Leaderboard

There's a lot of mis-conception here, I think. Valve amps, including the ones cited, aren't loud if you turn 'em down, using the volume control. I offer, as proof, our Laney VC50 2x12 combo, which strips paint off the doors if 'opened up' (and has toured around festival stages for a decade or so...), but can be calmed if the volume is kept below '1'. Also my Fender Bassman Export 50, into its 2x15 cab, with which I've played bass at outdoor venues with no PA, no problem, but I use for guitar practice at home, too, keeping the volume down the same way. Our main bass amp is a Hiwatt 200w 4xKT88 PA head, into an HH folded horn 2x15, which has headroom enough to crack open WWII bunkers, but when used sensibly at rehearsal volumes, is perfect. OK, if it's scorching 'o/p valve-bending' distortion that's required, I'd agree that the valves in these amps don't 'bend' until they get to stadium volume, with very, very little in the way of manufacturer's wattage. I started out, decades ago, with a Watkins Westminster valve amp; that was definitely not made for stadiums (and its 'valve-bending' was not its strongest suite...), but could be played at home without breaking glass. These Fender/Vox amps are not made for home use, but for filling a large hall even before going into overdrive. What are the options..? If it's clean sound that's wanted, just turn it down; it won't harm it. If 'drive' is required, as I remarked in a previous post, lay it flat on carpet; that'll take some 'bite' out of it. Better still, use a pedal, such as the ubiquitous 'Tube Screamer' (why do you think it was so named..?), which produces overdriven valve tones at a controllable level, or, more radical, change amp for a (much...) lower wattage. One reference would be the famous 'pignose', vaunted by Mr Page and others for 'hot' solos. There are micro-amps, with a 'less-than-1W' output, using simply an ECC83 pre-amp valve, which can give convincing tones. We've already mentioned power soaks; no, they don't adversely affect the amp driving them, and give a good result, but they can be expensive, it's true. One of my favourite amps of all time is the Fender Twin Reverb, but its weight and horrendous volume make it a poor buy for home use (although I'd enjoy playing through one outside to the fields...). Personally, my 'style' of play doesn't so much involve 'valve-bending' (I play cleaner, 'jazz' tones usually...), but if I want to break out into 'rock' territory, my pedals to the job, and I'm certainly not such a tone snob as to only content myself with the 'real thing'. If anything, I'd prefer biasing my amps to a cooler o/p, so that they break up later, and get several decades of life out of them. Too hot, for early break-up, and it's a constant stream of valve acquisition and re-biasing that starts to add up, financially. Fine for a headline guitarist with an amp tech on hand and a big enough bank balance; that's not me. Soooooo... There's my take on valve amp 'loudness'. If playing clean, turn it down. If screaming solos are in order, use a pedal or change to a lower-power amp. That's all; carry on, folks.

Will you make a gingham scratchplate? Please? Someone has to!!