The Old School Way of Adjusting A Tube Amp To Get Your Tone

[theaxeman]

It was mentioned in another thread that we needed some of the veteran players to share some of their knowledge in how to use the knobs on a tube amp and your guitar to get that elusive tone we are all looking for.

I found a link to a page by Torres Engineering called "Lost Knowledge on Tube Amps" that has some good information in general and a couple of paragraphs dealing with the knobs on an amplifier.

Here is just a portion of what is on that page:

Master volumes were added to the amp designs in the mid to late 60's. The idea was to be able to turn the preamp (the regular volume) up causing distortion, and then turn the actual volume of the amplifier down with the master volume so the distorted tones were available at a reasonable overall volume.

But master volumes don't work exactly like that as they are still within the amplifiers preamp circuit (and aren't controlling the final sound to the speakers..) Turning a master volume down causes some degree of distortion no matter where the regular volume is set. If you want your amp to be as clean as possible, turn the master volume all the way up to 10.

For clean tone - Turn the master all the way up, turn the regular volume down.

For distorted tones - Turn the master down, turn the regular volume up.

There are hundreds of combinations of master volume and regular volume.

The whole page is well worth your time to read through!

Hopefully some of the veteran players here will share with us their knowledge either written, or hopefully with some step by step videos with recorded differences in sound.

 

[SteveC]

Mighty nice of them to charge $5.00 for instructions on how to bias your amp.

 

[nauc]

i turn my Pre all the way up, the Post up so its nice and loud when i set my guitars volume to give me some nice, crispy tones. if i want to clean it up a bit, i roll back the guitars volume, if i want to go way dirty, i crank the guitars volume

 

[Comanche]

I like to use the guitar controls for gain and tone.

 

[bobswinea]

I am definitely Old School as my avatar shows. Been playing tubes my whole adult life. Currently own a Fender Blues deluxe RI and a Peavey Custom 30. I play Blues so I am always looking for that creamy overdriven sound with punch. Sort of like musical chunky peanut butter. I run my pre/drive low and my post/master way up. My EQ is set at 12 o'clock. No pedals as I prefer to get my sound from my guitar and the amp. Works great for me. IMHO you can set your amp to whatever gets you the sound you want. Its all good from tubes.

 

[Eric Smith]

I am definitely Old School as my avatar shows. Been playing tubes my whole adult life. Currently own a Fender Blues deluxe RI and a Peavey Custom 30. I play Blues so I am always looking for that creamy overdriven sound with punch. Sort of like musical chunky peanut butter. I run my pre/drive low and my post/master way up. My EQ is set at 12 o'clock. No pedals as I prefer to get my sound from my guitar and the amp. Works great for me. IMHO you can set your amp to whatever gets you the sound you want. Its all good from tubes.

I have a Blues Deluxe RI also and pretty much run the pre pretty low and the master pretty high.

I'm thinking that if you don't run pedals that I would have opted for the Blues Jr. I know that I would have but wanted an effects loop. Great amp though. Loud, but great.

 

[theaxeman]

I appreciate everyone's comments so far, but I was hoping for a video with descriptions of the sounds as the amp and guitar are adjusted.

We see written descriptions of sound all the time such as creamy, fuzz, distortion, clean, etc., but some of us are old and dense, and would like to actually have a sound associated with the verbal description and how you achieved that sound.

So if one or more of you would be so kind as to help out some of who need it, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bobswinea]

I have a Blues Deluxe RI also and pretty much run the pre pretty low and the master pretty high.

I'm thinking that if you don't run pedals that I would have opted for the Blues Jr. I know that I would have but wanted an effects loop. Great amp though. Loud, but great.

I agree that the Blues Jr is a great l'il' amp. I just felt that I needed more wattage to cut through our live mixes. I imagined that Junior would get lost in the sonic fray If I ever get my 3 piece Blues trio together I might reconsider a Junior. Best wishes.

 

[Eric Smith]

I agree that the Blues Jr is a great l'il' amp. I just felt that I needed more wattage to cut through our live mixes. I imagined that Junior would get lost in the sonic fray If I ever get my 3 piece Blues trio together I might reconsider a Junior. Best wishes.

I understand what you mean. Not all 15 watt amps are created equally. I know my old AC15C1 was screaming loud (not like the Blues Deluxe by any means) compared to the Jr.


I find it funny how I read or watch all of these videos about not liking the speaker in the Deluxe. Mine sounds fantastic on both channels. People really should consider this amp.

 

[180gROC]

When I was young and dumb I bought a 50W two channel JCM800.

I had no clue how tube amps were different than the SS amps I had been beating up.

Then came the internet, and free exchange of information, and I learned that the gain knob on the dirty channel was just a inboard germanium diode overdrive. So I started just using the clean channel with a pedal of my choosing. Life was better.

Then I learned that the master volume was in front of the effects loop! Say wha'? That changed everything. Basically makes the last effect with a volume knob in my loop the actual master volume.

Sometimes I run stuff in the loop sometimes not, but my "master" volume is just dimed now that I know it's not master. ...and again. Life is better.

 

[xSinner13x]

Guitar-> Exotics AC boost->LPB-1->Plexi->Weber Mass200->4X10 open back "blues braker" style cab.

 

[Splattle101]

Guitar-> Exotics AC boost->LPB-1->Plexi->Weber Mass200->4X10 open back "blues braker" style cab.

Well thanks all to hell for that contribution.

 

[GitFiddle]

Use a tube amp that doesn't have a master volume.

 

[DrewGR]

When I was young and dumb I bought a 50W two channel JCM800.

I had no clue how tube amps were different than the SS amps I had been beating up.

Then came the internet, and free exchange of information, and I learned that the gain knob on the dirty channel was just a inboard germanium diode overdrive. So I started just using the clean channel with a pedal of my choosing. Life was better.

Using a pedal with the clean channel is pretty much the same thing. Any OD pedal uses a clipping diode as well to provide dirt. It is also a solid-state component in your signal chain, if that's what you're trying to avoid.

For that kind of thing you would be better of with a Marshall VM2266 that does not have a gain knob. Just a master volume and an eq.

In any case the JCM800 is an incredible amp, don't let the dirt channel go to waste

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

I appreciate everyone's comments so far, but I was hoping for a video with descriptions of the sounds as the amp and guitar are adjusted.

We see written descriptions of sound all the time such as creamy, fuzz, distortion, clean, etc., but some of us are old and dense, and would like to actually have a sound associated with the verbal description and how you achieved that sound.

So if one or more of you would be so kind as to help out some of who need it, it would be greatly appreciated.

Creamy - PAF '59 Neck pickup with overdrive. Big, fat, smooth, 'creamy' notes

Fuzz - Bridge pickup, guitar knobs on 10, heavy overdrive (my Vox amp sounds kind of fuzzy). Fuzz, Overdrive, and Distortion all kind of describe a similar thing happening at different levels. Fuzz is more like Jimi Hendrix, or Magic Carpet Ride, or the beginning of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones. Overdrive is more like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, or some blues players. Distortion is very heavy overdrive, like Metallica or Megadeth/Slayer/Black Sabbath.

Distortion - Extreme high gain overdrive, bridge pickup, guitar volume on 10, compression is happening, tons of long drawn out sustain is possible as well as artificial harmonics are a lot easier. Sound is somewhat thinner and smoother because of compression.

Clean - No overdrive, clean guitar sounds, like an amplified acoustic. Fender amps get remarkable cleans. Cleans are often described with terms like: Full, Lush, Shimmery.

 

[xSinner13x]

Well thanks all to hell for that contribution.

well ultimately it's stuff Like this, that gets you most of the way there,

then it's just knob twiddling till you hit the sweet spots, thats the best way to learn.

Start with all your knobs at noon and twiddle away!

Use a tube amp that doesn't have a master volume.

Ding!Ding!Ding!
No master and an attenuator Make Sinner a happy man....
And my neighbors too!

 

[Hysteria]

Nice info. I recently bought a Fender Bassman and have been messing around with the master and normal volumes to get some different sounds.

 

[theaxeman]

Creamy - PAF '59 Neck pickup with overdrive. Big, fat, smooth, 'creamy' notes

Fuzz - Bridge pickup, guitar knobs on 10, heavy overdrive (my Vox amp sounds kind of fuzzy). Fuzz, Overdrive, and Distortion all kind of describe a similar thing happening at different levels. Fuzz is more like Jimi Hendrix, or Magic Carpet Ride, or the beginning of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones. Overdrive is more like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, or some blues players. Distortion is very heavy overdrive, like Metallica or Megadeth/Slayer/Black Sabbath.

Distortion - Extreme high gain overdrive, bridge pickup, guitar volume on 10, compression is happening, tons of long drawn out sustain is possible as well as artificial harmonics are a lot easier. Sound is somewhat thinner and smoother because of compression.

Clean - No overdrive, clean guitar sounds, like an amplified acoustic. Fender amps get remarkable cleans. Cleans are often described with terms like: Full, Lush, Shimmery.

Thanks!!

Best written descriptions with references to actual sounds so far!!

 

[yeti]

Use a tube amp that doesn't have a master volume.

You beat me to it. real "old school" tube amps don't have a MV.

 

[GitFiddle]

You beat me to it. real "old school" tube amps don't have a MV.