Practice Amps and Master Volume Control

[Jimmy]

At what price points do you start getting good built-in master volume control or attenuation for practice amps?

I've been in the PC modeling world for a while now, and I'd like to transition to a good practice amp that doesn't require headphones. I think I've explored my dusty old Peavey Envoy enough to notice that it goes from 0 to loud really fast, and I think I'd love the option of being able to put the amp on 1 or 2 and still enjoy the sound. Is that possible with a tube amp?

 

[Stephen J.]

Clean shouldn’t be too difficult. If you want quiet natural breakup from the amp, let me know when you find it. I have never heard anything sound good and quite.

 

[László]

At what price points do you start getting good built-in master volume control or attenuation for practice amps?

I've been in the PC modeling world for a while now, and I'd like to transition to a good practice amp that doesn't require headphones. I think I've explored my dusty old Peavey Envoy enough to notice that it goes from 0 to loud really fast, and I think I'd love the option of being able to put the amp on 1 or 2 and still enjoy the sound. Is that possible with a tube amp?

Of course it's possible, there are lots on the market.

I don't know what these cost, but the Mesa California Tweed has a switch that will take the amp down to minuscule wattage, so it'll break up very quickly. They have some low wattage versions, but I don't know diddly about them.

My Mesa Lone Star 100 can be switched down to 10 watts, sounds good at that wattage for practice and breaks up easily at low volume.

There have to be dozens of other amps that will do this, but you'll want to do a little exploring to figure out price points.

 

[Fro]

I have one word for players looking for great tone at low volume (or loud).

Fractal.

 

[Jimmy]

I have one word for players looking for great tone at low volume (or loud).

Fractal.

Thanks, a few weeks ago I had an FM3 at the top of my gear list. What kind of speaker are you running yours through?

 

[bodia]

Thanks, a few weeks ago I had an FM3 at the top of my gear list. What kind of speaker are you running yours through?

I use a Kemper Stage with a Powered Kemper Kabinet. Sounds great at lower volumes. I also have a 50w Archon head and a 1x12. It sounds surprisingly good at bedroom levels. I used to have a Bogner ATMA that produced great tones at lower volume. I'd buy one of those again in a heartbeat.

 

[Prina]

What kind of speaker are you running yours through?

Obviously there are TONS of good options.

For modeling, my FM9 goes thru a pair of small Genelecs. At a lower price point you have the Yamaha HS series like the HS5 or HS8. Below that are Presonus Eris 4.5 or above, which I used prior to the Genelecs. That's a subject well covered on the Fractal forum, as well as many others but the bottom line is that accurate monitors or FRFR make a huge difference.

One additional option is that if your amp has an effects loop you can run the FM3 directly through that (bypassing the amp's preamp) and only model the preamp part of whatever amp you like on the FM3.

 

[bodia]

Obviously there are TONS of good options.

For modeling, my FM9 goes thru a pair of small Genelecs. At a lower price point you have the Yamaha HS series like the HS5 or HS8. Below that are Presonus Eris 4.5 or above, which I used prior to the Genelecs. That's a subject well covered on the Fractal forum, as well as many others but the bottom line is that accurate monitors or FRFR make a huge difference.

One additional option is that if your amp has an effects loop you can run the FM3 directly through that (bypassing the amp's preamp) and only model the preamp part of whatever amp you like on the FM3.

I have a pair of Yamaha HS-5. They sound great. I'd recommend.

 

[Rider1260]

Depends on your price point you are looking to hit , the PRS Sonzera 20 I was trying out guitars with at CME sounded really good and the HDRX 20 I have has a really nice master volume as does my Orange OR15.
My Mesa MKV 90 has the best master volume of all my amps it can go from a whisper to peeling the paint off the walls

 

[Fro]

I play through an Electro-Voice PXM-12MP.
Fender has a new FR speaker that is getting good reviews on the Fractal forum.

 

[Bogner]

The Better Options Typically Come At The Higher Price Points In Most Instances. It All Comes Down To Budget, Approach And What You Already Have To Work With. A Really Nice Amp With A Proper Master Volume I One Way To Go. As You Already Know, The Digital Realm Is Another Way You Can Go. I Have Had Great Results With The Kemper Stuff And Prefer It To Anything Else In That Type Of Realm. Fryette Makes A Wonderful Product In The Power Station That Works Wonders For All Kinds Of Things...Including Taming Really Loud Amps If That Is What You Are Trying To Do. I Am Happy To Advise Further if I Know More Of What Angle You Are Working From And What You Want Sonically. There Are A Lot Of Quality Options Out There At Various Price Points.

 

[GGJJGG]

Of course it's possible, there are lots on the market.

I don't know what these cost, but the Mesa California Tweed has a switch that will take the amp down to minuscule wattage, so it'll break up very quickly. They have some low wattage versions, but I don't know diddly about them.

My Mesa Lone Star 100 can be switched down to 10 watts, sounds good at that wattage for practice and breaks up easily at low volume.

There have to be dozens of other amps that will do this, but you'll want to do a little exploring to figure out price points.

I love my California tweed. Highly recommended

 

[Jimmy Ramone]

I use a Kemper Stage with a Powered Kemper Kabinet. Sounds great at lower volumes.

+1

It’s all I use. It’s also my gigging rig now. Replaced my Allen Chihuahua for home practice.

 

[Jimmy]

Thanks all. I think I am going Fractal for this go around. I’m in the $800 to $1200 range, would like the flexibility for really low volume playing, and frankly, I’m not quite sure what kind of amp I like at this point. I will probably get a tube amp later when I know what I like best.

 

[Monahan]

Thanks all. I think I am going Fractal for this go around. I’m in the $800 to $1200 range, would like the flexibility for really low volume playing, and frankly, I’m not quite sure what kind of amp I like at this point. I will probably get a tube amp later when I know what I like best.

Before you spend the money, give a few of the solid state amps a go; something like the Boss Katana Artist (front facing controls), Boss Nextone... heck, maybe even the Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb/ Super Reverb. These amps have come a long way, and may surprise you. I was a bit shocked at how good the Tone Master Deluxe sounded-- so much so I bought a blonde one

 

[Herr Squid]

Thanks all. I think I am going Fractal for this go around. I’m in the $800 to $1200 range, would like the flexibility for really low volume playing, and frankly, I’m not quite sure what kind of amp I like at this point. I will probably get a tube amp later when I know what I like best.

You'll get massive flexibility out a Fractal unit. As long as you've got a good speaker/monitor solution, you can hardly go wrong with it.

 

[SinSir]

I use a Kemper Stage with a Powered Kemper Kabinet. Sounds great at lower volumes. I also have a 50w Archon head and a 1x12. It sounds surprisingly good at bedroom levels. I used to have a Bogner ATMA that produced great tones at lower volume. I'd buy one of those again in a heartbeat.

Kemper toaster here.. not sure if that or my first PRS was the best gear purchase I've made. Chicken or the egg.

I tried lots of amps for years in my condo with master volumes and whatever else.. none of them delivered like my kemper. Even at my house with a music room I still choose my kemper most of the time.

 

[Monahan]

For $600 new, this is worth considering. Maybe even your time to plug into one

At least give the video a look; this dude put some time into making a good one:

 

[Bobd]

Best quiet amp I have is the The Valve 105 Bimbo combo. An Italian made Marshall flavored amp, 5 watt with power scaling. Does break up really nicely at any volume. You can swap power tube's as well if you like. EL34, 6V6, 6L6 etc.. A pity they don't make them anymore..

 

[aamefford]

All three of my amps were chosen to be “other people friendly” with a bunch of help from the folks here. I started with a little Mesa Mkv25. Great amp, L.A.F. or near silent with no in between unless I used a PS2 to attenuate it. So…

Kemper Stage and Kemper Power Kab. Sounds any way you like it, any volume you like it. Suggested by several of the usual suspects here. Used, $1500 +/-

Mesa Triple Crown 100 head and wide body closed back 1x12. WTF? Yup sounds great, very quiet to R.F.L. Built in attenuation down to 3 watts, gain and channel masters and a really well behaved main volume. Suggested primarily by @Bogner, GAS and availability of a nice used one pushed me over the edge. Used, maybe $1700 +/- for the head plus cab of choice.

Boss Katana Air EX. Works well, battery powered if you want, wireless thingie included, easy to carry around, super nice crunch amp model, acceptable other amp models, fair to great built in effects. I use the crunch with spring or hall reverb and a short delay. Sounds nice, works pretty well with guitar volume knob(s). Used $350 +/- if you can find one.

Ok, ramble is over…