Deluxe reverb for home use?

[paultheoneyoulove]

There is a very simple answer to the OP question. You loved the sound of it in store, which was clean and quiet. DRRI have excellent tone, and take pedals in a very good way (may be a bad example, but PGS demos are mostly through a DRRI). And Andy has great tone, regardless of guitar or pedal!

It might sound better cranked, but part of that is how we perceive things. I'm convinced that my Mooer sounds better when it's loud, but that's probably because I can't hear anything BUT the amp. I used to use a Laney LH50 any loved it for home use, and it had a very powerful master volume control. Even with the preamp gain at a very solid 8 (any higher and it began to spiral out of control a little bit...) it had a great, fat drive that could resolve complex chords without sounding mushy. I got rid, because it didn't fit in my room anymore (had a bit of a makeover).

I use a small amp with attenuator because I love the sound of my amp being pushed until it bleeds, and because of a space limitation. But, if I had the space, I'd choose a larger amp and proper attenuator, because they sound different. A 5 watter won't sound like a 50 watter, regardless of pedals, power amp saturation, preamp gain... Even if you attenuate the 50 watter to the same perceived volume.

On that note, does anyone have a Tremoverb they want to sell me for 50 quid and a trade for the Mooer and a Laney cab? no? Thought not...

[guitarfishbay]

Exactly - that's the only reason I have my little Marshall 12-watter as well as my Trem-o-verb - the T-verb is a bit of a bugger to carry upstairs to practice up there if I want to . (And for taking to other people's houses etc).)

I've got a Microcube myself and have owned it since launch. Can't argue with something that fits in a carrier bag and can also run on batteries if needed, and for a long time too. I've taken mine internationally before and it is rugged enough and small enough to just put in a bag and stuff in a suitcase. It doesn't get very loud and there are better sounding amps, but it is more than loud enough for home use and there aren't many more practical choices available.

[thomasw88]

Thats true, but not all amps take pedals the same so whatever pedal you hook up you will only get the range of drive sounds the DRRI platform allows. Whatever manufacturers say you cant use a pedal to turn Fender into Marshall.

EDIT: if you want DRRI clean + drive get a Supersonic 22. It's a DRRI minus trem, plus drive channel and it's cheaper.

I don;t agree with that. I've got both amps, and the clean is very different on the DRRI to anything I can get out of the Supersonic. Both great amps tho!!

[Dave_Mc]

Certainly you can. The Mesa Trem-o-verb easily does, for one. OK, it's slightly better if you open it up a bit (not all the way) and attenuate it, or boost it up front as well, but you can still get a good heavy high-gain tone out of it at well under 1W levels without any other gear. There are others too.

I'd say most of the high wattage/high gain tube amps I've tried do a respectable low volume tone.

I hate to say this, because it does sound big-headed, but I think there might be some truth to it... the ones that often don't do as respectable low volume tones are often the big-name options ("M" and "F"), and I get the feeling that a lot of people have only tried those amps, and then pronounce "all valve amps sound bad at low volumes"... which just isn't true, IMO.

YMMV of course, but for me I don't see the point in owning anything other than fullsize gear at the moment. The fullsize stuff sounds better at equal volumes to the low wattage stuff, even through the same cabs IMO. The main advantge to the low wattage stuff is physical size (and usually cost!), but if that is no issue and you play out anyway the best solution I've found is to only own fullsize stuff and just run it quietly at home.

i'd say even if you only play at home, the full size stuff often sounds better at home volumes than the lower wattage stuff (for certain types of tones, anyway). Unless you're playing at absolute whisper volume (and if you are, then a 5 watter is too loud too), most high wattage high gainers sound decent at loud TV volume or louder.

to me the point of those lower wattage amps is to get power tube distortion at lower(ish) volumes, or if you're after a very specific sound (if you prefer the tone of a deluxe to a twin, say). and cost/size/weight of course, as you said.

A 5 watter won't sound like a 50 watter, regardless of pedals, power amp saturation, preamp gain... Even if you attenuate the 50 watter to the same perceived volume.

agreed, that's a good point.

"Don't get that 100 watter because it doesn't sound the same at bedroom volumes as it does turned up- get this 5 watter instead which sounds even less like the 100 watter turned up!"

[koneguitarist]

I personally don't think some big amps sound that good at low volume, I know it's down to what we want as a tone, but I prefer a small low powered amp for home use. Even though its only 13w I rarely use my Excelsior at home, but instead use a peavey rage.
I would like to see someone get a good tone with or without a pedal with a Marshall super lead. They are on or off and can be incredibly brittle sounding. I did always use a s/f deluxe reverb at home and loved it, not a problem with volume or tone.

[ICBM]

I would like to see someone get a good tone with or without a pedal with a Marshall super lead. They are on or off and can be incredibly brittle sounding.

If you mean clean, it's easy. Yes, the bright channel is ridiculously touchy at low settings and goes from off to very loud and harsh as soon as you crack it open. (Because it has an over-large bright cap which lets through upper mids as well as trebles at near enough full volume, technically.) So what you do is to jumper the channels, use the otherwise too-muddy normal channel to get to the right volume, and then add in just the smallest amount of the bright channel to give it sparkle.

This is also purely a problem with the Lead models - if you use a Bass, Tremolo, Organ or PA model they have a much less all-or-nothing volume curve because they don't have the oversized bright cap. These amps are (in my opinion) some of the very best-sounding low-volume clean amps ever made, they have a lovely rich warm tone and take pedals perfectly as well. I find it very odd how overlooked they are as clean amps, all anyone seems to think they do is jet-engine-volume distortion... which I admit they do very well too .

I think I mentioned this earlier, but one of the very best low-volume tones I've ever had was with a Marshall Major - the 200W model Ritchie Blackmore used in Deep Purple (possibly literally that amp, although I couldn't prove it). It sounded beautiful at about 0.5 on the volume control, and no louder than an acoustic guitar even going into a huge cab. I just ran it with pedals or a valve preamp I built, when I wanted dirt.

I also ran it at full volume one day and got a complaint from a quarter of a mile away . The beauty of a really good big amp is that it can do both.

[koneguitarist]

Sorry not for me. I have owned plexi super lead and jumpered channels, but still thought it was awful. However I did have a early 70's lead and bass 50w combo which was great at every volume. That was also the amp I found out about how long caps hold their charge

[ICBM]

Sorry not for me. I have owned plexi super lead and jumpered channels, but still thought it was awful. However I did have a early 70's lead and bass 50w combo which was great at every volume. That was also the amp I found out about how long caps hold their charge

I found it out from an Artiste 50, so I think your learning curve had better tone than mine .

Those Lead & Bass combos are really nice and illustrate exactly why that bright cap on the Super Lead is a bad thing... they're essentially a 50W Bass head in a 2x12" guitar cabinet. You get exactly the same sort of great tone at any volume from the non-Lead 100W models too.

[monquixote]

I don;t agree with that. I've got both amps, and the clean is very different on the DRRI to anything I can get out of the Supersonic. Both great amps tho!!

Interesting. I haven't back to backed them, but I know both amps quite well and thought they were reasonably similar.
They are very similar size and supposedly the clean channel is the same circuit. I think the speakers are quite different so maybe that accounts for it.

[Dave_Mc]

I personally don't think some big amps sound that good at low volume, I know it's down to what we want as a tone, but I prefer a small low powered amp for home use. Even though its only 13w I rarely use my Excelsior at home, but instead use a peavey rage.

yeah i'm definitely not saying all big amps sound good at low volumes, especially if you want power tube distortion (LOL). But a lot do, and a lot (talking about ones with preamp volume/gain controls here) start sounding good (IMO) at levels way below the breakup point of lower wattage amps.

I thought the excelsior sounded good at low volumes (granted, it's clean at those volumes). the big problem was the rattle. I got sick of mine and just sent it back (in my defence, i already sent it back to get the rattle, and a dodgy tremolo, fixed, and while the tremolo was fixed, the rattle was actually worse than before it was "fixed"!).