The vibro champ sounds fantastic but it's too loud for anything but clean sounds at home. Maybe fender could invent the master vol?

Good stuff man

Buy a Tone King with built in IronMan Attenuator or seperate IronMan.

Ita has the tweed boxy thing cause thats the design of the amp. Mixing the amps and speakers ohms isnt desirable for your sound either

Get an OX

I have the 64 reissue, and I lowered the bias and changed the first tube to AT7. It sounds so smooth and quiet at low volumes but still has the chime - and I can still use an overdrive pedal to make it rock.

Simple, get the tone master. Sounds almost identical and can play at 1 watt. I love tube amps but unless they are 5 watts or less it’s hard to play at home and crank them.i had a Marshall Origen and couldn’t even enjoy the overdrive at a watt. Was too loud

Real review. Well done. How many pricey tube amps have been bought for home use that end up with disappointment because they’re one trick ponies, too loud, require another $300 of pedals etc. ?? Answer: lots.

Great video man. So, what I'm gathering is the higher gain preamp tubes just fall apart sooner. Volume more a factor of watts, power tubes, circuit, etc. Excatly what I wanted to know because I have an amp that farts out a little soon. Seems like high gain tubes are like hot pickups; not for everyone and every application.

Well, the thing that puzzles me is you say you want to retain the real sound of the amp, then the fist thing you suggest is changing the speaker which by definition is the single most important part of the amp and will create that biggest sound change... I personally think there are now several amazing attenuators out there that have very little impact on tone and keeps that amp whole with everything you would use on stage in your home rig. But I nevertheless interesting ideas there

In that Amp The 12AT7 sounds the best.

Great educational video! I appreciate your knowledge on this subject. I will pass this on to multiple people I know that use their DRs in their house or apartment.

Volume pedal FTW!

Looking into this, and the 12AXT is blackboard scratchy, unlike the warm 12AY7, which can express the tone/notes without bleeding the ears, informative video, Thanks :)

too much talking

Every amp needs a headphone jack.

I got a master volume mod done on mine at Flynn amps in Glasgow. It amazing now. All at bedroom levels.

Jesus Christ is coming back soon!

CV6091 is the King of them all

Anyone know what the best preamp tubes would be for the best Luther Perkins tone

Blackface R.I. Deluxe Reverb ? Mine sounds best : no pedals , short cord , volume 3.5 .That's how Leo Fender developed these amps to hear the guitar . Pedals have their place but not to replace the character of the amp or your guitar .

Super helpful. Thanks for the detailed run-through and the close-ups on the board.

12ax7 more fuzz and confused dirty

You should go back to your daytime job man… Don’t know how,but you made this amp sound bad In my room it sound real good…..

There is a reason Fender has added built in attenuators to their amps. Using an attenuator to reduce volume makes way more sense. The tubes are still being driven the same when using an attenuator so adjustments do not change the tone like this method does. With this method, you hear a clear difference and adjustments have to be made on the pedals/EQ to compensate. With an attenuator, you may hear a little treble loss, but everything else is the same. A slight tweak of the tone knob of the guitar is all that’s needed to get that back. By all means, add a volume pedal, they are very useful but they go first in the signal chain. If achieving the same tone was as easy as turning the volume down the knob in the amp would work that way, but it doesn’t. The Bugera PS1 is an amazing attenuator and cost less than a volume pedal.

Half the perceived volume is a -10dB difference. It's 1/10th the power. A -3dB difference is the lowest perceptable, and is half the power.

barely crimp a wire cutter on that pickup knob shaft to flare a little then put the knob on and it'll never come off again.

not a perfect solution but an honest one. I find amps with a master. volume to be the best solution. I have a 60 watt super gold-tone and sounds very close to loud volume. only diff is the speaker pushing the volume which cant be fixed. but now thinking about it. maybe there could be a low volume switch over for a low watt amp!!

Great video, thank you. I'm curious about where you measured your sound pressure levels. At 85 -90 dB, you said it was talking level. I find that 85 dB measured w an iphone dB meter app at my ear is my normal limit and at 90 dB, depending on the music, I'm bordering on painful. were you measuring right at the speaker cone? Thanks again.

Tubes go 100% bad in this amp. Don't know if it's the factory tubes they put in there are crap, or if it's a design flaws that eats the tubes.. but it's a fact. So if you purchase it be sure to have a set of fresh tubes.. or prepare yourself to send it back for warranty and tube replacement. I'm not bashing, just search a bit on this and you'll see

Worked for me. Totally diff amp. But 100% the same problem and I never thought to move my volume at the end. Brilliant. Saved me from buying an attenuator.

SAY IT AINT SOOOOOO

Thanks for sharing this solution. So to be clear, the volume pedal would be at the very end of the signal chain? After the effects loop?

I built myself an amp that is basically a Fender blackface preamp with a vox power amp. Originally I had all 12AX7s in the preamp, and it sounded very harsh and unpleasant. First I changed the PI to a 12AT7, which was a great improvement but not quite. Later I changed both the preamp tubes (first and second stage) out to 12AY7s, and there is no way back! The amp has more headroom, and the distortion is so much more relaxed and detailed, but still big and chunky. 12AY7 for the win!

I've done exactly this in a Mesa Boogie - the Maverick is brilliant. Had it in for about 5 years. It's brilliant

Thank you .. great advice!

For a clean compressed sound at low volume I use a Wampler Tumnus with gain set at say 9 o’clock (25%)

Most guitar players dont no what a buffer pedal is.

Meanwhile, an Ironman II attenuator disagrees...

Baya Mesa Boogie with a master volume

You can always put your amp in an enclosed area(closet, laundry room etc) that is quieter with a Shure 57 going directly into your interface. Outstanding video.

Great video, thanks :) i'll add the Mad Professor Orange Evolution underdrive, which could be more practical than a moveable vol pedal, as an always on pedal.

why is there no gain control on the deluxe reverb?

Why not use a boost pedal instead of a volume pedal? Boost pedals are great for tweaking your tone like a mad scientist, but they are also useful as a level attenuator. Plus, it is much easier to see the level of gain or attenuation by looking at the knob on the boost pedal. It is not so easy to repeat a setting on the volume pedal with your foot.

If you use an equalizer with a volume control instead of the volume pedal, would you set the equalizer to flat (0) across the board? And at the end of the effects chain? Thanks?

Deluxe Reverb, the best all-around amp I've had. Liked it so much, I bought and sold one twice... Still too loud for home. Just using an old Champ these days.

Hey..thanks for this experiment. I'd put an AY7 in my deluxe tweed and it tamed just the right amount of sag, but not having a db meter, I had been curious if the there was any db drop.

Deluxe reverb 🤔 sounds like the twin.

omg its bill hader yall

Opinions from someone who does not know how to play