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Originally Posted by stubbie7
allthumbs:
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I really want that warm, tube sound. What is the attenuater you talk about? That is a new one to me. And how does it work? That might be just the thing to solve my dilemma.
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Hey Subbie7,
A fellow West Marinite! I used to live in Marin and know the area well. Just to clarify an attenuator is a device that accepts the power out signal of the amplifier and adds the capability to act as a volume control BEFORE the signal is sent to the speaker. Think of it as a way to run your amp at its highest power rating and then control the volume level to the speaker. Two very seperate things.
What it does is allows you to saturate the power tubes! This is where all amps breath life into the signal. You get harmonics, compression, and tone that is unavailable without saturating the power tubes.
That said, a volume pedel from the guitar into the preamp also provides a vital function. First, you can run your guitar signal hot and only use the tone controls to shape the sound which optimizes the signal to the preamp and allows no variation in tone when using the volume pedal.
Second, and this is the holy grail, you can control how much saturation you are pushing into the power tube section of the amp. This will let you control compression, harmonics and sustain to a larger degree at the top level.
Once you are in the saturation mode of the power tubes you don't really get more volume because the tubes are already saturated. What you do get is that three diminsional sound provided by harmonic content, sustain and compression. Contolling these elements with the volume pedal allows you to control your expression with these variables.
My rig is a Fender Deville 4*10, volume pedal, weber mass attenuator, and a les paul custom and a tube screamer to drive the preamp section into massive overdrive. Tone for days with that setup. But I find I need to keep the attenuator at about 8+ and the preamp at about 10.
Good luck, and expect to experiment with your tone. Took me about 2 years to fumble my way into this setup.
Jim