Taming the beast

[Madkatb]

I recently built a 5840 pentode tube overdrive/distortion pedal. (Thanks to all the regulars around here who have the submini tube bug.) Fairly standard pentode gain stage, powered through a "Nixie" style smps, fed with a 6V wallwart (to match the filament) I get about 90V. It's a bit of a prototype. Single output volume control, only has a toggle switch for bypass as yet, plastic case. (Eventually I'll run it off a standard 9V supply with a voltage regulator for the 6V.)
Sounds great. It's presently doing the circuit amongst guitar playing friends for their input. Everyone so far seems to like it, but...
It's too loud. At 2 on the volume control it's about even input/output. At 5 its really sounding good but loud. At 10 it sounds great but you need to turn the amp down.
So what is the best way to reduce the volume. If I use a voltage divider before the input I won't get the same drive to the tube. If I use a voltage divider at the output, well, isn't that the same as the volume control I already have? Or do I use a voltage divider at the output followed by the volume control? Or do I use a different taper or different resistance value for the pot?
I guess what I'm really asking is, "In your experience, what gain level works best for an overdrive/distortion pedal?". Is there a "magic" gain value at 2, 5, 10 on the output volume?
I'm getting the sound I 'm looking for but I'm not sure what way is best to attenuate the volume without compromising the tone.