Members Reauchambeau Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Guess you've never owned a marshall eh? I own a 75' Super Lead, 83 JCM800 2203, 77' JMP50, 5530, Lead12 (x2) and 4 1960 cabs. I've owned 5 other Marshall heads throughout the years. I've owned a Hotplate, Dr Z. Airbrake and currently own a Ho's Electronics Attenuator. diming for me is easy with the attenuator but I never do it. I own about 25 other tube amps. not one of them sounds good dimed. they all choke up after about 7-8. sweetspot on most is between 6-7. I've heard maybe two examples of dimed amps in my life that sounded pretty good but none of my amps sounds better dimed than "dialed in". save your assumptions for people that are clueless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shenaniganizer Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 I don't know about you sometimes, Reauchambeau. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaceU4her Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 i would bet that 95% of people who talk about diming an amp and how good it will sound, have never done so. its the internet though, youre supposed to lie about stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reauchambeau Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 I don't know about you sometimes, Reauchambeau. care to elaborate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grumphh Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 I have only once at an ampfest in germany dimed my superbass. Everything on 10. It was loud - loud as in: After two chords (initial shock) people started covering their ears and looking slightly disoriented But it is correct that "tone" at that volume is not as nice as at slightly lower volumes - all out flabby overdrive, speaker compression and just generally far too loud for comfort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members superflyinmonke Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Dimes are 10c, you see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yourguitarhero Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 My Artisan 100 sounded amazing dimed through a 100W vintage MArshall with old greenbacks.You can't really talk about diming and then using an attenuator - it changes the sound.You need the right amp, cab and SPL and nothing will ever sound like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members O'Rourke Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Never had an amp sound good with everything dimed but turning the volume(s) all the way up is something everybody should do at least once in their life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 i dime my amp pretty much constantly. not everything.. but i only have 2 knobs. but the volume i run full out MOST times the amp is on. it IS 15 watts. it doesn't sound like shit in the least.. actually, it's pretty much perfect, and it doesn't matter WHERE i set the volume control on the guitar, it usually sounds way BETTER that way, because the tubes are working hard, the iron's getting hot, and it's full bore full of juicy harmonic content. kinda necessitates turning down the bass a little with humbuckers-- and it's not the same settings at all as an amp on some 'normal' tame bedroom settings, that's for sure. but once you figure out how to use your ears and dial the thing in per LISTENING versus what sounds good at low volume-- it's hardly uncontrollable.. or at least its uncontrollable in a good way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 this x1000. diming an amp is the most moronic thing you could ever do. most amps when dimed sound like absolute {censored}. amps weren't designed to be dimed and doing so is a countdown to trouble. i disagree wholeheartedly. if you're rocking a 100w amp.. it's a countdown to trouble for your EARS. the amp won't have any issue with it at all if all your speakers are rated high enough, and you're basically in spec with your bias and decent tubes. IF everything's operating within spec-- your amp won't suffer any more than it would if it's running on 5. the error most people make is to run amps with way too much low end when they're full tilt-- and that just sends your speakers into a fartfest freakout, which always sounds like ass. if you keep that under control ('cause bass is where you end up losing the most power and lose control of your speakers)-- and amps sound amazing at the far end of their reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ::fred:: Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 the {censored} are you all talking about? You seriously turn your volumes up all the way up? If the amp doesn't have a PPIMV it would sound like {censored}. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gtrplyr60 Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 There's a couple of ways to dime an amp. The first is to remove the headshell, turn everything to 10 and then throw dimes onto the circuit board for maximum tone. The second is to paint fire, lightning bolts, confederate flags or camo on it. Ahhhh man, that's a fantastic picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 the {censored} are you all talking about? You seriously turn your volumes up all the way up? If the amp doesn't have a PPIMV it would sound like {censored}. nah- mine are NMV- i have a volume knob. it goes all the way up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ::fred:: Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 yeah, I stand corrected, I didn't mean NMVs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 yeah, I stand corrected, I didn't mean NMVs. you can basically do the exact same thing with a master volume amp if you run it on it's clean channel. you don't really need a PPIMV unless you've got something ABSURDLY loud, or you're using a ton of frontside gain- in which case-- i'm with you-- it'd probably sound terrible 'cause it'd be all gain all the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sleewell Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 my preamp is always dimed, but if i turn my poweramp above 4 without the hot plate i am pretty sure my ceiling and walls would start to crumble after my ear drums exploded first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MLE Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 . diming an amp is the most moronic thing you could ever do. most amps when dimed sound like absolute {censored}. amps weren't designed to be dimed and doing so is a countdown to trouble. This is not really true of older amps. The way it has been explained to me was that in the earlier years a lot of the rockers set the amps T,M,B all dimed...all of the time - then the volume was raised to the level they needed...usually extremely loud. Why is it moronic? Because you think so? What if the amp sounds great like that...is it still moronic? Diming an amp with active EQ...I agree with you. Diming an amp with a passive tone circuit...not buying it. A passive tone control is not adding anything to the circuit...only cutting. My number 1 is a THD Flexi 50. On occasion I have dimed the TMB controls and it sounds huge...At all levels. I don't play it like that because that's not the style of music that I play, but I would not be afraid to do it If the set called for it.... It also depends greatly on the guitar/pickups used. I believe a lot of the newer amps are designed around the tone stack. You can now change differing controls and internals during development to get the voicing that you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reauchambeau Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 my own amps, Marshalls, Hiwatts, Fenders, Traynors, Garnets, Ampeg, don't sound good dimed, in fact they sound like {censored} dimed. guys can do whatever they want with their own and if they like the sound, perfect. I'm not buying it though, if someone wants to post a vid of their 100w Marshall dimed, and it sounds good, I will then believe them. I'm not saying it's not possible btw, I just want to see hear some proof.smaller low wattage amps have a chance of sounding better than large amps dimed. I say it's moronic because the two amps techs I've been taking amps to for years have told me this and I agree with them. it stresses the most vital components in the amp, transformer, output tubes etc. a lot guys buy an attenuator and then think they can just dime the amp, they fry the output transformer and then turn around and blame the attenuator. tube amps weren't intended or designed to be played dimed, duh. EVH used a Bandmaster head to practice with and he would dime it, he admitted that he would fry the ot by doing so. I'm just giving my opinion to the op because he asked a question. if you're lucky and you have a 100w amp that sounds great dimed and you can get away with using it that way live, I'm jealous and skeptical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peavey_impact Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 I've pegged my Deliverance out before....it got really squirrely and noisy. 2:30ish on the dial is about as far I'll go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carvinlegacy99 Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Some amps sound great dimed, others don't. It just depends on the amp and what it is designed to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ComOp Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 This is how you dime an amp: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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