Amp wattage

[LTJ386]

How many watts do you need to hold a venue like a gym, or even backyard? I am a guitarist, and I have a 100w amp, and my basstist was thinking of getting a 300w amp. I'm thought I'd be a waste of watts if he got it. Suggestions?

[neatobassman]

not really. The rule of thumb is bass has 3 times more watts then guitar. But it's just a rule, it doesn't have to be followed.

[moaner]

i'd say nearer double than tripl. but its better to have too many than t be clipping,e specially in bass.

[Akira]

Exactly what has been said. If you have a 100 watt amp, then your bassist having a 300 watt amp is a good thing.

[devildriver421]

what about a 120w tube amp, should the bassist have a 360w amp, or higher?

[Aes820]

You'd always want way more watts with bass than you would for the guitar.
Bass just needs the extra headroom, to both remain punch and clarity and to prevent clipping and distortion.
You'd never want to turn a bass amp up so it starts to clip, so don't think of it as a waste of watts, think of it more as 'clipping insurance'.

300 watts is good. But the more the better

Biamped bass amps can be extremely efficient and are worth looking into if you can afford it. At just a quick guess, 300 watt biamped bass rig could seem as loud or louder than a 600 watt un-biamped bass rig.

[neatobassman]

what about a 120w tube amp, should the bassist have a 360w amp, or higher?

maybe like a 240 watt tube amp because tube amps are alot louder than solid state amps. If we was going non tube, then probably a 360. Oh yea, it doesn't need to be three times, it all depends on the amps, because a 100 watt amp can get blown away by som 60 watt amps that are solid state. Now I'm just babling