Single best pedal ever

[ehdwuld]

On the Peavey c30
does the second volume that kinda works as a gain

Is that considered a master volume?

 

[Hank-]

Master volume controls the overall volume and in most cases the poweramp section. If theres a gain control then its part of the preamp in most amps, a fx level control also functions as a volume control for the preamp in majority of amps.

 

[Chistopher]

^^And then we can get into the strange world of output attenuators. So you can have all your tubes cooking and still play at bedroom volume

 

[GuitarStv]

^^And then we can get into the strange world of output attenuators. So you can have all your tubes cooking and still play at bedroom volume

It's a strange world because you can pay a lot of money to do this . . . but it never actually sounds like a tube amp running at volume. I don't know if it's just how your ears hear things at high volumes, or if it's an interaction between the sound levels and the cabinet, or if it's the speakers behaving differently when they're pushed. It's not possible to play at bedroom volume with the tone of a cooking tube amp though, at least in my experience. I think attenuators have a place slightly knocking down volumes at gig levels, but they're kinda garbage for bedroom volumes (great at killing the life of your tubes though).

 

[jeremy]

the attenuator isnt killing your tubes, its just the amp being cranked thats doing that, but i agree with the bedroom volume bit.

i have a weber mass, which is as good an attenuator as ive found, and ive tried damn near everything. they are best used to knock a bit of volume down at a gig, not to neuter a 100w amp down to conversational volume. im sure part of it is speaker reaction too.

these things are cool, but stupid expensive. https://fluxtonespeakers.com/

eminence made two versions using similar technology, i have the maverick and it does its trick well. still sounds best at full volume, but that could be our ears

 

[Chistopher]

It's a strange world because you can pay a lot of money to do this . . . but it never actually sounds like a tube amp running at volume. I don't know if it's just how your ears hear things at high volumes, or if it's an interaction between the sound levels and the cabinet, or if it's the speakers behaving differently when they're pushed. It's not possible to play at bedroom volume with the tone of a cooking tube amp though, at least in my experience. I think attenuators have a place slightly knocking down volumes at gig levels, but they're kinda garbage for bedroom volumes (great at killing the life of your tubes though).

My cars stereo has a "loudness" setting that made me do some research on this, but yes, your ear perceives relative frequencies differently at different absolute volumes.

 

[beaubrummels]

Here's another fun question:

What is the difference between a high gain overdrive and a low gain distortion. I've looked at enough circuit topologies to know that the answer is not circuit topology.

IME back in the NMV days, low gain distortion was just playing loud to where the power section started breaking up, possibly the speakers also. High gain overdrive required putting something out front of the amp so that everything was distorted, the pre, the power and the speakers. After the NMV period, high gain, low gain, whatever, was just trying to emulate those conditions in various other ways; sometimes adding extra gain in the pre of the amp, sometimes something in the power section, etc.

 

[beaubrummels]

these things are cool, but stupid expensive. https://fluxtonespeakers.com/

eminence made two versions using similar technology, i have the maverick and it does its trick well. still sounds best at full volume, but that could be our ears

Have to wonder what ohms the amp actually 'sees' with those

 

[Aceman]

If the amp has crappy distortion, I'm not getting it, so...

Delay, and specifically a DD3. That pedal does everything I really want/need out of a delay fast, cheap and easy.

 

[JMP/HBE]

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