Long Time No See, and Advice Needed

[Matt]

Well, its been a very long time since i posted...um..about 7 months and theres so much to catch up on that it will takes weeks to sift through. But anyhow, I've come to a predicament regarding my AD50: It simply ain't loud enough. I know I had this conversation with several of you before, and you managed to convice me it is, and it was...but then I joined a new band, in which even with everything on max, I can barely be heard, thanks to an overly enthusiastic drummer. Another problem is, although the tone itself is extremely sweet at this volume (I simply love it, when I can hear myself), the bass gets a bit loose on the heavier distortion channels, and feedback is becoming irksome to say the least (I should be able to eq it out however).

So I came to the following conclusions:

Buy a new amp. I would probably bite the bullet and get a full valve amp, but its going to take a while to get the funds, which doesnt help my immediate problem

or

I run it through an extension cab. The problem with this is, I would have to lug a cab around with me, and it might not make a huge amount of difference to the volume. Has anyone done this to great effect?

or

Ask the drummer nicely to calm down and stop making me partially deaf after each session. Unfortunately he gets rather annoyed when you ask him this and says 'I don't tell you how to play guitar'. He plays 'butt end' so to speak with his sticks, and practically worships Neil Peart. And he wonders why he has tintous...

So chaps, what do I do? The immediate fix would be the extenstion cab, but as I have gigs coming up, surely more power from a new amp would be better?

pip pip

Matt

p.s. ooh, I manged to wangle myself a new guitar: an epi dot. Sure looks swish. Too bad its so muddy

[warren0728]

so there is no PA available so you could mic it?

ww

[Matt]

Unfortunately, only for gigs, and thats if we're lucky. But im having trouble being heard at just jam practices.

[oldguy]

A good ext. cab would help, esp. in that you could point it in the direction you need to better hear yourself. I had the same problem yrs. ago, and often by adding another cab and "surrounding" yourself you can add alot of "your sound" to your own space. I used that to great advantage back then, you'd be surprised what one more speaker cab can add. Adding a gain pedal, for ex. the BBE Boosta Grande, can help also, providing you need dB's and not strictly gain, it that makes sense. What I mean is, if your amp is dimed, and clean enough at that volume, a clean boost will add dB's and help you cut through the mix. I would try before you buy, to see if it helps. But I would definitely try an ext. cab. A 2x12 cab can be lightweight and really kick out some serious extra sound. I can carry my Avatar cab w/ 1 hand, and it puts out some unreal volume w/ the Valve Jr. With my Traynor YCV 40, it is a window shaker.
Other than than that, maybe a bigger all valve amp.
I don't know how much more volume you're talking about.

[Spudman***]

Oldguy's got it. Another cabinet will make a huge difference.

Also, raise the amp up to belly height or higher and angle it towards your head.

And finally tell the drummer to 'lay back on the brass.' Too much cymbal makes a mix sound like crap, washes everything else out on stage, folds back through the monitors and will eventually make you deaf. This I know. I also know that good drummers hit their drums but play their brass. Neil does not smash his cymbals. He hits them with just enough force to get the tone he wants from them. Tell your drummer to watch him and Mike Portnoy really closely. Not much force goes into the cymbals, it's finesse. This will clean up the mix and you might not even need another cabinet.

[t_ross33]

50W should be lots for practice. Get it up off the floor. I bought a pretty heavy duty x-stand (or keyboard stand) that will hold my Yammy's weight for about $35 bucks. It's now almost 4' from the floor to the centre of the speakers, and man, does it ever PROJECT! Makes a big difference and I don't have to crank the volume up past "2" at practice.

Stage volume, mic'd through the PA is even a bit less as we can pull some up thru the monitors as well. Talk about headroom!

That said, even my 100W 2x12 might not have enough push for med. to large gigs all by itself. An external cab might be the way to go.

Also note that more power doesn't always translate to increased dB. Depends on the efficiency of your amp.

[Robert****]

I have a 2x12 for my AD50VT. Not sure how much louder it gets - I haven't compared, but it sure sounds a lot better!

[Matt]

Well, I think I've sold my problems...I should be getting a half stack soon. After playing my first real gig (which was fantastic), in which I borrowed a marshall AVT halfstack, I realised that nothing compares to playing infront of one of those badboys, and its those sortsa volumes I need. Now as to which halfstack... I've had my eye on the Peavey Valveking. 100W tube power, ain't too shabby, and being class A/AB variable, I could turn the power output down somewhat. It gets good reviews, and there's something about seeing glowing tubes that gets me going. Or is that just me? :P

[Spudman***]

Initially I was going to say that depending really on what style music you are playing you might want to look around, but then I realized that Peavey is making really good stuff and I bet you'll be pretty happy with it. Most Peavey amps last a really long time if not abused. Since the Valve King is all tube it should still be worth something in 20 years...if we still have electricity.