Back in the day ( 20 yrs ago … LOL ) I was runnin a 200w Peavey head on a Fender 2x15 cab … and that thing HONKED.
Another thing… is this a pro band? And is this for rehearsal? or for live?
Asking because if it’s for rehearsal, loud is not the point of learning ( our band never figured that part out… LOL ) and then LIVE, yer DI’d into the PA, with a monitor or in-ear.
So that’s another layer I’m dealing with - despite my best efforts, “we” can’t seem to practice at a normal volume.
I’m trying to have consistency in setup and sound as much as possible so if I can get an amp head I can use for practice AND for live with enough available headroom, that will be ideal.
Guitars live up in higher frequencies than bass and the human ear is much better at hearing them. Another factor is the pure wattage per SPL ratio is not constant but rather varies by frequency, favoring the midrange by a lot. Additionally, speaker response curves follow this pattern. This al adds up to comparatively smaller guitar amps sounding much louder than bass amps. A 25W guitar amp is more than plenty for a lot of gigging.
My drummer is saying to go with 200w and then used that video as a reference but I feel like that’s not enough for a bass to compete with a 100w tube amp lol.
So many different factors involved here but there’s a pretty standard rule when it comes to a bass amp. You can never have too much wattage. Only too little. All of them have volume controls. Too loud? Turn it down!
It’s not only about volume but also about clean headroom. The frequency range of a bass requires far more power to produce cleanly that a guitar especially if you play a 5 string and hover a lot on the B string or play in dropped tuning. Most SS bass amps will start clipping and begin to break up long before you hit the top end of a volume control. You’ll want enough “juice” to avoid that and potentially harming your speakers.
500w may be enough or it may not. You know more about the venues you play and volumes you’ll play at than we do. And then there’s all 500w amps are not equals of one another. Some may sound louder than others and there’s also the sensitivity of the speakers. The higher the rating in dB the more efficiently the cab will handle the input from the amp. A speaker(s) with 100dB sensitivity will produce more volume more efficiently than speakers with 95dB sensitivity. By now you may be sorry you asked. LOL
I guess what I’m trying to say is there is no set “formula” of bass amp wattage vs guitar amp wattage only what works and what doesn’t. A 500w head through a couple of efficient speakers should cover most gigs especially when using PA support. At least it would for me. If it didn’t then me and my ears are in the wrong band.
A 60w type AB katana 110 can easily drown the drums without breaking a sweat. I use it regularly as part of the house amp. Well, the have both 110 and 210, I use 210 more not because it’s louder but taller so I can put my stuff on top.
Unless you really want a 500w system don’t shop for the future worry about later, later.
I know if I were buying it would probably be a G-K Backline but that’s only 200 or 350, depending.
Ampeg is a great choice of course but you already knew that.
I think it’s probably a safe sweet spot but you’re right, depending on venue you never know. Then again venues requiring more are likely to have a PA. Unless ad-hoc or outside I guess.
In the video in the first post, the bassist uses an Orange AD 200, a 200W tube amp, with an Ampeg fridge (8x10" speakers). That’s enough to compete with any guitar amp
And don’t forget that this setup is only for their stage sound. Both guitar and bass go to front of house.
( our band never figured that part out… LOL ) and then LIVE, yer DI’d into the PA, with a monitor or in-ear.
