB for a re-furb.
it has alot of issues.
I would love to be able to wind it up one day!!!!
Steve

Uh, actually mine got dressed in burlap blond tolex and oxyblood grill. I built the enclosures (head, and angled 2x12") myself. Besides Boogies, I am also a big fan of vintage Fenders and I thought I was disguise my Colesium 300 Series as a "Fender Tonemaster-like". Something like putting a Chevy 454 or Chrysler Hemi in a small chassic car. Getting carried away ...

One of the problems of original Mark I, II (if you call it a problem) is they were built around the 6L6 Sylvania tubes (MESA STR-415). Their bias is fix and set for a Sylvania 6L6s. So if you do use this amp often and send it to the MESA, I would asks them to set the bias where it set to take today's common tubes.

Hope others would elaborate on this.