Why Rhett Shull Is (Probably) Right About 5W Amps
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- Опубліковано 18 лис 2024
- Originally, I had my sights set on the Bugera V5 Infinium, however, I chose the Orange 35RT instead because its FX Loop. Turns out I just had to look a bit harder to find a 5 Watt amplifier with an FX Loop: the Blackstar HT-5R.
After about a year of using the Orange 35RT, I realized that even it is far too big for my apartment setup.
Join me as I break down the reasons why a 5W amp could be the only amp you need, drawing on comparisons, personal experiences, and what it means for your sound and gear collection.
🎸 Plus, if you're looking to deepen your understanding of your instrument, check out my fretboard memorization cheatsheet. It's mad helpful for helping you with the guitar:
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👋 What's your take on the 5W amp debate? Have you found your sweet spot with low-wattage amps, or do you prefer something with a bit more power?
Let's keep the discussion going in the comments, or hit me up on social media:
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Rhett Shull's video is here:
• You (Probably) Only Ne...
A quick look on Sweetwater using the filters on the left hand side of the page gave me 50 amps that are 20 watts or less that have effects loops. Here are just the 5-watts to 7-watts ones:
- Blackstar Debut 50R 50W/5W ($249)
- Blackstar HT-5R MkII 5W ($549)
- Bogner Atma 112CB 18W/5W/1W ($2339)
- Dr. Z Z-Plus 112 15W/7W (2399)
- Laney Cub-Super10 6W ($579)
- Laney Lionheart LST-112 5W ($1169)
- Marshall DSL5CR 5W ($699)
- Marshall 2525C Mini 20W/5W ($1949)
- Marshall ST20C Studio 20W/5W ($1949)
- Victory V40 Deluxe Combo 42W/7W ($2519)
I'm sure there are more outside of Sweetwater, but that's just at first glance.
I was going through something similar, and I remembered that my HS Calculus teacher always talked about how her husband fell in love with Egnater amps. 18 years later, I found out why. Granted its not a 5 watt amp, but you should definitely check out the Tweaker 15. You might be able to get the amp head and the cab for around $500 US, in great shape. I paid $350 for my set up. You will have loads of tweaking capabilities in cleans & dirty, and an awesome effects loop. It sounds great at home levels, to my ear it sounds better than my BlackStart HT1.
Right on, I've never heard of that brand before.
In live club situations with an aggressive rock drummer , you wouldn’t cut through with 5 watts . I’ve have an ht5 and had to run full out . My go to for bar gigs is the Marshall dsl 20 / 10 watts checks all the boxes. The ht 5 has great tone and comes with a good stock speaker
I owned both Orange 35RT and HT5R. Got the Orange first, planning to build my sound with pedals. I was never satisfied with light overdrive tones though, so I went for the Blackstar next. Living in an apartment like you do, I could not use it to it's full potential though; it never sounded right on low volumes. To my mind, there are 2 factors here to get a great sound at bedroom level: low wattage option (or load box) in your amp, and a speaker that is not designed to be at it's best when its screaming loud :D 12'' in the HT5R was not cutting it for me. Sold both. My current setup is Yamaha THR 10 II for practice, modeller for having fun at home (used to have a headrush mini, now happy with boss gt-1000core), and Peavey 6505MH + small cab for gigging and having fun with pedals.
i have that blackstar but mk1, i do love how it sounds, even at low volumes, only thing i dont like is the clean channel is super volume compared to the dirt channel, so if you take it to rehearsal the clean channel won't ever be heard and that leaves you only with the dirt channel, i do think it's a hustle having four cables to use the effects loop so im looking for a drive pedal so i can run everything in front lol
Why not opt for a variable wattage combo with an effects loop which will give you the best of both worlds instead?
yeah, i'm really eyeing the blackstar debut 50r right now because it seems to have all i'll ever need for my guitar learning needs. I'd be able to play quietly, it has the fx loop for mostly my possible future needs so i wouldn't need to worry about that later and some other effects that i lack right now.
That's something to consider. Frankly, I wasn't aware that a variable wattage amplifier was a commonly found style of amplifier.
Your complaints are the reason I went with a Fractal FM9! I have more than I will ever use but if I burn on a sound I go shopping in the unit I already have.
I piss more and more people off every day with my 30W combo amp.
@@andrewsiemon I used to do that but with 100 watt and a pair of 412’s! 😅
Can someone explain why a 5W amp would be preferable to an Orange Crush 35W with an attenuator used via the FX loop? Can't you lower the volume with that setup to achieve a good sound without pissing off the neighbors?
On 5:22 , was this using the 35rt? It sounds great in my opinion.
Yeah it was
Marshall DSL5 is a great versatile option. It also can run in 0.5 watt and has the FX loop. used it before starting to use rack tube pre-amp, 1,5 watt solid state amp (AMT Tube Cake) and a 12x1 cab...
...never turned it on after buying QuadCortex)))
I think that's it isn't it. Might make more sense to just sell everything and get the Quad Cortex.
I use a Joyo 12 band eq in my 35rt. Works pretty well
I have Marshall SL 5 and planning on buying Fender 68 vibro, also 5 w.>>There ya go
Right on. No FX Loop on either of those though.
@@andrewsiemon Who needs effects lol..>Good video!
I think if you live in a apartment any amp is really too loud at a volume where it sounds good and it's much better to rent a rehearsal space where you can enjoy playing with no limitations. If you're looking for a smaller amp I really like the Vox AC4. I like it better then a the bugera, blues jr and dsl. The only time you need a 30w amp is when you need to be louder then a drummer.
Good point. Being a musician generally and living in an apartment building isn't a good mix.
I have a HT-5 and use it all the time
Jealous. It looks pretty sweet. Is it super small, the actual size of it?
@@andrewsiemon It's a little bit smaller than a Blues Junior. 12 inch speaker
@@andrewsiemonI have the grey one and I love it