Amp and Efx not responsive to playing style!

Albert King has an AWESOME sound!!!
You're on the right track with a cranked Fender amp and the attenuator.

The next part is getting those singing bright leads.
In the old days, you would look at records and pictures for the pedals they used.

On that first clip you can see a very old Fender Bandmaster head and 4x12 cab behind him.
That's the head that Jim Marshall copied in the beginning. He used different output tubes.

The guitar and pickups are important too. Those look like PAF's on his axe. They are definitely hot (high-output).

These days, a quick search on Google is handy. One link talked about the Dallas Rangemaster
http://www.analogman.com/beano.htm

This site shows a completely different rig: http://www.guitargeek.com/
It shows a MXR Phase 90 into an Acoustic 270 Solid State Head and a Roland JC-120
I doubt that this is correct, since the sound is very different.

You might want to check out the Supa Nova pedal sounds ... it might be the squeal you're looking for
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=67

Is that overload??!!
:D

Wondering if an attenuator would help a solid state amp. I have a Fender deluxe 900 supposedly rated at 90 watts,however it sort of disappoints in the tone dept. I am unable to turn it up more than 2 on the volume knob when practicing in my house. I am almost to the point of maybe trading on a deville or HRdeluxe which I likely should have bought in the first place. But save a couple hundered bux and gain some effects was my mind set at the time. The clean channel was supposed to be great.I should also mention that the only effects pedal I have is a Zoom 505. What are your thoughts?
Robbie

You can but you won't get the same sound you do with a tube amp. Another consideration is that when using one on a solidstate amp they seem to really get hot. Even to Hot.. Sure tube amps get hot but I've felt a fender stage 160 with one on it and it was to hot. So becareful if you do. I wouldn't recommend it. You might want to consider getting a tube amp..Reason..Because if you blow the solidstate up you'll need to get another amp.

Joe

I have heard of people using a tubes before a solid state amp to add tone.

There are tube effect pedals, tube preamps for guitar, and tube preamps.

IMHO these are some of the standouts:

Hughes & Kettner Tubeman Guitar Preamp
Hughes & Kettner Attax
Rocktron Piranha
ART DST-4
Lexicon Signature 284
HotBox_Tube_Preamp_Pedal
Ibanez TK999_Tube_King_Overdrive

Using an attenuator with a solidstate seems utterly pointless to me: attenuators are designed to counter some of the negative issues of tube amps (lack of control over volume for any given sound), these flaws do not exist with solidstate amps. If you only have one volume control on your amp and you find it hard to dial in something between 'too soft' and 'way too loud' a normal volume pedal would be all you need.

The clean of your amp actually is very good, technically superior to that of a hotrod. Now the funny part is that most of us would still prefer the clean of the hotrod, and that's because it isn't really clean at all. Your amp would be excellent for amplifying a modeling unit 100% accurately (the amplifier atleast, speaker might be a tiny problem). If you are looking for a alomost-overdriven, breakin' up sound just out of that amp you are out of luck though, and a hotrod would be a better choice.

What you could also try is messing around with equipment not typically designed for guitar. For example, the Behringer MIC200 tube microphone pre-amplifier could easily be used as a way to add some warmth and gain to your signal and it costs a mere $50 or so.

Thanx for the help guys, I didn't mean to hijack your thread Djdubb. Hope you got all the help you needed first. When I really think about it, I really am not looking for overdriven breakup but better volume control and more WARMTH. It does seem to me that my amp is very sterile sounding on clean. The effects I do like when using the Zoom 505 cofirm this. The pedal however is a bit of an irritation in that I get some hiss when using it. Also I only use 2 or 3 settings on the pedal as I really don't go for the distortion type sounds. I really play mostly classic rock/folk rock type of tunes with a little bit of Clapton unplugged type music. I use mainly my Norman acoustic with an aftermarket LR Baggs pu and my Ibanez AG75 hollowbody Maybe I will try some of the pedals/preamps suggested at my local shop and see how that works.
Robbie

Robbie

Like Arjen said, your clean channel is not really going to change unless you push the volume way up. Then you get some distortion from the speakers. This is not the same as a tube amp that gets overdriven distortion from the tubes and the speakers.

I think your best best is simply tweak the EQ on your Zoom 505. Here is the manual for the Zoom 505. The EQ settings are described on page 5 of the manual.

Zoom 505 Manual

You may be able to tweak the EQ to get a warmer tone from your amp. It takes lots of time and patience to get EQ right, so hang in there.

Really, to me this is the biggest difference between a solid-state and tube amp. Tube amps just have a warmth and fullness you rarely hear in a solid-state.

Thanx Wes, I have been playing around with some of the settings. Have come closer to the tone I want with the acoustic and the archtop but no cigar yet. I have come to realize that a certain tone for one guitar is not meant for say my epiphone LP. Most of my settings were merely downloaded from a Zoom patchsite. I have discovered that the irritating hiss I mentioned is due in part to high gain or patch levels. These levels are not necessarry for my practice area. Will keep trying patch combinations until I find the right ones. As you say patience (not something I usually exhibit a lot of!!)
Robbie

Attenuators are designed to counter some of the negative issues of tube amps (lack of control over volume for any given sound)Arjen, I just can't look at it like that at all. You have "lack of control over volume" for only ONE sound with a tube amp, the sound that comes from a wide open tube power stage. That's not the only good sound tube amps make, it's just one sound they make, and I don't want to hear it all the time. That's not a negative issue of tube amps, it's a negative issue of some tube amp users IMO. Aural inflexibility.

:lol: