More often than not you will have someone asking, “Can you turn your amp down?” or stating “You’re amp is too loud”. This has also applied to bassist and drummers. Isolation is one of the most sought after applications for today’s churches. You find that even a lot of mainstream stages doing it as well. For example, internationally renowned country artist Keith Urban has 9 empty matchless dc30s with a 15 watt 1×12 Bogner cranked.

Isolation is key in today’s professional stages and church settings. More and more professional artists are being recommended by their sound engineers to isolate their amp so that they can be cranked in order to achieve the ideal sound. Tube amps will sound great by warming up that power section. Sure, it looks cool to have your full stack Marshall plexi but you won’t get the greatest tone if you have to stay at level 1 when you can max out your 5watt or 15 watt amp. Here are some applications to help you along.

Why Low Wattage Amp?

Personally I would play out of a Marshall JC800 or Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier Half stack fully cranked anytime. If I didn’t get to play it cranked though then why would I want to lug around 70+ lbs of gear and have bad tone. Take a word from all those electrical engineer amp makers, that a 5-watt amp can be as loud as a 50-watt amp. Remember watts rate power while decibels measure loudness. The reason why you would want a little more wattage is for headroom, which is the amount of clean tone you can get from tube amp before it starts overdriving. I’m recommending some amps below. Try out anything in the 5-watt to 20-watt range. I highly recommend the half-power models that can take the max power (i.e. 15-watts to 7 watts).

What You Need

• Amp, preferably lower wattage: (5watt to 15 watt): I use an Epiphone Valve Jr. 5watt
• Other amps you could use are Blackheart BH5H Little Giant, Orange Tiny Terror, Fender Blues Junior, or Vox AC15CC1
• New amps coming out in 2009: Vox Night Train AC (check it out)
  *Update* I just got a AC15HTVH with 1×12 Celestion Blue Speaker in Cab. With this amp you can turn it down to 7.5 watts. Check it out Vox AC15 Hand Wired AC15H1TV 15W Combo Amplifier
• Good cab mic such as: Shure SM57, Sennheiser e609, Sennheiser e906, Audix I-5

Another Problem: Direction

The first main problem is that your amp is too loud. I’m sorry to say. The small amp fixes that. The second main problem with pointing your amp in the standard rock fashion have to do with direction. Assuming you’re altar/stage is raised let me break it down in simple speak. Your stage is as high as people’s heads. Your amp is also pointing at your feet. Yes, the Congregation > You. From their hearing reference it is very harsh because a guitar amp is very directional.

How sound is dispersed from your amp

Angles of sound dispersion from your amp

Option A: Put It In Front of You, and Turn It Around

You’ll have to sacrifice showing off that half-stack, but it actually makes sense. Most church systems I’ve encountered usually have about 2-4 monitor mixes. If you’re stuck with two, having your amp in front of you next to a floor monitor that only has the lead vocal and rhythm section in that monitor can help a lot. You can either turn your amp volume up or down according to what is coming out of your monitor. You also get to maintain most of your tone. If you have an open-back or semi-open back guitar amp, put something in front of it to prevent any leakages. Bonus brownie points if you can angle your amp toward your head.

I’ve seen a lot of local churches do this lately and it works out very well. It’s a win-win situation for both you and everyone else.

Option B: Keep It Behind You, and Turn It Around

Bands that play this way: Daniel Carson (Chris Tomlin), Kenny Butler (Matt Maher), Robbie Seay Band, etc… If you have monitors such as wireless in-ears or wedges this can be extremely beneficial. First, you get to hear what your amp really sounds like through the PA system. You can adjust your mics (Shure SM57, Sennheiser e906, etc…) according to what you hear. During sound check you can confirm what the congregation hears with what you hear.

Option C: Completely Isolate Amp in Another Room or Container

Robbie Seay’s lead guitarist does this. He just isolates his amp in a foldable shield much like a drum shield except it’s not clear. The other option is if you have a spare room you can throw your amp in there. For long runs you can use a Radial SGI. You would have to use your in-ears or floor monitors to monitor yourself.

All of these options require you to sacrifice asthetics, but you’ll have great tone and as musicians that’s what we all strive for. If you’re a high roller you can go buy a bunch of empty Matchless cabs. For the rest of us that are focused on providing a quality worship experience, there’s isolation. It takes awhile getting used to, but you can get used to it.