Hi. I’m in the UK so guess at a disadvantage in terms of amp choice compared to USA (often they state no shipping to UK). That said, I would appreciate any sensible advice on a potential amp that would be powerful enough to be used with a band. I have no idea what size watt that would be. I would ultimately love the Chicago crunch/dirty sound but also have the option to play clean. Ignore any budget with your advice, I just require options at this stage. I play through a bulletini with volume control. Many thanks.
Depends on how loud the band is and what venues you play. Smaller crunchy amps are good (and cheaper), but will need a PA channel (and line out or mic) in anything bigger than a room - and some small venues don’t have much of a PA. Big amps are great, but are expensive and heavy. I went for the middle ground - a HarpGear 35 - 35 all tube watts with twin 10 inch speakers and a line out. Works well for a medium room (with a not-excessively-loud pub rock band), but is small enough for room size gigs and can be PA’d when we play stadiums (as if!). Transport from Florida can be expensive (US$400 for the shipping to Australia), but I love my HG35.
Thanks Maka. Venues will be pubs in the Uk which are usually cramped. Appreciate your advice.
Nice to see ya @tess848ducati it’s been awhile! Did you see this?
I recommend the HOG stuff if you can get. Otherwise, you could pick up a MonoPrice and swap out the tubes to AY7’s. I’ve yet to do that on my amp, but plan to!
Hope that helps?
You don’t need a “big” amp (in terms of wattage) Any good sound man would mic your amp. Pick one that produces the tone/sound you like, then it’s up to the sound man.
Well if you want to go big and spend a lot of money a fender Bassman is my dream amp. But I have a 40 watt Vox with an amp Modeller and a tube From which I can get the Chicago crunch. If you have a Bulletini a Roland cube works well it’s small easy to transport and won’t break the bank