Hi Brothers & Sisters it's not that bad realy but to get the speaker cracking i got to play volume on 6 Tone varys 4567
i got no promblems with noise but i would like to be able to sit back Playing with my Bro on guitar, but with say half the volume but with the same speaker Break up, not all the time we cut lose when he gets smashed,
so what im gettng at is that for Jamming at home or persons with noise restrictions a 5 Watt amp is just to loud,playing it at low volume you can't get the amps to Break up with out getting a ticket for noise voilations,
i see the Bugera V5 has a speaker Attenuator i made one but amp to scared to use it,
so when is some one going to make a low watt amp for the Bedroom Blasters 1 watt maybe 1 1/2 or 2 watts and i don't want some pissy little amp a HG2 size cab 8" speaker,
who ever makes one win's the Race i will get one strait up but i don't mind cranking my HG2 the Locals know My Bro and i play ,
But it would be great to have a little amp to crank at low volumes though so i been thinking yes it get scary is it possible to swap the Transformer in my Epiphone for a low watt transformer thus giving me a low watt amp.
No I'm not unhappy with my HG2 i bit of low volume playing would be great,
OK OK OK i Fess up i would allso like to play at low volumes when im Practising new tunes but still have the amp cranking :)
I always found that I could get decent break up out of a 5 watt HarpGear (or any 5 watt amp) at volume settings of 2.5-3.
Maybe your mic or playing technique needs looking at in more detail. Correct sealing off of the mic cup will also be a huge benefit in overdriving the amp.
If all your techniques are correct and you still can't get that overdriven sound then you could try using an attenuator. This will allow you to turn up the amp to full and then set the volume on the attenuator to any level you like.
However I would always look at technique first over any gear, as this is usually where the problems lay. Most players just won't admit to themselves that the problem is their technique (especially newer players) and insist on it being the gear.
I keep a Honey Tone and a Bottle-of-Blues in my pickup truck, I like it just fine. Heck, it's only $20! ---------- I used to be young and foolish. Now I'm not so young.
Buy a Lone Wolf Harp Tone+ pedal. You can dial in your sound on the amp and use the volume control on the pedal to alter the volume. It's a handy little feature that I discovered after reading a post by htownfess.
Being as one who who is looking at buying that first amp hisself , I have to say thanks for all of this.
I have been feasting my eyes on all of this basic amp info that has shown up here recently and which can also be found in Adams stuff and on the old threads.
Thanks Adam and thanks to all you old hands for the generous sharing of your valuable knowledge.
HEY KINGLEY, or tell me someone else: an attenuator. Will this work with a wide variety of amplifiers?
Does the attenuator influence the character of the sound at all? Tube amp sound, crunch, tone, etc.?
Are there any particular brands, models that would be best suited for this application, I.E. what Mr.Nasty is trying to do?
Last Edited by on Apr 02, 2010 1:31 PM
Chickenthief - Yes, an atttenuator will work with any amp. What a good one will give you is the true sound of the amp at a much lower volume. As to the brands. If you plan on buying one, I'd just say read some reviews on them and buy the best you can afford.
I think the Honeytone is what you are looking for. I have had many of the same questions with my Epiphone VJR half stack. Now I play around the house with any of my mics and the Honeytone amp just like the one in the previous video. Like somebody said-"$20".
i used to use an original pignose with a JT-30 crystal for a gigs in martini bars and coffee houses. i think honeytones and most small stuff just distorts but doesn't offer much in the way of tone. the original pig is almost a real amp.
Personally, a better alternative for the house or even for recording or in some live situations is get something like a POD or a Behringer V-Amp and use it with a set of headphones. On a live gig, you could hook either of those two up thru either a PA or a keyboard amp (the reason why I say a keyboard amp is that, like a PA, those amps are sonically neutral and ideal for something like that).
Those two units I mentioned are amp simulators and actually do a pretty good job and the best and least expensive of the two is the V-Amp. Some years back, Magic Dick recorded an entire album using a POD going straight thru the board. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I use my valve junior in the house with 2 12 inch speakers all the time. it is capable of paint-peeling volume, but the digitech pedal used as a volume pedal with the amp model i like keeps the volume in check for the house. The tone remains roughly the same. Not exactly the same, but close enough.
I always found that I could get decent break up out of a 5 watt HarpGear (or any 5 watt amp) at volume settings of 2.5-3.
I got no problems with settings you suggest,
volume 0n 2.5 tone on 7 it's cracking like the speaker is splitting,useing my CR Vintage Bullet, like i say these 5 watt amps are just idleing along at these settings,
we like to get our Tubes cooking at this setting im just simmering the amp, as we are lead to beleive we like to get these suckers red Hot where we are told the amps produce there true warn crunchy tones,
on my Epiphone and HG2 i beleive the zone is best acheived at setting 6 on the volume, for some people this is just to loud for many reasons
i'm not a big fan of effects pedals or fuzz boxes i got a Lone Wolf Delay Pedal and thats to many for me all ready,
I think it would be great to have a Low watt amp as i suggest nothing to loud say as loud as a Dobro guitar
or you know like when you where a Kid walking past a house on Friday night,
the Folks where letting there hair Down Listening to the Tube Radio full belt,
you could hear it outside enough to reconize the songs with there doors shut, but you go inside the walls would be rockin Don't Bother Knockin:)
Should you choose to pursue a Lone Wolf Harp Tone+, you will find that it is helpful in turning inexpensive microphones into something quite usable. I've started using that pedal with a Shure 520DX and found it to be a very usable combination. I've been using it with a tweed Champ clone around the house at very reasonable volumes.
Outside the house, it's proven handy. Recently, I've used it with a Double Trouble and had very nice results. I've also used it with a solid state Peavey Bandit 65 and was pleasantly surprised.
Hi Bro's there is some very helpful info great work, like i say a Little 2 watt Tube amp would be fun,
the best way i found is to crank the amp up to tast, then use the volume controle on my Mics to control the output,
for some stupid reason i been running Mics without Volumke controls lately,not no more it's the cheapest solution to controlling that Little 5watt Beasty:)
Another plug for Lone Wolf but try the Harp Attack pedal into your HG 2. It's a different design than a distortion or fuzz pedal or even a typical tube preamp pedal. It's designed with a miniature low power poweramp tube (pentode I think). This thing gets great tube amp tone straight into a PA (ultra clean), cause it's working a power tube hard. Plugged into you HG2 at lower cleaner volumes it should work just fine. I've only heard You Tubes of it and rave revues from HTOWNFESS but it would solve the problem without someone building a custom 1 watt amp. You won't get speaker breakup however, that requires some power unless wire up a dinky little speaker which would sound like crap.
Lots of sound and video demos at the Lone Wolf site. You could get even more break up from your HG2 at full performance volume with this thing if ya wanted.
