Dumble volumes and hearing

[10thTx]

I love a loud cranked amp! Having said that, preserving my hearing appeals to me even more.

What do you guys do regarding volume levels at home practicing or noodling around? Given 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss, are you guys cranking your amps at home when you're playing alone?

http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/educat ... uidelines/

What do you do to control the volumes and protect your hearing?

My D-inspired amps are 14 watts and 23 watts and have plenty of volume for me and have proven sufficient for playing with a band. So, I've gone that route. And I can get a quasi/sort of Dumblish tone.

I have wondered if 50w or 100w Dumbles could be played at volumes similar to what one would listen to a TV volume at & still get "that" tone?

With respect, 10thtx

[67plexi]

The best or what works for me is a Yamaha E1010 analog delay run through the effects loop.
I just use the preamp not the delay level set on 2-3 max so far it's the most transparent.
I built a D-Lator but it takes some of the sparkle away at bedroom levels but works well with effects.
And have tried some high end tube microphone preamps through the effects loop great gain but if it does not have a adjustable input and output level it will just boost the signal level.

Steve.

[stelligan]

I have amps with built in buffered loops and some without. The Rocktron Intellifex has a 10db pad, input, and output controls. With it, I can get all my amps to sound decent at very low volumes. I can achieve the same with other devices in the loop that have output level knobs - the Rocktron always sounds better because it has an analog dry though. Seems to retain more highs and doesn't muck up the guitars tone. Really not a huge advantage over just using the master - just less twitchy control over where you want the overall volume.

Here's a wanky video of my gigging rig in my studio room. go to 1:25. I said "88 watts" but meant 44. 4 x 6V6 amp. Works equally well to attenuate a 4 x 6L6 amp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHzjICwY9b8#t=84

[talbany]

I usually play my amps loud when I am at home I have a huge garage..
That way I have an excuse when my wife tells me something from across the room and I want to ignore her!..Sorry honey you know my hearing..(at least once a day now)..

At Gig's I use the glass..Funny I never seem to have anyone complain about my volume..Accept for my soundman which I've come to ignore as well!!

Tony

[10thTx]

The Rocktron Intellifex has a 10db pad, input, and output controls. With it, I can get all my amps to sound decent at very low volumes.

I thought the video/amp sounded really good at low volumes & given I could hear you talking it was a good reference at how quiet it was.

THANKS for sharing that! With respect, 10thtx

[groovtubin]

The Rocktron Intellifex has a 10db pad, input, and output controls. With it, I can get all my amps to sound decent at very low volumes.

I thought the video/amp sounded really good at low volumes & given I could hear you talking it was a good reference at how quiet it was.

THANKS for sharing that! With respect, 10thtx

i have a 100 watt HRM, n like stelligan, i use a rocktron replifex n intellifex in the loop, now mind you at just off the stop of the OD master it is VERY full n ALIVE, n GREAT for playing at church!! I love this amp, n the circuit, n glory to God for it!

Shalom, jim@Omegaamps

[sepulchre]

Glen uses ear plugs. I play low in the house, crank it outside. My neighbors know me.

[amplifiednation]

Has anyone used one of the digital load boxes? You can run 100w into it and run it out to monitors/PA/Headphones or they make one that you can just run into a cab. They seem cool, very pricey though.

I just run the amps pretty loud. I started building an iso closet and used a bunch of OC703 insulation but never finished sealing it. Cuts down the volume about half...

But you have to run it into monitors

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ ... OgodlF4AgQ

[Structo]

What?

[da Geezer]

I am very happy with the way my rig can maintain pretty much exact tone at all volumes.
Regardless of whether you actually LIKE the tone I'm getting (I do....I tweaked for many hours to get to this point.....the sound I was looking for), I think the video below will demo the ability to maintain consistent tone.

Some notes:

*Guitar is an ES-339 type with PAF clones
*the amp is a '74 Twin that was dead when it was given to me (freebie)
**separate discrete channels, switched with an A/B box
**Channel A is fairly stock 3-triode Fender Clean
**Channel B is 4-triode Dumble ODS topology
**PI (IIRC) is standard ODS fare
The output/power tube section is a bit unconventional....inner pair are 6L6's run fairly cool, outer pair are 6V6's run fairly hot, each pair with its own cathode bias resistor....Yes, power tubes are cathode biased.
Original OT 4 ohm output into a closed back 1x12 Emi 8 ohm Texas Heat

I used a Ditto looper to record a short loop, running directly into the A/B box, directly into the inputs of the amp.

Cleans can be made cleaner (clean channel vol is around 7) and the OD can be made dirtier, but I compromised by setting the guitar volume at a moderate level to get an input that was acceptable for both clean and OD use. I would normally work the guitar volume lower when clean (turning the guitar volume up for more gritty cleans) and up more for more sustain and drive on the OD. But since the loop has a consistent output, you get what you get.

Amp effects loop out to the d-lator, d-lator effects loop out to a (secret sauce to be revealed after some comments are received, so as not to influence your opinion based on what's acceptable or not to Dumble purists ) then back to the d-lator, back to the amp.
The knob I'm turning is labeled recovery....the last pot in the circuit of the 3-knob d-lator.

First run thru is clean, second is OD....I just stepped on the footswitch after the first run thru

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vny1G1JucXQ


Disregarding the actual tone (whether you like it or not) I think the video shows how the tone does not change when the output volume is changed.
BTW, the amp can get MUCH, MUCH louder with the same results, but the increased volume was clipping the mic that I used to record (SM58 into a simple iOS interface into my iPhone) so I limited the volume increase, since the ability to maintain consistently good LOWER tone is the subject. The loudest on the video is VERY loud in my little shop....louder than I would need in any but the largest of venues that I play (or with the loudest of drummers)

I believe it's combination of the d-lator and the "secret sauce" ingredient that allows me to achieve this.

I think the same results could be achieved with any amp that:
A) produces most of its OD tone in the preamp, and,
B) has either a passive loop (out/in after the preamp, before the phase inverter) or a built in d-lator style active loop

Like I said, I'll reveal the "secret" component after some comments....

Anyway....thick skin on.

G

[Zippy]

Some notes:

*Guitar is an ES-339 type with PAF clones
*the amp is a '74 Twin that was dead when it was given to me (freebie)
**separate discrete channels, switched with an A/B box
**Channel A is fairly stock 3-triode Fender Clean
**Channel B is 4-triode Dumble ODS topology
**PI (IIRC) is standard ODS fare
The output/power tube section is a bit unconventional....inner pair are 6L6's run fairly cool, outer pair are 6V6's run fairly hot, each pair with its own cathode bias resistor....Yes, power tubes are cathode biased.

Amp effects loop out to the d-lator, d-lator effects loop out... then back to the d-lator, back to the amp.

I love the idea of using a recorded loop to A/B amps.

I assume you are bringing the discrete channels together at the PI. Where in the topology do you have the loop send/return?

And while you've got my attention... Are the outputs tied together at the OT primary? I guess you could also split those outputs to separate iron, if you wanted to run stereo.

Fun stuff. Thanks for sharing!

[M Fowler]

My friend used a Power Soak on the Hot Rod Plexi I built for him and it blew the main fuse on the amp but did not hurt anything.

Not experienced with all the various units out there, we need a comprehensive thread detailing the units available and how people rank them.

Mark

[da Geezer]

Some notes:

*Guitar is an ES-339 type with PAF clones
*the amp is a '74 Twin that was dead when it was given to me (freebie)
**separate discrete channels, switched with an A/B box
**Channel A is fairly stock 3-triode Fender Clean
**Channel B is 4-triode Dumble ODS topology
**PI (IIRC) is standard ODS fare
The output/power tube section is a bit unconventional....inner pair are 6L6's run fairly cool, outer pair are 6V6's run fairly hot, each pair with its own cathode bias resistor....Yes, power tubes are cathode biased.

Amp effects loop out to the d-lator, d-lator effects loop out... then back to the d-lator, back to the amp.

I love the idea of using a recorded loop to A/B amps.

I assume you are bringing the discrete channels together at the PI. Where in the topology do you have the loop send/return?

And while you've got my attention... Are the outputs tied together at the OT primary? I guess you could also split those outputs to separate iron, if you wanted to run stereo.

Fun stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Channels are mixed w/220k's before the effects loop out, which is just before the PI.

Output tubes are still wired as stock (as you would normally run a quad of octals) but simply have separate cathode bias resistors for each set.

Mark,

I'm not running any power soak or anything like that....signal is attenuated within the effects loop by the d-lator and the "secret sauce".
Output tubes are running as normal....I have a PPIMV (in the place of the old "boost" MV found on later SF amps), but I'm not using it....it's wide open. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't even put the MV on it at all.

I may do another video, this time with live playing to show the dynamics available with this setup by working the volume on the guitar. Or better yet....I'll do the loop with varying guitar volumes and picking dynamics so as to get an accurate comparison of volumes and tones.....yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!

G

[Zippy]

Some notes:

*Guitar is an ES-339 type with PAF clones
*the amp is a '74 Twin that was dead when it was given to me (freebie)
**separate discrete channels, switched with an A/B box
**Channel A is fairly stock 3-triode Fender Clean
**Channel B is 4-triode Dumble ODS topology
**PI (IIRC) is standard ODS fare
The output/power tube section is a bit unconventional....inner pair are 6L6's run fairly cool, outer pair are 6V6's run fairly hot, each pair with its own cathode bias resistor....Yes, power tubes are cathode biased.

Amp effects loop out to the d-lator, d-lator effects loop out... then back to the d-lator, back to the amp.

I assume you are bringing the discrete channels together at the PI. Where in the topology do you have the loop send/return?

And while you've got my attention... Are the outputs tied together at the OT primary?

Channels are mixed w/220k's before the effects loop out, which is just before the PI.

Output tubes are still wired as stock (as you would normally run a quad of octals) but simply have separate cathode bias resistors for each set.

Thank you.

I'll be watching for the Secret Sauce.

[talbany]

The problem for me in a D_style amp has never really been the clean channel,although the clean channel when turned up does help the amp breath and sustain a bit better..The OD is another story!!

The problem with attenuators for me is a big part of the amps feel at high volumes comes from the interaction of the speaker and amp,where the speaker starts to compress and you start to generate some back EMF you get that initial thump and the speaker response and feel totally changes..You also get some acoustic coupling so the sustain increases along with the bloom effect..IMO these are all a big part of why our amps sounds and feels better played loud..Sometimes there is just no substitute for moving more air

Attenuators do seem to help better control the gain and harmonic content though.

Tony