Here are some reports:
Rehearsal in a small apartment room with an electronic drum kit, bass through a Roland Cube 30, and small compact PA for voice with acoustic guitar.
ELectra Dyne head + Godin LG with Alnico II pro neck and Custom Custom bridge through a 2 x 12 cab with a v30 and c90. Never a level problem and tone always sounds good. I just turn the mids up and the bass down.
Small (long and thin) club through the PA. Low stage volumes.
I Had to set the master to get the levels I wanted for the crunch channels, and then I set the clean trim to balance the cleans. Master was about 8:00 on 45watts. I was actually told to turn up and everyone commented on how awesome my tone was. ('Dyne + 2 x 12 + Godin LG)
Outdoor gig back of a semi trailer. I let a guy with a strat / single coils use the 'Dyne. His band was loud and the 'Dyne had no trouble keeping up on 90watts with the master at 9:00. Sounded amazing and the guy LOVED it.
We played later and I blew the band off of the stage. 45watts with the master at 8:30 was what the doctor ordered. AWESOME!!!
Small club back of the dance floor off of the stage (Not through a system) 2 x 12 with a Squire Fender Double Fat Strat. Acoustic drums and a Markbass SA450 bass head. Cut like a knife without overwhelming anything. Levels were low for the club and 45watts / master at 8:30 was appropriate. Amp covered Brown Eyed Girl all the way to Crazy Train. It definitely had gain for the Crazy Train solo!!!
Recital in a 40 person multi purpose room in a community centre. With a Barracuda SG. Had to dime the volume to get any gain but it was rad. My one guitar student always uses the 'Dyne and she forces me to use the Dual REcto. We had drums, Markbass head with 210 cab, the 'Dyne with a 1 x 12 cab and the Dual and 2 x 12. Definitely was an appropriate volume level for this sort of application and it sounded great. (The clean channel also makes an astounding keyboard amp)
Jamming in a 10' by 14' room. A bit much for this small a room and will often require ear plugs. I can get it to conversation levels but the tone starts to get stifled.
Generally, for small stuff a great sounding 1 x 12 (27" Electra Dyne Extension Cab) is definitely the most appropriate and soundman friendly.
For ANYTHING else, a 2 x 12 will suffice. I would ALWAYS run a 2 x 12 off of the stage for better projection.
My assessment, for great modern tones, the preamp does the heavy lifting. This amp is PERFECT when used this way. You have the 45 watt for low volume playing and then 90 watts for the big stuff. You'll NEVER need the master past 9:00 for anything, unless you play metal and the drummer uses tree trunks for drum sticks.
The power section starts to clip at about 10:00 and by then, the amp is killer loud. If you NEED power amp distortion, get power scaling installed or get an attenuator, or buy a different amp.
