Question: Preamp distortion vs. power tube distortion...

I play thru a Marshall DSL 40c set on 20 watts and dime the amp. I ride my volume control and love the sound of the power tube distortion.
 
I pretty much just use preamp distortion. No way in hell I can turn any if my amps up load enough to get power amp distortion.
 
mongooz said:
it doesn't work like that. you can't get the power tubes to saturate unless you are putting preamp juice to them. just turning up the master and then only squeaking a little preamp to the power tubes will not drive them hard enough to get the sound you are referring to. both volume knobs have to be turned up. this is why all these amp companies are building 1 and 5 and 10 watt amps, because to get the power tube break up sound you have to crank the hell out of both the pre and power section.
i've got a Kustom 5 watt defender that is WAY to loud to crank in an apartment.

i would suggest an attenuator. that allows you to crank both sections of the amp and then hold back to volume going to the speakers. you just need some efficient speakers that put out good lows and low volumes.
Click to expand...

This. Exactly this.

Cranking the master to 10 and running the pre at .5 isn't going to give you power tube breakup. You need to either crank both, or have a non master volume amp cranked up to power amp saturation.

And while an attenuator will get you lower volumes with power amp saturation, some of the tone you're seeking comes from speaker distortion, and just the pure movement of air, which the attenuator will take away.

Cranked up, and really loud is the only way to get exactly what you're looking for, but that's far from practical with most amps putting out over 10 watts or so.
 
I use this and to be honest I am at a loss to why everybody hasnt got one.

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