Comments on: Understanding Tube Amps: The Distortion Chain

By: Anthony Stauffer

Anthony Stauffer — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:52:59 +0000

Hi JK,

On an amp like the Fender Twin, there is no master volume, the only volume control is the preamp or input volume.

By: JK

JK — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:46:37 +0000

Great lesson! I can sort of guess, but it would be helpful to understand how this works on a tube amp (i.e. Twin Reverb) that doesn’t have pre/post volume controls.

By: Anthony Stauffer

Anthony Stauffer — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:22:24 +0000

Not really, you can get good preamp distortion by keep the master volume low and cranking the input volume, but turning up the master volume will make it quite loud. Granted, less offensive than a Super Reverb, or even a Deluxe Reverb, but still loud

By: Noel

Noel — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:01:34 +0000

Hi Anthony,
I am just about to purchase a blues junior and I was wondering if you can get that power tube distortion at apartment/tiny-living-room-friendly volume?

Thanks for the video by the way!
-Noel

By: Anthony Stauffer

Anthony Stauffer — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:40:11 +0000

Yes. And OD or distortion pedal will clip the signal before it ever hits the preamp tubes. If the tubes are being pushed hard, they will further distort the already distorted signal.

By: nowtaps

nowtaps — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:41:20 +0000

Same here. I’m curious about what happens with OD pedals thrown in.

Does the pedal itself clips the signal before it goes in the amp?

cheers

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:54:59 +0000

It’s starting to make sense now. Now throw in an OD pedal before the amp and how does this all work?

By: Art

Art — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:13:23 +0000

Excellent lesson! The graphics went a long way in helping me understand the distortion chain. I have a Blues Jr NOS myself so all these lessons have been quite helpful.

Thanks.
–Art

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:23:24 +0000

Anthony

I though that I had a good idea of how my amp worked until I saw this lesson. Everything just clicked in my head as I was watching it. It all makes perfect sense now.

I have gotten a lot of really useful information out of your lessons here and on StevieSnacks. Keep them coming.

Thanks.
-Adam

By: Anthony B

Anthony B — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:43:31 +0000

Anthony
Thank you for the lessons on tube amps. I have a blues jr and could get the sound I wanted until now. Great website I am glad I found it.

Anthony B