LSC is LOUD.... anyway to tame it?

I have a series 1 100 watt LSC head and 2x12 cab (the blue one with silver cloth). I love this amp to death however, I am afraid that if I continue using it for practicing I may seriously lose my hearing (big amp, small room....). As I said, I love this amp, other than it being extremely loud. Is there anything I can do to calm it down without losing the tone I love?


Thanks!

Telecastermaster said:

I have a series 1 100 watt LSC head and 2x12 cab (the blue one with silver cloth). I love this amp to death however, I am afraid that if I continue using it for practicing I may seriously lose my hearing (big amp, small room....). As I said, I love this amp, other than it being extremely loud. Is there anything I can do to calm it down without losing the tone I love?


Thanks!

Click to expand...

Well, you could try and use an attenuator, but most here seem to come to the conclusion that it sounds better without. Besides, our ears respond to sound very differently to different levels; an attenuator will give you more power amp breakup at lower volumes, but it certainly won't sound the same as the breakup is only a part of the whole tone you're getting at louder volumes.

The obvious choice is to simply play it quieter, and turn it up and enjoy at gigs or rehersal spaces with bigger rooms, etc. I don't know, I mean: you have an master output control. It isn't just too quiet and too loud. You have a lot in between. If it's hurting your ears, turn it down a bit. I'm sure you don't have to practice at ear breaking volumes, and everything will sound like crap if you don't.

I turned the loop in level all the way down and was able to get more out of the master volume that way.... Seems to help.

Not trying to be smart but there is a volume knob there you can use!

Mine sounds phenomenal even at very low volumes!

You don't need an attenuater......Your volume knob will attenuate! :wink:

I don't get it either? I run both channels at 50w, turn the master down (don't change anything else) and it still sounds fab....

Friend of mine used to have one and said the same thing - "Man, this thing is LOUD". I would love to have one someday, but these type of comments make me second think owning one. I've tried them in the store though and had no trouble controlling the volume.

In any case, now that the Mark V has Lonestar-based cleans I might just have to go all in and get a Mark V - which means I'd have to sell both my current amps and a few other odds and ends to afford one... That's another topic though!

earplugs? Seriously, you don't have to turn it down at all. Find some really good ones and you won't notice too much of a difference.

In any case, I think the point here is that it doesn't have to be set to deafening volume levels to sound good. At least in my experience, I can get very good tone from the power section below volume levels that could hurt my hearing.

I mean, yes it can be REALLY LOUD. If you want it to. But it isn't nececcarily "the higher the Output control is set the better". If you need to really crank the power section into noticeable poweramp clipping, perhaps you should look into the newer model with the 10W setting? Or perhaps a Lonestar Special (30W, 15W and 5W)? 100W/50W poweramps are hard to clip, and they definitely can be dangerous for your hearing set too loud in small spaces.

a 2x12 is going to be hard to tame, but try this & see if you still like the tone:

on the back, plug the speakers into one of the 4 ohm jacks & select the tube rectifier. On the front, make sure you've got the channel watt switches set for 50 & set the mains switch to the left (tweed). This should bring you down to ~20 watts or so. Still gonna seem loud though i imagine.

g'luck.

Telecastermaster said:

I have a series 1 100 watt LSC head and 2x12 cab (the blue one with silver cloth). I love this amp to death however, I am afraid that if I continue using it for practicing I may seriously lose my hearing (big amp, small room....). As I said, I love this amp, other than it being extremely loud. Is there anything I can do to calm it down without losing the tone I love?


Thanks!

Click to expand...

If a Mesa isn't loud, better check to see if it's plugged in! :shock:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Sorry....couldn't help myself....but seriously, most tube amps just sound better cranked. At least Mesa's still sound good with the master volume turned down!

Good luck!

Yeah, all the solutions mentioned above will help. I find the sweet spot is below ear-shredding levels on my amp... loud, but not deafening.

I just played a gig at a jazz supper club where we had to control the levels significantly. All the tweaking and futzing I've been doing with 6V6s, the 5751 in V2, and getting happy with the Tweed setting amounted to one of the best-sounding shows I've had in a long time, and all I did was set up, turn on, and play. No complaints, no twiddling, nothing but comps on my tone. I was amazed. Really manageable, and no one got hurt.

Tweaks aside, one big adjustment I made recently was to rely on the Output knob for attenuation (as opposed to volume, if you will), so nowadays my channel Masters are around 11-12:00 and my Output and Solo are closer to 9:00 or 8:45, which still gives me some room to make small adjustments. I generally keep the Loop Send at 1:00-ish. And I've dropped the Presence controls to around 9:00 as well, which allows me to dial in some Treble and get some additional gain out of that; it brightens the tone without sounding brittle. At even slightly above apartment levels, the rig sounds really good to me.