Should I Get A Smaller Cab Or Head? Options

[llibach]

I have a Marshall dsl 2000 50w head that I use to gig through a 4 x 12 cab. Because we normally play pubs and clubs I only have the volume at about 4. At this level I don't feel I'm getting the best out of the head and the sound seems weedy, would running it through a 2 x 12 allow me to turn the volume up or the other option I was considering was getting either a 30 w head or a head that you can reduce the power in order to push it harder such as the carvin V3 micro. Any suggestions?

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This post has been edited by llibach: Jul 27 2012, 01:06 PM

[Fran]

I don't think that will help. 30W is almost the same output in sound as 50W. As for the cabs, not sure, but it probably won't help either.

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[Ben Higgins]

I don't think the cab would affect overall volume, just direction of the sound and tonality (if it were a different brand).

I'm not too sure but the JCM 2000, like most modern Marshalls, don't require you to push the master volume totally loud to get it to distort or anything so any gain needs can be met at any volume . Ultimately if you get that feeling though then you're probably right to trust it if you feel that the amp doesn't deliver unless it's really pushed.

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[Slavenko Erazer]

Get this Excellent German AMP



http://www.theacademyofsound.co.uk/ENGL_El...ad_E645_2_E6452

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[SpaseMoonkey]

Think of a light dimmer switch, you can turn it on half way and you get a decent amount of light in the room. But when you turn it on the room lighting is at best. Regardless of what type of fixture it is in, you still will get the same output at the same position.

Your amp works the same way, you need to push the tubes to overdrive them, but your stuck with it at say bedroom levels. Some may say look into an attenuator, it would allow you to push your amp more because it cuts the tone, but if pushed back to far it will color the tone a bit.



Another option would be. When you gig are you mic'ing them up every time? If so maybe an isolation cab.

I feel ya tho. I love my Mesa Triple Rect, but it's not the greatest for bedroom playing. I am thinking of a smaller amp or something along a pod hd pro / axe-fx and just use headphones. But I know in the end I'll end up with some new crazy amp thats high-gain/watt.


@ Slavenko Erazer - He's trying to go down in watt not up! Tho thats the amp that makes me think I'll end up with the crazy watt amp!

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[llibach]

Slavenko if I'm on 4 with a 50 w where am I gonna be with a 100w head The other guitarist I play with had a 120w JSX but he got rid of it too much power the feedback was crazy The attenuator seems good but it's quite expensive for what you get I think. I do like the look of the carvin v3 micro though 3 seperate channels and a power switch to take it from a 50 w to 22w and 7w and reasonably priced too, if only I could find one to try out.

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This post has been edited by llibach: Jul 27 2012, 03:09 PM

[Mudbone]

I assume that amp just has two tubes. If so, you might be able to pull one of the tubes out and drop the wattage by half. I don't know if its possible for that particular amp, so you should check with Marshall Tech Support before trying it.

Also, how old are those tubes? How much use have you put on them? It might just be time for a tube change.

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[Alex Feather]

I have a Marshall dsl 2000 50w head that I use to gig through a 4 x 12 cab. Because we normally play pubs and clubs I only have the volume at about 4. At this level I don't feel I'm getting the best out of the head and the sound seems weedy, would running it through a 2 x 12 allow me to turn the volume up or the other option I was considering was getting either a 30 w head or a head that you can reduce the power in order to push it harder such as the carvin V3 micro. Any suggestions?

I would keep it and get a 18 watts! I am playing 100+ shows a year different sizes and places! I have about 6 amps and for big shows I use 50W but for the small 18 is plenty! I even had situations when I used 10W in the small club!
Most of the clubs are micing amps anyway so there is no need for 50W and also you will get a better sound from cranking 18W!
I can suggest some cheap models! Send me a PM if you are interested and I will help you out!

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[guitarguy93]

Without reading through the whole thread, I would suggest you get something around 15w. A 30w amp would still sound pretty loud. Especially through a 4x12. A 4x12 cab definitely, in my opinion, sounds louder than a 1x12 (What I run). Other than that, I couldn't help you with cabs much.

I run a 100w PA with a POD Pro pre and a Carvin MicroCab (1x12), and it's surely loud enough to play large venues. At least the large ones around here, and can be heard across my entire town. Granted, it's only about 300 people, it's fairly spread out.

That being said, I could never get good-sounding practice volumes out of my 100w PA. When I practice, I generally plug my preamp directly into my cab. Thus, my suggestion is something like my setup. A separate preamp and power amp, and keep your cab.

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[JesseJ]

Even cheaper than buying a new amp would be to get a hot plate. I dont know to much about them my friend was explaining it to me one day. He said you hook your head up to your hot plate and then hook up to your cab and you can turn up everything on the amp and control the volume through the hot plate. I would recommend going to a music store and asking someone who actually really knows about hot plates

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[llibach]

I think a smaller head is the answer for me an 18 w like Alex suggested. I'll keep this one of course you can't have too much gear right Hot plate seems good but I'd rather put that money towards a new smaller head. Thanks for the input guys.

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[guitarguy93]

I think a smaller head is the answer for me an 18 w like Alex suggested. I'll keep this one of course you can't have too much gear right Hot plate seems good but I'd rather put that money towards a new smaller head. Thanks for the input guys.

Good choice. Besides, using a Hot Plate to the extent where you would notice a large difference would make everything sound crappy. At least, not as good as your amp alone. Just what I've heard.

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[Todd Simpson]

The old "Amp WAAAAY to big for the room" problem. Yup. That amps sounds best set to melt faces so you can get a "Variac"/"hotplace" type device to push the amp harder at low volume, and save yourself getting a new head. Or, go get a smaller head.

The orange MICRO TERROR is pretty spiff, but not very loud for gigging. But only $150!

I have a Marshall dsl 2000 50w head that I use to gig through a 4 x 12 cab. Because we normally play pubs and clubs I only have the volume at about 4. At this level I don't feel I'm getting the best out of the head and the sound seems weedy, would running it through a 2 x 12 allow me to turn the volume up or the other option I was considering was getting either a 30 w head or a head that you can reduce the power in order to push it harder such as the carvin V3 micro. Any suggestions?

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[AdamB]

Reducing cab size is the easiest way to go to get lower sound pressure level (lower volume), as if you think about it, if you use a 2x12 rather than a 4x12, you're pushing half the amount of air, and therefore creating half the SPL. Going down in speaker size can also help, though it affects the tone of the sound more than simply adjusting speaker count. Open/closed backs on cabinets can also affect this, as an open back cabinet is less directional and therefore the sound dissipates in a more spread-out manner, reducing the SPL. Again, that can affect your tone.

Reducing power can also help, but remember that wattage is logarithmic (100 watts == 2x the power of 10 watts), so you have to drop the power considerably before you notice much.

So, if it's lower power you want I'd consider getting a power soak (sometimes called an output attenuator), this is a device that sits between the output of the head and the input of the cab and allows you to effectivly simulate having a lower-power output from your head, so you can turn the head down to 5 or 10Watts. It can affect the tone of your setup, but it's the best choice for a scaleable power out for your rig for different venues.

-Adam

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