software

I played at the school basketball game half time show with the band, and i went with the 'amp on 9.5-10, guitar volume for volume control' method. When time came for my solos, i just dimed the guitar volume and let rip and the sound was glorious-not much to write home about chord wise, but it had this really huge dynamic sound that just sang but wasn't over bearing at all.

One thing-every note that i dug into hard, the pilot light would dim. Is this normal for an amp on 10, and is it bad for the amp?

I'm guessing it's the power transformer not being able to handle the load, but does this damage the power transformer at all? I have a fan rigged back there to prevent overheating.

You're right about the transformer - Fender uses 6 volt pilot lights powered of the filament (heater) winding on the PT. When you dig in, the transformer starts to saturate, and the ouptut voltage sags. I don't know if it's normal for DDRI's though. Fender may have cut that corner a little to close - transformers are the most expensive part of any tube amp.

Transformers are pretty robust - they can generally take overloads with no immediate damage. After playing it like this for a while, check the transformer temperature. If you can touch it, it's OK.

I don't know, I run my peavey classic 30 at 11 sometimes, it goes up to 12. Never experianced the problem with the pilot light, I've run it at 12 but I don't like keeping it that high, I never run anything with speakers at max volume for to long, not sure if it could damage it or not.

some amps use 110volt lamps