Crank It Up!, Cool way to get cranked tube tone from your tube amps! |
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Nov 30 2008, 05:17 PM
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I'm noticing a trend of smaller and smaller tube amps coming out. 5watt, 15watt, models etc... The only thing is a 15 watt tube head cranked (Orange Tiny Terror for example) say run trough a 2x12 or a 4x12 for tone will still be very loud.
 Most everyone realizes to truly get that warm saturated tube sound you not only need to drive the preamp tubes hard, but you really need to start pushing the power amp section (tubes) into saturation as well. This means turning up your master volume at least 1/2 way (on a Marshall for sure) causing a natural saturation and compression to the valve tone that just can't be duplicated. However, unless you really don't enjoy your hearing this isn't very practical for everyday practice and even if your playing gigs in a typical club. Power soaks and attenuators work but are bulky and a bit pricey. When I first got my JCM 2000 Dsl 50 watt head and my 4x12 cabinets I knew I needed something that would allow me to get that cranked Marshall tone I was craving without pissing off my wife and kids or going deaf in the process. Anyhow, I found this is very cool little volume box on Ebay that you run through your effects loop. If your tube amp has a serial effect loop it will work. Needless to say I was skeptical but for under $20.00 I thought I'd give it a try. Well I've been using it now for a couple of months and all I can say is WOW! The thing works like a charm. I can play very quitely but still get all the tone, harmonics and compression of a full driven Marsall through 2 -4x12 cabinets. Even a very low volumes there's still a big bottom end in the tone. Here's a link if anyone interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/Omnisonic-Tube-Amp-VOL...%3A1|240%3A1318 The Omnisonic lets you get more out of your power amp because it cuts the signal from the preamp down to a very low level so the power amp has to work harder to amplify it http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...ontrol+Box/10/1 Edit: Added how it works and other user reviews for people just finding this thread. The thing rocks!  tommyboy This post has been edited by tommyboy: Dec 1 2008, 02:24 PM -------------------- Rock Hard or Not at ALL!!
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Replies
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Nov 30 2008, 05:47 PM
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Wow. I wonder what the thing is. I just read the whole ad and it looks legit. It sure beats the price of attenuators. Thanks for the link!
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Nov 30 2008, 07:12 PM
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Looks like a tone killer to me. Basically you're cutting the preamp signal by lots.
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Nov 30 2008, 07:23 PM
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Very interesting.
I've been thinking about trying something similar for my Mesa... I might get one! Thanks! -------------------- www.youtube.com/Wallimann
www.davidwallimann.com |
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Nov 30 2008, 09:03 PM
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If that thing really works I would really start considering getting a tube amp to play at home. And it's really cheap!
-------------------- Guitars:
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Nov 30 2008, 11:09 PM
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Looks like a really cool thing and not expensive at all! Unfortunately I have a parallel loop
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Besides, if you really just want a volume pot in a box, just do it yourself, save $15! Unfortunately, if it was this easy, people wouldn't be dishing out $200 and up for high-end attenuators.
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Dec 1 2008, 02:31 AM
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I have to agree with Zephyr - after some web research it looks like this is just a pot in a box - its effectively a master volume control, no magic here, move on.
Of course we have to respect tommyboys opinion in that it works well for his amp - I would expect this to really emphasize preamp voicing (which is actually where most of the tone from tube amps comes from ), but maybe suffer a little in the overall cranked volume kind of feel - and if you don't have a master volume, or you want to balance the level of your effects loop, for this price you can't beat it. But I don't believe that this would be better than an attenuator - just my opinion though, and tommy boy, I'm glad it works well for you and you can't argue about the price - I''m just spouting a meaningless opinion since I haven't tried this thing for real! -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
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Dec 1 2008, 10:27 AM
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I see it's advertised as a tool for Peavey classic 30/50. I've got one of those and it's aready possible to get pretty much all preamp distortion from it since it has a pre and a post gain. So cranking up the preamp and setting the postamp low will result in plenty of distortion, just not poweramp ditto.
That would be the same putting a volume pedal in the loop, because that's what this is right, a volumepedal? Nothing else. Call it a preamp volume control in addition to the preamp gain control. I can see the point of using a volume pedal in the fx loop of a Peavey classic 30 because you can't unplug the internal speaker nor can you add an attenuator since the internal speaker doesn't disconnect (if I remember right) so you'd be able to attenuate the external speaker while the internal would still run at the set volume. That's why I come to suspect it's primarily made for the Peavey Classic series but of course would work on all other serial loops aswell. A difficult amp to attenuate if you got the combo i.e. but any volume pedal would do here, right? I think the ad is a bit over the top, it's advertised as "amost an attenuator but a lot cheaper" while "volume pot" would be the truth. Or am I missing something? -------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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Dec 1 2008, 01:39 PM
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Nothing was said to mistrust you, just so you know. Just trying to figure how it works. Like you say, testing it is they way to find out.
But if you have a plain volume pedal, please try the same thing and see if that sounds swell too. Would be interesting to know. -------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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Dec 1 2008, 01:54 PM
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QUOTE (tommyboy @ Dec 1 2008, 01:48 PM)  No, I understand and if I came across upset in my last post I apologize as this isn't the case at all. No you didn't I just added that point I got reminded of from your post, one which I should have mentioned in my first reply to not come off badly  Sorry
-------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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Dec 1 2008, 02:08 PM
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Ok, I've done some more research on this thing. Here's how the thing works.
The Omnisonic lets you get more out of your power amp because it cuts the signal from the preamp down to a very low level so the power amp has to work harder to amplify it. Even though an amp might have a master volume some of them (Fender, Masrshall) don't let you turn it beyond 2 in anything less than a concert hall. This lets you crank the master because the signal strength is reduced. Here's some reviews. http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...ontrol+Box/10/1 This post has been edited by tommyboy: Dec 1 2008, 02:11 PM -------------------- Rock Hard or Not at ALL!!
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