I find that my 50-watt ODS can't be turned up enough to get a nice OD distortion at usable volume levels - it's blowing my ears out! (I can't imagine why anyone would need a 100 or 200 watter). Short of buying a power soak, can I use my Kleinulator in this way by turning it down, or would that just suck tone?

I agree with boldaslove, and I own the Klein and the tube-based C-lator.  I much prefer the C-lator, though it is nice to have a backup.  The C-lator has more headroom as well as more control over the volume.  Also, I find the Klein is not as good at retaining the fidelity and overall level of the amp.  For instance, running the C-lator, I can set my OD pedals at unity and not have to adjust that setting as I turn the level up on the C-lator.  The same is not true of the Klein.  This may be a function of the Klein not keeping the depth of the tone, but I'm no electronics guy.  I just play guitar.

If you can't get a good OD sound out of your  amp at low volumes; either there is something wrong with it or you have not learned how to use it....

I suppose it could also be a matter of the internal settings as well. 
The master  controls the overall volume and has little to do with the OD sound; if it's too loud, turn down the master volume.
The first Volume on the left affects the amount of OD you get as well as the Overdrive level control, they're interactive, and the Ratio controls the balance between the clean and overdrive. If the first volume control is set too low you might not get much overdrive.

My setup: Gibson Les Paul Standard into normal input, Volume set from 5-8, Bright and Deep switches off, Rock/Jazz switch set to Rock.
Treble at 4, Middle -3 Bass 1.5 -2 Overdrive level anywhere from 2 -10 depending on how much i want. Overdrive Ratio around 5. I don't use a K/C-lator. Reverb pedal in FX loop. then i use the master volume to set the overall loudness; I get good sounding overdrive at any volume from a whisper to a roar.

I'm sorry  --  PI? Phase Inverter? What is that?

Thanks for clarifying. Do I read you right that turning the Master volume (or the Klein's Recovery) down results in less PI tube distortion and therefore a smoother overdrive?

(Love the sound of the ODS... and I'm learning little by little why it sounds that way...)

Hey Django,

So, the 'lators are supposed to take the hot-ass signal coming from the 2nd OD stage (essentially out of V2, the middle preamp tube) and allow you to kick it down a notch so that it doesn't distort your effects boxes, many of which can't handle the signal in its raw state without clipping.  So the signal comes out, and the first knob on your 'lator (Drive with the C and In with the K) is for reducing the amount of signal you want coming into your effects loop.  Full clockwise is unity gain.  Usually, you set this at noon or 1 o'clock.  The next knob (In for the C and Out for the K) is how much of the adjusted signal you want coming from your effects back into the 'lator.  You usually set that at full.  The last knob (Out for the C and Recovery for the K) makes up for any volume lost by turning down the first knob.  It controls the signal going back out into the Phase Inverter of the amp (far left tube if you are facing the front of the amp).  Essentially, it acts as a pre-phase inverter master volume.  If you set the controls too high, you can distort the phase inverter (PI).  This usually sounds crappy for some reason. 

In any event, the 'lators compress the tone some and give you a bit more control with the Bright switches.  I like both of mine and a lot of folk say they are essential to the "D-sound".  Either way, they are handy as hell to have.


Stephen