So, I'm needing a dedicated bass amp, and I need enough wattage to be heard over drums...
Any suggestions on what to do? I don't want to spend much cash really.
Well, unless we're talking about a pretty quiet drummer, 50 watts won't do it. I'd suggest ebay or a pawn shop cause you're liable to spend more making a DIY amp than you will for a used amp.
DIY is rarely cheaper than storebought anything. We build because we love to build.
:duh = me
RDV
If we are talking RMS 50w will do it. My brother uses a SS Sunn amp that is 50w with a 15" EV2 speaker, it keeps up with a whole band, you just have to crank it up to 3/4 volume or so.
I have a hundred watt SS ampeg with a 15" speaker. It does ok with a band (as long as you're not competing with two half stacks)... but I always want more power for the low end. I agree with RDV, buy something cheap and used unless you really want to build.
I will admit that a 200w minimum or so amp is the way to go if you have to keep up with a band *easily*. That way you can power a 1x15 and a 4x10. To use a 50w bass amp it will only keep up with light guitar/vocals/drums.
^I've been running my bass through a 30 watt guitar amp, and it's been working great...I don't need much wattage, it will only be for practicing with a drummer and maybe some light guitar. I'll be using it in a small room, so a little volume goes a long way. With the bass now I turn the volume up to 1/3(Peavey Classic 30) and I keep up easily. And I know it may not be cheaper, but it is more fun ;)
Mother Nature supplies us some hints if we look up the numbers.
Speakers come with ratings for how loud they are per watt. The number is "SPL/1W/1M" which translates to "sound pressure level with one watt drive at one meter distant from the speaker." That number varies - a lot.
If your speakers are rated at 86db 1W/1M then changing to a speaker rated at 89db same conditions is the exact equivalent of doubling your amplifier power. You get twice the delivered acoustic power. Some speakers are rated at high 90's, even low 100's. Electrovoice (EV) in particular is known for high efficiency speakers.
Quoting only your amplifier power and not the speaker efficiency is like saying "my car burns two gallons of gas per hour". It's not all that useful without knowing whether your car is a high efficiency hybrid or a dump truck. Both very useful, but for different things. Either way, you can't tell how much of what you consider good stuff you get without knowing more.
A favorite dodge of mine is the modularized amp/speaker. Got a 100W speaker? Put a 100W amp on it. Need 200W? replicate the amp AND speaker, rather than making a single 200W amp. a 100W amp is twice as easy to get running as a 200W amp and ten times as easy to get running as a 500W amp. And you're already trained on how to make a 100W speaker/amp, right?
Then build as many as you need. I'd rather make ten 100W chip amps as one 1kW amp.
I'm planning on doing that with 50w. Right now I have 1x50, when I need more power, I'm going to give it another chip and have 2x50. It's an easy and effective way of getting more power.
Yes, speaker efficiency... I've read (don't remember where) that it's best to get speakers rated in the high 90's/low 100's, but I guess I never thought about exactly what that meant... I wonder if efficiency has any effect on frequency response/tone? Thanks RG.
^Well, the main speaker in my PV C30 is an Eminence, and its rated at 103...which is pretty high. That could be the reason.