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I have my Katana 50 on the clean channel, both knobs at 12 o'clock, master on 9 o'clock most of the time.
Volume otherwise is controlled by which pedals are on, but I generally aim to keep the overall volume roughly the same no matter what is on.
A dsl1 would be ideal for home use.
Ebay mark7777_1
So far (at least the ones I remember) I’ve had
Fender Champion 600
Blackstar HT-1R
Vox AC4 head and 1x12 cab
Yamaha THR10C
Orange Crush 35RT
Fender Mustang IV v2
I also don’t know the decibel levels I play at but I’d say quiet late night playing is down to where you can comfortably talk over the top of the guitar and hear the strings as well as the amplified sound.
If you’re at all interested in my thoughts on each, read down but to sum up.....
Valve amps are just not suited to super quiet playing. They can be attenuated but never sound that pleasing until they are in their comfort zone. Small speakers will always sound small and there is a big difference between small sound and low volume. If you need to keep an amp small and want to have a pleasing frequency range and presence, HiFi technology does this better than guitar amps. So things like the THR etc.
All of those amps have offered something I liked. The Fender champ probably the least so. Its a great little amp but small speakers don’t do it for me and it last actually very loud by the time you get it in it’s comfort zone.
The HT is much more versatile but still has that small box sound. Very good at producing a nice bit of dirt it a low volume.
The Vox was okay, the amp was lovely but let down by a cheap speaker a little. Played through a Celestion Blue it sang but still didn’t deliver a really satisfying late night sound. The 1 watt setting is still quite loud and the 1/4 watt just a nasty fizz.
The Yamaha is very well covered. I liked it a lot but it got swapped for something with a slightly bigger sound that could also cope with the odd jam.........
The Orange. A great amp, simple and with a surprisingly mellow and deep sound for a small box with a 10” speaker. Solid state but importantly not digital means it sounds real and reacts well to the guitar and changes in gain and volume. The Orange dirty channel isn’t for everyone though, much more fuzz than overdrive.
The Mustang really doesn’t belong in this crowd and I’ve always seriously disliked modelling amps but it really is the best at the job by miles. You can dial in any combination from deep or sparkling clean to raging gain, add effects and toys if you want them. You can turn it down to a whisper and the 2x12s still give you a warm and very present bass end. It’s also loud enough to put a small elephant into orbit and destroy your hearing if you want it to.
THR10 on the desk right in front of me is pretty good for really low volume playing late at night, but can sound a bit strained if I move away from the desk and turn it up to get some sound into the room. For sitting at the desk, Zoom G3X into hardware mixer, into PC speakers is also okay, but would probably be better with decent speakers.
For nearly everything, though, it's my Blues Deluxe with a volume pedal in the loop. I have the channel volumes on about 2, and the volume pedal is usually set between 1/3 and 2/3. With the pedal at max, it's at what I'd call 'decent Saturday afternoon volume' - something that sits well with the hi-fi turned up. This is with a pedalboard, gain either pedal alone, or as a cleanish boost into the amp's gain channel.
Nomad
Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...
With the overdrive I can really nice sounds at quite low volumes, not quite midnight volumes but evening volumes.
Making me think I can go bigger.
THR can cover the really quiet times,
I also have a Champion 600 and play that through a 1x12 cab with pedals, to be honest it too loud for home playing but I love the clean sound.