Lonestar Special Question

[guitarboy1]

Hi
When I push my toggle switch from 15w to 30w I do not hear any difference in Volume on channel 1
There is a large difference from 5w to 15w on channel 1.
settings are gain 9, treble 12, mid 11, bass 2, pes 2..
Any advice appreciated

 

[Ducky]

I don't find there is a large difference in volume going from 5w to 30w. There are subtle differences, but it isn't like turning down the volume by a 1/2.

 

[RR]

Not trying to burst anyone's bubble but personally, I would run the LoneStar Special at full (30 watts).

(To me) Tone sound much better saturating the output transformer than 5 watt or 15 watt setting.

 

[timmerel]

Its because of the old rule of thumb that for an amp to sound twice as loud, it has to be 10 times the wattage.

So 50 watts sounds only twice as loud as 5 watts - I guess that means that 30 watts should only sound 10% louder than 15.

Its also why the Lonestar Classic at 100 watts doesn't sound 3 times louder than the Special at 30.

 

[Gary K]

When you are talking wattage, you are talking "power amp" wattage.

The 5, 15, and 30 watts refers to how much "clean" power the power amp will produce before "clipping". It is this clipping that causes the nice tube distortion sound from a tube power amp.

So, the 5, 15, and 30 watts also refers to the power level where the power amp will begin to clip.

I can only guess that the volume difference between 5 and 15 watts is that in 5 watt setting the power amp tubes are configured to run "single ended", and in the 15 (and 30) watt setting the power amp is configured to run "push pull". This also may be why the volume is the same at 15 and 30 watts.

At lower volumes I would expect there to be no volume difference between 15 and 30 watts. You may be using all of the 15 available watts of the 15 watt setting, and only using the first 15 watts of the 30 watt setting, so no volume difference.

At higher volumes, I would expect the 15 watt setting to sound more distorted (not louder) than the 30 watt setting. At the 15 watt setting you could be exceeding the 15 watts available (or clipping), and getting distortion, while in the 30 watt setting you are not exceeding 30 watts, and getting "clean" sound.

Again, this is all with regard to the behaviors of "power" amp section only.

-Gary K

 

[guitarboy1]

Thank you all for the replies, alot of what you have all said makes perfect sense now..

 

[Ducky]

Not trying to burst anyone's bubble but personally, I would run the LoneStar Special at full (30 watts).

(To me) Tone sound much better saturating the output transformer than 5 watt or 15 watt setting.

I agree. (Plus the added advantage of only burning up two tubes vs all four)

Great post Gary K, exactly what I wanted to say

 

[Gary K]

Great post Gary K, exactly what I wanted to say

Ducky,

You are kind, thanks!

-Gary K