i was drowned out...

[Tele00]

If you are totally cranking a Deluxe Reverb, the tubescreamer will turn your sound to mudd. You won't need it at that volume.

Tubes when cranked will scream on their own. A tube screamer's job is to simulate that effect when the tubes aren't actually screaming.

That's why smaller amps are better. You can turn them up loud enough to make the tubes scream, and nobody has to get hurt.

B I N G O !!! My DR and my Tweed deluxe are set to the highest clean setting , Just before breakup and THEN pushed with a Blues driver or 808 ,it creates a well defined ,ariculate,singing tone, and achieves a higher volume if desired than turning the amp higher .....to have them already pushed and THEN add overdrive creates a not only horrible tone ...but one that gets totally lost in the mix.....

[Kap'n]

BTW, off-topic - I am debuting the Les Paul AND THE STRAT XII with Crossfyre tonight. WAHOO!

I've got the weekend off.

[boobtube21]

Just get a 100w half stack dude. And both you and your buddy keep them down to a reasonable volume. Like I said before, playing loud enough to be heard over a drummer is loud enough, even if you know your amp can go much louder--that's not the point.

*The point is* that your (and your audience's) eardrums are going to bleed. Or more likely, the audience will leave the room, and you'll be playing really loud for nobody.

I saw a band called Snot play years ago, they were the loudest frickin' band I've ever seen. I liked their music, but I had to go outside and miss the show because the volume was too much. And I'd been playing 100w stacks for a few years even then.

Now, with a channel-switching 100w stack, you can have clean volume at any volume you want, and if you dial in the drive channel right, you can get good cut at the same volume.

I (and most of the others here) prefer smaller one-channel amps, but they're not for everybody. And with respect, at your age you may be looking for a different sound, i.e. a little more girth/breadth, that only a 4x12 can deliver.

OK, maybe a high-powered Twin can deliver it too, try one of those.

[Mesotech]

I do tend to find it interesting that the drums seem to define the level of all the other instruments, particularly the guitars. The reason I find it interesting is, on almost every song you hear a recording of, the drums, vocals, and bass are the predominant instruments in the mix. Vocals tend to be the loudest, with drums and bass being more or less equal. The guitar parts are often far below those levels, even the lead parts.

Yet, when a band gets together live, the first thing a guitarist wants to do is turn up louder than the drums. Then the other guitarist needs to match it, so the drums become louder to compensate, bass players start running dual 1500 watt rigs, and finally the singer complains that they can't hear themselves in the mix. Then the audience walks away or fails to show up.

Just an observation.

[boobtube21]

Yep.

[stevefried]

I would think the drums are usually the only acoustic instrument in a rock band so everything else would balance to their level.

[NTBluesGuitar]

And I was about to say something about jazz.

Glad someone qualified it.

[slickcipher]

so, to prevent muddy-ing the tone, crank up the amp to the cleanest point before breaking, and then use the tube screamer? perhaps as a clean boost, and another "dirt" pedal to distort the tone?

fwiw, i did try out a big muff pedal that sounded pretty cool through it.

[stevefried]

I think what he was saying is crank up to just the point of breaking up then use the 808 or other booster to push the amp into distortion. With the DRRI I would guess thats around 5 or 6.

[dmcII]

You shouldn't need two pedals. A cleaner sound will cut through the mix much better and at lower volumes than an over-distorted one.

Try cranking the amp to the breakup threshold or maybe a little below. The longer you play at a gig or practice, the more the tubes will breakup naturally. If you use the tube screamer, set its volume & drive to very modest levels and control things with your guitar's volume. It may take some getting used to, but if you're patient, the rewards are worth it. You'll get a vast array of different tones.

As for the big muff, that may sound cool at bedroom volumes, but when gigging it will only muddy things up. Lose it.

The fact that you love & appreciate a DRRI at such a young age shows that you're way ahead of many of your peers. Don't fall into the trap of thinking more gain & volume is better. A truly good player doesn't need that to get it done. Try some of whats been suggested in this thread and you'll be better for it later. As for your bandmates, my approach has been to try and keep my own stage volume reasonable and let the others take the heat for playing loud. And if they still don't get it, walk...!

[slickcipher]

You shouldn't need two pedals. A cleaner sound will cut through the mix much better and at lower volumes than an over-distorted one.

Try cranking the amp to the breakup threshold or maybe a little below. The longer you play at a gig or practice, the more the tubes will breakup naturally. If you use the tube screamer, set its volume & drive to very modest levels and control things with your guitar's volume. It may take some getting used to, but if you're patient, the rewards are worth it. You'll get a vast array of different tones.

As for the big muff, that may sound cool at bedroom volumes, but when gigging it will only muddy things up. Lose it.

The fact that you love & appreciate a DRRI at such a young age shows that you're way ahead of many of your peers. Don't fall into the trap of thinking more gain & volume is better. A truly good player doesn't need that to get it done. Try some of whats been suggested in this thread and you'll be better for it later. As for your bandmates, my approach has been to try and keep my own stage volume reasonable and let the others take the heat for playing loud. And if they still don't get it, walk...!

yeah. that gave me more motivation to spend more time into adjustments (internal and external) for my amp. i'm going to do what i can, and if it doesn't work out with the band thing, oh well. no use in losing a amp that would be worth something monetary and memory wise later on down the road.

i'm thinking of a tubeswap to make breakup occur later, and possibly a new speaker. but that's all in research and time. like someone said (can't remember if it was here or in another thread) that it's a good base to start from, and that you can always modify it the way you want.

[Kap'n]

If you've got that Deluxe Reverb cranked, don't forget to have that bass knob on 3 or less.

[rudutch]

find the video of fezz using his 15w--18w 1x12 5e3 in a club....

it is self explanitory

[BrianUK]

If you've got that Deluxe Reverb cranked, don't forget to have that bass knob on 3 or less.

I've always wanted to know why folks do this. Does the bass make the sound go all weird when it is up too high and the amp is cranked. And is this the same for all Fender amps?

[dmcII]

find the video of fezz using his 15w--18w 1x12 5e3 in a club....

I'd like to see that. Where is it ?

[Wilko]

I've always wanted to know why folks do this. Does the bass make the sound go all weird when it is up too high and the amp is cranked. And is this the same for all Fender amps?

Yes it is. The bottom gets real mushy. Let the bass player handle the bottom. You'll get a better mix too.

[dmcII]

I'm unmiked (the dark shadow playing the Tele), everything else is in the PA. Tele's and tweed.

Fezz I think you need a few more lessons.../s

Seriously that was real purdy. Especially Crosscut Saw. Now you've reawakened my 5E3 GAS. I thought I'd put that aside. Curses on you !

Actually I'm curious about a couple things. I recall that the only thing you have in your signal chain is a Bad Bob to push it over the edge right ?

What speaker are you running in that amp ?

The tone sounded so nicely defined, it seemed more like the break-up was more power tube driven. Are you using a 12AT7 or 5751 in V1 ? Or a NOS 12AX7 perhaps ?

Slickcipher - have your buddies view these. Thats how its done !

[Wilko]

Here's my Deluxe Reverb at an outdoor gig. Volume is at about "5" and I've got a TS9 on for most of this. It's set with drive at about 11 o'clock and level at about 12 o'clock.

Camcorder mic gives it a real nasal quality.

Wilko Outdoor gig

[dmcII]

Nice Wil !

[slickcipher]

Here's my Deluxe Reverb at an outdoor gig. Volume is at about "5" and I've got a TS9 on for most of this. It's set with drive at about 11 o'clock and level at about 12 o'clock.

Camcorder mic gives it a real nasal quality.

Wilko Outdoor gig

did you keep the speaker/tubes stock, or was it swapped out?

[Kap'n]

Yes it is. The bottom gets real mushy. Let the bass player handle the bottom. You'll get a better mix too.

Also, pushing all the bass freqs saps the strength from the mids and highs - the stuff you need to be heard.

[Wilko]

did you keep the speaker/tubes stock, or was it swapped out?

That is a 1964 Deluxe Reverb. Tubes are stock values. It has Tungsol 6V6s right now.
Speaker is 1968 Jensen C12N (slight upgrade from stock)

[blackonblack]

Been a while since I have been on line, but some thoughts are:

Understand what SPL you need to push for your audience
Measure your output
Adjust accordingly

The size of the room can come into play. Why not make this process something "valuable" to the club owners? A free room calibration.

I mean how many threads can you find here where the owner complained of volume.

Makes the whole conversation of "turning it down" much easier.

[refriedwhiskey]

Good stuff, Fez.

The first time I ever heard Crosscut Saw was on the Hindu Love Gods CD. I didn't know much about blues back then; I just bought it because it was R.E.M., my favorite band at the time, minus Michael Stipe, plus Warren Zevon, my favorite singer-songwriter at the time.

Anyway, whenever I hear that song, I think of Zevon. Heh.

[Moonrider]

I just realized this past Friday how truly blessed I am with my new band.

Our drummer stopped in the middle of a song at practice and said. "Hold up guys! We're too loud. Everyone needs to turn down a bit."

. . . and we did!

[Kap'n]

The first time I ever heard Crosscut Saw was on the Hindu Love Gods CD.

Hot Dog!

I like that disk. Then again, I like most any live-type recording.