You bring up an interesting point. I dont recall how I set the Controls on my Fender twin years ago.

But I will share some trivia with you.

The Fender Amps of old did something that I don't recall ANY other amplifier manufacturer doing. They had special volume and tone pots made where MOST of the change occurred near one end or the other. I always felt Leo did this as a marketing ploy. I do NOT know this to be a fact.

I will explain. If you turn the volume control from 0 towards 3, the volume emitted from the amp is increased drastically. However, beyond 3, NOT much happens. In other words you reach pretty close to maximum volume real soon. The same is true pretty much with the tone controls.

Other amplifiers had a more gradual (linear) change when volume and tone controls were turned. So it was not uncommon to hear this comment among users,

"my friend has to turn his Gibson amp all the way to 10 to get the volume I get on 2!"

True statement! Only problem was, that Fender would have sounded only SLIGHTLY louder if he had turned it all the way up to 10.

So go figger

One very nice thing about the Peavey amps is, their tone controls work like one would expect them to work. That is, at 12' 0clock their affect is flat. Going to the left of this position takes away treble, mid or bass respectfully. And going right adds to treble, mid or Bass respectfully.

And anyone listening has NO doubt about the end result of what was coming thru the speaker. On most other amps it was not uncommon (Fender included) for one to wonder if much was happening, IF at all.

My hat is off to Peavey for this. They did it right in my opinion.

But, one thing you must remember is that there is no way to quantify that "flat response" everyone talks about (in the real world). You can get (relatively) flat response in the amp, but when it goes to the speaker, your nice flat response curve (if there is such a thing) is gone. No speaker made has flat response, or really anything even CLOSE to flat response! So, setting those knobs at high noon, and calling it "flat" may give you a warm feeling, but you're no where near "flat" as far as the actual sound you're hearing. Add to this the differences in people's hearing, room acoustics, and cabinet design, component aging, and myriad other factors, and you begin to see that the is no such thing as "flat response" in the real world.

The purpose of the controls in the amp is to give variations in the sound. As long as you can get the sound you want, the "linearity" of the controls may give you bragging rights and make you feel good, but it actually adds nothing to your sound. I've yet to try any amp where the controls were too "sensitive" for me. If there's a good sound in there at all, I can find it!

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Also, to readdress my comments on the usage of the word "flat", re; Peavey Amps. The opposing poster was correct in this respect.

Yes, speakers, enclosures and room acoustics (or the lack thereof) does alter the term "flat".

However, it is still best in understanding the mysterious world of amplified sound to have a reference of some kind. Lest you float in a vacuum of space in understanding. A common anamoly in the world of education.

When I refer to the tone controls as being flat on a Peavey amp at their 12 o'clock position it is a relative term. And what it means is that with a given speaker and given room acoustics, it is a good starting or "flat" place to begin with. Then one can lower (or increase), the treble, mid or bass controls to taste. And on a Peavey amp they do what they were supposed to do unlike many other amp manufacturers did and do.

The Peavey amp was again one of the first to permit us such latitude. And while there are 5 controls in a psuedo parametric layout, it gives the player a better way to achieve his desired sound than methods such as the old Fenders. IMHO

Incidently if one excludes PU's, Speakers and acoustics, the amp IS flat when the controls are in the 12 o'clock position.

And the main reason the controls are there is to get around what speakers, pu's and acoustics does to this flatness.

So to summarize, the poster was indeed correct, along with the above

carl

[This message was edited by C Dixon on 19 April 2001 at 01:29 PM.]

Also, when the volume knob is down you may find that you need to turn the reverb up higher to get the amount of effect that you like. This is because the the volume control is before the tap for the reverb circuit, and when the volume is down you are not driving the reverb springs as hard. Conversely, you may also find that when you turn the volume up that you need to turn the reverb down, lest it become too overbearing.