I have been wondering a few things about the DG amps.
Obviously the amps sing but how does the amp do heavy overdriven tones? I know they are single channel amps so I guess the better question is how does it handle heavier OD pedals?
2nd question is regarding the amp at low volumes. I have seen David ' s settings where he runs the master all the way up, how does it do around 3-5?
You just of course made my day because I get to talk about the DG30 I have. I know next to nothing about the DG50, however, so
caveat lector.
First, the DG30 is
not designed to do heavy OD tones on its own. It'll get crunchy and gritty to a point, but this amp's all about that range of tones that I call "in-between" tones. If you want real classic rock gain, buy an HXDA, and if you need heavier, get an Archon.
However, it handles pedals extremely well, and it was designed to do that. I use it often with a Bogner Burnley, which is a relatively high gain OD pedal (I don't play metal, so can't help you on pedals that go that heavy). It drives the amp beautifully, and results in very creamy, lovely, saturated distortion goodness. I also use it with a Bogner Wessex, which is a lower gain pedal that I sometimes run with just a touch of grit, but sometimes crank a bit for more of a crunchy overdrive. Sounds superb. For a while, I ran the amp with an Xotic BB pedal, sounded very good, though it had a very Marshall overtone (as it was supposed to, BB stands for BliuesBreaker) and I wanted to distinguish the amp from the HXDA that of course sounds Marshall without any pedals at all.
If you take a listen to Grissom's
How It Feels to Fly, over on iTunes, that is really truly the sound of the DG30, and about as overdriven as it gets without pedals and still sounding its best.
The Master Volume is very good, but note that on the DG30, the Master is interactive with the Volume (gain) control, and getting the right balance takes some know-how. However, I usually run my amp at around 10 o'clock on the Master volume, and around 1 o'clock on the gain, and while it's pretty loud, it's not overwhelming. That said, this is a professional's amp for gigging and recording, and it isn't a bedroom amp by any means. If you think AC30 kinds of volumes (but not AC30 tones, it's a very American sounding amp) you're in the ballpark.
I find that the Boost changes the character of the amp somewhat, as does the bright switch. The Presence and Top Cut controls on the back will also alter the character of the tone in a good way; they're very effective controls.
Also, the volume (gain) takes a noticeable jump on my amp when the amp is dialed around noon. This isn't a bad thing, because IMHO that's where the amp really starts to sing, and you hear it right away. However, for clean tones you'll want to lower the volume/gain a little and turn up the Master.
Here's a clip I did with the
neck pickup on the McCarty singlecut, semi-clean, using the BB pedal set almost as a clean boost. Boost switch engaged, bright switch on, top cut around 10 o'clock, volume around noon, master around 10 o'clock, Treble around 1 o'clock, mids rolled down to about 11 o'clock, same with Bass. Presence 11 o'clock. I was going for a creamy kind of sound, and I'm posting it because I think it shows a side of the amp that Grissom doesn't demo:
https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/hammer-dg-30-custom-v2
I should also mention that I find the tone of this amp absolutely addictive. It's got a special sound that no other amp in my experience has been able to deliver. Is it for everyone? No. But then, what is?