What did I just discover? Tube amp at barely-on volume

[1 21 gigawatts]

I just discovered a great tone from my amp (5W Monoprice) by accident. I've had a headache for days due to a sinuous infection but felt like playing my guitar, so I barely turned the amp on = volume at "1". The amp has a nasty (in a good way) ripped speaker type tone; almost like a gated fuzz. I love the tone! If I turn it up any louder, the amp instantly jumps to its clean Fendery sound.

What is going on here, and is there a way to modify the amp to make it sound like this at higher volumes?

Forgot to add- My "always-on" Dumble pedal was on, set to medium gain.

 

[24 track]

eddy van whosit , used to reduce the voltage to his stacks with a Veriac then crank the amps to distortion , giving him an early breakup of the sound , an interesting dynamic to play with, congrats, another tool in the box!

 

[1 21 gigawatts]

I thought about the variac thing and suspect something similar is going on. Maybe with the volume pot as low as it is, it is starving something in the circuit?

 

[24 track]

I thought about the variac thing and suspect something similar is going on. Maybe with the volume pot as low as it is, it is starving something in the circuit?

similar in the sence that there are multiple gain stages on the input at a low level and the amp is working harder to get the sound out ,but working with in the dynamic range of the amp

 

[jrblue]

My guess is that as you suggest, some part of the signal chain is trying to operate with insufficient current (or is just a crappy part of the circuit and is revealing itself in the absence of more signal). I would be utterly amazed if this effect is desirable enough to become a foundation of your playing, but if it is, well, that's good.

 

[wrathfuldeity]

Idk, similar to using a Dead Bat...dying battery thing to power a pedal. Or the bias knob on a JDM Vindicator fuzz pedal.

 

[schmee]

I just discovered a great tone from my amp (5W Monoprice) by accident. I've had a headache for days due to a sinuous infection but felt like playing my guitar, so I barely turned the amp on = volume at "1". The amp has a nasty (in a good way) ripped speaker type tone; almost like a gated fuzz. I love the tone! If I turn it up any louder, the amp instantly jumps to its clean Fendery sound.

What is going on here, and is there a way to modify the amp to make it sound like this at higher volumes?

Forgot to add- My "always-on" Dumble pedal was on, set to medium gain.

Many amps are like that at the point where they start to bloom on the volume dial. And not in a good way! Most of my BF Fenders it's actually at 2-2.5.
If I'm playing a quiet gig and try to be at 2+ volume, sometimes I immediately think the amp has an issue and it is fuzzy for sure. Then I move to 3 and "normal" tone is back.
I'm not sure exactly what is going on, but suspect the pot is acting as a gate of sorts keeping the amp from functioning properly.
I'm sure someone here can explain it!

BTW, a volume pedal does a similar thing to a lesser extent. Rolling back too much ..... the amp is more dirty. I just never use one because of that and the difficulty in trying to balance my pedals effect along with rolled back volume pedal! It's really not a sound I like.

 

[printer2]

So a SE amp is going to break up when you play it quietly?

 

[fretWalkr]

Try it without the pedal. Does it sound good with minimal gain?

 

[Wally]

I would say that the input gain stage signal is not being passed on completely because the potentiometer is not working properly. There may be a bad spot on the wiper there.

 

[AxemanVR]

I would say that the input gain stage signal is not being passed on completely because the potentiometer is not working properly. There may be a bad spot on the wiper there.

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Now, only if one could recreate that “bad spot in the pot” effect and market it as a “feature”


,

 

[Wally]

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Now, only if one could recreate that “bad spot in the pot” effect and market it as a “feature”


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Yeah, I suppose that sound might have a place for some Just as some like the sound of a ripped..or slashed…speaker cone. One man’s trash is another man’s……..we’ll….trash that someone likes! Eeehaw…
As the OP noted, a gated fuzz set to the right limit would yield that broken up, raggedy, inconsistent fuzz sound.

 

[2L man]

Some volume pot circuits, what early Fenders have, "short" first triode output but obviously some signal will pass forward because triode current "viggle" -operative voltage.

 

[Lynxtrap]

My guess is some kind of leakage between the triodes, like signal creeping into of one or more triode via the cathode or even heaters. I recently chased a ghost signal like that in a build.

In that case it is probably always there underneath the normal signal as you turn up the volume, you just don't notice it.

If it was a faulty pot, the signal would probably not be distorted but just a faint clean signal.

 

[2HBStrat]

I just discovered a great tone from my amp (5W Monoprice) by accident. I've had a headache for days due to a sinuous infection but felt like playing my guitar, so I barely turned the amp on = volume at "1". The amp has a nasty (in a good way) ripped speaker type tone; almost like a gated fuzz. I love the tone! If I turn it up any louder, the amp instantly jumps to its clean Fendery sound.

What is going on here, and is there a way to modify the amp to make it sound like this at higher volumes?

Forgot to add- My "always-on" Dumble pedal was on, set to medium gain.

Can it be that, while you had the amps volume low, you had your guitar volume all the way up, getting more OD out of your pedal than you do when the amps volume is higher?

 

[1 21 gigawatts]

Can it be that, while you had the amps volume low, you had your guitar volume all the way up, getting more OD out of your pedal than you do when the amps volume is higher?

No. I use my guitar volume knob to control gain all the time. The input signal was no different than usual. This phenomenon is definitely in the amp.

Amp Volume at:
1 = sputtery overdrive/fuzz
1.5 - 5 = Fendery clean
5.5 - 6 = edge of breakup
6 - 10 = more gooder

 

[Wally]

I have never seen or heard a reason to turn a volume control on an amp down that low. That said,mid it troubles you, get it to a tech with an oscilloscope and have the problem pinpointed.

 

[cousinpaul]

What pedal? Can you get the sound without the pedal? It's possible at such a low volume, you're picking harder and pushing your pedal into higher gain than you're used to hearing from it.

 

[2HBStrat]

What pedal? Can you get the sound without the pedal? It's possible at such a low volume, you're picking harder and pushing your pedal into higher gain than you're used to hearing from it.

That's what I think, too. I use a Super Reverb at band practice. There is definitely a completely different gain structure going on when I'm playing with the band and the volume is on 3 compared to when I play by myself and the volume is on one, with the exact same pedals, pedal settings, and guitar.

 

[loopfinding]

it has a bright cap. when the volume knob is really low but not pretty much shorting the signal to ground, there's still a portion (higher freq through the cap) that's hitting the next stage at full-ish level. i would guess that has something to do with it.