I clicked on this link, thinking you were crazy for making an hour long video for OHMS, yet I stayed RIVETED on every word. You sir, are a man who knows his shit....
Thank you my friend! I have total respect for you for actually sticking around and absorbing all of the information. Some folks just don't CARE enough to learn about what they love. lol I truly appreciate you putting in the time and dedication! Cheers
Scottie- have a fun conversation about how impedance, m DCR ohms are inner-related, and don't forget damping factors and back EMF of loudspeaker coils, and all of the variables there... Love your videos Scott...
Ohm boy! Nice job Scott! Yes, I must admit I've found tube amps to be a bit messy. They've got that mad scientist vibe about them; always having to be tweaked and dialed, and managing fluctuations in temperature. The tone is rarely consistent. Sure, they have a romantic quality about them that people love, but they can be a pain for everyday use. A good solid state setup is a wonderful alternative.
I wish it was that easy. You can take a Fender Twin Reverb with 85 watts of massively loud tube power, turn it on 10 and it will remain crystal clear and 100% clean with zero breakup. It's designed to be the cleanest amp around at full power and ear shattering volume. So, that is out the window.
I found them. They list for $2,199.00 and then there is the sale price. I hate it already. I hate red. lol I hate Texas Special Pickups, then everything about it has that vintage crap going on with it. You have to pull the neck off to make a simple truss rod adjustment. It's just a stupid guitar that is no different than any one of a thousand Strats before it. I won't be getting one for sure.
I didn't even know he had his own Strat to tell you the truth. If it has the Texas Special pickups in it, I wouldn't go near it though. I really hate those things. I don't mind waiting for an amp to warm up, I just don't like them to break down. lol That seems to be the biggest thing with all of the tube amps I've owned. They are always broke down. It HONESTLY seems that the more that a HUMAN has done during the building process, the more that it will have a chance to screw up.
Listening to you is very easy You seem so at ease in front of your cam. I've taken in two really long segments one on amp controls this one on the Ohms and Watts. Both were very instructional and neither was in the least bit preachy, or conceited. You have an innate natural talent.
Spot on, about the sound and dependability of tubes vs solid state. Crazy to get tubes today, unless you’re building a museum. I beg to differ on the watts issue, however. 100 watts RMS, perfectly matched to its speakers, will produce the same kick, tubes or solid state. The key is, that it’s RMS (Root Mean Square). If it only says 100 watts, then it’s probably based on “Peak Power Output” which means in a small band width, it could surge to peak at 100 watts, but under continuous usage across the full audio spectrum, it’s likely only 20 watts RMS. Bear in mind, however, 100 watts RMS paired with the wrong speakers (mismatched impedance) can sound like 20 watts as well. The correct impedance assures the highest efficiency. I have compared a 100 watt RMS vintage Silvertone tube amp (four 6L6) matched to six 10 inch speakers, to a Hartke solid state 100 watt RMS matched to two 12 inch speakers, and the solid state Hartke is actually louder than the tube amp (probably because the tubes are old). But of course the issue is mute, since today it makes no sense for a professional musician to go on the road with a tube amp, unless you’re independently wealthy, or as I say, starting a museum collection.
I'm glad that it helped out, if only a little. There is a lot of "Poindexter" stuff that could be explained, but it takes away from playing time. Most want to know what they NEED to know and then get back to playing. So, general conversations and trying to hit on the key points and time to actually plug back in and have some fun! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey man, I am an electrician and have had many guitar players ask me questions about ohm ratings and wattage of amps. I think you described it in the easiest put terms I have ever heard. Great video. Very informative. By the way, my favorite head ever was the first series of the Marshall 8100 valve state head. I primarily played death metal in my younger days and that solid state head was a beast! I think it did have AX7 pre amp tubed though. Other than that, when I first started I inherited my older brothers Kramer(silver and black Eddie Van Halen looking thing, bought a single hum buckler Peavey Predator(loved it), and my Peavey Bandit amp. I could have ruled the world(in my room)!
I also are an electrician and started studying electronics and radio stuff in 1975, thanks to a family member. The reason a person can have a 4 speaker cab driven by a 4 ohm head is if you have 4 of the 16 ohm speakers in parallel, the equivalent is 4 ohms. In series, resistance is directly additive. In parallel, it is inverse. So, in parallel, 1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + 1/R4. Well, those add up to .25. And 1/.24 = 4 ohms. So, the real trick is impedance matching and if you have a set of speakers not equal to the output of the amp head, you need an impedance matcher to translate, as it were;
You know, I have been looking on the internet for something that really explained ohms in a way I could understand. This was an hour very well spent. You are a great teacher.
Thanks so much. I'm so glad that you stay tuned. Your word of mouth will help plenty and gives me hope for the future and I know that you all won't blow up your stuff. lol Happy playing and I'll always be happy to make any videos that I can to help you with any questions you may have.
Me and my dad were working on a Marshall 1974, 18 watt tube amplifier and the tubes were running at 24 watts at low volume. We simply put a larger resister into the circuit and fixed the problem. If we left the amp like it was, the tubes would probably burn out in few months. In the state its in now, the tubes should last practically forever. I'm just trying to say that if you think tubes just arent reliable, its just because amplifiers are designed by corporations to fuck the consumer over and make more money. Tubes rule, solid state drools lol. jk, solid state rocks too and your videos are bad ass. Just my TWO CENTS. PS... to anyone reading, your tubes should feel slightly hotter than room temperature if your hand is 2 inches away. Anymore, than call your local electrical engineer lol.
You are actually dead on correct. All manufacturers build gear to fail. No money to be made in stuff that lasts forever. lol So sad, but true. Great comment!
It's always good to hear someone else's point of view, even if you disagree and in this case I do. Like it or not a tube amp has a different sound quality than a solid state. Solid state amps produce some harmonics that sound harsh to the ear of someone who is used to tube amps. I f you can't hear that a Marshall amp has a unique and identifiable tone that's too bad. For me it's one of the sweetest sounds in music, almost an acoustic tone like a cello as ridiculous as that sounds. It's all subjective and I have heard great sounds come from solid state amps but there is a real reason some people prefer tube amps.
As I got older, I bought a 4-12 cabinet with vintage 30 Celestions in it and a Marshall JCM900 SLX Superled Head. Traded it less than 6 months later for a Sovetek 100 Watt Tube head. Still,loved my valve state!
that's hard to tell for any amp. The problem is that the human ear itself perceives a certain sound differently when it is played at different volumes.
I've never found a need for an effects loop, but is it noisy when you simply connect a guitar cable from the out to the in, but without any effects in the effects loop chain?
100%. Of course bass rigs will sometimes use 2 different sized speakers in different cabinets since they are basically using a PA system (as they should) for an amp. So, you have the great amps that have built in crossovers, a couple of power amps, a sub (Usually a 15" or 2 in a cabinet) then their mids and highs in the form of a 4X10 and horn cabinet on top. So, since you are using 2 totally separate amps in the head, they bottom cabinet can be 4 Ohms and Tops be 4 ohms, since separate amps.
Thanks buddy. I'm glad you are enjoying all the goofy stuff I toss on here. You are so correct, those little, toy Marshalls do look small huh? lol Maybe I'll have to put them in the front of the shot and stand in the back so that the amps look HUGE! lol I should do that once just to mess with the stoned people's minds. Do it outside or something so that I look REALLY SMALL or the amps look REALLY HUGE. That could be fun to mess with. lol
Miking will always sound best on a guitar amp. For bass guitar, the direct box is usually the best way to go and should be from the instrument to the D.I. and not from the amp to the PA. I use a direct box at most of my gigs with my guitar since I rarely bring an amp anymore. So, if you are using some sort of a rig that doesn't use an amp at all, then of course, the Direct Box is a must since you'll almost always need to lift the ground on the box or it will be a Buzz Fest! lol
Then you sound like a total moron. So, I'll save myself from having to read another one of your dumb ass comments and just block you. I love that button. Later.
Awesome. I do the same with a lot of channels. I pick up the little things or different views that I may consider. There's always something to make you go "HMMMMM". lol
Hey Scott, nice vid! So, quick question, I have a Marshall JCM DSL 2000 100 watt head that I just got and I want to hook it up to my Peavey 4x12 cab which is rated @ 16 ohms. I'm assuming that I set the switch on the back of the head to 8 and run the speaker cable from the 16 ohm input on the head to the cab. The switch on the back can be set to 4 or 8. The inputs are 16, 4 and 8 on the back of the head.Please let me know. Thanks!
Hi my friend. Nope, the Johnson sounds the same on 1 as it does on 9. It's a beautiful thing. Another MAJOR reason I love it. It fits the bill for all gigs big and small. The sound is always the same. A true blessing for sure.
Yeah, it's a great tune. It sounds like the good, old stuff! I got to hear them do it live on the 11th of August. They did it very well. It wasn't over produced on the album, so they could cover it with no problems live. It's always great with a classic band like them, to have them go back to what it was that attracted everybody to them in the first place. Sure, it's not going to make any big waves on the radio, but it sure does sit well with the die hard fans!
Thanks my friend. Yep, exactly the same for everything including bass rigs, car audio, sound systems and everything relating to amps and speakers all the way across the board.
2020 and still the best video out there explaining all of this. One thing I'd like to ask is do 2 cabs rated at the same IMPENDENCE need to be set to the same setting (Stereo or Mono)? I currently have 2 cabinets, one 2x12 and one 4x12 both with the ohm switchable options of 4, 8, 16.
The exact way to calculate equivalent resistance in parallel is as follows: 1/Req=1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+1/R4+.... ohms.1/Rn. So four 16 ohm speakers in parallel would be and equivalent resistance of 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16 +1/16 =.0625 +.0625 + .0626 +.0625 = 0.25. Now we have 1/Req=0.25. So Req = 1/.025 =4. For just two in parallel the formula reduces to {(R1) (R2)}/R1 +R2. So two 16 ohm speakers in parallel 16x16 would be an equivalent resistance of {(16)(16)}/16+16 = 256/32=8 ohms.
May I suggest an alternative to Watts could be 'Decibels' and maybe Signal to Noise ratio? That should indicate not just how loud it is but whether is't good-quality loud?
Just for some color - and this only applies to old tube amps - Ever f-ed up a Marshall due to impedance mismatch? I have. I will ONLY ever again match the impedance of a cab to the impedance that any old Marshall amp wants to see. None of this minimum required stuff for Marshalls for me, only exact matching. Superstition? maybe. Bassmans, Boogies, even Traynors - they can handle mismatches but can sound like crap if you do (especially the Traynors). Impedance matching is about efficient power hand-off between the load (cab) and the line (amp). For whatever black magic electrical reasons (which are actually "provable"), the best power distribution happens when you match the impedances. Actually makes it sound "better" too (psychological, maybe but not really). Can you get some killer sounds doing something different, like running a 4 ohm cab into an 8 ohm amp expected load? YES. For a very limited time in my experience, Do not do it. Other way around? YES but sounds like crap. Can you run 100 "watts" from a Marshall head into a 2x12 with Celestion Greenbacks 25W (50W total) each? YES. Well that's the sound! And it won't cook the speakers, except over time. An analogy: You don't run the biggest diameter exhaust pipes possible for your engine, you lose lots of the torque. You run the the smaller diameter pipe (but not too small cause it'll cook the engine), the engine can deliver the power more efficiently to the drivetrain if it has the right amount of resistance in the exhaust. Too little, you lose torque (POWER), too much, sounds f-ing great and delivers the torque until the engine dies. Whatever - the mills need the impedance matching in order to operate to satisfaction. Amps, Engines, similar as far as power distribution. Just my limited experience. Take it for what you will. Just some color comment, no offense asked for nor intended.
Someone may have asked before and I'm too lazy to look... but what is your opinion on hybrid amps? I am considering this option and they have a VOX VT120 in a local pawnshop for $200. I would buy a small 15 or 20 watt tube amp head too, for variety. Just bought a MIM Strat.. just starting - old fart here. I know about guitars because I'm a percussionist who's played with many Latin Rock groups - most my friends and my son are guitarists. So I'm familiar.
I'm 20 soon to be 21 and I used to be an all tube guy till I tried a hybrid amp I can't tell the difference the best part of a hybrid amp no fuse me and my grandpa modified my Gibson ga5 LP reissue amp and we swapped the preamp tube for a 12AU7 RCA vintage tubes and we added a tape loop for on board slapback echo the first output is for the echo and the second output is dry signal and we did this after seeing a Ray Butts Echosonic and we added another knob the second knob is for the echo and the first knob is volume only
..hempopotamusloudspeakers.com and reverb.com for hemp fiber cone speakers AND- KEEP IT UP SCOTTIE!!! You're one of the FEW, that understand quite a wide bandwidth of gear and how they intertwined...and, you don't give a chit what people think! Blaaaaaahaaa1
Great post!!!! So I play bass and I am about to buy a Ampeg SVT 7 Pro amp head & a Ampeg 4x10 hlf cab. Do you think that will give me that sound you explain?.. LOL I love the humor in the video!! I'm in a half cover half are are own stuff style band and we don't play in anything bigger then med size venues to small-med size. I was using a 100 Watt (are well I hope 100 watt after watching what you said in this video lol) Acoustic mini stack. But I was having to max out the head while having all my other tone knobs flat because I use a Sansamp Bass Driver with it and I had it maxed out at about 90%- 95% on the level knob of the s.a.b.d and again aboout 85%-90% cracked up almost all the way on the Acoustic mini stack in able to cut threw the mix while playing live. But I felt like my amp was about to shoot itself because I feel I lost some of the nice tone after I had to jack the amp to its max. So i'm hoping the Ampeg will help me. Not looking to be cranking the Ampeg up all the way so i'm not making it where nobody else in the band want be heard I just wanna be able to cut threw the mix without feeling like i'm about to blow my head and amp while playing. Keep in mind most of the places we play there p.a systems suck so we always end up having to play threw our on speakers and equipment. Are singer normally is the only one going threw the p.a in those situations. Thanks for any input you can give me.
OK! I understand every thing you said but what if you have an speaker that does not have an RMS rating any where it's just rated at lets say Full Range 800w continuous /1600w program /3200w peak at 4 ohms for a speaker cab how would you determine what power amp you should use? or Vice Versa?
So many amps are quoting x number of watts, but it should be rated in RMS only. Peak power is RMS x 2 as a rule of thumb to get your speaker ratings on the safe side. That is always how i have done things and then you rate your speakers for peak output. Just a suggestion. Make sure your cables are heavy too as the currents can get quite high and you don't want to loose power in them. Tube amps should be phased out, as modeling amps are now so good you simply cant tell the difference anymore. My Vampire LX 112 sounds better than my old Marshall head (which went up to '11' by the way), and 4 x12.
hey question for anyone who knows. I have an old peavey bandit 112 combo and a peavey 2x12 cab that i want to pair together for larger stages. Unfortunately the bandit does not have an external speaker out; how simple would it be to add one? I've used the cab with my bass combo (8 ohm 100w ext spk) for a few big shows, and it's sounded awesome. is this an easy and cheap DIY project?
Well I did learn something from this guy but I stioll got more to learn so my 8ohm PV's gotta go with my 4ohm subs I order 2 3 ways at 4ohm to match with my 4ohm subs. I do have a 3 way cross over but I can use for just my 2 way system itll have to do for now and get two towers for my 3 ways but I have mixed n match speakers two old PV112H and a pair of Kustom active I think 2way with a 10 and tweeter I duno how I can encorporate them or maybe use them for monitors I have several mixers 2 passive n one old active Yamaha mainly this is hobby stuff but could do a DJ rig if I kin make it simple for anyone to use.
Thank you so much Scott, this opened my eyes and ears too. I' m so sorry that I couldn't understand every word of this or how on earth can those 8ohms comes back as a 4ohms because I´m Finnish and I don't understand electricity so much about those not even basics. And same thing with that PA-system when your amp is 8 ohms and you bring them to PA by 4 ohms, you get more power. There´s beeen so much misleading information about watts and peak power that doesn't mean a thing on continuing playing. It looks good if you have 800watts but actually you might have 100 or 200 watts maximum, right? It´s just the power that your amp takes from your house electricity line? Same thing with vacuum cleaners, they might have 1200watts but actual suction power is about 100watts and here they are not allowed to advertise with those arguments.
Hi my friend. Yes, you are correct. I want ALL PEOPLE who REALLY want to understand this to be able to. So, yes...many companies are advertising the PEAK watts (it's a horrible thing to do to people). The RMS power rating is the one and only power rating to go by. You understand it perfectly! You'll also see that people (who simply don't know any better) will advertise used gear as the wattage being what it says next to the power cord. So, a 100 watt RMS little PA head.....they will advertise it as 480 watts because that's how much power it draws from the electrical outlet on the wall. lol But, that's listed on the back.....so, they print it because they simply don't know where to find the correct answer. Feel free to ask questions at any time and I'll do my best to help you out. Cheers, Scott
If I buy another amp I think its gonna be a 2-12 Acouwsticits solid state and it sounds great n has on board effects heybI got a small one a G-20 n I love it uts simple clean and dirty sounds great! I recall they made good bass amps as well, Back in the day I had a Marshal to 50 nwhat but no master volume to freaken loud n 6-10 inch speakers!!
wattage = V x A, If the volume placement is before the preamp it will cause distortion or what I call gain. If the volume is placed after the preamp (master volume) it should only increase the decibel of the preamp without distortion until the speaker starts to break up.
No way I found you again! I used to watch your videos when I was in Highschool I forgot the name of your channel after all that time! Having trouble running my boogie into a 16 ohm cab. The manual says it should work through the 8 ohm Jack as a safe miss match but I’m getting no signal
hi Scott. i've got a question. i have a single guitar amp, but there are also amps which are a cab and a head. what is the use of that? does it sound different or better? i am wondering becouse i'm looking for a new amp and want to know some more about amps and such. Can you please help me? and can you please tell me 5 guitar amps for about 400 euros that you like for rock, hadrock, metal sound? thank you a lot
Damn it Groove, make me waste an hour learning shit, It's 4: in the morning here now,.. and not once did you turn on one of those mini's in the back, you pointed at them plenty, told me a lot of shit, made me learn shit, Lol,.. some I knew, some I didn't,.. well done Sir, well done,..
Hey scott, im only 15 and i understood the things you were saying. I really enjoy all your videos, especially ones like this that are really useful and teach you something. your videos have saved me alot of time and money by not falling into the webs that many other people do because the so called experts at guitar center told them to lol. i also pass along this info with my friends and help them out too. again i cant thank you enough for all the help you have given me, keep on rockin!
Scot if am running an 600 watt head and it runs at 600 4 ohms and 8 ohms 400 if I use a 200 watt speaker till I get the other speaker will it work or Couse damage to the head or cab on low volume ps bass amp wise
my understanding is solid state amps are easier to match cabs to... because of impedence differences tube amps have to be matched to speakers or you can have some drive tube problems... I always liked how my digitec processor sounded through my garnet minibass tube amp... funny how our ears work... again, lots of very useful info... really enjoy your vids... i watch them at work.
Many thanks my friend! The info on this video is 100% the same for tube amps as well. Bass, guitar amps, PA systems, the whole 9 yards. So, feel VERY safe to apply it to ALL amplifiers. Cheers.
Scott, Ive watched this video twice and i feel i have comprehended every word you've said. I would love to pick your brain on a few subjects. I have a Boss Katana Artist MK2. Im trying to learn what this amp is truly putting out, and at what ohms, and how they're divided between taps.
Howdy, your amp is already at its max with the 8 ohm speaker in it. You COULD run 2 16 ohm cabinets together, that would bring you back to 8 ohms (the amp's lowest recommended resistance), but you would have to unplug the internal speaker...or 1 8 ohm cabinet and again, disconnect the internal speaker. They do make the Katana powered 1X12" extension speaker cabinet that you can run so that the rig is in stereo mode. There is a special jack made to do just that. That is the way to get the most that it is capable of.
Friend of ThaFarm3r here. I've got a JCM 2000 that I run through a 1960 vintage cab. For years I ran the 16ohm output to the 16ohm on the cab. Then one day it started blowing fuses so I now run 4ohm Out to 4ohm on the cab. However now I've noticed only my left 2 speakers are working. Any idea why this might be?
Thank you so much once again, Scott. You're really a fount of knowledge and I appreciate your generosity with your time. I'm becomming sort of addicted to watching Scott Grove vids now. No matter the subject, you're an interesting speaker (yeah, that was a pun, sorry). So... is there anyone making new solid state amps today that you could get behind and endorse, so to speak? Btw, your vid about your health problems was very touching - wishing you all the best in that battle!!!
I just bought a Blackstar ID100TVP head and a Marshall MG Series MG412CF 4x12. The ohms rated for my head is 4 and the cab is 8. Will this hurt either my head or my cab?
Cool! Just out of curiosity, what do you think of Tommy and Eric wearing Ace and Peter's makeup/costumes? I personally wish Gene and Paul would let them come up with their own new characters like they did with Eric Carr as The Fox and Vinnie Vincent as The Ankh Warrior. I think it would get a lot of haters off of their backs and let them shine in their own lights. I still love the band and am seeing them on Wednesday, but since I'll be wearing an Ace shirt, I hope Gene doesn't clock me. lol
OK so, can I plug my Audix OM2 into a 8 ohm output jack ov my Carvin V3?....lol just kidding Scott. I learned this lesson years ago when I fried a few heads. we had no internet. i love this stuff...I am also not into the volume tweeking on a guitar. I have my HD100 set to sounds and effects that I use. I got sick of lugging my racks and 4 cabs to gigs..im getting older and its a little tougher to do that. I love this head, like the johnson maliniam. it does not loose anything when turned down!
On the topic of Marshall, you are just stating fact. It may piss off those of us who were suckered into buying one, but it's fact. I bought a brand new JCM2000 a few years back. Not only was it the worst sounding, most fickle amp I've ever owned, it had to re-tubed and have some capacitors replaced after only three months of HOME use, because of what I still believe to be incorrect factory wiring sequences. Anyway lesson learned. Don't buy anything just because of the name on the front.
Nice one Scott I have never understood why they measured output in watts as its the amperage draw that burns the amplifier out of course measured by the minimum resistance applied across the output. as far as I have always been concerned it was the decibel output that every amp and speaker should be rated by. you don't buy for example horn by its wattage you buy it for its decibel rating. But what do I know as an Electrician lol. regards Clive P.s ill keep taking the tablets
You got to be honest in the fact that your Johnson is a Hybrid and thus has a tube in it :p But you are right, solid state or digital can sound just as good or better than tube amps, although I feel that a lot of companies are reluctant to put out great solid state amps and tend to focus on cheap practice amps when it comes to solid state amps... Almost every good solid state amp (Johnson, Gibson Lab series) is out of production. Screw supply and demand
This is exactly what I needed. Thanks, Now the questions... I want a low wattage amp, 40 watt or around there. I just don't need the volume. I like the idea of mic'ing a smaller amp. makes sense to me. I'm looking into a few carvins (any good?) Fender hot rod Deluxe 3 or just going for a Peavey nashville solid state. Tubes, I like the sound but I don't like the thought of biasing or the warm up time to play. I am also a plug and play type of guy. And I don't need the wall of sound.
I knew nothing about anything about half stacks and ohms and watts and i owned one back in the day. Now that i bought my old amp back, Crate GT3500H Shockwave 350 Watt Head, I know what the 220W@4ohm and 350W@2ohm means. I walked into guitar center out here in vegas and told a guy what setup for cabs i want. i want a 4x12 4ohm cab with any celest/sheff speaker and i want a 2x12 for my topper at 4 ohms as well. and i told him why he was very impressed. thats because of this video giving me the knowledge. thanks brother.
solid state for life lol. and i literally just found my baby. Crate GT412SL with celst!!!!!!! 16, 8, 4ohm switch. thanks for the explenation. i have the knowledge. and knowledge is power, in ohms and RMS of course! lol
I think that if you ran your rig through a 1965 twin reverb you would love the sound better than your line 6 , but you may be as stubborn as us tube snobs. nothing wrong with that. As far as explaining the ohms and watts thing, this was a great explanation for those who dont understand electronics. I dig all your videos alot, im still watching all the old ones tryin to catch up
Hey there Gary. I'm glad you are still watching my "antics" on here. lol I don't have any Line 6 stuff at all. I've had a few Twins and a couple of the reissues and they are just so nasty. They just don't trip my trigger at all. I think the worst thing about most amps (especially tube amps) is the crazy amount of noise. My rig is dead quiet. Not even an audible hiss when it's wide open. The Twin also never did break up at all. I had to put so many pedals in front of it to make it do what I like that it was always right back to these Johnson things. I really can't imagine finding an amp that suits my needs better. Keep on watching and I hope you find a nugget here and there that you can use. Cheers.
Scott I love your show. I am not into what every JOE BLOW is using, I use what works for me.{ I dont bother feeding the trolls.} My rig is so easy now and sounds great. modeling amps work if you have a good ear. Oh Scott, your Ibanez axes look huge against the little marshalls..lol. thanks again for the lesson my guitar slinging friend!!
The wattage is the electrical power input rating. The input power is an ac sine wave. The rms rating is a mathematical means of calculating an equivalent power delivered if the source was dc. The power is converted to dc in the amp to power the tubes or FETs. The amp can never deliver the ac peak even for an instant. Complete hype.
What's your opinion regarding mixing speaker sizes. I'm a bassist and I run an 8 Ohm 2x10 into a Genz-Benz head that's 375 watt at 8 Ohms, and 600 watts at 4 Ohms. I want to run another cab, more for air movement than outright power but I'm not sure if I should get another 2x10 or a 1x15.
Hey Scott. Really informative. I have a Marshall Origin 5w valve combo. The amp and speaker are both rated at 16ohms. Can I change the speaker for an 8 ohm? Or will I fry it? Thanks again.
Unfortunately, if the amp is rated at 16 ohms, that is as low as the total ohms of the speakers that you can use. You couldn't combine any more with it either. Cheers.
@@groovydjs Thanks. I've just ordered a Jensen 8" 16 ohm replacement speaker. The 8" celestion it comes with sounds awful. Keep up the videos. Your no nonsense, slightly condescending style is very entertaining. I've actually learned a lot.
You called out that 800 watt trickster hype!! Good going! You also Schooled up some peeps me for one with the amp fluctuating when the ohms drop way to go that's what people need to know is how shit works!! A+ KEEP ON TRUCKIN!
This is a great video with lot's of good info but one thing that's not mentioned is that in order to make your amp twice as loud you need to increase the power by 10, a 200 watt amp is not twice as loud as a 100 watt amp kids!
No shit, this video is about OHMS! My WATTS video mentions it 37 times for those who feel that such things should be included in videos that have nothing to about that.
wow watt a load of whats? scott you are a legend, hope your listeners take it all in, great video. keep up the good (entertaining) video's I also don't like Marshall stuff
Scott might chime in, but are you running a valve/tube amp? If so, perhaps check that you have a fresh valve/tube in place to see if the loop will stay quiet/quieter???
Yes my friend. If the cabinet has a higher ohm rating than your amp's speaker output....no problem. You'll actually get LESS power from the head into the cabinet, but not enough to REALLY tell. So......you could put 2 of those cabinets on there (jumped into one another) and that would bring the entire load down to 8 ohms, but.....you'll NEVER hurt anything with the HIGHER ohm cabinets than the 8 ohm speaker outputs. Rock On!
I learned about all this stuff not in my music but, when I started fooling with car stereos. You did a decent job explaining this. It's hard to explain it to most people. Mostly because they just don't want to hear it. Even the RMS ratings are bullshit with some manufacturers these days. Thanks for taking the time to try and explain this. If there is ONE THING I know about its this stuff. You did a good job here. If they listen.....
I have a Vox Night Train 50 watt 8 or 16 ohm 15rms w 8 and 16ohm outs: Powering a 1960A Marshall 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75-16 ohm speakers, w/jack switching from mono to stereo any advice on proper connection. nice video btw.
You probably knew this, but I think Hendrix first toyed with distortion by simply shoving a screwdriver through the speaker cone :) ps..the Watt problem you talk about appears to be even worse in the HiFi world. They have three or four different ways of rating wattage and it helps them dupe the public.
I clicked on this link, thinking you were crazy for making an hour long video for OHMS, yet I stayed RIVETED on every word. You sir, are a man who knows his shit....
Thank you my friend! I have total respect for you for actually sticking around and absorbing all of the information. Some folks just don't CARE enough to learn about what they love. lol I truly appreciate you putting in the time and dedication!
Cheers
I ma 27, and I love to learn from people who now more than me. It helps that I do not assume I know everything.
Scottie- have a fun conversation about how impedance, m DCR ohms are inner-related, and don't forget damping factors and back EMF of loudspeaker coils, and all of the variables there...
Love your videos Scott...
ppps running the wrong speakers on an amp can cause it to overheat so severely it causes a fire....so this is pretty seriously useful help here :)
Ohm boy! Nice job Scott! Yes, I must admit I've found tube amps to be a bit messy. They've got that mad scientist vibe about them; always having to be tweaked and dialed, and managing fluctuations in temperature. The tone is rarely consistent. Sure, they have a romantic quality about them that people love, but they can be a pain for everyday use. A good solid state setup is a wonderful alternative.
I wish it was that easy. You can take a Fender Twin Reverb with 85 watts of massively loud tube power, turn it on 10 and it will remain crystal clear and 100% clean with zero breakup. It's designed to be the cleanest amp around at full power and ear shattering volume. So, that is out the window.
I found them. They list for $2,199.00 and then there is the sale price. I hate it already. I hate red. lol I hate Texas Special Pickups, then everything about it has that vintage crap going on with it. You have to pull the neck off to make a simple truss rod adjustment. It's just a stupid guitar that is no different than any one of a thousand Strats before it. I won't be getting one for sure.
I didn't even know he had his own Strat to tell you the truth. If it has the Texas Special pickups in it, I wouldn't go near it though. I really hate those things. I don't mind waiting for an amp to warm up, I just don't like them to break down. lol That seems to be the biggest thing with all of the tube amps I've owned. They are always broke down. It HONESTLY seems that the more that a HUMAN has done during the building process, the more that it will have a chance to screw up.
Listening to you is very easy You seem so at ease in front of your cam. I've taken in two really long segments one on amp controls this one on the Ohms and Watts. Both were very instructional and neither was in the least bit preachy, or conceited. You have an innate natural talent.
Spot on, about the sound and dependability of tubes vs solid state. Crazy to get tubes today, unless you’re building a museum. I beg to differ on the watts issue, however. 100 watts RMS, perfectly matched to its speakers, will produce the same kick, tubes or solid state.
The key is, that it’s RMS (Root Mean Square). If it only says 100 watts, then it’s probably based on “Peak Power Output” which means in a small band width, it could surge to peak at 100 watts, but under continuous usage across the full audio spectrum, it’s likely only 20 watts RMS.
Bear in mind, however, 100 watts RMS paired with the wrong speakers (mismatched impedance) can sound like 20 watts as well. The correct impedance assures the highest efficiency.
I have compared a 100 watt RMS vintage Silvertone tube amp (four 6L6) matched to six 10 inch speakers, to a Hartke solid state 100 watt RMS matched to two 12 inch speakers, and the solid state Hartke is actually louder than the tube amp (probably because the tubes are old).
But of course the issue is mute, since today it makes no sense for a professional musician to go on the road with a tube amp, unless you’re independently wealthy, or as I say, starting a museum collection.
I'm glad that it helped out, if only a little. There is a lot of "Poindexter" stuff that could be explained, but it takes away from playing time. Most want to know what they NEED to know and then get back to playing. So, general conversations and trying to hit on the key points and time to actually plug back in and have some fun! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey man, I am an electrician and have had many guitar players ask me questions about ohm ratings and wattage of amps. I think you described it in the easiest put terms I have ever heard. Great video. Very informative. By the way, my favorite head ever was the first series of the Marshall 8100 valve state head. I primarily played death metal in my younger days and that solid state head was a beast! I think it did have AX7 pre amp tubed though. Other than that, when I first started I inherited my older brothers Kramer(silver and black Eddie Van Halen looking thing, bought a single hum buckler Peavey Predator(loved it), and my Peavey Bandit amp. I could have ruled the world(in my room)!
I also are an electrician and started studying electronics and radio stuff in 1975, thanks to a family member. The reason a person can have a 4 speaker cab driven by a 4 ohm head is if you have 4 of the 16 ohm speakers in parallel, the equivalent is 4 ohms. In series, resistance is directly additive. In parallel, it is inverse.
So, in parallel, 1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + 1/R4. Well, those add up to .25. And 1/.24 = 4 ohms. So, the real trick is impedance matching and if you have a set of speakers not equal to the output of the amp head, you need an impedance matcher to translate, as it were;
You know, I have been looking on the internet for something that really explained ohms in a way I could understand. This was an hour very well spent. You are a great teacher.
Thanks so much. I'm so glad that you stay tuned. Your word of mouth will help plenty and gives me hope for the future and I know that you all won't blow up your stuff. lol Happy playing and I'll always be happy to make any videos that I can to help you with any questions you may have.
Me and my dad were working on a Marshall 1974, 18 watt tube amplifier and the tubes were running at 24 watts at low volume. We simply put a larger resister into the circuit and fixed the problem. If we left the amp like it was, the tubes would probably burn out in few months. In the state its in now, the tubes should last practically forever.
I'm just trying to say that if you think tubes just arent reliable, its just because amplifiers are designed by corporations to fuck the consumer over and make more money. Tubes rule, solid state drools lol. jk, solid state rocks too and your videos are bad ass. Just my TWO CENTS. PS... to anyone reading, your tubes should feel slightly hotter than room temperature if your hand is 2 inches away. Anymore, than call your local electrical engineer lol.
You are actually dead on correct. All manufacturers build gear to fail. No money to be made in stuff that lasts forever. lol So sad, but true. Great comment!
It's always good to hear someone else's point of view, even if you disagree and in this case I do. Like it or not a tube amp has a different sound quality than a solid state. Solid state amps produce some harmonics that sound harsh to the ear of someone who is used to tube amps. I f you can't hear that a Marshall amp has a unique and identifiable tone that's too bad. For me it's one of the sweetest sounds in music, almost an acoustic tone like a cello as ridiculous as that sounds. It's all subjective and I have heard great sounds come from solid state amps but there is a real reason some people prefer tube amps.
As I got older, I bought a 4-12 cabinet with vintage 30 Celestions in it and a Marshall JCM900 SLX Superled Head. Traded it less than 6 months later for a Sovetek 100 Watt Tube head. Still,loved my valve state!
that's hard to tell for any amp. The problem is that the human ear itself perceives a certain sound differently when it is played at different volumes.
I've never found a need for an effects loop, but is it noisy when you simply connect a guitar cable from the out to the in, but without any effects in the effects loop chain?
100%. Of course bass rigs will sometimes use 2 different sized speakers in different cabinets since they are basically using a PA system (as they should) for an amp. So, you have the great amps that have built in crossovers, a couple of power amps, a sub (Usually a 15" or 2 in a cabinet) then their mids and highs in the form of a 4X10 and horn cabinet on top. So, since you are using 2 totally separate amps in the head, they bottom cabinet can be 4 Ohms and Tops be 4 ohms, since separate amps.
Thanks buddy. I'm glad you are enjoying all the goofy stuff I toss on here. You are so correct, those little, toy Marshalls do look small huh? lol Maybe I'll have to put them in the front of the shot and stand in the back so that the amps look HUGE! lol I should do that once just to mess with the stoned people's minds. Do it outside or something so that I look REALLY SMALL or the amps look REALLY HUGE. That could be fun to mess with. lol
Miking will always sound best on a guitar amp. For bass guitar, the direct box is usually the best way to go and should be from the instrument to the D.I. and not from the amp to the PA. I use a direct box at most of my gigs with my guitar since I rarely bring an amp anymore. So, if you are using some sort of a rig that doesn't use an amp at all, then of course, the Direct Box is a must since you'll almost always need to lift the ground on the box or it will be a Buzz Fest! lol
Then you sound like a total moron. So, I'll save myself from having to read another one of your dumb ass comments and just block you. I love that button. Later.
Awesome. I do the same with a lot of channels. I pick up the little things or different views that I may consider. There's always something to make you go "HMMMMM". lol
Hey Scott, nice vid! So, quick question, I have a Marshall JCM DSL 2000 100 watt head that I just got and I want to hook it up to my Peavey 4x12 cab which is rated @ 16 ohms. I'm assuming that I set the switch on the back of the head to 8 and run the speaker cable from the 16 ohm input on the head to the cab. The switch on the back can be set to 4 or 8. The inputs are 16, 4 and 8 on the back of the head.Please let me know. Thanks!
Hi my friend. Nope, the Johnson sounds the same on 1 as it does on 9. It's a beautiful thing. Another MAJOR reason I love it. It fits the bill for all gigs big and small. The sound is always the same. A true blessing for sure.
Yeah, it's a great tune. It sounds like the good, old stuff! I got to hear them do it live on the 11th of August. They did it very well. It wasn't over produced on the album, so they could cover it with no problems live. It's always great with a classic band like them, to have them go back to what it was that attracted everybody to them in the first place. Sure, it's not going to make any big waves on the radio, but it sure does sit well with the die hard fans!
Thanks my friend. Yep, exactly the same for everything including bass rigs, car audio, sound systems and everything relating to amps and speakers all the way across the board.
2020 and still the best video out there explaining all of this.
One thing I'd like to ask is do 2 cabs rated at the same IMPENDENCE need to be set to the same setting (Stereo or Mono)?
I currently have 2 cabinets, one 2x12 and one 4x12 both with the ohm switchable options of 4, 8, 16.
The exact way to calculate equivalent resistance in parallel is as follows: 1/Req=1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+1/R4+.... ohms.1/Rn. So four 16 ohm speakers in parallel would be and equivalent resistance of 1/16 + 1/16 + 1/16 +1/16 =.0625 +.0625 + .0626 +.0625 = 0.25. Now we have 1/Req=0.25. So Req = 1/.025 =4. For just two in parallel the formula reduces to {(R1) (R2)}/R1 +R2. So two 16 ohm speakers in parallel 16x16 would be an equivalent resistance of {(16)(16)}/16+16 = 256/32=8 ohms.
May I suggest an alternative to Watts could be 'Decibels' and maybe Signal to Noise ratio? That should indicate not just how loud it is but whether is't good-quality loud?
Just for some color - and this only applies to old tube amps - Ever f-ed up a Marshall due to impedance mismatch? I have. I will ONLY ever again match the impedance of a cab to the impedance that any old Marshall amp wants to see. None of this minimum required stuff for Marshalls for me, only exact matching. Superstition? maybe. Bassmans, Boogies, even Traynors - they can handle mismatches but can sound like crap if you do (especially the Traynors). Impedance matching is about efficient power hand-off between the load (cab) and the line (amp). For whatever black magic electrical reasons (which are actually "provable"), the best power distribution happens when you match the impedances. Actually makes it sound "better" too (psychological, maybe but not really). Can you get some killer sounds doing something different, like running a 4 ohm cab into an 8 ohm amp expected load? YES. For a very limited time in my experience, Do not do it. Other way around? YES but sounds like crap. Can you run 100 "watts" from a Marshall head into a 2x12 with Celestion Greenbacks 25W (50W total) each? YES. Well that's the sound! And it won't cook the speakers, except over time. An analogy: You don't run the biggest diameter exhaust pipes possible for your engine, you lose lots of the torque. You run the the smaller diameter pipe (but not too small cause it'll cook the engine), the engine can deliver the power more efficiently to the drivetrain if it has the right amount of resistance in the exhaust. Too little, you lose torque (POWER), too much, sounds f-ing great and delivers the torque until the engine dies. Whatever - the mills need the impedance matching in order to operate to satisfaction. Amps, Engines, similar as far as power distribution. Just my limited experience. Take it for what you will. Just some color comment, no offense asked for nor intended.
Someone may have asked before and I'm too lazy to look... but what is your opinion on hybrid amps? I am considering this option and they have a VOX VT120 in a local pawnshop for $200. I would buy a small 15 or 20 watt tube amp head too, for variety. Just bought a MIM Strat.. just starting - old fart here. I know about guitars because I'm a percussionist who's played with many Latin Rock groups - most my friends and my son are guitarists. So I'm familiar.
I'm 20 soon to be 21 and I used to be an all tube guy till I tried a hybrid amp I can't tell the difference the best part of a hybrid amp no fuse me and my grandpa modified my Gibson ga5 LP reissue amp and we swapped the preamp tube for a 12AU7 RCA vintage tubes and we added a tape loop for on board slapback echo the first output is for the echo and the second output is dry signal and we did this after seeing a Ray Butts Echosonic and we added another knob the second knob is for the echo and the first knob is volume only
..hempopotamusloudspeakers.com and reverb.com for hemp fiber cone speakers
AND- KEEP IT UP SCOTTIE!!!
You're one of the FEW, that understand quite a wide bandwidth of gear and how they intertwined...and, you don't give a chit what people think! Blaaaaaahaaa1
Great post!!!! So I play bass and I am about to buy a Ampeg SVT 7 Pro amp head & a Ampeg 4x10 hlf cab. Do you think that will give me that sound you explain?.. LOL I love the humor in the video!! I'm in a half cover half are are own stuff style band and we don't play in anything bigger then med size venues to small-med size. I was using a 100 Watt (are well I hope 100 watt after watching what you said in this video lol) Acoustic mini stack. But I was having to max out the head while having all my other tone knobs flat because I use a Sansamp Bass Driver with it and I had it maxed out at about 90%- 95% on the level knob of the s.a.b.d and again aboout 85%-90% cracked up almost all the way on the Acoustic mini stack in able to cut threw the mix while playing live. But I felt like my amp was about to shoot itself because I feel I lost some of the nice tone after I had to jack the amp to its max. So i'm hoping the Ampeg will help me. Not looking to be cranking the Ampeg up all the way so i'm not making it where nobody else in the band want be heard I just wanna be able to cut threw the mix without feeling like i'm about to blow my head and amp while playing. Keep in mind most of the places we play there p.a systems suck so we always end up having to play threw our on speakers and equipment. Are singer normally is the only one going threw the p.a in those situations. Thanks for any input you can give me.
OK! I understand every thing you said but what if you have an speaker that does not have an RMS rating any where it's just rated at lets say Full Range 800w continuous /1600w program /3200w peak at 4 ohms for a speaker cab how would you determine what power amp you should use? or Vice Versa?
So many amps are quoting x number of watts, but it should be rated in RMS only. Peak power is RMS x 2 as a rule of thumb to get your speaker ratings on the safe side. That is always how i have done things and then you rate your speakers for peak output. Just a suggestion. Make sure your cables are heavy too as the currents can get quite high and you don't want to loose power in them.
Tube amps should be phased out, as modeling amps are now so good you simply cant tell the difference anymore. My Vampire LX 112 sounds better than my old Marshall head (which went up to '11' by the way), and 4 x12.
hey question for anyone who knows. I have an old peavey bandit 112 combo and a peavey 2x12 cab that i want to pair together for larger stages. Unfortunately the bandit does not have an external speaker out; how simple would it be to add one? I've used the cab with my bass combo (8 ohm 100w ext spk) for a few big shows, and it's sounded awesome. is this an easy and cheap DIY project?
Well I did learn something from this guy but I stioll got more to learn so my 8ohm PV's gotta go with my 4ohm subs I order 2 3 ways at 4ohm to match with my 4ohm subs. I do have a 3 way cross over but I can use for just my 2 way system itll have to do for now and get two towers for my 3 ways but I have mixed n match speakers two old PV112H and a pair of Kustom active I think 2way with a 10 and tweeter I duno how I can encorporate them or maybe use them for monitors I have several mixers 2 passive n one old active Yamaha mainly this is hobby stuff but could do a DJ rig if I kin make it simple for anyone to use.
Thank you so much Scott, this opened my eyes and ears too. I' m so sorry that I couldn't understand every word of this or how on earth can those 8ohms comes back as a 4ohms because I´m Finnish and I don't understand electricity so much about those not even basics. And same thing with that PA-system when your amp is 8 ohms and you bring them to PA by 4 ohms, you get more power. There´s beeen so much misleading information about watts and peak power that doesn't mean a thing on continuing playing. It looks good if you have 800watts but actually you might have 100 or 200 watts maximum, right? It´s just the power that your amp takes from your house electricity line? Same thing with vacuum cleaners, they might have 1200watts but actual suction power is about 100watts and here they are not allowed to advertise with those arguments.
Hi my friend. Yes, you are correct. I want ALL PEOPLE who REALLY want to understand this to be able to. So, yes...many companies are advertising the PEAK watts (it's a horrible thing to do to people). The RMS power rating is the one and only power rating to go by. You understand it perfectly! You'll also see that people (who simply don't know any better) will advertise used gear as the wattage being what it says next to the power cord. So, a 100 watt RMS little PA head.....they will advertise it as 480 watts because that's how much power it draws from the electrical outlet on the wall. lol But, that's listed on the back.....so, they print it because they simply don't know where to find the correct answer. Feel free to ask questions at any time and I'll do my best to help you out.
Cheers,
Scott
Only if you play amazingly and are at a worthwhile and prominent venue.
If I buy another amp I think its gonna be a 2-12 Acouwsticits solid state and it sounds great n has on board effects heybI got a small one a G-20 n I love it uts simple clean and dirty sounds great! I recall they made good bass amps as well, Back in the day I had a Marshal to 50 nwhat but no master volume to freaken loud n 6-10 inch speakers!!
Thank you so much for making life easier with these videos, your time and effort is appreciated.
wattage = V x A, If the volume placement is before the preamp it will cause distortion or what I call gain. If the volume is placed after the preamp (master volume) it should only increase the decibel of the preamp without distortion until the speaker starts to break up.
No way I found you again! I used to watch your videos when I was in Highschool I forgot the name of your channel after all that time! Having trouble running my boogie into a 16 ohm cab. The manual says it should work through the 8 ohm Jack as a safe miss match but I’m getting no signal
hi Scott.
i've got a question.
i have a single guitar amp, but there are also amps which are a cab and a head.
what is the use of that? does it sound different or better?
i am wondering becouse i'm looking for a new amp and want to know some more about amps and such.
Can you please help me?
and can you please tell me 5 guitar amps for about 400 euros that you like for rock, hadrock, metal sound?
thank you a lot
Pride is preference!! Tube Amplifiers is my choice, since the 80's!! I owned a Sunn Beta Lead 100w 4 x 10"; Super Light in The Ass( never again)!!
You are way too kind. Many thanks. I'm glad you are enjoying the stuff I toss out there!
Yah, but Scott, there is **nothing** more impressive than a big wall of Marshall Amps, right??? I mean the kewl factor is through the roof. :D
LOL, I hear you my friend. Some have a whole different way of viewing the world for sure.
Yea, sisters aren't usually rated in RMS, they are usually rated in PMS or PMT
Damn it Groove, make me waste an hour learning shit, It's 4: in the morning here now,.. and not once did you turn on one of those mini's in the back, you pointed at them plenty, told me a lot of shit, made me learn shit, Lol,.. some I knew, some I didn't,.. well done Sir, well done,..
why they do tube amps as the main thing cuz tube amps break easier you i think some sold state are amazing its just people guitartard anymore
What do you think about Vox. I want to get an AC30VR solid state but I'm still indecisive about what amp I should get.
Hey scott, im only 15 and i understood the things you were saying. I really enjoy all your videos, especially ones like this that are really useful and teach you something. your videos have saved me alot of time and money by not falling into the webs that many other people do because the so called experts at guitar center told them to lol. i also pass along this info with my friends and help them out too. again i cant thank you enough for all the help you have given me, keep on rockin!
What about a 15 watt Orange Tiny Terror being just as nice as my 50 watt marshall through a 4x12 cab
Scot if am running an 600 watt head and it runs at 600 4 ohms and 8 ohms 400 if I use a 200 watt speaker till I get the other speaker will it work or Couse damage to the head or cab on low volume ps bass amp wise
Might have to call bull shit on getting getting amazingly better sounds plugging into a computer. Nah. Maybe in your world.
All this solid state praise...Any experience with Lab Series amps.......stands up to my super reverb and can pass it in volume...
Always educational. . I have one question if you had to pick a Brand new guitar amp what would you pick?
my understanding is solid state amps are easier to match cabs to... because of impedence differences tube amps have to be matched to speakers or you can have some drive tube problems... I always liked how my digitec processor sounded through my garnet minibass tube amp... funny how our ears work... again, lots of very useful info... really enjoy your vids... i watch them at work.
Many thanks my friend! The info on this video is 100% the same for tube amps as well. Bass, guitar amps, PA systems, the whole 9 yards. So, feel VERY safe to apply it to ALL amplifiers.
Cheers.
That is when you get a lock or a gun permit.
"Me and my lovely brain taking over again...." Hahaha! 😁
really good video. please make more videos on all the fucking lies and scams these guitar, amp, and pedal companies are telling.
So correct! As a kid back in the day building stereo systems in cars and we do look at watts but it's the rms that matters.
As always: funny remarks, a lot of controversy and great info (from experience)! Thanks again man!
My pleasure and I'm glad that you "get it" when it comes to my "humor". lol
Very well said and dead on for sure! I agree 10000%
Scott, Ive watched this video twice and i feel i have comprehended every word you've said. I would love to pick your brain on a few subjects. I have a Boss Katana Artist MK2. Im trying to learn what this amp is truly putting out, and at what ohms, and how they're divided between taps.
Howdy, your amp is already at its max with the 8 ohm speaker in it. You COULD run 2 16 ohm cabinets together, that would bring you back to 8 ohms (the amp's lowest recommended resistance), but you would have to unplug the internal speaker...or 1 8 ohm cabinet and again, disconnect the internal speaker. They do make the Katana powered 1X12" extension speaker cabinet that you can run so that the rig is in stereo mode. There is a special jack made to do just that. That is the way to get the most that it is capable of.
Friend of ThaFarm3r here. I've got a JCM 2000 that I run through a 1960 vintage cab. For years I ran the 16ohm output to the 16ohm on the cab. Then one day it started blowing fuses so I now run 4ohm Out to 4ohm on the cab. However now I've noticed only my left 2 speakers are working. Any idea why this might be?
Nevermind I figured it out. Shitty plastic switch was shorted out. Idk if I can get a new one but I don't really need to switch it anyway. Thanks.
Thank you so much once again, Scott. You're really a fount of knowledge and I appreciate your generosity with your time. I'm becomming sort of addicted to watching Scott Grove vids now. No matter the subject, you're an interesting speaker (yeah, that was a pun, sorry).
So... is there anyone making new solid state amps today that you could get behind and endorse, so to speak?
Btw, your vid about your health problems was very touching - wishing you all the best in that battle!!!
I just bought a Blackstar ID100TVP head and a Marshall MG Series MG412CF 4x12. The ohms rated for my head is 4 and the cab is 8. Will this hurt either my head or my cab?
Mike C I never did. But now I'm running a Marshall 4x10 and 4x12 and it sounds great.
scott the effects loop on my amp is REALLY REALLY NOISY just wondering do you have any knowledge on the matter, and if so can you share it please :)
Get the best sound with your amp that you can get. Work with it until you are happy with the sound. Who cares about what others think.
Cool! Just out of curiosity, what do you think of Tommy and Eric wearing Ace and Peter's makeup/costumes? I personally wish Gene and Paul would let them come up with their own new characters like they did with Eric Carr as The Fox and Vinnie Vincent as The Ankh Warrior. I think it would get a lot of haters off of their backs and let them shine in their own lights. I still love the band and am seeing them on Wednesday, but since I'll be wearing an Ace shirt, I hope Gene doesn't clock me. lol
OK so, can I plug my Audix OM2 into a 8 ohm output jack ov my Carvin V3?....lol just kidding Scott. I learned this lesson years ago when I fried a few heads. we had no internet. i love this stuff...I am also not into the volume tweeking on a guitar. I have my HD100 set to sounds and effects that I use. I got sick of lugging my racks and 4 cabs to gigs..im getting older and its a little tougher to do that. I love this head, like the johnson maliniam. it does not loose anything when turned down!
On the topic of Marshall, you are just stating fact. It may piss off those of us who were suckered into buying one, but it's fact. I bought a brand new JCM2000 a few years back. Not only was it the worst sounding, most fickle amp I've ever owned, it had to re-tubed and have some capacitors replaced after only three months of HOME use, because of what I still believe to be incorrect factory wiring sequences. Anyway lesson learned. Don't buy anything just because of the name on the front.
Nice one Scott I have never understood why they measured output in watts as its the amperage draw that burns the amplifier out of course measured by the minimum resistance applied across the output. as far as I have always been concerned it was the decibel output that every amp and speaker should be rated by.
you don't buy for example horn by its wattage you buy it for its decibel rating.
But what do I know as an Electrician lol.
regards
Clive
P.s ill keep taking the tablets
You got to be honest in the fact that your Johnson is a Hybrid and thus has a tube in it :p
But you are right, solid state or digital can sound just as good or better than tube amps, although I feel that a lot of companies are reluctant to put out great solid state amps and tend to focus on cheap practice amps when it comes to solid state amps... Almost every good solid state amp (Johnson, Gibson Lab series) is out of production. Screw supply and demand
This is exactly what I needed. Thanks, Now the questions...
I want a low wattage amp, 40 watt or around there. I just don't need the volume. I like the idea of mic'ing a smaller amp. makes sense to me.
I'm looking into a few carvins (any good?) Fender hot rod Deluxe 3 or just going for a Peavey nashville solid state. Tubes, I like the sound but I don't like the thought of biasing or the warm up time to play. I am also a plug and play type of guy. And I don't need the wall of sound.
I knew nothing about anything about half stacks and ohms and watts and i owned one back in the day. Now that i bought my old amp back, Crate GT3500H Shockwave 350 Watt Head, I know what the 220W@4ohm and 350W@2ohm means. I walked into guitar center out here in vegas and told a guy what setup for cabs i want. i want a 4x12 4ohm cab with any celest/sheff speaker and i want a 2x12 for my topper at 4 ohms as well. and i told him why he was very impressed. thats because of this video giving me the knowledge. thanks brother.
solid state for life lol. and i literally just found my baby. Crate GT412SL with celst!!!!!!! 16, 8, 4ohm switch. thanks for the explenation. i have the knowledge. and knowledge is power, in ohms and RMS of course! lol
I think that if you ran your rig through a 1965 twin reverb you would love the sound better than your line 6 , but you may be as stubborn as us tube snobs. nothing wrong with that. As far as explaining the ohms and watts thing, this was a great explanation for those who dont understand electronics. I dig all your videos alot, im still watching all the old ones tryin to catch up
Hey there Gary. I'm glad you are still watching my "antics" on here. lol I don't have any Line 6 stuff at all. I've had a few Twins and a couple of the reissues and they are just so nasty. They just don't trip my trigger at all. I think the worst thing about most amps (especially tube amps) is the crazy amount of noise. My rig is dead quiet. Not even an audible hiss when it's wide open. The Twin also never did break up at all. I had to put so many pedals in front of it to make it do what I like that it was always right back to these Johnson things. I really can't imagine finding an amp that suits my needs better. Keep on watching and I hope you find a nugget here and there that you can use. Cheers.
Scott I love your show. I am not into what every JOE BLOW is using, I use what works for me.{ I dont bother feeding the trolls.}
My rig is so easy now and sounds great. modeling amps work if you have a good ear. Oh Scott, your Ibanez axes look huge against the little marshalls..lol. thanks again for the lesson my guitar slinging friend!!
The wattage is the electrical power input rating. The input power is an ac sine wave. The rms rating is a mathematical means of calculating an equivalent power delivered if the source was dc. The power is converted to dc in the amp to power the tubes or FETs. The amp can never deliver the ac peak even for an instant. Complete hype.
What's your opinion regarding mixing speaker sizes. I'm a bassist and I run an 8 Ohm 2x10 into a Genz-Benz head that's 375 watt at 8 Ohms, and 600 watts at 4 Ohms. I want to run another cab, more for air movement than outright power but I'm not sure if I should get another 2x10 or a 1x15.
I enjoy your talks. When my son is old enough, he, too, will listen to you, and learn from you. I will make him. Thanks so much!!!!
Thanks so much my friend!
Well, he's not Jesus...
Hey Scott. Really informative.
I have a Marshall Origin 5w valve combo.
The amp and speaker are both rated at 16ohms.
Can I change the speaker for an 8 ohm?
Or will I fry it?
Thanks again.
Unfortunately, if the amp is rated at 16 ohms, that is as low as the total ohms of the speakers that you can use. You couldn't combine any more with it either. Cheers.
@@groovydjs Thanks.
I've just ordered a Jensen 8" 16 ohm replacement speaker. The 8" celestion it comes with sounds awful.
Keep up the videos. Your no nonsense, slightly condescending style is very entertaining. I've actually learned a lot.
You called out that 800 watt trickster hype!! Good going! You also Schooled up some peeps me for one with the amp fluctuating when the ohms drop way to go that's what people need to know is how shit works!! A+ KEEP ON TRUCKIN!
This is a great video with lot's of good info but one thing that's not mentioned is that in order to make your amp twice as loud you need to increase the power by 10, a 200 watt amp is not twice as loud as a 100 watt amp kids!
No shit, this video is about OHMS! My WATTS video mentions it 37 times for those who feel that such things should be included in videos that have nothing to about that.
LOL, You gotta love that sound. lol
wow watt a load of whats? scott you are a legend, hope your listeners take it all in, great video.
keep up the good (entertaining) video's
I also don't like Marshall stuff
Scott might chime in, but are you running a valve/tube amp? If so, perhaps check that you have a fresh valve/tube in place to see if the loop will stay quiet/quieter???
Scott! If you are wearing earphones are youn listening to the mix of all instruments?
Superb info as usual, Scott. I vote the title of this vid should be: "Show me the way to go Ohm"
;)
I have an 8 ohm head and a Marshall 1960a cab. Would I put the speaker cable into the mono 16 input?
Yes my friend. If the cabinet has a higher ohm rating than your amp's speaker output....no problem. You'll actually get LESS power from the head into the cabinet, but not enough to REALLY tell. So......you could put 2 of those cabinets on there (jumped into one another) and that would bring the entire load down to 8 ohms, but.....you'll NEVER hurt anything with the HIGHER ohm cabinets than the 8 ohm speaker outputs. Rock On!
I learned about all this stuff not in my music but, when I started fooling with car stereos. You did a decent job explaining this. It's hard to explain it to most people. Mostly because they just don't want to hear it. Even the RMS ratings are bullshit with some manufacturers these days. Thanks for taking the time to try and explain this. If there is ONE THING I know about its this stuff. You did a good job here. If they listen.....
I have a Vox Night Train 50 watt 8 or 16 ohm 15rms w 8 and 16ohm outs: Powering a 1960A Marshall 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75-16 ohm speakers, w/jack switching from mono to stereo any advice on proper connection. nice video btw.
G'day...What is the black marshall amp on the left? Year of manufacture etc please let me know.
I don't remember. I sold them all long ago and cheap.
You probably knew this, but I think Hendrix first toyed with distortion by simply shoving a screwdriver through the speaker cone :)
ps..the Watt problem you talk about appears to be even worse in the HiFi world. They have three or four different ways of rating wattage and it helps them dupe the public.
Another version said it was Dave Davies of the kinks, who used a razor blade.
THANKS FOR THE INFO SCOTT NOW I CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT ....................ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
I was hoping you would talk about why a tube amp is so much louder than a solid state amp when both are rated at the same wattage.
Are Tube Amps Louder Than Solid State By Scott Grove