How Loud?

[kd]

Hello folks,

I was just listening to some clips done on an Express by guitapicker. The tones he was getting are truly magnificent. I've talked myself out of building on of these amp several times, now I'm thinking again about building an Express clone. The question is, how much do these amps have to be turned up to get them in the good tone zone.

Thanks,
Ken

[geetarpicker]

"Geetarpicker" here aka Glen Kuykendall. My Express is quite loud through a 4x12, probably a hair less loud than an old JTM45 and but definately not as loud as the average cranked 4 input Marshall 50. I have original old 25 watters in my cabs, which really help to tame down the volume as they aren't very efficient compared to say vintage 30s or G12H 30 watters. I've played many gigs with a loud drummer, using my Express cranked directly into a single 4x12 with no attenuator. In a large club, say 300-500 seat you will most likely actually need to mic the amp to really cover the room if they are miking drums too. No matter what the only way to run an Express in my opinion is to crank it, and experiment with speakers and/or an attenuator to get the amp where you need it volume wise. That said, I think if you need to attenuate the amp much more than 8db or so you probably won't get the best tone out of it. If you need it lower than that I'd consider a plexiglass shield, though that might make controlled feedback trickier but maybe not. Also, I think with a cranked Express or Liverpool potted pickups are a must. Keep in mind once the amp is really distorting nicely, say 1/2 way up on the knob or so any more turns of the volume only get you more gain not really more volume. So, turning an Express down to say 1/2 isn't really gonna make it any quieter, just cleaner.


[img:20:20]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-10/ ... Wlight.gif[/img]www.myspace.com/glenkuykendall[img:20:20]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-10/ ... Wlight.gif[/img]

[kd]

Thanks Glen, that answers my question. Much appreciated.

Ken

[Matt72]

Yeah, good detailed description. I was wondering this myself since I'm about to build. Sounds just about perfect to me.