adding a gain pot toan amp

[kristoipher612]

hi there everyone, i was wondering if it would be possible to add a gain pot to a tube amp's clean clannel if it doesn't have one.  so i can get that clean and pretty to slightly driven clean tone.  until recently i've been using a Dano Daddy O as a pre into a SS amp, but no more...i like the sound i get with it in all ranges, but i need 2 channels and reverb.  but i don't want a "clean" channel.  i want slightly dirty, and OD.  the amp i'm going to get specifically is a peavey Classic 50.  i'm also looking to not kill my neighbors during band practice with a ton of my guitar trying to get what i'm after.  any help would be greatly appreciated.

[petemoore]

Not exactly.
 The ageless quandry of: How do I get HUGE guitar sounds at low volume.
  An amp Always will sound different at lower volume, but there are ways to compensate, which make lower volume playing sound 'bigger'.
 One is the amp attenuator. Various types. The $  have a real coil to load the output section of the amp, Huge resistors can be used, but also alter the sound/waveform...more.
 Another way [I think probably the best, well $ing aside] is with a smaller amp.
 Does the amp have two volume controls...like one for preamp and one for 'volume'? Pre-amp distortion can be had by boosting the input, then attenuate it with the volume controls...I'm not too familiar with how that amp works.
 FWIU, the Classic 50 is a nice choice amp! I played one for a time...
 I've been usin the 50w Marshall in the 'other bedroom' studio, I find that tuning a booster for the tone I want seems to work very well...
 Oh!!! Amp Emulators !!! they have sound clips [don't forget to thank the guys at] Runoff Groove & Doug H....these things are great for excellent mild boost/OD tones!!! Only actually tried using [I use it all the time now] the Supreaux...for amp like qualities in a box. Responds extremely well to different pickups, and other Boost, OD, Distortion etc. devices...amazing device!

[kristoipher612]

what about a booster and turning down the overall volume? it's got a master volume, but other than that it's just a volume pot on the normal channel.  also, i've heard that changing the drive tube to a lower gain tube will result in more clipping.  is this true or what?  this seems to be the only amp that has most of the features i want.  including ones that are way too expensive.  nothing i've seen is "it", but this comes darn close.  so many questions...i think im going to go do some test driving this weekend.  thanks for responding.

[travissk]

I think my post will just about echo Pete's, sorry for the overlap

I'm currently using a Classic 50 4x10, and will be stuck with it for another year or two - I live in a dorm situation, can't ship the amp out easily and don't really have room for two big amps.

The good news is that it is a great amp for the price. Responds to pedals very well, and has a lot of headroom on the clean channel, which is very clean. Some people say it's like a Fender's but to me it doesn't seem that crystal; I'd put it somewhere between a Fender and a Vox's cleans. The drive channel go from smooth to slightly gritty to 'almost metal'. If this is the price range you're looking at, the winners seem to be this, a Traynor, or a Sovtek. You might be able to go with Marshal or Fender with a little more money -- Fenders or a Roland Jazz Chorus are good cheaper amps, but won't do what you want them to do (especially the roland JC120 - extremely clean). Are you buying new or used? I think Classic 50's go for about half price if you buy used.

Anyway, back to the Peavey - the master volume control will help you a little, try setting the clean volume to 12 (it goes to 12! ) and adjust volume using the master control, but the sound might not be what you want. The sound I think you want comes from overdriving the power tubes, and that requies volume. Still, try the master control as a first step.

How loud do you need the amp to get? I got mine from a friend of a friend and in retrospect the 30 might have suited me better. The 50 can get very loud, and the 30 will break up the clean channel long before the 50 will, although still at a high volume. If you need something that will handle anything more than small clubs, the 30 might not be an option, and the 50 isn't that much more expensive. Also seems to be more reliable.

So to get "that sound" at acceptable levels, you could be looking at pedals. Clean boosts work well with the amp, try building a MOSFET booster or the NPN boost in the beginner's project.

If you're test driving at a music store and can't take any strange homebrew creations, try one of their overdrive pedals set as clean as possible. The only widely available mass-produced clean boost I know of was made by Dod and is discontinued, so go with a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, and failing that a BD-2 Blues Driver. The Digitech Bad Monkey sounded good to me, a little less clean but it's a descendent of the Dod Juice Box, an excellent bargain pedal. I mention these three because they're commonly found on display at music stores for you to demo.

If you still can't get the tone you want with a clean boost, then it's time to turn to overdrive pedals. At the store, try turning up the gain on the Boss pedals so they add some grit. The SD-1 set to about half might do the trick, depending on your guitar's output.

Then, when you get home to the soldering iron, the RunoffGroove amp simulators Pete mentioned are great. They're pretty easy to build; I've built the Thunderchief and Doug Hammond's Highway 89 and both sounded excellent through the Peavey.

I would normally suggest you try the store's amp simulators (Pod, V-Amp, Digitech GNX, etc), but I can't get my V-Amp 2 sounding great amplified, even through the effects loop. Passable, usable live... sounds good, but not awe-inspiring. Still, if they have one on display and you've used them in the past, go for it.

I have not changed the tubes in my amp, but I've heard you can get some tonal changes that way. It's really hard to know if that will give you the sound you're looking for, especially since you can't change the tubes on a demo model

The last thing I'll mention is that mine is a bit heavy on the trebles; if I use my Strat's bridge pickup I have to really back off the Presence knob.