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Post subject: OK, basic question from a new player on "master volume&
Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:56 am
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I know this probably sounds like a dumb question, but can someone fill me in on the significance of a "master volume" amp. I keep seeing it over and over again, but can't figure out what makes that so much special compared to a separate volume for each channel. Or am I just totally missing something??


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Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:18 am
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Let's you get the tubes glowing red to get to that sweet spot while the volume is down.


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Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 11:42 am
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atolleter wrote:
Let's you get the tubes glowing red to get to that sweet spot while the volume is down.
Unless its a mid 70s silverface and then it gets pretty ugly,but thats when you leave it at 10 and dont touch it.


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Post subject: Re: OK, basic question from a new player on "master vol
Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 3:04 pm
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biglionfan111 wrote:
I know this probably sounds like a dumb question, but can someone fill me in on the significance of a "master volume" amp. I keep seeing it over and over again, but can't figure out what makes that so much special compared to a separate volume for each channel. Or am I just totally missing something??


A master volume amp works by separating the pre-amp and power-amp sections of an amplifier and allowing you to control how loud the amp is and how loud the guitar signal into the amp is, separately. An amp without a master volume either controls the power section or the power section is factory set and you control the signal feed with the volume knob. Typically the latter if not radio shack. The master volume allows you to overdrive the signal before it goes into the power section by going high on the Pre-volume and low on the Master. Alternately you can go low on the Pre-volume and high on the Master and get big clean tones. Master volume controls provide more versatility and you can play high-gain and lower volumes. Get big crunch in your bedroom with master volume!

psy


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Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 3:46 pm
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Ditto.

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Post subject: thanks
Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:35 am
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Thanks guys... So basically, a simple take is that it works like an overdirve pedal??


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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:03 am
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budglo wrote:
atolleter wrote:
Let's you get the tubes glowing red to get to that sweet spot while the volume is down.
Unless its a mid 70s silverface and then it gets pretty ugly,but thats when you leave it at 10 and dont touch it.


+1 I never use mine on my Twin. It's always on 10.

You don't want your tubes glowing red. If they are your bias is set too high they're Red Plating and will fail real quick. The "sweet spot" on most amps isn't full up anyway. It falls a bit before it.

Simply put, If you keep the master on 10, you'll basically get the true volume of the amp until the signal starts to clip as you turn it up and gets distorted.

What the master volume will do is let you turn up the volume to get you naturally distorted sound but not at ear splitting levels. It's still not quite the same to my ears anyway but it still all good. Running your amp full tilt all the time will shorten the life of the power tubes. YMMV

This is as simple as I can explain it. Just play around with it and you'll catch on very quickly.


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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:12 pm
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63supro wrote:
...What the master volume will do is let you turn up the volume to get you naturally distorted sound but not at ear splitting levels. It's still not quite the same to my ears anyway but it still all good. Running your amp full tilt all the time will shorten the life of the power tubes. YMMV...


It's not the same to my ears either. The master needs to be up to get the power tubes invited to the party.

Keeping the master low and cranking the gain is fun for a while isn't it? You get distortion at low volumes, yay! But it's all buzzy preamp tube distortion, boo! That sound is good for heavy metal and the like though.

I always thought of the master volume controlling the power tubes, and the gain, channel volume, or whatever it may be called on your amp to control the preamp tubes. And I'm sure the placement of the master volume in relation to the phase inverter plays a part in the sound too, right?

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