DIY integrated volume 'pedal/box' for my Fender Blues Deville reissue?

[kippstakes]

So my Blues Deville 410 is WAY louder than I need.. or than is practical, for that matter.. and I'm looking for a way to temper its output without sacrificing the overdrive tone quality produced by high volume levels.

I would like to avoid purchasing a typical vol. pedal that will clutter up my board (and cost me money). As an alternative, I want to try to build a vol. 'box' that I can install on the amp, or at least something very small and discrete to throw on the pedal board (I can engineer the box, just need to know how to wire the guts).. it doesn't have to be foot actuated, just a pot/knob and a few 1/4'' jacks, if possible.
It would be cool and handy to be able to maybe stick it between the speaker output/input jacks right on the amp, maybe with 120v power from the amp itself (this is ambitious, I know). Either way will work for me tho.

Any ideas???

thanks

[Jdansti]

Welcome to the forum!  In order to do what I think you're saying, you need to attenuate the signal from the output other amp before it gets to the speaker. This allows you to crank up the amp, guitar and pedals to get the great sounding overdrive without the volume that ruptures your ear drums and disturbs the neighbors. The way this is usually done is with an attenuator. I looked up the Blues Deville 410 and the output is 60W. Your attenuator would have to be able to handle this much power*. An ordinary potentiometer isn't going to survive that. It takes right equipment to make this work without damaging your amp. I suggest you read this article on attenuators as a primer:
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Quiet_Please_Attenuators_and_Their_Many_Uses

Beyond that, search the forum and web for amp attenuators. Good luck with it!
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*Maybe more than the rated power to cover the peak output.

[GibsonGM]

Hi Kipp, welcome!

If you find your amp volume control is 'too touchy', you need to replace the Master volume pot (100k lin) with a 250k Audio taper.

I have a Hot Rod Deluxe, same deal, and this calmed it right down.  You'd have to have a little background in amp repair to do this, tho....but it makes a WORLD of difference, major improvement in control.  I'd PAY to have this done if it intimidated me...totally removes the need to be on "1.568 and no more or less" on the knob, if that sounds familiar to you....

2) next thing is to make a volume box that goes between the 'preamp out' and 'power amp in' jacks.....it's just a "volume knob" that lowers the level of preamp signal hitting the power amp.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ANjIAhHCCA          This is safe, and works, but I don't know, it's sorta less than awe-inspiring to me.

3) do like Jdansti says, save a couple of $$ up and get an attenuator. This will allow you to CRANK the sucker and not be nearly as loud.   

4) get some Yellowjackets, which swap your 6L6 output tubes for EL84's, which break up at a lower level and thus decrease the signal, also giving your tone more b@lls.  Make it go dirty earlier, but you may not be looking for that if you like the DeVille blues tone. 

Your amp is a TINY bit different than mine, but these principles are the same for this "family" of amp.   When I play at home, I usually turn the 'drive' way down and crank the Master, which gives me a tone I can deal with in the attic practice area....you likely have to do 1 just to retain your sanity, and 3 or 4.   2 is a bit lame as it just lowers the level hitting the power tubes, which you probably WANT to overdrive...