Crayon Sky Music

The best way to overdrive a tube amp?

I have one reissued Fender Bassman tube amp. Its size is pretty good. No any dirty channels. But I heard if I pull the tubes a bit and turn the amp up loud enough and hot enough it goes away. What is the surest way to overdrive my tube amp without using a pedal?

DO NOT pull the tubes out a bit – it's a bad idea! In an amplifier valve without master volume has no alternative than simply doubling the volume …. unless, of course, you use pedals, amplifier circuits change, change tubes, or get an attenuator. Um, do not change their amplifier circuits. Nevermind I said that. Change the tubes – what I mean by that is increasingly takes power converter tubes allow you to lower your power tube sockets. THD Ruby and make 'em, for example …. um, the versions are called THD Yellowjackets. The basic idea is that reduce watt amp, which means you get more distortion at lower volumes. A dimmer … This reduces the volume of your amp puts into out. The good news is that you can push your amp a little harder, so you get more distortion at lower volumes. Finally, you can use a pedal to increase its signal. This may come in the form of an EQ pedal, an overdrive pedal as a Tubescreamer, a distortion pedal with the gain turned down low and level, are presented (Kurt Cobain and Randy Rhoads did this, by the way), or something like active pickups or a preamp built into your guitar to boost the signal there. The most sure to push your tube amp is to use a pedal or high output pickups, but this distortion in the preamp ways, not the power amp distortion, which is subtly different. The only way to get power amp distortion is to push the power tubes harder, and only way is to spin the ….. so lower power or crank-power tubes or use an attenuator (I recommend the THD Hot Plate). The point of doing this is that the tubes get really bloody loud when the crank. The use of an attenuator and / or reduce these power tubes (which are not as quiet as I'm probably making be, I have a 5w tube amp that goes right through the walls of my apartment) lets you turn your tube amp and get a handle sound volume that is not stronger than the battery, blowing out windows, etc Saul

1964 Fender Princeton Amp – Weber Mass 150 Attenuator Demo