Global Master Volumes

[Twitch]

So, lately Ive noticed with a couple of amps that having the global master at or down below the master of the lead channel is just a tone sucker. It seems to get that full buttery crunch and lead tone, youve got to have that global master set somewhere between 7 and 10 and the channel master up to where you can stand it(my ears are still ringing, this doesnt happen much anymore).

Which for live and rehearsals this is great, but for the bedroom, not so much, unless you want your ears to ring for 15 min afterwards and piss off the neighbors and anyone else in the house.

The amp I have now is a Randall V2, and I thought for it having a mosfet power amp that it would be a good mix for home and away because of solid state being much more full sounding at lower volumes. This is however, not the case with the V2. It sounds acceptable at lower volumes like many of the modern all tube heads, but sounds much more full and just simply breathes fire with the master cranked. I know that a mosfet and a tube have very similar THD and signal to noise curves, but this thing acts just like a tube amp, and frankly, sounds much better than amps Ive had in the past.

Anyhow, heres where I come full circle and wonder if some of the amps Ive had could have sounded better had I just left the master cranked and used the channel volume for attenuation? At any rate, the V2 surprises me every time I plug in to it. I couldnt be happier with it so far.

Has anyone else noticed this with their master volume amps? Anyone have one that seems to be the opposite?

[charvel750]

Why not then crank the "global" master high, but back the channel volume low enough to get the tone you want at a lower volume?

[akoch]

Save your ears. All the tone in the world is not worth your hearing. Play low at home. Has nothing to do with pleasing your neighbours.

All tube amps are somewhat different, but generally speaking this works: set the master to noon to 3pm. Set the channel volume as low as required to it is not too loud overall. This is likely to sound the best at bedroom levels.

[Twitch]

Why not then crank the "global" master high, but back the channel volume low enough to get the tone you want at a lower volume?

I just said for best tone, then the amps got to be cranked. The V2 has an ok tone a bedroom levels as well as cranked. I was just saying, that for example, if the channel master is set to around 6-9 and the global set to 2 or 3 is just as loud as having the global at 7-10 and the channel around 2-3, but the combination of a higher global volume and lower channel volume sounds noticeably more full with better harmonics.

Besides, if low volume tone was the issue here, Id plug into my RH200SC, all SS but not bad cranked either. The OP was just an observation that I wondered if anyone else had observed with their amps.

[jgcable]

I just said for best tone, then the amps got to be cranked. The V2 has an ok tone a bedroom levels as well as cranked. I was just saying, that for example, if the channel master is set to around 6-9 and the global set to 2 or 3 is just as loud as having the global at 7-10 and the channel around 2-3, but the combination of a higher global volume and lower channel volume sounds noticeably more full with better harmonics.

Besides, if low volume tone was the issue here, Id plug into my RH200SC, all SS but not bad cranked either. The OP was just an observation that I wondered if anyone else had observed with their amps.

Depends on the amp and the circuitry. They are all different.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I run my Boogie with the channel masters around noon (especially for CH2 which for my taste needs to be pushed a little) and set the overall volume with the global master.

I've tried it bypassing the effects loop entirely and using the channel masters, and at sane practice/recording volumes there is not really much difference at all.