olume and Attenuation
The Royalist is a non-master-volume amp, which means that the volume control alone
determines the signal level through the amplifier. This makes it simple to dial in. You turn
the volume control down for clean tones, and turn it up for distortion. Easy enough, but
there is a limitation. With this kind of design, overdrive and distortion are only possible
when the amp is generating its maximum output power.
For most non-master-volume amps, this is a problem. It will only start to break up at ear-
splitting volume, which makes it less than useful at small clubs and at home. This is why
the Royalist includes the Ironman power attenuator. You can think of the Ironman as being
functionally equivalent to an external power attenuator connected between the amplifier
output and the speaker. It’s purpose is to allow the amplifier to operate at full output
power, while sending only a fraction of that power to the speaker. By operating this way, the
tone and feel of the amplifier is retained quite well even at very low volume.
It’s important to understand how to use the Volume and Attenuation control in order to get
the sound you want at the volume level you need. In general, you can think of them as
serving two different functions. You would use the Volume control to adjust the amount of
overdrive and distortion you want, and then adjust the attenuator to get the volume level
you want.
For clean tones, there are some additional things to consider. You might start out by
setting the attenuator to 0db (bypassed), and dialing in the volume level you want with the
Volume control. This will certainly give you the most headroom. However, if you are playing
in a very small room, or need to keep the volume level down very low, you might want to
turn the attenuator down a few clicks so that you can turn the volume control up a bit more
for a slightly warmer, fatter sound.
In the 0db position, the attenuator is completely bypassed, and the speaker is connected
directly to the output transformer secondary, with no additional circuitry touching the signal
path.
Although the Ironman attenuator does an excellent job of reducing output power without
changing the tone of the amp’s circuitry, there are other variables in play at lower volume
which do result in some apparent tone change. Here are a few factors that you should be
aware of -
Speaker breakup and compression is a big part of the tone and feel of the amp when played
at high volume. At low power settings, the speaker responds differently, and does not break
up and compress as it does at high power.
At lower volume, there is a tendency to hit the guitar strings harder and play more
aggressively than you would if the amp were tuned up very loud. It may take some time to
get used to maintaining your playing style at reduced volume.
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