General Music Chat

I know there is a simple solution to my issue. I just can't figure it out! I play in a five piece band and constantly have trouble creating proper tone without being too loud during practice sessions. I am playing through a Fender blues deville 4-10 which is set at 2 currently. Unfortunately anything less I get zero sound and when I turn it up to 3 to produce tone everyone complains it is just too loud. HELP!

It really IS too loud, esp for practices. Use another amp. One that's smaller & one that you can actually use in the smaller, regular-type venues.

If you have to make it too loud for comfort to get a decent tone out of it, it isn't worth much, imho. Most places ppl play aren't stadium sizes, & while YOU may truly love the sound it makes at a "decent" volume, most ppl get frustrated trying to talk or order drinks or pick up women when you're too loud, & you lose jobs that way & get a bad rep while you're at it.

Just my two senses at work, here - my ears & the one that tells me when ppl are turned off to my sound.

I used to have major issues cutting through with the right tone without being too loud. I went through 5 or 6 different combo amps, and all seemed to have the same issue as the OP describes.

What fixed it for me was moving up to a half-stack. I rarely if ever have to jack much volume from it (use a 50w head), but the 'tone' easily cuts through the mix now without bombarding the rest of the band with sheer volume.

I know there's a lot of half-stack haters out there, but the only other option is to mic your combo through a PA and adjust the EQ from there, which is a perfect solution if your band uses a PA for practices, but if you don't, you will always have trouble trying to blend the tone vs. volume with a combo amp.

That, and fender amps were always touchy with vol control.

If you look in the picture you will see a little box on my amp.

Thats a Weber Mass Attenuator. You might look into something like this to get your volume down.

Lately weve had so many people showing up for our shows that I ve gone back to a half stack. People absorb a lot of sound.

An attenuator will allow you to crank your amp and then dial back the volume to the speakers.

I have been playiong music since the mid 1960's. Over the years I have fired some pretty good guitar players, just because of their volume issue. As far as I am concerned, a guitarist that is Too Loud, doesn't have any respect for fellow musicians (or) patrons of the venue (.) A LOUD Band is NOISE ! A Band with proper volume is a musical experience !
Hey, have you considered a "Fender Deluxe Amp"(tube amp) one 12" speaker, 22 watts of tone. I have in the past worked with some really good guitarist that used these.

I recommend a smaller amp as well. My current amp does 5, 15 or 30 watts and it's about perfect. Anything over 30 watts for a tube amp will never get cranked up enough to push the power section without pissing someone off. Tube amps are designed to be pushed and if you can't turn it up at least halfway you're using the wrong amp for the situation. I've gone down in wattage with every amp I've bought in the last ten years. From 100 to 50 to 40 and now my Lonestar. I tend to use the 15w setting for practice and quieter gigs and the 30w setting for louder gigs. I can finally get the tone I want in any situation. Save your Fender for outdoor gigs

As a side note I've tried attenuators and don't like the way they sound. I haven't tried them all and maybe there are ones that aren't bad but the ones I tried didn't impress me. I'd rather have the right amp for the job.
Then again JW's tone sounds pretty good.

Good luck.

Another side note The amp in my avatar picture is a custom shop Blues Jr. It's a 15 watter that can be found very cheap used if money is an issue. It can be miked for larger venues. The Peavey Classic 30 is an inexpensive 30 watter that can be found on ebay for the price of a good attenuator and there's a 20w version that's discontinued and a little harder to find. Anyway, just a few suggestions.

Jon,

Thanks for the tone props. But and I hate to admit it, but the cover songs on my profile were done with a Mesa Subway Rocket 20 watt 2xEL84 tubes.

My problem is that I have to many amps. Ive used everything I have from a POD preamp, Subway 20 watts, Mesa Roadster 100 watts to the Mesa Triple Rectifier 150 watts. These are all tube amps. I researched Mesa amps and the reality is that in mine the bulk of the sound is developed in the preamp section, the power amp section is just to amplify that signal. Ive had Ampeg, Marshalls, Peaveys, Kustoms and Orange thru the years.

In the end you need an amp that matches what your band is doing. Lately as stated above our crowds have gotten so big and thick that I could get away with anything. We are also a hard rock band so I need certain things to fit the songs.

Find an amp that matches the job. In the Mesa line the Express series could do all you need to do from clean to mean and at a reasonable level. The Fenders Ive played on need to be punched pretty hard to make work.

If you cant get up to the level you need to make your amp work get another amp.

I have the Weber Mass and like it around the house to get my amps down to a talking level. Live I have quit using it. If you squash your signal to hard with an attenuator it tends to amplify the noise while lowereing your volume level the end result is more noise.

Another trick would be to cover the speakers with something. I used to cover 2 speakers in my half stack with a leather jacket and it worked to some extent. An overdrive pedal might work.

Good Luck, this is an issue if its taking away from the quality of the bands sound overall.

I have basically the same amp for my guitar...4-10 Blues Deville 60 watt tube amp. Sounds great when turned up to about 7, but blows everyone out of the room. Got a hotplate attenuator and problem solved. You can crank your amp and have tone galore and dial down the decibels to accomodate the rest of the band.