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I've been trying to write/record with my Fender Hot Rod Deville 410.....I have to really be careful with the volume, since I'm playing in my bedroom. Luckily my roommate is pretty chill and so are the neighbors. But I have to move at the end of the summer, and I need an amp that I can use both onstage and in the bedroom. Does such a thing exist? I know all about raising it off the floor, etc... Also, I play in low tunings a lot, as far as tone is concerned. LOW tunings. Suggestions?

Maybe just get an attenuator?

I've never used one.... Recommendations on one that ain't really pricey?

Opinions on this? I'm reading mixed reviews.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200915853195

I've never used one, it just seems like what would be easier in your situation.

gunslinger_burrito wrote:I've been trying to write/record with my Fender Hot Rod Deville 410.....I have to really be careful with the volume, since I'm playing in my bedroom. Luckily my roommate is pretty chill and so are the neighbors. But I have to move at the end of the summer, and I need an amp that I can use both onstage and in the bedroom. Does such a thing exist? I know all about raising it off the floor, etc... Also, I play in low tunings a lot, as far as tone is concerned. LOW tunings. Suggestions?

A Orange thunderverb will do all of these things

Mudfuzz wrote:

gunslinger_burrito wrote:I've been trying to write/record with my Fender Hot Rod Deville 410.....I have to really be careful with the volume, since I'm playing in my bedroom. Luckily my roommate is pretty chill and so are the neighbors. But I have to move at the end of the summer, and I need an amp that I can use both onstage and in the bedroom. Does such a thing exist? I know all about raising it off the floor, etc... Also, I play in low tunings a lot, as far as tone is concerned. LOW tunings. Suggestions?

A Orange thunderverb will do all of these things

I'd love it, but the price tag!

Something to try:

Use a solid state preamp, into the effects loop input (Power Amp In), therefore bypassing the tube preamp of the Deville.

Part of the reason tube amps sound bad at low volume is that (at low volumes) the volume potentiometer puts a large series resistance in the signal path. This pot has to be a large value (you know, 1M or 500k or whatever) because the output impedance of a tube stage is high. This is why you often see "bright" capacitors across the series resistance, to allow treble to bypass the large resistance. Same thing with a guitar with a 1M volume pot and no bleed capacitor - rolling off the volume instantly kills the treble. Very low output impedances are possible with solid state circuitry, which can drive lower potentiometer values.

You might try using a pedal that is capable of line level output volume as a preamp into the effects loop in.

I guess the ideal implementation of this idea would be a little solid state preamp box with the same eq as your amp, so there wouldn't be a big difference between it and when you use your amp normally. Maybe one of those graphic eq pedals that can also boost overall volume would work pretty well.

Also, of course, at low volumes with a big amp, you don't get as much tube amp distortion.

get one of the new ac30's with the half power switch to run in 15 or ac15 to run at 7

7 watts is still ferociously loud if you ask me. I reckon keep your amp, you like it, it works at gig volumes. Then pick up a low wattage head and run it into a 12 inch cab for your home rig. Smaller speakers are going to sound trash with low tunings which is why I reckon you should grab a head and a cab. Maybe a Blackstar HT1, or a Vox Night train, or Palmer Eins. An old Hughes and Kettner Cream Machine, something like that. Also, pick up a simple 6 band eq and pump the 100 and 200 hz. It will sound horrid at anything other than bedroom levels, but it will help you feel like you are driving a larger amp at more volume when you're playing really quietly.

morange and goroth are on it here. 7 watts can seem just as loud as 15 or 30 in many instances. I had a 12-watt head with power scaling that would still qualify as "too loud" to some even when fully attenuated. I've tried to find the right amp or combination of factors for home and gig volume without having to readjust everything. And while I think it's possible, it's definitely difficult. I still haven't found the solution.

So I could conceivably look for a little head (like the HT-1, that looks cool) and just run it into the speakers for my Fender, right? I have an old Marshall Valvestate AVT 50, and it plays just fine at bedroom levels, but the tone change seems really drastic. It's a 50watt, 112, and the Fender is 60watt, 410. The Marshall is that weird hybrid tube/SS style. Could the speakers in the Fender account enough for the tone change?

Traynor TS series sounds rad at all volumes and can get super quiet. Honestly I can get my 200w Traynor TS200 to be a little more quiet than my 20w tube Jet City/Verellen in my apartment

My fender concert reverb does bedroom volume and band volume surprisingly well

Casavettes wrote:My fender concert reverb does bedroom volume and band volume surprisingly well

Does it have a touchy volume control? My Deville has a very small, very touchy window of volume where it's usable in the house. 1 is like a loud stereo, and anything after that strays quickly into drum-volume territory.

na, it helps because there's a switch in the back for full (50 watts) and 1/4 (12.5 watts)
as well as the send and return jacks on the back of the amp which you can turn down. the lower you have those the more you can crank the volume in the front which lends itself to some nice breakup as well.