how do I get a good guitar tone from my amp?

Well, coming down on your gain, and adding Midrange is good to get a tone that cuts through. Full gain with heavy bass and high end, and little or no Midrange is great for Metal rythym, but not lead. Goes right into the air. How many channels is that amp?

My amp only has two channels on it.  It has clean and distortion.  My normal setting is around: Master - 2 1/2 to 3, Presence - 8 1/2, Bass -  5 1/2, Mid - 4 1/2, Treble 7 1/2, and Gain - 6 1/2. Does this sound like a decent setting?  It just seems like I can either get the low end crunch and power, but it gets too muddy on some things or I can get a sound that cuts and is very clear but lacks in low end power.  I can't seem to find a setting that satisfies everything.  I use my Boss EQ pedal for my lead stuff.  I usualy set it at almost a diagnol line upwards with a tiny and delay and chorus for leads.  One more question that I have is about gear advice.  I am thinking about buying a behringer ultra curve pro rack mount unit.  It is a 31 band digital EQ that you can store ten user presets and I was going to use a midi foot contoller to select EQ's while playing live.  Is this a good idea for a new piece of gear?

Try to play tube amps near their saturation point -- this brings out the power tube sound and engages the guitar speakers. These principles are known by almost all rock guitarists and producers, who record rock guitar through loud, mic'd tube amps with no loads or power attenuators getting in the way, and only a few effects.

You may want to contact Mesa Boogie and ask if this is possible.

Pull out either the two inside or outside Power Tubes, and one of the Rectifier tubes (either one).  They recommended that if you are using a 16ohm cab, plug it into the 8 ohm jack (8ohm into 4ohm).  Why run it at 50W??  50W Tube is all the power you really need on stage.  Plug that into a 4x12, and you have some serious volume.  The advantage of running the amp at 50W is that at volume you get some Power Tube distortion.  Power Tube distortion has a very good tone to it, and adds more feel to the amplifier.

You do not need anything in the effects loop to use the Effects Loop Master (Master Volume).  Just turn the effects loop to Footswitch, and voila, you have a Master Volume knob.

joe

Hey Joe, you seem to know quite a bit about amps and electronics. I own a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. It is a 40W tube amp with 1 X 12. If you know anything about these amps they are LOUD. I can barely turn it up past 3 on the clean or drive channels or I'll blow everybody away. The Hot Rod has a Speaker Out for an extension cabinet. If I were to go into this instead of the speaker direct, would I get the same effect? I read somewhere once where a fellow had it hooked up this way and complained he wasn't getting enough volume. I WANT to be able to crank it up to take advantage of the tubes. Would this work? Are there downsides to this?

Something you might consider is getting a power break.  This way you could turn your amp up to 10 if you wanted to and just use the power break to control the volume.  That you way you could get that powerful tube sound and not blow anybody away.

I'm not real familiar with that particular amp, but fenders yes. I haven't heard any one doing what your saying so I can't comment on it. Other than doing internal mod's, which unless you become familiar with the dangers of tube amp voltages, I would have a tech do the work.

I would consider what the other post suggested about using a Power Attenuator. The THD Hotplate makes (in my opinion) the best around. Marshall power brakes and Sholz's Power soak can sometimes cause the output tubes to overheat and glow red.

Hope this helps.

Joe