Going from a 40w tube. 30 or 20watt?

seachto7

Sorry for rehashing an age old question here, but planning on changing amps from my blues deluxe 40w.
I was initially thinking of a vox ac30, or a 30 watt, but from what I have researched, maybe a 20 watt could even do the trick.
Basically, I only have my fender to 2 on the volume, and I'd like to have a lower wattage, to get the tubes cooking, turn up the volume etc. I use pedals in front of the amp usually.
I have played the blackstar artisan 15w combo which was LOUD, but I would be interested in trying out the 30watt head, or the HT studio 20 head? Anyone tried these? How are they for headroom in general?
The HT studio head looks like it coul dbe good. As I said, I was thinking of a 30watt tube, but research suggests, this may not be too much of a volume drop...

darrenw5094

20w would still be very loud. 20w amps would be EL84 valve powered, not EL34 or 6L6 etc.

20w valve amp would still be fine for pub gigs.

seachto7

darrenw5094 wrote: »

20w would still be very loud. 20w amps would be EL84 valve powered, not EL34 or 6L6 etc.

20w valve amp would still be fine for pub gigs.

yeah would be using the amp for pub gigs with some covers stuff, and for the "original music" band, I would be using it in venues like Dolans/Whelans/Baker Place/Sugar Club, that type of venue, so I would have it miked up anyhow...

Paolo_M

The only real difference in dropping wattage by this amount will be the low end response of the amp. More watts drive the low end better so it's sound more powerful and punchy. At a 10 watt difference that will be barely noticeable either TBH.
Depending on your style of music, low end may or may not be a problem. Serious metal players will want 100 Watt half stacks, not for the volume but for the "shake the walls" low end they create. For classic rock, blues or indie it's probably not an issue.
The "loudness" of you amp will be effected more by the speakers you use, if you're only talking about a 10 watt difference.
Greenbacks would be a good option for a great sounding speaker that produces less volume than the likes of a V30 or G12H.

What style of music do you play?
Who's guitar sound would be closest to yours?
What guitars do you use?
Do you like an emphasis in trebs, upper mids, lower mids etc.
That'll help making specific recommendations.

seachto7

Paolo_M wrote: »

What style of music do you play?
Who's guitar sound would be closest to yours?
What guitars do you use?
Do you like an emphasis in trebs, upper mids, lower mids etc.
That'll help making specific recommendations.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Music: With the covers, it varies, but it never goes into metal, a couple of AC/DC songs, some Black Crowes, etc etc, some Foos. I would usually use a boss blues driver or a zoom ultra fuzz for my distortion.overdrive.

Sound: I like my cleans not sparkly clean, but ever so slightly breaking up a lot of the time, kind of like adam franklin (of swervedriver fame) just like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43tmfYwRaB0

He's using Jazzmaster into a vox ac30..

I like Wilco, and know they use lots of different combinations, and more than likely vintage amps too...

Guitar: 99.9% of the time, a CIJ Jazzmaster with Curtis Novak pickups.

EQ: I don't like too much treble, as long as it cuts through, so I suppose more emphasis on mids and lows...

I was thinking of a Vox ac30CC head and combining it with maybe a 4x10 cab, but I think the Vox ac30cc heads can be bought anymore...?

But even at that, as mentioned above, maybe a 20 watt would be worth having a go at first to see how it fares out....

Sandvich

Vox AC30s are incredibly loud for 30 Watt amps. They are very conservatively rated and come with very efficient speakers. An AC30 is easily louder than most 50 Watt Marshalls.

rcaz

If you're looking for a Vox, what about a JMI amp? I saw a few of them next to the strings in Music Maker last week, looked very nice. I hear they're pretty good clones.

seachto7

hmmm, it's not loud I'm looking for really, just the ability to turn up the master/volume past 5 without ear splitting consequences, which is the case with my blues deluxe at the moment....