And you've got the problem of power being inversely proportional to impedance with a SS amp (v/s proportional with valves) so 50W SS "is about right" vs 12 or 20 for tube (e.g. 2 x 6V6 or EL84 PP)
I was trying to find the db/w of a Fender stack. I'm guessing 106, (depending on what it's stuffed with) plus a whack more bottom end & a much more beamy mid range compared to a single 12".
Anyone know? Anyone measured?
Indeed! After a lot of futile years of trying to do just that, with many DIY tube and solid-state circuits, COVID-19 took over the world, shut down our music jams, trapped us in our apartments, and left me with the options of playing electric guitar no louder than an average TV, or not at all.
Quite unexpectedly, I found the solution to my decade-long quest in a recent Fender product: the Mustang Micro.
Ten years ago, every modelling guitar amp I could afford sounded so bad (to me) that playing through one was tragic rather than joyful.
Times have changed. Cheap DSP hardware has rocketed in processing capability. Tube amp models have improved dramatically. I was shocked at how good the inexpensive little Micro sounds. Take a listen: Fender Mustang Micro Demo & Preview - Cosmo Music - YouTube
Plug in headphones, and you have a completely silent guitar amp solution. Or plug in a pair of computer speakers, or small powered monitors, and you can turn down the volume as low as you like - and still get great guitar sounds. Bliss!
Back on topic: to me, a musician playing through a 100-watt guitar amp is about as wise as an Olympic gymnast who deliberately chops off his feet with an axe for fun.
You can't do gymnastics without feet. And you can't be a musician once you're deaf.
(Dame Evelyn Glennie being the quite extraordinary exception.)
And yes, history has shown that no matter how stupidly loud a guitar amp might be, there will always be guitarists lining up to play it at maximum volume. Even though it will ruin their hearing, and leave them permanently afflicted with what sounds like a jetliner endlessly taking off inside their ears.
-Gnobuddy
I resemble that remark!
Or in my case, the whining of a flyback transformer (c. 7kHz)