J’s Half Stack (early years)

[lookitssam]

I saw in the booklet for the Dinosaur reissue that J has 2 50 watt heads running though a 100watt cabinet. I always wondered why he did this, as opposed to just getting one 100watt head. Anyone know?

[stanner]

man i had questions like this for years…
1st-where did you see/hear they were 50W heads?
i always assumed they were 100Watters.
and why he did that-for ease of loadin/out of cabs and amps and stuff…i’m guessin.
plus in most pix there are cabs all around the place-so, cant be sure those two heads went into ‘one’ cab.
any info would be greatlee appreciated
s
plus playin thru two amps instead of one always sounds better, to me and alot of other folks.

[lookitssam]

I’m pretty sure they’re 50 watt, because I really doubt that cabinet is more then 200 (I’m just judging from that pic on the back of the booklet in the Dinosaur CD).

I was wondering if there was any advantage to having 2 heads (other then in terms of volume). I know it makes it sterio, one head comes out of 2 speaker the other comes out of the other 2…

I’m getting a new amp soon and wanted to see if I could get a Fender and a Marshall head connected to one cab, one head or cleans the other for distorted. But then I learned switcing between heads in the same cab and overhead the unused amp head…

Idk, I’m filled with questions about this setup in general..

[stanner]

not saying this is what J did but,
if you fill a 4X12 stereo cab w/ Celestion 75Watters-
thats 150W per side-more than enuff wattage for two 100W Ampheads…
i kinda do that but w/ a 2X12 stereo cab using 75W spkrs and two 100W heads.
i just make sure i dont turn things up too far
s

[lookitssam]

Oh yea, I never thought of that.

Thats still a whole lotta power for one cab.

[eyesadrift]

hmm i always thought he did this so he could use one for like leads and the other for like rythums>*im probably wrong* you know like have one head for a cleanier sound then the other for heavy distortion, leads, ect.

[stanner]

from all the setup pix of J’s rigs i’ve seen over the years he seems to send the same exact signal to all inputs of his however many amps he’s usin…
he’s a pedal pusher for all manipulation of tone(distortion, flangin,wahwah, etc.).that to me is THE classic way for great guitar tone, find a guitar and amp combination that you love and then find boxes that enhance that guitar/amp configuration.
s
(i’m happy to say that i stole J’s ideal setup thang along time ago:
FenderJazzmaster-ElectroHarmonix BigMuff-100W Marshall Amplifier(s).)
it helped me see the light(more light)

[lookitssam]

Yea, J’s setup is awesome. But I’ve got Custom Strat–>Big Muff, Blue Box, Phase 90, Wah –> Fender Twin Amp

[Anarca]

"lookitssam" wrote:

I saw in the booklet for the Dinosaur reissue that J has 2 50 watt heads running though a 100watt cabinet. I always wondered why he did this, as opposed to just getting one 100watt head. Anyone know?

Probably he’s using 50 watts heads because you can use all the power without killing anyone!!A marshall 100 watts plexi head is a killer amp,but it’s too much loud, even if you’re playin’ on stage.I know for sure because i had a purple one for a couple of years but i had to give up and now i switched to 30 w class a Amp.Another important thing is that you can increase dynamic control of your amplifier useing the power section: thaht’s what makes the difference beetween a good sound and a bad one.

[stanner]

"probably 50 watt…"…100W its much too loud"- wha?
sorry, in all the interviews i have w/ J, it mentions 100Watters-
NO mention of 50W amps…
and since there is only on average 3 dbls gained when doubling the wattage-no use for 50watts as he was/is known for playing at ‘chromosome-bending volume’
for info please go to ‘FOSSILS’ on this site and look at "magazine articles w/ J" and at the bottom of the first page is an in depth story from GuitarPlayer magazine on all his stuff…
s

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