Hi. I know that loudness is very relative thing. And considering that some amps has more aggressive character than others and all the EQ and rooms and cab configurations and speaker sensitivities and its EQ and character and considering that there is nearly unnoticeable loudness difference between 100W and 50W of similar amps trough the very same cab...it's is very hard to say what is loud and what is not. I have a Roland Cube 30X with 10" speaker and power squeeze mode (switches from 30W to 2W) and I think solid-state 2W are pretty much what I need for home practice.

But as Tim Schroeder wrote in the end of his article "Adventures in Amplification: Lineage of a Dumble OD-100WR" for the latest Premier Guitar Magazine: "I will say that amongst all of the Dumble amps (and Dumble inspired clones) that I have spent time with, this definitely takes the cake! It has headroom, power, incredible touch sensitivity where one can go from clean cords to blistering single note runs with the energy of your picking hand."

And thats is exactly what I'm looking for with an amp! This kind of extreme touch sensitivity!

Also...the latest Jeff Beck album Emotions&Commotions (Jeff Beck is my tone&guitar hero) was nearly all recorded with an old Fender Champ original from 50's. Only his strat, cable and this little combo turned all the way up. He said: "But when we got into the overdubs I just ended up with a Champ. Mine is a 1950s model with that brown rag across the front, the tweed, you know? It sounds amazing really, and you don’t need volume. Some people can’t do without lots of volume to get their tone, but I think if you can’t get it without four million watts, something’s wrong. Because a mic doesn’t read volume, it reads tone. You’ve got all the level in the world at your disposal in the console, and the remixing and the rest of it to compensate for lack of power. But the tone is the thing, and that’s something that came from Scotty Moore, who once told me, “Get some better tone and you’re there - volume you don’t need.”" And he continues...: "You can’t believe what you can get out of a little tenor 20-watt amp. I think Billy Gibbons is on that route as well, as he plays though some blown-up little thing now. You have to work in symphony with the amp for what sounds best, and it depends on what you’re playing. If it’s power chords, then you’d probably use a slightly bigger amp, otherwise it’ll shred down into a narrow bandwidth. Most of the time, though, you can get away with a couple of Champs—one clean, one distorted— and use the clean one to get more definition."

So we got one kind of amp which is extremely touch sensitive... And man (Jeff Beck) with great feel who can go from clean cords to blistering single note runs with the energy of your picking hand and turn of his guitars volume and he uses maybe the simplest and very low power rig.

My question is how to put these things together. How to have Overtone extremely sensitive with very low power say from 5 to max 20 watts? Is the attenuator the only choice? Or any other tricks (6V6 substitution, voltage drop MV etc.).? Thanks

Get a Dumbleator, It will be your newest best friend . Killer tones @ any volume.

Thank you all...

JD0x0 - what kind of speakers exactly do you use? Jensens? Which type? And do you think the more output tubes the better sound (with the same circuit/amp type)?

Today I just again realized how big difference can the speaker and cab construction make. Engl amp - through Marshall 4x12 with some lower quality level Celestions - OK sound. Mesa oversized Recto cab with V30s...HUGE sound! Great difference!

boldaslove6789 -  how does the Dumbleator work? Is it some kind of attenuator?

Thanks

I use two cabs, one 2x12 built by weber loaded w/ weber 12A125 (Jense P12Q clone) and a custom weber alnico 1 3/4'' voice coil, 55hz cone, large harp dustcap, basicly an Alnico version of the Celestion G12-65 with a deeper bass.

The other cabinet is a "leslie" rotating speaker cab loaded with a weber 10'' Michigan which is an Alnico version of what a 10'' JBL speaker would be.


As to the output tubes, it's pretty much subjective but in my opinion more output tubes(higher wattage) sounds better because of the added bass response and clean headroom. With the 100 watt (4 output tubes) you could always get a "half power" switch which will basicly deactivate the outer tubes and reduce the wattage.