Odd trend in amp ads

I've seen that for a hundred years in classified ads, and now CraigsList......never seen a retailer do it, but then, I don't often look at store ads.

 

i have jmp50 that can peak at 75+

 

And if that Marshall has the power consumption in watts on the back panel by the AC input, which I can’t recall whether it does or not, it would read 150-200 watts, I would guess.

Count, as nojazzhere notes people have been misinterpreting and/or misusing that consumption number for output power ever since those consumption numbers have been printed on the back panel.....even if as on vintage BF/SF Fenders the output watt number is printed over by the speaker output jacks.

 

Yep very common, I see it often from music stores (as opposed to guitar shops) that hire H.S. band/orchestra kids as part time staff. They often are not familiar w/ "combo" instruments, and receive little training out side of working the till. It pops up on hang tags, and such. Actually a easy mistake to make if you think about it; how many here could 'hit the ground running" and accurately describe a used violin that was marked " Antonius Stradivarius cremonensis faciebat anno 1716" Simply means that the $200 gut box you are holding was inspired by such a instrument.

 

yeah, i was thinking actual watts to the speakers, and slamming the front end in these beastly amps really puts some power out !! I love gigging with my 1 friend at outdoor gigs, he dimes his twin and man is it nasty in all the right ways.

 

WAIT!!!...you mean that Strad on CraigsList ISN'T legitimate?????

 

Maybe....maybe not.

 

I'm typically more concerned with the ads that misspell words that are printed directly on the item that's being sold

"Squire Stradocaster"
"Peevy Amplifier"
"Epiphany Less Pawl"

Though, you can often find hot deals if you search typos like "gutiar" or "guiter"

 

I had a guy once tell me a Frontman 25 was a 75 Watt amp. "It says right here, 75W", he says, pointing to the back, where it is clearly labeled "input power". I guess the 25 in the name was just a meaningless model number. I bought it anyway, cause it was on sale for 30 bucks.

 

Look at the quarter, look at this nickel -- 30!

 

Many people unknowingly post the labeled consumption watts from the amp back.

 

I see it constantly on Craigslist

 

Well, if this thing is 500 watts



Then a Marshall JMP50 must be, like, 50,000 because watts measure how loud something is, right?

 

Ever since the 70's, when audio (stereo, auto, and PA) amp manufacturers were claiming their 50 watt amps were 1000 watts or more because they could put out that amount at 1khz at 50% distortion for 1ms before self destructing, the Gov't has required makers to state RMS power over what frequency range and at what distortion level, to accurately reflect real continuous power output under actual conditions. But, guitar amp makers weren't part of that Gov't. regulation, so they can still fudge power levels in their specs. There's an interesting bit about just that in Ritchie Fliegler's book about guitar amps and their history, "Amps!, the other half of Rock and Roll".
And some audio manufacturers still cheat, using RMS, 20-20khz at some reasonable distortion level for the specs of the two main (front left and right) channels of their surround sound receivers, but still cheat on the surround channels specs.

 

I'm thinking a 500 watt Pyle is... well a pile.

 

I had someone spam everyone at work looking for a "pritner cartrigde". I offered him a dictionary.

There's good deals occasionally found on "full size" gutiars, often needing one string. Got a Strat copy for 25 bucks that way.

 

Underrated amp. No brainer for $30. Dime the mids and drop treble and bass to 1. Tiny real spring reverb built onto circuit board. Replace speaker w Ragin Cajun and ignore eq suggestions.