Are built in "low power" modes on amps ever any good?

[Demanic]

I just did. It makes sense.

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[Demanic]

I had an old Carvin for years that had a 25/50/100 switch. It wasn't much quieter at 25 watts than 100. It just broke up quicker and wasn't as tight on the bottom.
My Picovalve is more bedroom friendly at 2 watts than 5. 5 can keep up with a disciplined drummer. I think that it is based on triode/pentode operation.

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[Ascension]

There are exceptions. Like the Fender Prosonic where the low wattage setting was a tube rec Class A and had a very different feel from the full power SS rec setting. However I do find with most amps the low power setting lacks something in tone.

[80's_Metal]

Great answers, thanks everyone.

TBH my JCM2000 DSL 100 sounds good to my ears at low volume without attenuation. It repeatedly wins out as the best option through much experimentation.

thats because the dsl is just flat out an amazing amp!

[80's_Metal]

My Marshall TSL has a vpr switch which drops the volume considerably. But it really doesn't affect overall tone very much at all. If I am just jamming or learning something new, I use the button and don't change any settings.
now if I have the thing really ripping past half volume, you can hear a tiny bit of tonal change with the switch engaged or not. But it certainly doesn't suck tone or anything like that.

Here's what I've learned about the VPR switching:

The VPR switch on the TSL amps acts like an internally fixed PPIMV (Post Phase Inverter Master Volume) when engaged. This limits the grid drive to the power valves, which allows you to drive the phase inverter harder without the high volume. With this switch, you get more phase inverter overdrive, while the power valves run the same as they do normally, just with a limited grid drive signal.

[GuitarStv]

My Marshall TSL has a vpr switch which drops the volume considerably. But it really doesn't affect overall tone very much at all. If I am just jamming or learning something new, I use the button and don't change any settings.
now if I have the thing really ripping past half volume, you can hear a tiny bit of tonal change with the switch engaged or not. But it certainly doesn't suck tone or anything like that.

Here's what I've learned about the VPR switching:

The VPR switch on the TSL amps acts like an internally fixed PPIMV (Post Phase Inverter Master Volume) when engaged. This limits the grid drive to the power valves, which allows you to drive the phase inverter harder without the high volume. With this switch, you get more phase inverter overdrive, while the power valves run the same as they do normally, just with a limited grid drive signal.

That makes sense. I think the PI tube gets way too little discussion. Most of what I used to think was the sound of my power tubes when the amp is cranked actually turned out to be coming from the PI tube. Took me a lot of swapping around tubes and testing to figure that out. :P

[dystrust]

I have an '88 Marshall Jubilee 2555 with a pentode / triode switch and a Mini Jubilee 2525H with its 20w/5w switch. IMO the triode setting on the 2555 sounds like muddy crap and I never use it. The volume difference between 100w & 50w is barely noticeable, so the only reason to use triode would be the difference in feel. The 2525H OTOH runs the power tubes in pentode in both modes, but drops plate voltage for 5w output. Of course 20w sounds better, but the volume drop at 5w is great for playing at home at the expense of a bit less low end.