Jump to content
aberdeen-music

Fender valve amp volume


Guest Zeenat Aman

Recommended Posts

Guest Zeenat Aman

I have a little 15(or there abouts) watt one channel Fender pro junior with one volume and one tone control, it sounds ACE at about number 4 - 5. Problem is this is a tad too loud for constant home use, but I recall reading somewhere that you can remove a valve to lower the overdrive threshold... is this true?

It uses two EL84's and two 12AX7A's.

Any other suggestions if this is nonsense!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If that is nonsense then you could use a power atenuator between the speaker and amp out put I guess? Craig from Deadenstero <sp?> knows his stuff when it comes to these I believe. They are mostly used on 50/100watt amps but I am sure you could get for your little fender. Weber <or Webber> Mass Atenuator, THD Hotplates and Marshall Powerbreak are the three I am aware of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Webeb <or Webber> Mass Atenuator' date=' THD Hotplates and Marshall Powerbreak are the three I am aware of.[/quote']

For an amp like this I think the THD and the Hotplate probably cost more than the amp...

I've got one that I use on a deluxe reverb that I got from Ted Weber. It's unreal, really transparent, and the tone is good down to really low levels. He's changed things around since I bought mine, the closest one for a low power amp like yours is this one:

https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/weber/atten.htm

This is cool because it's got the ability to adjust to different speaker impedances.

Everything this guy touches is magic. I've got 3 of his speaker silencers in my Super Reverb so I can shut off 3 of the speakers, diverting the power to a load resistor. They're cheap and sound great- I can take my super into a bookstore and crank it up and the tone is right there- only thing I miss is feeling my pant leg flap from all the moving air.

His other website is www.webervst.com

I'd stay well away from Torres Engineering by the way. He talks a great game, but if you hit Harmony Central and look for reviews, you'll see that the guy is real hard to deal with when (and not if) you have a problem. His stuff can be dicey. Avoid him like a cold sore!

On the other hand, Weber will fix anything that goes bad without a complaint. Plus he's a great guy to talk to if you get him started.

Hope that helps.......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

but I recall reading somewhere that you can remove a valve to lower the overdrive threshold... is this true?

Almost forgot- with 4-6L6 fenders you can pull the outside or the inside tubes. You cut the power in half but you double the resistance that the output transformer expects to see. So' date=' if you've got a Twin Reverb, you'd also need to disconnect one of the speakers too- go from 4 ohms to 8 ohms.

With some fenders that have a single pair of power tubes you can get away with pulling one tube. It changes the amp sound, because you go from a class AB to class A. If you think of sound as a sine wave, in AB each tube amplifies half the signal, either the positive pr negative part of the wave. In class A (like an AC30) the power tube amplifies the whole wave. Older fenders can handle this, but I don't think is what you want to do for one of the new Fenders with a printed circuit board. Truthfully, I wouldn't think of doing it to my amp. [b']Cringe

Look at it this way. It might work. Then again you might smoke the amp and the repair bill is going to be a heck of a lot more than the cost of one of Weber's attenuators.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Zeenat Aman
Almost forgot- with 4-6L6 fenders you can pull the outside or the inside tubes. You cut the power in half but you double the resistance that the output transformer expects to see. So' date=' if you've got a Twin Reverb, you'd also need to disconnect one of the speakers too- go from 4 ohms to 8 ohms.

With some fenders that have a single pair of power tubes you can get away with pulling one tube. It changes the amp sound, because you go from a class AB to class A. If you think of sound as a sine wave, in AB each tube amplifies half the signal, either the positive pr negative part of the wave. In class A (like an AC30) the power tube amplifies the whole wave. Older fenders can handle this, but I don't think is what you want to do for one of the new Fenders with a printed circuit board. Truthfully, I wouldn't think of doing it to my amp. [b']Cringe

Look at it this way. It might work. Then again you might smoke the amp and the repair bill is going to be a heck of a lot more than the cost of one of Weber's attenuators.....

Heh thanks for the advice and links, I wont be pulling out any valves ;)

I've worked out a good way for recording though, involving a cupboard and some pillows etc. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...