How to get a fully cranked tube tone from a low volume?

[Mordecai]

just got my 5150 today and need to know if there is a way i can get the wide open tube tone at a low volume? is there like a maximizer/limiter type box i can get to use when its late and i want to jam with the full tone of my amp?

any advice/input would be helpful.

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Hotplate/attenuators are what you're looking for!

 

[cardinal]

Attenuators (Hot Plate, Rivera Rockcrusher, Aracom, etc) go in between the amp's speaker out and your cab. It will knock a few decibels off, but of course it won't be just like cranking the amp because of a number of factors.

A Palmer or Two Notes unit will let you run full tilt into a loadbox and speaker sims that you can then play through monitors or something like that. Cab sims arent perfect either.

I just gave up and bought a modeler.

 

[Mordecai]

hot plates are a bit out of my price range at the moment, is there any other version that is more wallet friendly? but yes something along the lines of a hot plate is exactly what im looking for. i didnt realize how loud this head really was until i got it in the small room i keep it in. this is literally face melting loud and needs to be restrained until i play it on stage.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

hot plates are a bit out of my price range at the moment, is there any other version that is more wallet friendly? but yes something along the lines of a hot plate is exactly what im looking for. i didnt realize how loud this head really was until i got it in the small room i keep it in. this is literally face melting loud and needs to be restrained until i play it on stage.

https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/mass200.htm

If you were to to take the Weber route, get the MASS 200. They recommend using an attenuator that's twice the wattage of the amp's output, and the 5150 puts out 120W.

 

[Leec]

I use a Palmer PGA-04. I can crank my master volume and get lots of tube distortion without waking or disturbing my neighbours a bit. I use it on all my YouTube videos: ibanezcassidy's Channel - YouTube

 

[Bevo]

If you have a volume pedal or a TS of some sort you can cheat it and get some better tones.

Plug the pedal in as normal into amp and guitar, turn it on but turn the volume as low as it goes. Turn up the channel volume on the amp to 2 then turn up the master to half, turn up the pedal volume slowly cause it will be quik.
This will give you a a decent tone at a low volume.

You can also try running your channel volume at 80% gain at 50% and master to taste, this will fire the pre amp tubes, going the other way with master 80% gain 50% and channel volume to taste will fire the power amp tubes.

These settings wont give you speaker distortion but you amp will sound damn good..these play really well at low volume.

 

[Shask]

A volume pedal in the effects loop is the same thing as the master volume knob (or post on the 5150).

This is pretty much the question of the century. This is where all tube players eventually end up. An attenuator or load box is about the only solution, and none of them are cheap. This is why so many people are going modeling...

 

[Greatoliver]

Some amps do have different wattage settings too - switching down from 10W to 1W, for example, would half the volume. You can then crank the volume to get the power tube distortion.

(Sorry OP: not really applicable to the 5150)

 

[Dead Undead]

You can take out two of the power tubes in back. It won't be much quieter but the tubes should start to saturate sooner.
Attenuator is really the best way to go for this, though. Weber makes really solid products, and as long as you aren't cranking it all the way to 10 (which, honestly, I wouldn't recommend) then a Mass 150 or maybe even a 100 should suffice.

 

[troyguitar]

Pull 2 tubes and run through an iso cab. Cheap one:

Jet City JetStream ISO12 Eminence Loaded Isolation Guitar Cabinet at AmericanMusical.com

Fuck attenuators, IMO they kill your tone more than just turning down your master volume.

 

[beneharris]

Pull 2 tubes and run through an iso cab. Cheap one:

Jet City JetStream ISO12 Eminence Loaded Isolation Guitar Cabinet at AmericanMusical.com

Fuck attenuators, IMO they kill your tone more than just turning down your master volume.

thats a good price too.

this is probably not a super viable option unless you already have a 1x12, but you could buy one of the eminence speakers that have a built in attenuator on them.

Eminence Puts a New Twist on Guitar Tone | Eminence Speaker

 

[purpledc]

honestly though the attenuator is only part of the equation. Cranked tube tone has a lot more going on than just power tube saturation. DONT buy into any of those stupid Suck knobs or other cheap devices on ebay. They simply dont work. And even an attenuator wont get you exactly what your looking for as speaker distortion is part of a cranked amp tone. If I were you Id save a few bucks and get a blackstart HT1 for late night jamming.

 

[Greatoliver]

And even an attenuator wont get you exactly what your looking for as speaker distortion is part of a cranked amp tone.

Having a lower wattage amp will just have more power tube distortion - if you use a cab with 8ohm 60W speakers, you'll still not get speaker distortion

 

[Mordacain]

Having a lower wattage amp will just have more power tube distortion - if you use a cab with 8ohm 60W speakers, you'll still not get speaker distortion

This is where having a low efficiency speaker is key. The Speakers will start to distort well before you hit their maximum rating, just like output tube distortion.

Realistically, for modern metal, I though the point was clean headroom and high efficiency to have a controlled, powerful - low sag quality.

If you are just talking about getting it just loud enough to have some real sizzle then an a low efficiency speaker and a mass driver (like the Weber linked earlier) would probably be the best bet.

Another element you could try is just getting an Blackstar HT5 or Egnater Tweaker (or another low-wattage tube amp with an effects loop and using it as the power section for your main amps preamp. The HT5 at 50% volume sounds pretty massive through a 4x12 but I've run modellers in front of the power amp and it sounds pretty good, so I'd wager another amps' preamp would sound equally good.

 

[SpaceDock]

60 watt mods are available through some online amp modders. Ive heard some mixed reviews on them though.

 

[Mordecai]

with some research i found these little guys, http://www.amazon.com/Carls-Custom-Guitars-Box-Attenuator/dp/B004ZH0PPY. im not sure if this would work or if anyone has experienced one of these or not?

 

[Atomshipped]

If you're looking for the sound of a clean amplifier cranked up with the power tubes distorting, you could try the Fryette S.A.S. pedal. I haven't played it or found many good videos of it, but Steven Fryette said some stuff about it and mentioned that it's designed to sound like a 5W amp getting the shit kicked out of it; dying power tubes, distorting speakers and all. It can also act as a clean boost or just make your normal cleans sound better, but I think its main purpose is to give the cranked clean amp sound.

There's no doubt it can be used in front of a dirty channel as well; it'll probably add some warmth and dynamics to it but I can't imagine it being nearly as effective as when used in front of a clean channel. I'm considering getting the pedal; if I do I'll write some stuff up on it.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

with some research i found these little guys, Carl's Custom Guitars Volume Box Guitar Amp Attenuator/Power Soak/Plate/Mass/Hot/Pad: Amazon.com: Musical Instruments. im not sure if this would work or if anyone has experienced one of these or not?

Let me quote someone else for you.

DONT buy into any of those stupid Suck knobs or other cheap devices. They simply dont work.

 

[Mordecai]

thank you for the re-quoting that. i guess my choice is to save up some cash for a hot plate or other device.