How to Get GREAT Tones at Low Volume! 

Hey what was that amazing song? I want to download that amazing song and shower the songwriter with the finest meats and cheeses in all the land! ~ jackfossett.bandcamp.com/track/glass-ballerina-2

Jack, this makes so much sense. Thanks, I'm trying it out now!

your videos are so helpful and interesting. thank you!

Cheers for the advice Jack 👍🎸

After nearly 20 years of playing guitar and its my main hobby your video has teached me how to get good sound at low volumes. I never thought to max out the EQ the thought of it sounded silly but man does it work for really low volumes. I would often play my electric unplugged but not now. Thanks a million

Great advise Jack. I have an AC4 in my room. Thanks for the tip on using something other than a TS to get a good dirt sound.

Great video - was exactly what I was looking for.

Cool great info thanks

Excellent post cheers 👍

Very informative, Jack! Thanks! I used to subscribe many guitar channels. I'm now down to a half-dozen, including this one. Down to the groovy half-duz!

Great stuff as usual, Jack.

13:56 - Strawberry Red - Just bought one Mint from Reverb!! Thanks to you!!! Great playing!!!

I am playing with a Deluxe RRI. I tame the sound with a Supro Booster pedal. It works great specially with the T.S. Pedal. I combine it with a Fuzz or a Angry Charlie, always controlling the sound with the Supro. It works amazingly

I’ll try these settings on my VC15, let’s see. Mine is an old one also, made in uk with a 10 inch Jensen. Thank you for this video, Jack! Greetings from Brazil!

Great video Jack. Surprised how good both those big valve amps sounded at low volume. My Laney Lionheart L5 head sounds great at home levels.

This is the video I need most. I haven't been able to make myself pull the trigger on a reactive load box, and I need to not get evicted lol.

Another great video!

Nice vid as always! Never picked up on the tone stack difference at different volumes so thanks! I bought my first tube amp for my old cover band thinking a 40w Hot Rod Deluxe was perfect but boy wax it loud with 6L6 tubes. Being an electrician and tinkerer I went to jj6v6s tubes to drop the wattage but the sound was off. Lots of reading i decided to change the output transformer to a DRRI style and also the full frommel mod kit. Sound is awesome but anyone whom has done this knows that even a cranked DRRI is pretty loud as well for home any way. Then I saw your vid about the princeton reverb. I did not replace the HRD with it though. I got the 12" tweed canabis rex model which now that it is broken in is like a dream. Honestly I like having the 2 of them now. At home I'll either play the Princeton with my guitar straight in and crank it for dirt or If O want to get my pedalboard involved I will play the HRD as the main clean on just below edge of break up and I have a mic into the Princeton for my talkbox. Of you gig 2 or 3 different amps isn't a bad thing if the venues you play vary either imo. Gonna play with this setup you have going because while I can deal with rocking loud guitar my wife will appreciate it a tad lower. Thanks Jack!

I have a great distorted quiet sound out of an all-tube amp. It's the Sovtek Tube Midget 50H. Volume at 10 and Master at .2. I also like the Steve Via Carvin Legacy V3. It sounds great at low volume and has reverb.

That is a beautiful Tele! I have a Twin and also an AXE FXIII. The Twin was just sitting in my basement studio, so I decided to get some pedals (mainly Greer stuff) just because I couldn't stand to see the Twin not being used (68 Reissue).

Very nice and timely post Jack. Now that I have your tips on working the tone controls and pedals for lower volumes (Which I never thought of trying) you may have saved me selling my Fender Bassman, which I love and have gigged for many years but could never use at home. I shall get it back out of storage and try your recommendations. My Fender Chris Stapleton Princeton is also too loud for proper home use, so I use a Boss Tube Amp Expander hooked up with it, which solves the volume problem perfectly. One thing to note here is the Princeton has only one volume and one tone control, although I've just bought an EQ Pedal to use with it, so I can try your suggestions on the Princeton. The best computer guitar amp sim for me is the Scuffham S-Gear, It's a guitar amp sim with incredible sounds at any volume.

I use a multi effects into the FX loop. I bring the sound output to 25-50% and crank up the gain of my tube amp. I find that to be the best way of using the natural overdrive at low volumes! Probably not the same quality as a real cranked volume, but at least my ears don't bleed 👌

I agree with you Jack. I've experienced all this. I have 3 very different rigs + multiple amps and a modeling amp. My modeling amp is incredible at low volume or any volume. I swapped the speaker some yrs ago because it sounded like hot garbage originally.

That's why i love my fender tonemaster deluxe reverb . it does it all : live gigs , band rehearsels and home use , and with an behringer P1 hooked up ( wich only cost about 40-50 euro ) i can also use headphones at home if i want to play at loud volumes , it's just a killer amp in every sence .

Thank you so much

I have 10 high end tube amps..but i play and recommend the Spark most of the time

Great Jack. I got the laney vc30 after your previous video. It's so loud. I got the two notes torpedo attenuator. It's made it magical at home. The cranked amp full is full of all the right amount of sag and bloom. I use a boss bd through the clean channel. Amazing thanks Jack as always.

Great advice indeed (not to mention the great playing). Actually, I’m kind of doing almost the same thing already, so it’s interesting to see you using a very similar strategy. I have a “Custom” Vibrolux Reverb that I turn down to around two. I run it into my old TS10 (which is always turned on), but I only turn the drive up to around the halfway point. That gives me a little dirt if I turn up my Les Paul to around 8 or 9, but I usually play with the guitar’s volume at 5, 6, or 7. The TS10 is always on, and you’re absolutely right - it sounds like ass if the drive is cranked up too much. I’m also using a Torpedo Captor, which works nicely as a 20db attenuator and has the added benefit of, somehow, filtering all the noise out of this very noisy amp. I have no idea why, but it’s fantastic. Anyway, I’m babbling but I absolutely love noodling on my guitar while I watch a sporting event on the tv. So relaxing. and it’s better than knitting, right?😉👍

Very timely video. I moved in with my fiancé to an apartment, and have been using this approach with my deluxe reverb, but part of my wants to just get a small amp, like a Vibrochamp or Supra delta king 10. Do you prefer the pedal/big amp approach, or a small amp?

Apart from countless hours of unplugged practice, sometimes I use a Marshall JCM900 into a 2x12, just because I can 🙂. I like the warmth of Marshall clean tone, and even turned right down, it fills the room with a nice sound. I'm not talking about recording. That's a different matter.

Great video Jack! I remember having mesa boogie rectoverb combo as my only amp and couldn't play at home at all (if only there were videos like these 10 years ago), it actually pushed me to get more gigs just so I was able to play through my amp... I think an eq pedal is very versatile if the amp has an fx loop, you can almost use it as an attenuator. It's also a good time to be a guitar player when amp companies make little tube combos with variable power, such as class 5, origin and studio series from marshall, vox ac4tv, laney cub series etc.

That a new Tele? Haven’t seen you use that one before. Love the sunburst

For the diy people like myself, building a 2 watt tube amplifier like Rob Robinette's deluxe or bassman micro is the true tip notch solution. True cranked tube amp tone at actual bedroom levels.

Great video! I think the biggest problem you have with a twin (for example) is that there is very much a "minimum" volume at which it sound "complete" sonically. That isn't necessarily crazy loud but there you do have to get the speaker cones moving *enough* or it sounds thin and phasey. One way round this is to use lower wattage speakers. If you never play above 3 or 4 on a wild night you really don't need those 75w speakers. Put 25w speakers in.. The other thing is the twins with master volumes or one where you plan to add one: There's a bunch of information online about the various options suitable for the Fender LTP amps with fixed bias (which all have essentially the same circuit anyway just different retification and sized iron) but generally its accepted that the Trainwreck Type 2 is the one that works best. Its a Post Phase Inverter Master Volume: what that means is that it sits after the phase inverter and before the power tubes (it actually replaces the power tube grid resistors with a dual gang pot). This allows a fairly seamless attenuation as you turn the volume down and works really well. The only drawback is that you also lose negative feedback as you turn the volume down. This is almost always a good thing as these amps were desiged to sound "right" about 5 on the volume which no sane person will ever be allowed to do in 2023! The best thing about the TW T2 PPIMV is that on 10 its exactly the same as the non-mv electronically. So you can have the best of both worlds. Crisp clean cleans or classic Fender PI saturated overdrive. One final trick I always find works well is to consider putting a larger value capacitor in the phase inverter coupling cap position. Fender uses 0.001uf in the twin. I much prefer 0.022uf. This cap basically acts as a bass cut to remove bass from the signal path prior to entering the phase inverter. This again was intended to sound "right" with a 100w twin on 5 not 1-3. It was also designed to work well with the old style lower sensitivty speakers which could be pushed harder a lower volumes. One ancillary benefit of increasing this capacitor slightly, all the extra bass that gets in to the phase inverter will drive it much harder.. giving you monster PI overdrive and compression at bar gig volume levels if using the PPIMV. In fact if you have ever played a Vox AC30 it works very much like that. Turn up the channel volumes, turn down the PPIMV and EQ to taste. TL;DR A twin reverb *can* do bat mitzvahs and restaurant gigs without sounding like ass or loads of pedals. Although pedals remain a solid option ..

Hi Jack. Great videos in general. Have you ever for this issue of low bedroom level tubeamp, tried an Orange Rocker Terror 15 watt on 0,5 watt? Its also great on the drive channel and, I find it to have a nice amp overdrive on low volume. So in essence you might want to try this amp to see if the amps drive does sound good or if its still in need of a overdrive pedal. Atb Sofus

Hey Jack, great info as always. I’m looking at Fender LT modelers. Bedroom volumes only. I don’t don’t need 50 watts but would the larger, 12” speaker of the 50 yield better, richer tones than the 8” speakers of the 25 at the same low decibel level? Or at low levels, does it matter?

How about the Blackstar HT1R as a tube amp for sounding good overdriven at low volumes?

I enjoy the clean sound on the Les Paul. That is my favorite part of this video. I have to say that it's hard for me to watch guitar videos right now since the guitar-side of my life is so sad, but I hope my 5 new guitars are finally delivered to me soon and make things much more nice and amazing. The guitars I wait for are: custom Epi Casino, PRS electric, Gibson 1275 doubleneck, custom Gibson SJ 200 and Gibson CJ 165.

I made my own attenuator....use it all the time. Get good cranked tones at room volume, or less.

Such good advice recommending a Modeling amp for home or late night practicing.

Any thoughts on chokes? I'm using a Rockcrusher with JCM 800 studio 20W which gives good tone but still too loud past 6-7. Also don't forget those tone pots on the LP!!!

Your Les Paul is beautiful, like the color

I own a Maven Peal @ 100 watts can turn down to 1Watt plus Sag is adjustable. Whilst it sounds very good it lacks the only thing that everything lacks - the speakers are not pushing air, they are just laying flat. The interaction of the speakers are a big part in getting the right feel. Best, Pete.

Love the clean tone, gain tones not so much. I appreciate your efforts.

This is a totally valid approach, but I always want to plug straight into the amp for maximal dynamics, especially when I have to play so quietly that headroom is already badly compromised. The key for me is a lower-volume speaker: either one of the now-discontinued Eminence FDM models, or an older worn-out vintage speaker with a looser response. Any speaker will need at least 0.3 - 1 W output to have a full excursion and enable these dynamics, and a modern high-sensitivity speaker will still produce at least 92 dBA with that power level, just a bit too much for "bedroom" playing. Knocking off another 6-10 dB with the speaker lets you get into that "louder TV volume" range which starts to work almost anywhere. Getting the amp output down to the 1 W range with good tone is tricky, but can be done with a combination of methods. Use a lower-power amp, and take a few dB off with master volume, a few dB with an attenuator, a few dB with B+ voltage reduction, a few dB with a dummy load on the other speaker outputs, etc. Kept small enough, each of these changes will stack transparently, but sum up to a major volume reduction, bringing a 15 W amp down into the sub-watt range while retaining the tone and character specific to that topology. To me, it's a better result than 1 W amps which use preamp tubes in the power section - they just don't produce the same sound or feel.

lol! Who wrote that song? Nice! Great video! Quick question…..are the WGS G12A and G12C the same as the Jupiter speakers you are using? Thank you ~cheers

Thanks so much for this video. I recently got an AC30C2X which, as you know, packs a punch. I’ve been concerned about the very issues you discuss in this video, but it’s given me food for thought and I can’t wait to experiment with volume and EQs. I play with clean tones, so overdrive isn’t a huge issue for me, but I’m going to look into pedals in the near future. Thanks again.

Those pedals do sound great. I recently added an attenuator (Tone King Ironman II Mini) to my '68 Custom Deluxe and it pretty much solves these dilemmas.

this video is so useful and great contents. but at low voule , we can fell too much SNR (Signal to noise ratio).

Got a Vox Night Train 15 G combo. It's a surprisingly versatile amp, good cleans and drive sounds at low to high volumes, due to circuit switching capability. Everything from home practice to small venues, with more interesting tones than a Blues Junior, not as boxy sounding. Plus, tube swap outs reveal a sleeping giant,

This is a perfect sales pitch for a Tonemaster and why I own one. I use it all the time, sounds fantastic both low and high volume. I agree with everything stated about eq. My eq is completely different depending on volume I play at. When I do crank my amps it have to reset eq immediately for what I would call stage volume One amp that sounds good at low volume on drive channels is my Marshall DSL40CR. It has gain/volume for each channel but also 2 master volumes. It sounds very good low volume with the right eq settings.

IMO, the pedal that captures that natural tube "purr", the most amp-like (I think thats what they call it), is the way huge saucy box. Really thick, soft clipping even at minimum levels

I just ordered the strawberry red lol. It’s not the 4K though. I couldn’t find that

Do you need a big tube amp on a v low volume or will this work with a fender 68 vibro champ too? I’m looking just for good cleans

Cool stuff! Do the same principles apply for a Blues Junior Tweed ? I find controlling the Treble quite difficult. Also any tips for OD for the same rig? I got a Sould Food a Blues Driver and an Orange Gateway which has a unique type of sound that I enjoy

How would a BD-2 sound for a sweet spot at low volume ?

Yeah Jack, but my 21 year old MIM Hot Rod Deluxe with V1 microphonic as hell and fizzling besides gives me distortion with a character all it's own... 😜

Fender Pro Jr IV with a JHS Morning Glory. If I'm playing clean, I can go to like 4 as long as I don't dig in too much. With the JHS and a lot of drive, I'm like around 2.5-3. The only thing I run into with that combo is that the amp is alright bright, the pedal gets bright as the drive goes up, and I primarily use a Les Paul Jr with a P90, so I have the tone on both the amp and pedal rolled down a lot and the hi-cut filter engaged on the pedal. I also sometimes use a Big Muff Pi and then just use the JHS Morning Glory to temper the fuzz. Weirdly enough it's easier to get better distorted tones way more quietly that way. Though a Big Muff is not for everyone. I'm tempted to get like a Supro Delta or something where I can push the amp without making my ears bleed in my apartment. But it's probably just GAS.

I dig they way you play. There are some really good teachers, but I don't always like their approach, or tone choices. And you know what your talking about.

One thing interesting to remember is amps almost all have passive tone stacks which kind of means when they're all dimed you're getting the "true" sound of the amp and then sounding good is up to you and your Hands... (ah ha ha ha)

Dirt at bedroom level: (twin + pedals) or (blues jr. with gain/vol up + master down)?

Or use the Tone Master and put it to the lowest attenuator setting. I'm a huge fan

This is exactly why you bought a TMTR. Whenever I can turn up any of my 65 RI’s I do….but to keep the wife from killing me I play the Tonemaster twin when I’m not alone in the house…ok I do play my Princeton sometimes too…clean. The TM does Sound good at low volumes with the “attenuation/master volume” switch. Is it exactly the same as my tube twin…nope…but does it sound good? Yup.

Great vid, would you do a video dictionary at some point as so many words mid treble and so on are foreign i hear all the various jargon words and get lost. Also i know at beginning of vid your just messing about. Can you break that lick down All beginners want something to learn that sounds great Ummh so a Laney A1 80W would be fine at home with settings as shown?

My problem is at clean channel. I need something for dynamics. the range is too big - when i hit hard note it sounds very loud. Iam happy with lead channel its sounds ok. My amp its bugera333 .

The solution for me, is to buy a 1 watt Marshall DSL 1Cr and use a Palmer attenuator. I can play now with screaming tones in my bedroom without disturbing my neighbor. Modelling has their place, but I crave that tube compression and tone.

I think that to be fair, it’s best to make the point that the smaller the wattage and speaker, the more usable the amps tend to be at bedroom volumes. Fender Vibro Champ/Princeton or Vox AC10/AC4 come to mind. Or an amp like a Morgan with power scaling built in

Tube amp + phat mod (or similar) vs Tube amp + attenuator. Who wins?

Sallü love the blues junior ldt

I know this is an old video... But I watch Jack's videos all the time and he actually reviewed my amp: the 4x10 hot rod... I have the newer version which has a better overdrive channel... And it sounds great on the overdrive channels and when I have it cranked on the clean channel (both inputs). . But when its clean and not at your shattering volumes it has this kind of ringing sound... I cannot eq it out.. I know those amps don't have the best speakers ... I also think it's something else besides the speaker so... I'm thinking it might need a 2 change maybe switch to like a 12 a y 7? I'd really appreciate it if anyone's had a similar issue... Thank you and thank you for the great video jack! ..

Unfortunately Helix still has "the squirrels," which is an artifact that can be heard when fuzzy/overdriven notes decay. NI's Guitar Rig has them too. There are some decent models available to use with the computer, Neural DSP being the best I've tried. If one has Logic they can use the amp models there, some of which are decent. In my opinion the best model is Boutique Retro Combo. When not using the computer I'll go to a Line 6 HD500 and keep the gain of the Bassman model at around noon. I also turn the power amp down to about 70%. This tames the squirrels. Then I add a PhoqueFace fuzz (SunFace clone) or an SD-1 in front. Great Cream-era Clapton tones. I will be buying an FM3 at some point in the near future. From what I hear they have terrific modelling and it gives you a chance to sample the sound of just about every amp out there. And some day, good fortunes permitting, I'll pick up a Tone King Imperial or California Tweed, just because tube amps are super cool.

Noticed the Kustom Coupe in the background. I had one but at 36 watts, it was heavy to move, more power than I needed, and I did not know how to apply pedals to it. In retrospect, many of the things you mention today would have helped. Good amp, just not for me.

What kind of pickup do you have in your Tele's neck?

Well, I use a Positive Grid Spark, and it sounds excellent along with background music. You definitely have to use the EQ.i also have a 10 band MXR mixer where I push the mids to get rid of fizziness. It is still fizzy, but you don't hear it too much if you play Ong with background music. The sustain can be quite long and mellow with high gain. The low grain crunch is a bit more difficult to get, but not impossible. It has a certain artificial quality so you can only use one or two amp channels. The clean is great, but if course not as good as the real thing.

Combine this video, with this other video of Jack’s as a great goto guide for low volume bedroom playing! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cq9-FuF1LAQ.html

You are right. The quick answer to your question is: "modeller".

I went to a Van Halen show about 15 years ago and the treble was so loud and so bad that I had to leave! I was 22 or 23 years old and a very big live music fan but the sound was so incredibly bad! I stayed for 4 songs and, I'm not exaggerating, my ears rang for 2 days afterwards! That's what I thought of when you said the treble was cutting off the crowds heads.

So how about these 5watt tube amps?

Don't forget "modest' in your description of the song writer😳

Put an EQ pedal in the FX loop. Voila!

Do like I do. Play unplugged. You will be surprised how much better you get ..!

Modeler's just don't sound good to my ears, something about digitil i don't know what you would call it drone, squeal, echo, like I said I don't know what you would call it but it sounds horrible to my ears. I use a little Vox Pathfinder 10, real low volume but really sweet tone, inexpensive too.

Is it only me thinking that amps are resonating better in love volume? I even lower the guitar volume a bit... The way I play is not lauder than an acoustic guitar.

C'mon Jack, you switched pickups in the Les Paul (are we really trying?)

**okay that bad sound he talks about 11 minutes in approximately... That's how my Fender 4/10 sounds if the volume is below let's say 7.. but I'm talking clean so I can't understand what the problem is and yes my tubes are all hot they're old but they're all getting hot I let it warm up so it's not that I have the presents really low I wonder if this has happened to anyone else?

Everybody saia get a moddeler. I want to hear a tube amp, moddelers cost sometimes more than a tube amp and don´t sound like them, not even close. Look at the Fender Tone Master series, "That pedal Show" made an hour long video with a Fender Deluxe Reverb (tube reissue) vs a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb (moddeler, Dsp), they made a fair comparison even connecting both amps to the same speaker to get It out of the equation, they try to like de moddeler but It was evident that vs the REAL amp there is no way. Get an attenuator, or a 5 watt amp , since you have a Laney, try the Laney Lionheart 5 watts (great cabinet, Celestion Heritage 12", spring reverb, two channels, only 5 watts), no moddeler can sound like the real amp IMHO.

I think just the opposite. I think you should crank up the amp in your bedroom and learn how to control it by using your touch and the volume and tone controls on your guitar to dial in the sound you want. You'll have to do it on stage and you'll learn you have the power in you to control the tone, attack, sustain, grit, crunch, or whatever with way you choose to play.

Too bad for me that I annoy myself even at bedroom volumes.

3 ads @ a minute and a half in... I guess RU-vid finds you to be valuable...