Question re: Output and Master controls on a DR

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Southernhell

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I know that this has been answered before, but didn't want to sift through thread to find out the info that I am looking for.

On a 3 ch. DR I see that most people are running the Master of whatever channel they are on somewhere around 10:00 through about 2:00, then using the Output as the global volume. Since the Rectifier series is one of the amps that is designed with using mainly preamp gain(clipping) for the overall tone. Setting it this way seems reasonable.

I also see people saying that setting it this way gets one into power tube clipping. This is where my question comes in. The Master control determines the gain(output level) of the channel of the preamp you are using. The Output control determines the global volume of the amplifier. As per the manual, the Master control is pre-driver. So the Master control comes into play prior to the power section of the amp. I do not see how using this control gets you into power tube clipping. It does not state it in the manual, but is the Output control post phase inverter(post-driver)?

So my question really reads this way:

If one were to desire the use of more poweramp distortion in their tone settings, would it be more prudent to set the Output control say to 11:30-2:00, then use the Master control to bring the preamp into play? If used this way, one would not have to run gain as high to acheive similar levels of amp distortion(the good kind).

Example:
I am running My DR on ch. 3 modern. For sake of argument, tones are all set at unity(12:00). Normally, I have my Master set to 12:00 and the gain at 3:00. Using the Ouput as the global volume I usually never get higher than 9:00(venue dependent). I can run the amp using same tone settings, Output at 12:00, gain would now be able to be reduced to around 11:00-12:30, and the Master which now used as the global volume would probably be somewhere in the 9:00-11:30 range to achieve the same output volume(estimated). Tonally the amp should now be more aggressive, and will be more articulate due to not using the preamp solely for your distortion. I also suspect that the so called muddiness everyone claims the Rectifiers have would be almost gone.

I will experiment with this in the next few days.

What say Ya'll?
 
There is no post phase inverter volume control. The Master and Output controls are pre-driver. To achieve power tube clipping, both controls have to be cranked way up. It will be very loud.
 
The output is the power amp control, the masters are preamp controls. Keep the gain and masters low if you want to drive the power tubes harder at the same volume level. It is a bit of a balancing act though, so experimentation is key to achieve the best tone.
 

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