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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Joe, so maybe you can't play a 100 watter at home...what to do???
We've all probably heard the Eric Johnson quote..."the best amp in the world has just one knob".
Joe, what amp do you plug into at home or when anything more than 30 watts is just too much?
I don't have the direct quote but I believe Joe said he uses a Fender Vibrolux and a Marshall Jubilee Combo with a Vox Wah, TS808, AB pedal, and a attentuator.
I will do some searching.
I did some searching around the forum and I found this post from Joe:
In relation to tube overdrive at low volumes:
I would get a marshall 30 anniversary combo 100w and a THD power soak. The 30 anniversarys are nice cause they have a great crunch setting and a killer clean tone. U can also drive the clean setting by lowering the bass and adding a bit of reverb. You ll need a 16 ohm soak (I think) Just depending on how the amp is run with one 12 inch speaker.. 16 or 8 will be the only two options there.. A DSL 2000 single 12 or a Mesa lonestar would work too.
Hey guys.. for your situation Id use a THD hot plate for your Bassman and some sort of Clean Boost. There are alot of pedals with a single knob that keep the bottom but boost the gain. MXR(Custom Audio Electronics ) model is cool. Carl Martin ect.. You need to saturate the amp first.. Try to get used to a shield. Clear sonic makes a good one for a combo.. Jim Moody makes the ones Carmine and I use.. They have a custom spec for the extra tall cabs. Its not classified but its a very particular measurement. Just ask Jim he knows. ?The shield is the only way to eliminate the death ray. But try the hot Plate and boost first and see how it goes. Also try to turn the amp around backward. Its a old Tom Dowd trick for getting the roundness out of a combo amp.. Tom knew guitar sound and really got me on the path Im on now..
I should actually explain my home practice low volume rig.. I live in LA at a condo complex. Very Hollywood types live here.. They have no interest in hearing the bluesboy crank up the jams late at night so I devised a rig for my house ..?1. 1987 Marshall Silver series Marshall 50 watt 1X12 combo.. ?2 1965 Fender Princeton Reverb or a 1957 Fender Vibrolux with a Kendrick reverb unit?3 THD Hot Plate ( for Princeton Only)?4 paired down pedal board (spare)? AB/Both switch, Vox Wah , TS 808 RI , Fuchs Audio prototype "Creme " pedal and A boss DD-3 delay. ?I get a pretty good approximation of my big rig at TV volume.. You know watching a Law and Order Marathon and playing guitar at the same time kinda thing. Can hear the TV and guitar at the same time.. No Broom sticks from below..( been there done that). ?Anyway.. There is always another way to get your tone..
A super rev is a great amp... Its like a princeton Rev which is my favorite fender amp. A good choice indeed..?
Id suggest a 1970's super reverb. They are hand wired and sound better than the reissues...?
Cool...I'm sitting here staring at a 100% original vibrolux...I even have the original wooden foot switch. Those are very cool amps.
That Jubilee combo still has to be plenty loud though...those were 50 watts if memory serves....I think they had a half power switch though.
Thanks for that post...I wonder how long ago that was...
If you go to the part where it says Joe's Guitar advice or something like that someone took a bunch of quotes From joes posts and they kept it as a perminate post just below the Joe Bonamassa Les Paul registry.
https://forum.jbonamassa.com/viewtopic.php?id=4546
Here is a link to it.
Thanks for the link...
Cool...I'm sitting here staring at a 100% original vibrolux...I even have the original wooden foot switch. Those are very cool amps.
That Jubilee combo still has to be plenty loud though...those were 50 watts if memory serves....I think they had a half power switch though.
Yeah Jub Combo has half power switch a great amp. One of my set ups I pair Jub Combo up with a Category 5 Andrew with some reverb and delay Ts when needed gives you great killer tone.
Cheers Ron
I have a JVM 210H that I play at home, it sounds fantastic at low volumes
if the amp has a good master volume, you can certainly play high watt amps at home
hit it with something like a fat boost, and you've got a nice thick sound
My Rivera Rock Crusher attenuator allows me to play my 100 watt knucklehead at bedroom levels. Works awesome.
I have a class 5 and a blues jr for carrying room to room... lol
Can I just say..that owning over thirty amps in the last ten years...that even though you cannot get the sweet spot at non-shattering window volumes...100w amps have always been my playing choice over 1w, 5w, 10w, 18w, 30w, 50w...even at lower volumes...
They just have such thump and balls...you just know that feeling and sound. Any amp I've had with a 100w/50w switch has never experienced the 50w setting for more than five minutes...100w always brings the smiles in.
I do not go the attenuator route...I do not agree in the way they affect the amp/mess with the tone. I can achieve a more desirable route with careful choosing of pedals.
The movement of air is something that cannot be replicated...and that is one of the biggest aspects for me...I like the chunk to the kneecaps or chest.
*NB - Am incredibly lucky to live in a farmhouse and not on the 27th floor*
...and so I have contradicted myself for the Nth time and bought a 15w secret little weapon today - if it is any good - I'll make a new topic at a later date!
I have a nice Egnater renegade 212 combo that has an 18/65 watt switch. When I play at home I sometimes set it to 18 watts. Most of the time I set it up at 65w and crank it up to scare small animals and old people.
Although the amp is heavy and a bit pricey (around $1300 msrp), it is my most favorite amp today. 5 12AX7 preamp tubes, 2 6L6s and 2 EL34s... 2 12" celestions with 2 independent channels (clean/dirty)...
I'll be honest and say this - it's not the amp that counts, it's the player. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not the world's best by any stretch, but I don't get this "at home it's gotta sound like the stadium tour" thing - surely it's all about the notes played. Sure you want the output to sound half-decent, but hey any modern small modelling combo will do that for you at home - unless you're a touring superstar perhaps.
If we're talking 'studio at home' playing i.e. for recording purposes, well that's different. However, it's going to take a lot of painstaking experimentation to get a real live sound reproduced in the home studio by using either an attenuator or a completely different amp set-up. Best get building that sound-proof chamber you're been promising yourself IMO!?! LOL
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Joe, so maybe you can't play a 100 watter at home...what to do???
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