Fender Amps with "reduced power" feature?

[scaristei]

Does anyone own and use any of those Fender Tube amps that have the "1/4th power down" feature?
How well do they work....How well does the "power down" feature work? How does that 60 watt'r sound at 15 watts?
How do they sound - clean - crunch - dirty - etc?

[jgcable]

There is not much difference in volume between 15w and 60w. Headroom... yes, volume... no.
Even 5 watts is really loud for a tube amp. If you want to saturate your tubes at low volumes get a hotplate.

[Shawn]

Or buy a very well made (see expensive) amp that has a useable and effective master.



Shawn

[markD]

those fenders are usually the rivera designed amps. i use rivera amps and i think the lower power switches are very good at changing response and headroom on the amp. my rivera m-100 is a 100 watt amp that can be cut down to 50 watts in half power, then throw the pentode/triode switch it will bump down to 10 watts. the volume is the same at 100 watts or 10 watts. the power tubes work harder at 10 watts and i get MUCH more power saturation than i do at 100 watts. in fact i play most of my larger club gigs with that rivera running at 10 watts!!!!

the fender should work the same. if it is a 60 wat amp, the power down switch should cut the voltage and change the tube from pentode to triode to get it down to 15 watts. this next pert of my answer is based on the rivera NOT an actual fender, but it should be close reardless.

clean - unless you want the "vintage" sound of an old 5 watt champ or something the out put stagew will clip WAY to fast for any REAL clean tones when you use the "power down" function. good clean headroom comes from a high wattage power section.

crunch - this would work nicely with the "power down" function. it will allow the output tubes to contribute MUCH more to the crunch. usually a power tube running in triode will sound creamier than in pentode, so the tone will be a little softer and it will seem to "sag" more. it will NOT be really tight like running a 100 watt amp wide open.

dirty - using the "power down" function will make the dirty seem more thick. it too, will lose some definiton like the crunch channel. the best way to describe it is like the mids become MUCH more pronounced because the power tube is working harder. lead sounds will "sing" a lot more.

DO NOT think that this function will make an amp quiter. it will not. it changes timbre and response. that's about it.

i hope this helps.

[mantis]

I owned the Fender Twin amp which was a 100 watt amp then 25 watt with the 1/4 switch. I noticed a difference in how the amp reacted when the switch was in 25 watt mode. It seemed to not sound as open. Like I lost alot of head room even at low practice volumes. I maybe picky more then others but I stopped using that switch and left it in full. Even at practice volume.

I used a Krank DIstortus Maximus in front of the clean channel for my distortion/heavy metal tone I like. I really didn't use the drive channel as I don't really ever play classic rock.

If your not that picky of the absloute tone you can achieve when practicing, then the 1/4 swtich will not effect you. It allows you to turn the amp up slighty more and not be as loud.

Dan

[scaristei]

those fenders are usually the rivera designed amps. i use rivera amps and i think the lower power switches are very good at changing response and headroom on the amp. my rivera m-100 is a 100 watt amp that can be cut down to 50 watts in half power, then throw the pentode/triode switch it will bump down to 10 watts. the volume is the same at 100 watts or 10 watts. the power tubes work harder at 10 watts and i get MUCH more power saturation than i do at 100 watts. in fact i play most of my larger club gigs with that rivera running at 10 watts!!!!

the fender should work the same. if it is a 60 wat amp, the power down switch should cut the voltage and change the tube from pentode to triode to get it down to 15 watts. this next pert of my answer is based on the rivera NOT an actual fender, but it should be close reardless.

clean - unless you want the "vintage" sound of an old 5 watt champ or something the out put stagew will clip WAY to fast for any REAL clean tones when you use the "power down" function. good clean headroom comes from a high wattage power section.

crunch - this would work nicely with the "power down" function. it will allow the output tubes to contribute MUCH more to the crunch. usually a power tube running in triode will sound creamier than in pentode, so the tone will be a little softer and it will seem to "sag" more. it will NOT be really tight like running a 100 watt amp wide open.

dirty - using the "power down" function will make the dirty seem more thick. it too, will lose some definiton like the crunch channel. the best way to describe it is like the mids become MUCH more pronounced because the power tube is working harder. lead sounds will "sing" a lot more.

DO NOT think that this function will make an amp quiter. it will not. it changes timbre and response. that's about it.

i hope this helps.

Wow, thats alot of great info and insight into this "power down" feature....
This my sound lame...(but when it comes to anything electical - I am a ignorant) But why - when you reduce the power, does it not also reduce the "volume" - What you are saying is that when you "power down" the amp is "just as loud" as when at full power? Can you explain?

Does anyone else have a new Fender Amp with this feature and how well does it work?

[toejam]

Powering down just makes it easier to get distorted sounds at lower volumes, and you lose clean headroom.
For example, the old 100-watt and 50-watt Marshalls... your sound will be cleaner and you'll have to turn the 100-watt version up more to get the crunchy power tube breakup. The 50-watt version lets you get more saturated power tube breakup earlier at lower volume levels. Both amps with the volume cranked all the way will pretty much be just as loud.

[scaristei]

Thanks Toejam.....!

Now, does anyone else know anything about these new Fender tube amps with the 1/4 power down option?

What do you think of them & how do they sound or compare to other amps?

[markD]

i think they are great amps. they have some features that i wish rivera had designed into his own amps.

[scaristei]

i think they are great amps. they have some features that i wish rivera had designed into his own amps.

MarkD,
Which one do you have....? What do you use it for? ...And what features do they have that the rivera's don't?