Hi all,
Anyone got any good ideas on how to mod my old Fender deluxe to make it
a low power amp, for in home playing? I think I saw something, where one
could buy this device and interpose it between a tube in the amp and lower the output somehow.... Not really sure... I would like to leave the amp stock as well. Am I asking for too much?
Any ideas appreciated!
Thanks in advance
How to mod an amp for low power?
# 1
First, a 'rule-of-thumb' about perceived loudness:
3 dB is widely accepted as the minimum perceptible change in sound pressure level.
In practical terms, this means that reducing an amp's power by half (-3 dB) would produce a barely perceptible drop in volume. This is why the old trick of pulling two of the power tubes out of a four tube amp doesn't really help much, and it can cause component failure problems. And cutting a 100 Watt amp back to 50 Watts doesn't buy you much reduction in volume. Deep in the archives of the GT website are many long discussions on this subject. If memory serves, I think we arrived at the conclusion that a truly apartment-friendly power amp would be running at much less than 1 Watt!
A common approach is to connect an attenuator, sometimes called a power brake or power soak, between the amp and the speaker cab. These devices can be effective in reducing the sound level, but players often crank the amp to get lots of crunch at these lower volumes. This means the amp is running hard, and the tubes wear out quickly. A consideration is the reduced interraction between the amp and speaker. Tone is often 'not quite right' as a result.
A technique that I find interesting is called Power Scaling. In essence, this method reduces the voltages applied to the power tubes, reducing their output power. If done right, the low-level tone is consistent, and the tubes last much longer, because they aren't subjected to such high power dissipation. There are a lot of websites devoted to this stuff. Look around. Applying this technique to your deluxe would definitely involve extensive (and expensive) modifications.
If you want to leave your amp stock, I think an attenuator is probably the best way to go. Just bear in mind that if you crank the amp and drive it hard, it will be just as hard on the tubes as if you were running straight into the speakers at high volume.
3 dB is widely accepted as the minimum perceptible change in sound pressure level.
In practical terms, this means that reducing an amp's power by half (-3 dB) would produce a barely perceptible drop in volume. This is why the old trick of pulling two of the power tubes out of a four tube amp doesn't really help much, and it can cause component failure problems. And cutting a 100 Watt amp back to 50 Watts doesn't buy you much reduction in volume. Deep in the archives of the GT website are many long discussions on this subject. If memory serves, I think we arrived at the conclusion that a truly apartment-friendly power amp would be running at much less than 1 Watt!
A common approach is to connect an attenuator, sometimes called a power brake or power soak, between the amp and the speaker cab. These devices can be effective in reducing the sound level, but players often crank the amp to get lots of crunch at these lower volumes. This means the amp is running hard, and the tubes wear out quickly. A consideration is the reduced interraction between the amp and speaker. Tone is often 'not quite right' as a result.
A technique that I find interesting is called Power Scaling. In essence, this method reduces the voltages applied to the power tubes, reducing their output power. If done right, the low-level tone is consistent, and the tubes last much longer, because they aren't subjected to such high power dissipation. There are a lot of websites devoted to this stuff. Look around. Applying this technique to your deluxe would definitely involve extensive (and expensive) modifications.
If you want to leave your amp stock, I think an attenuator is probably the best way to go. Just bear in mind that if you crank the amp and drive it hard, it will be just as hard on the tubes as if you were running straight into the speakers at high volume.
# 2
Thanks for the tips. In lieu of modding what's a good moderately priced low power amp you might suggest.
Denny
Denny
# 3
The problem you're going to encounter with 'small' tube amps is the fact that companies don't sell a lot of them, so they have a much smaller number of units to spread the production costs over. So builders try to cut costs by reducing the number of features in the preamp. Also, low-power parts and components cost about the same as their high-power counterparts. So people tend to avoid them, preferring to get 'more bang for the buck' with big amps. Which means that production runs are small, giving fewer units to spread the costs over.....
You end up with boutique amps like the 3 Watt Carr 'Raleigh' which retails for US$1250, or the 15 Watt Gretsch G6156, for US$2950! Nice amps, for sure, but the market is limited.
You could search around for clone versions of the old Fender Champ. The Blues Junior might be just what you're looking for. Maybe an Epiphone Valve Junior. I've seen them priced as low as US$160. Or look at the 5 Watt Gretsch G5222 Electromatic, retailing at US$195.
These are very basic amps, but they can put you in touch with the concept of 'Tone Is In The Hands' because there aren't a lot of controls to mess around with.
One amp I haven't seen in person, but I'd like to try out, is the Egnator Tourmaster 4212. It's a 2x12 combo amp with a full-function 4 channel preamp. The output is adjustable to produce 100, 50, 25, 20, or 10 Watts. At US$1599, it isn't cheap, but it may represent the way of the future.
Bear in mind that even a 5 Watt amp is still going to be way too loud to crank up in an apartment. But there aren't many clubs that will let you run a 100 Watt full stack anymore, either. A lot of places insist on having everybody run at low levels with the speakers miced into the house PA system. Therein lies a whole 'nother set of issues, but we'll leave that for another thread.
You end up with boutique amps like the 3 Watt Carr 'Raleigh' which retails for US$1250, or the 15 Watt Gretsch G6156, for US$2950! Nice amps, for sure, but the market is limited.
You could search around for clone versions of the old Fender Champ. The Blues Junior might be just what you're looking for. Maybe an Epiphone Valve Junior. I've seen them priced as low as US$160. Or look at the 5 Watt Gretsch G5222 Electromatic, retailing at US$195.
These are very basic amps, but they can put you in touch with the concept of 'Tone Is In The Hands' because there aren't a lot of controls to mess around with.
One amp I haven't seen in person, but I'd like to try out, is the Egnator Tourmaster 4212. It's a 2x12 combo amp with a full-function 4 channel preamp. The output is adjustable to produce 100, 50, 25, 20, or 10 Watts. At US$1599, it isn't cheap, but it may represent the way of the future.
Bear in mind that even a 5 Watt amp is still going to be way too loud to crank up in an apartment. But there aren't many clubs that will let you run a 100 Watt full stack anymore, either. A lot of places insist on having everybody run at low levels with the speakers miced into the house PA system. Therein lies a whole 'nother set of issues, but we'll leave that for another thread.
# 4
