sricabla
Full Member
I like the new format of Z-Talk
Posts: 138
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Post by sricabla on May 28, 2010 7:55:25 GMT -7
I have a Mazerati 1X12 Combo. It's a great amp and I've had it for 3 years. My amp just starts to get distortion around 12, and by that time it's obnoxiously loud and everybody tells me to turn down. Of course I've been using pedals to remedy this problem. I've used attenuators and never really liked them, and I sold two of them. I guess the last frontier for the amp would be a Master Volume. Many amps do have them and they seem to work well to get the natural overdrive of the tubes at hand and the amp itself. My amp is a keeper for me so I was wondering if anyone has had the courage to mod their amps with a Master Volume or just live with using pedals.
Thanks
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 28, 2010 8:17:04 GMT -7
I have a Mazerati 1X12 Combo. It's a great amp and I've had it for 3 years. My amp just starts to get distortion around 12, and by that time it's obnoxiously loud and everybody tells me to turn down. Of course I've been using pedals to remedy this problem. I've used attenuators and never really liked them, and I sold two of them. I guess the last frontier for the amp would be a Master Volume. Many amps do have them and they seem to work well to get the natural overdrive of the tubes at hand and the amp itself. My amp is a keeper for me so I was wondering if anyone has had the courage to mod their amps with a Master Volume or just live with using pedals. Thanks I don't think you'd be happy with it, and here's why. The hair you're hearing at noon on the volume is coming from your power tubes. You put a master volume in there, the power tubes are not going to get to that place. You would just have two volume controls turning up your clean sound. There may be a bit of preamp grit in that amp, but most of the grit is from the output section. You could probably get some minor differences with some tube substitutions, but you get the idea. The Brake Lite is your best friend on this amp.
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Post by Jacques Belanger on May 28, 2010 12:43:02 GMT -7
I'm using a zvex super hard on pedal and i get some REALLY great overdrive tones, it's not a distortion pedal...it's a booster so it just distorts your tubes more than your guitar by itself. you may want to try that. and it cleans up great with just backing off the volume knob on my guitar.
jacques
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Post by Merks on May 28, 2010 17:03:45 GMT -7
Hey Steve, I'm a little confused on your comment concerning the M.V. I thought the idea behind a master volume was so that the power tubes could be pushed to the max then re-circuited to another volume control for maximum saturation at a more desirable level? For instance, what is taking place with the S.R.Z. 65? Is that not allowing the power tubes to cook or is it merely distorting the preamp tubes? Thanks for any input as I was considering the same thing for my V1 Mazerati. Merks
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 28, 2010 18:32:21 GMT -7
Hey Steve, I'm a little confused on your comment concerning the M.V. I thought the idea behind a master volume was so that the power tubes could be pushed to the max then re-circuited to another volume control for maximum saturation at a more desirable level? For instance, what is taking place with the S.R.Z. 65? Is that not allowing the power tubes to cook or is it merely distorting the preamp tubes? Thanks for any input as I was considering the same thing for my V1 Mazerati. Merks The typical hierarchy of an amplifier goes something like this: Input > gain stage > some arrangement of tone and volume > another gain or recovery stage > Phase Inverter > Power amp > Speakers Usually when a master volume gets stuck in there, it ends up either between the last gain or recovery stage and the PI, or between the PI and the power tubes. A master volume is never after the power tubes that I've ever seen on any schematic. So the master volume lets you turn up the preamp as far as possible while keeping the signal to the power tubes low (causing the corresponding low volume). Thus you don't get any power tube saturation doing things that way. If that's working for you, great. But if you're really seeking power tube distortion, or your particular amp has no preamp distortion to give up, a master volume isn't going to be the answer to your prayers. An amp with a master volume is designed in advance to provide certain tones, so you can expect it to do what you expect it to do. An amp that wasn't designed with that in mind may not be the best candidate, unless you can talk the original designer into modifying whatever it takes to achieve the goal you have in mind. I am no amp designer. But I did add a master volume to one of the old original Orange 50 watt heads. Based on my understanding of where it went, and how to wire it in, I got it working just fine. But the preamp distortion that it enabled was not the sound I was looking for. I know now that I wanted those EL-34's in the power amp to be producing the kinds of tones they do when they are in full saturation. No master volume enables that. But an attenuator DOES enable that. That's why I've been such a fan of the Airbrake, the Brake Lite, and even my THD Hot Plates. That, by definition, is your post-power amp master volume.
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Post by Merks on May 28, 2010 20:12:56 GMT -7
Steve, thanks for the reply, makes sense! I have a attenuator, "The Muzzle" made by Alessandro and it works very well indeed, yet I instinctively recognize a loss of tone even after a couple of clicks. I suppose that is inevitable; kinda like wearing a condom. The end result is still incredible but the actual voyage to the promised land is somewhat, shall we say...............subdued! Thanks, Merks.
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Post by unclemax on Jun 1, 2010 9:51:42 GMT -7
Another +1 for the brakelite. However do not forget the speaker plays a big part in overall volume. So depending on what you are useing a speaker change can really help.
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