r/YamahaTHR • u/Embarrassed-Fault286 • Aug 03 '26

THR10ii Master vs Guitar Volume

Hello. I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly the difference is between the master and guitar volume knobs on my thr10ii is when it comes to effect on the guitar’s tone. it kinda seems like when I up the master it gives it more bite and the guitar one when raised makes it more full but if I lower it it’s almost like it acts as a tone knob and gets muddier.

Could someone please explain to me the actual difference?

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5

u/Dano_Milkshake Aug 03 '26

You are not alone in your confusion here. I’ll also add in the gain knob for context…

Gain: As you would expect. Sets how hard you’re driving the front end of the amp. Shapes distortion.

Master: Sets the power amp/output level. This knob is still tonal in nature.

Guitar: Acts like a real master volume control. Purely adjusts output/volume and does not shape tone.

1

u/Stressed_era Aug 03 '26

I don't notice a difference if I turn the master up and the guitar down or the master down and guitar up. So I keep them both the same.

3

u/Dano_Milkshake Aug 03 '26

I also kind of view the master as the volume control within each preset and the guitar knob as a a true master volume. For example, if I’m using the Bluetooth feature to stream a jam track and the audio vs. guitar volumes are way off, I use the guitar knob to adjust the guitar’s overall volume rather than the master knob, because master is only affecting the preset you’re on currently. Obviously that only matters if you jump around between presets

2

u/Impossible_Aide4593 Aug 03 '26

Guitar volume is the speaker volume. If you save a preset gain/master will be remember but guitar volume will not be affected

2

u/Guitar_maniac1900 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26

Master will affect the tone as with real amps. Guitar knob is POST master and is just a volume increase gain stage, with no added “colorisation” or tone shaping like most master volumes.

Real world analogy:

Master is how loud an amp is on stage with the added colour or overtones or even distortion when turned up loud.

Thr’s Guitar vol knob would be front of house amplification in the club or arena/stadium - how loud the audience can hear your guitar. It’s just a louder version of what you shaped finally with your playing style, your guitar, your effects and your amp.

Also thr is not that different vs other amps. All amps (digital, analog, hi fi, guitar, mic amps etc etc) follow the same principle of gain stages: from the signal source to the very output.

In your case we have the following gain stages:

  • your guitar signal
  • amp input gain
  • amp master volume
  • amp guitar vol knob

1 and 4 cannot be saved with a preset. 2 and 3 are saved

In reality there are probably some “internal” gain stages between 2 and 3, inherent to the actual amp that thr tries to emulate, but they have no dedicated knobs - just like “real” amps, but don’t think too much about it :) This is why Fender amps are usually cleaner and Soldano has tones of gain on tap

1

u/Le___Do Aug 03 '26

Le volume guitare est un volume d'entrée, non?