Loudness and Volume are two different entities...

Volume is the terminology used to describe the overall Amplitude.

Loudness, on the other hand, describes the area of the sonic spectrum that the human ear recognizes easily.

A small amp that develops that Loudness curve, following what is known as the Fletcher-Munson hearing curve, can blow an amplifier system of much more power rating but much less attention to the Loudness Curve right off of the stage.

Many of the classic era tube amps, like the Fender Termolux, Reverb (NOT twin, plain "Reverb"), Bassman, etc. only developed an honest 20 watts "or so" yet were able to cut through like that. Ditto the early Ampegs, Gibsons, Epiphones, etc.

This has led to people declaring such dumb and nonscientific statements such as "tube watts" simply because they do not understand certain other design considerations such as the Loudness Curve, or the Speaker Efficiency issue, or the intentionally limited bandwidth of many amplifiers designed to amplify guitars and not the full "twenty to twenty" audio range.

And then there is the total misunderstanding of the decibel and the fact that the dB scale is logarithmic.

That leads people to think that their amplifier must be "twice as loud" as that "other" amp simply because theirs is rated at 200W and that other amp is rated at 100W when the actual ability to generate Sound Pressure Level between the two amps is almost identical.

log10

A good accessory for your Champ would be to pick up a Shure SM-57 microphone, 40-foot mic cable and a short mic stand or boom capable of reaching the front of the amp's speaker. This for those gigs where the venue is rather large or especially for the outdoor performances. Hook it to the PA and Spank That Plank.


--Mac

PGmusic FAQs, Tutorials and Updates! click here

You must be Audiominds.
www.audiominds.com