Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

[MetalManiac]

Best Tube Tone Question.

Totally NOT modern High Gain question. Vintage Non Master Volume question.

Is the best tone from a vintage tube amp ( like say, a Blackface Bassman) from turning the guitar volume up and the amp volume down, or the opposite, turn the amp volume up and turn the guitar volume down?

I have a few of the old Non Master volume amps and not much experience with them, but trying to begin playing more.

[LLL]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

From cranking the amp and getting the PI tube sweating. These amps have simple circuits and therefore the tone is "purer".

The guitar volume knob is used to go from clean (low) to mean (high).

[MetalManiac]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

From cranking the amp and getting the PI tube sweating. These amps have simple circuits and therefore the tone is "purer".

The guitar volume knob is used to go from clean (low) to mean (high).

Thank you! Man, are you ever right! u just graduated me to the next level.
with my '65 Blackface Bassman ( with the volume at) at 8.5, its enough brite volume when guitar volume is dimed, and backed off gets pretty lucious tones with my 97 LP Spcl. Jr.

Not sure how this Crank amp-use guitar volume practice will extrapolate to very high hi wattage amps like my 90 watt Traynor "Bassman", which is a Tweed Bassman knockoff with massive ( Hammond) Transformers that do not like to saturate.

My '74 Hiwatt DR504 wold probably be ideal for the 'Crank the Amp volume and Play the guitar volume' technique though..I haven't relly played it yet casuse its not back from being refurbished.

My Tweed Twin Clone is intuitively plug and play- you Crank it up to max by instinct and back off the amp and /or guitar volume for cleans, so thats basically right there the 'crank amp-use guitar volume thing'.


[ Not totally knowing how to handle the big amps is not a liability for me, well because i don't play concert venues, but it is a a new frontier- you see, I spent a whole lot of time on practice amps, articulating my clean chops for the day i get all my ducks in a row with my big vintage tube amps- which is now. You can always learn to play dirty much more easily if you master the cleans, but NOT vice versa]

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

Only turn down the master volume if the sound guy is an *******.

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

Only turn down the master volume if the sound guy is an *******.

What's a master volume ???

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

If you get the right tube amp and you are a sensitive player... you can play lightly and the sound is clean and play hard and the sound is distorted all with the volume knob on 10.

Most non-Master volume amps will be clean at any sort of a decent volume... they get interesting when the windows start to rattle.

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

The young crusty, back in the early '70s, discovered that most amps of the time sounded best with the volume set to about 6 or 7 (on a scale of 0-10, eleven hadn't been invented back then. Most amps just started to sound mushy if pushed all the way up). Finding that such settings were troublesome in some venues, he realised that two or three amps of different wattages would be required. Small, medium and large, and take two different sizes to gigs.

In the intervening years, the opportunities to use 100+ watt amps for vintage tone have reduced to virtually zero unless you play stadiums or live in a desert. But it's still possible to cover all the bases with a 4-5 watt (single EL84 or 6V6), a 15-20 watter (pair of EL84s or 6V6s) and a 35-50 watter (quad of EL84s, pair of EL34s or 6L6s). A Vox AC30 or a 40-50 watt Fender or Marshall amp will still allow clean chords next to a loud drummer and give up the great tones of yore, and still annoy some people enough that they may express a desire to punch your face in. (In the the latter instance, Telecasters usually prove themselves the best instruments for hand-to-hand combat).

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

Crusty, you're my Obi-Wan.

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

You get a warmer sweeter tone with the guitar volume on 9 instead of 10 (using vintage output pickups and a NVM or turned up MV amp) and about the same actual volume. Going up to ten gives more cut to your tone if needed. Going down to 8 cleans it up.

[hydro]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

Crusty I was about to expound upon the virtues of power scaling before I realized that only reduces the number of amplifiers one can justify owning...

[Chickenwings]

Re: Best Vintage Tube Tone Question

crusty for Prime Minister (again)