Is a single 12" spkr enough?

Joe E · Post by **Joe E** » 19 Dec 2003 10:00 am

I just landed a full time gig with the Ju Ju Kings. They are an Roots/power blues band in central Il. According to the managment they have a strong backing and will be open shows this season for major blues artist coming to Chicago. Anyway...

I play guitar through a Music Man RD65 1 12" combo. It is really loud. They were concerned that the single twelve was not enought to play the size stadiums and venues that are booked for. They suggested a Super Reverb with the 4 10's.

Any real evidence that the single twelve won't be full enough? I have a Bag End 2x12 cab loaded with EV's I could use as an ext. Would that make the difference?

I sold all my stacks of 4x12 a few years ago when I stopped touring. I hope I don't have to go back to hauling one of those!

Joe E

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 19 Dec 2003 12:18 pm

A single 12 is certainly enough for stage sound. They should mike it for those large venues. Add the extension cabinet if the guys on the other side of the stage have a hard time hearing you.

Sounds like they're more concerned with the way your rig looks. I've used a little 40 watt Boogie with two 12" EV speakers (facing different directions) on some very loud stages. They usually ask me to turn down.

Beware of gigs that require you to buy new equipment or new clothes.

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Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 19 Dec 2003 1:37 pm

I saw Neil Young rock about 20,000 people with his little 22 watt Fender Tweed Deluxe with one 12" speaker in it. I also saw Carlos Santana rock about that many people with his little 1-12" Altec loaded Boogie cabinet. 1-12" speaker is plenty for a stage rig. It's gonna get miked and if people need to hear it on stage, they can put it in their monitors. Better to do that than to just blast the stage from one point. Go for tone. For 6-string guiar I've used a '68 JBL loaded Fender Deluxe Reverb for years. 25 watts and 1-12" speaker. I'll even use it on steel for smaller gigs and sometimes it's not even miked. If I stand close enough it's plenty loud for any band. It always gets miked at a big show so that's not an issue.

Brad Sarno

jim milewski · Post by **jim milewski** » 20 Dec 2003 3:46 am

I played an outdoor job on the state house lawn with a 60 watt Berhinger, no problem as it was miked, your amp is sort of a stage monitor, one thing I always do is put the amp up on a crate or chair, an audio tech said an amp or cabinet elevated where is is heard better is like doubling the wattage, plus I always found an amp on a hard floor made it sound harsh, at least on stage. Or you can shut them up by showing up with a Session 500

Pat Burns · Post by **Pat Burns** » 21 Dec 2003 10:08 am

<SMALL>Beware of gigs that require you to buy new equipment or new clothes. </SMALL>

..looks like you've turned down a lot of new gigs to keep playing with the guys who let you keep that tie-dye shirt, b0b..

..

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 21 Dec 2003 10:51 am

If its real managment with real backing and they want you to use a particular amp they will buy if for you.

Your amp is very close in volume to the Fender already. To say that some amp isn't loud enough to play a stadium gig reeks of ignorance.

Bob

Joe E · Post by **Joe E** » 21 Dec 2003 2:36 pm

Thanks Guy's, I'm from the same school as you all. This is part of my tone...and tone is why they hired me!

I do think it looks pretty small on stage though. I'm looking for a road case, and will set the amp up on it to give it some "Size". He he hee.

It is as loud as any thing I've used in a long time. But....It does sound "bigger" when I connect the 2x12 ext. cabinet though. So, we'll see what happens. If it does not sound big enough, I'll do something then.

Thanks for the comments.

Joe E

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 22 Dec 2003 7:46 am

If you can get the tone you want from an amp with 1 - 12 inch speaker, than use it ...You can always mic it up to the PA for any kind of added volume that you need..Good tone is sometimes hard to get, you can always throw a Shure 57 in front of the speaker and put the tone that you like into the P.A. !!..It's a lot easier to carry around with you also ..Jim