Volume, Valve and Nice Pedals

darthed1981

A constant quandary for I think many of us...

You/I want a valve amp.  In my case I couldn't justify dropping 2k on a boutique amp but could buy something like an HRD, an AC30, an H&K etc.

This would then make a great platform for some great pedals I'd really like to own, like a Thorpy Warthog.

Problem is, I almost exclusively play at home at low volume, so I have a Boss Katana 50 with built in FX, and some cheaper pedals (the most expensive pedal I own is a TS Mini) for the rare occasions when I venture out to jams, or sometimes to plug into the Katana 50.

I also play through a Blackstar Core 20 in the bedroom, and a Vox Handbag on my desk, which both pretend to be proper amps at low volume pretty well, but obviously they are pretending.

Anyone else have this dilemma?  I know an HRD would be even at the lowest volume way too high for home.  Even an HT5 and Vox AC4 which would potentially make great home pedal platforms only sound half-decent when you crank them, and when you crank both they are really damn loud.

Anyone else in the "semi-detached house with family, so no volume" trap?  Should I just be happy I live in an age where the Boss Katana 50 exists and I don't have to have a Marshall MG?

Has anyone tried the highly ironic £200 pedal into a £170 Katana, and did it sound nice?!?!

I'm basically summarising all the dozens of home practise/low volume/shilling for Boss (wish I was) threads into one dilemma thread, the ultimate solution to chasing tone, and the desire to splurge on gear, when you are defiantly at low volume...

ecc83

If you like the sound of a cranked HT-5 a power soak is beer into water to make. A 25W alclad load R and/or an L pad.

Dave.

monquixote

I'm currently running a load of high end pedals into a katana including a Thorpy veteran and it sounds great. It actually takes pedals better than a lot of valve amps I've owned.

thecolourbox

I'd disagree that a HRD is too loud for home, it sounded much better and quieter than the Princeton I foolishly replaced it with. They have a volume control

monquixote

Yeah it depends how quiet you need. I used to play a puretone halfstack at home.

The Jet City amps are peanuts and sound good quiet. Not really pedal platforms though.

darthed1981

thecolourbox said:

I'd disagree that a HRD is too loud for home, it sounded much better and quieter than the Princeton I foolishly replaced it with. They have a volume control

This is a key point to the discussion as I think there are different definitions of "home volume" (not saying you are wrong btw, just opening up the discussion).

I've been told off by the wife for playing my Epi Dot unplugged before - I shit ye not!

monquixote

darthed1981 said:

thecolourbox said:

I'd disagree that a HRD is too loud for home, it sounded much better and quieter than the Princeton I foolishly replaced it with. They have a volume control

This is a key point to the discussion as I think there are different definitions of "home volume" (not saying you are wrong btw, just opening up the discussion).

I've been told off by the wife for playing my Epi Dot unplugged before - I shit ye not!

Have you considered upgrading the wife?

Sassafras

My favourite home valve amp is the ZVex Nano Head. Good with pedals as well as on its own. And it looks so cute.

thecolourbox

darthed1981 said:

thecolourbox said:

I'd disagree that a HRD is too loud for home, it sounded much better and quieter than the Princeton I foolishly replaced it with. They have a volume control

This is a key point to the discussion as I think there are different definitions of "home volume" (not saying you are wrong btw, just opening up the discussion).

I've been told off by the wife for playing my Epi Dot unplugged before - I shit ye not!

Yes absolutely me too, but the HRD can go way quieter than the Princeton and the AC4

JamieWakeham

I've been heading down this rabbit hole for a while now.  The best solution I have found is small-ish valve amp with a good master volume* -> DIY L pad attenuator -> inefficient speaker.  I'm just getting used to my latest version of this, which is an Egnator Tweaker 15 through my attenuator into a Jensen C10Q, and it sounds absolutely great at a volume I'd describe as 'just above TV'.

* As the venerable ICBM has commented before, it's not really about the wattage of the amp - it's about how good the master volume is.  I can certainly attest that the Tweaker's is really excellent - there is a lot of fine control between 0 and 2.  In comparison, my Laney LC15 goes nothing... nothing... really loud.  

ICBM

thecolourbox said:

Yes absolutely me too, but the HRD can go way quieter than the Princeton and the AC4

And even if you can't dial it in with the onboard controls, it can with one of these...

https://reverb.com/uk/item/9884039-fender-hot-rod-volume-module

robinbowes

darthed1981 said:

I've been told off by the wife for playing my Epi Dot unplugged before - I shit ye not!

Time for NWD.

p90fool

I use an HRD IV with pedals at home and it's excellent. 

In fact with a Lion Tamer you can push the clean channel a touch at any volume down to zero with no pedals, and it does an excellent impression of a Deluxe Reverb or Princeton just coming up to the sweet spot. 

There's nothing wrong with the Katana as a home amp at all, but I wouldn't say it renders a half decent valve amp pointless. 

Sassafras

There's always the volume control on your guitar.
Just saying.

TTBZ

Everyone is different but i don't really like the sound of a valve amp quiet through a speaker not being pushed properly or moving any real air. At that point I'd rather just be playing through a modeller that's simulating the amp and speakers at full chat, through some decent headphones so as not to disturb anyone. People reckon Helix and Amplifire work well with drive pedals etc. My plan is to get a HX Stomp at the end of my board to act as the amp - that way I can still have the fun of GAS'ing for pedals but also get to play them into something half decent.

Gadget

Lots of totally silent options available, including loadboxes with headphone-out.

I can run any of my valve amps as hard as I like (with or without pedals) into my Two Notes Torpedo and listen on headphones without disturbing anyone. And believe me, my playing is disturbing!

JayGee

Oddly of the amps I own (Fender Super Champ, Mesa 5:25, Katana 100, self built Ampmaker SE5, and Blackstar Series One 100) the easiest one to dial right down (and I’m talking right down to “everybody else in the house has gone to bed, just about loud enough to hear over the sound of the actual strings” levels here) is the 100 Watt valve monster, possibly because of the sheer number of potential volume adjustment points (channel gain[1], channel volume, master volume, and Dynamic Power Adjustment) available on the Blackstar. Theoretically the Katana has the same sort of potential (and it’s not bad, certainly usable) but the big beast seems to have a bit more really fine control at the lowest end of the scale...

[1] Yes, I know the difference between gain and volume, but if you’re looking for totally clean with lots of headroom to plug pedals into there is quite a lot of scope at this end...

ICBM

Exactly. Not only that, I find that the really big amps usually sound better at that sort of volume than the smaller ones - it may be because they make the speaker move properly even when it’s not moving much, but I don’t know for sure.

Marktigere1

I use a Blackheart 15w into a Jetenuator at home with pedals and its superb.  

Run the Master volume a whisker below full.

At rehearsal I don't attenuate.

All good.

MagicPigDetective

I’m in a similar quandry. The katana 100 has everything I need for low volume home playing; low output setting, fx loop, headphones out. And getting sneakyamps has taken it to another level. I have a few nice pedals, they sound great through it. Bd2w pushes the onboard deluxe  and plexi amps superbly. The eqd dispatch master and Strymon Flint in the fx loop sounds glorious. A volume pedal into the GAFC footswitch allows me to easily raise and lower volume as home situation dictates.

Saying all that, I have never owned a valve amp and have not experienced the ‘pushing the tubes to saturation’ thing and I do wonder about getting something like a Princeton, Yerasov or AC10, how much better the core clean tone would be. 

I think the answer is to try one, keep katana for low volume, and crank the valve amp when you have the house to yourself. 

JayGee

MagicPigDetective said:

I’m in a similar quandry. The katana 100 has everything I need for low volume home playing; low output setting, fx loop, headphones out. And getting sneakyamps has taken it to another level. I have a few nice pedals, they sound great through it. Bd2w pushes the onboard deluxe  and plexi amps superbly. The eqd dispatch master and Strymon Flint in the fx loop sounds glorious. A volume pedal into the GAFC footswitch allows me to easily raise and lower volume as home situation dictates.

Saying all that, I have never owned a valve amp and have not experienced the ‘pushing the tubes to saturation’ thing and I do wonder about getting something like a Princeton, Yerasov or AC10, how much better the core clean tone would be. 

I think the answer is to try one, keep katana for low volume, and crank the valve amp when you have the house to yourself. 

Although oddly (again) I’ve had the Katana out for “house amp” duties at a local jam night a couple of times recently and found it really comes alive at proper gig levels, just like a real valve amp. It doesn’t have quite the (massive) dynamic range, responsiveness to playing dynamics, and sheer bottom end grunt of the Blackstar, but it’s a ridiculously good rock amp for the price, size, and weight. When you add in the built-in effects it makes for a pretty compelling low budget package for small stages and quick set-up/tear-down gigs...