stephen sawall said:
Bottom line is if you like the sound of your rig turned up .... anything you do to reduce the volume well be a compromise in sound in one way or a other.
EXACTLY!
The point of iso cabs, attenuators, etc. is just to make the most of a bad situation. Anyone who finds that a Dual or a Single is TOO LOUD is obviously in my sort of a situation, one where you can't even get the speakers working correctly. This is a BIG problem in a 240watt cab with v30s. They just have to be cranked so loud to annihilate the fizzies and begin to ROAR like they were designed to. There are other things that can be done to get that cranked tone at lower volumes but that depends on the individual situation i.e. if people will need the full power of a halfstack in some situations.
1) Get a 2 x 12. Again, for distorted tone this is somewhat of a compromise because they simply don't sound like a 4 x 12. Only a 4 x 12 does. That being said, it is MUCH easier to get a 2 x 12 with v30s roaring than it is with a 4 x 12. In MY opinion, any guitarist who owns a head should also own a 1 x 12, a 2 x 12, and a 4 x 12. Different tools for different situations.
2) Try some different speakers. Putting a lower sensitivity speaker in a cabinet will allow the amp to work harder with less volume as a result. Also, using a speaker that overdrives sooner can give a much phatter tone at lower volumes. Remember that speakers contribute a layer of distortion as well as preamp and power tubes.
3) Customizing your tubes.
i. You can buy tubes that distort at lower volumes which will give the sound of a cranked amp much sooner. This goes for both preamp and power tubes.
ii. You can buy Yellow Jacket tube converters from THD which will neuter an amp substantially. I found that with two of these and one rectifier tube, I can get that cranked tone at yet another hair lower than with a single recto, and the clean tone has a whole new life to it. With the Yellow Jackets, you simply cannot push a recto cab. The amp does not have enough power to sufficiently drive a 240watt 4 x 12 without going into power amp distortion. What DOES work is to run a Marshall 100watt or 120watt 4 x 12 or a 2 x 12. The amp still won't have the same low end girth, oomph, and balls of a higher power amp but it WILL sound like it is cranked MUCH sooner. Furthermore, the tonal characteristics of the amp change with EL-84s. I think the change is fairly significant. It imparts a very 'vintage' vibe which adds sparkle and verve to the cleans. The gain also sounds more vintage and is brighter. When running my amp this way, I MUCH prefer my gain channel on vintage because the modern channel is ear splittingly bright.
4) Buy a little 5 - 15watt class A amp for the small gigs. With the cost of a new cab ($1,000 for a silent sister / $600 for a Recto 2 x 12), Yellow Jackets($100), and an Attenuator($800 for the faustine/ $250 for the THD), you could most assuredly afford an Orange Tiny Terror or its ilk.
At the end of the day, the reality of the situation is that only a 100watt high gain tube head cranked through a 4 x 12 will sound like, well, a 100watt high gain tube head cranked through a 4 x 12. If you want to try and 'miniturise' this effect, you have to try one of a myriad of these different options until you find the one that is the most acceptable, given what you want to do.
