Attenuator for tube amps

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Comments

  • mccreadyisgod
    mccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    I worked with a band once (a band you've all heard of, although I don't imagine many of us are fans) who had a wall of guitar and bass cabs... Marshall 4x12 cabs three high, with Marshall heads on top, and Ampeg 8x10 cabs two high, with SVT heads on top. Turns out, they're all stage props. No speakers in the cabs, no amplifier in the heads. There was a jewel light wired in each head, so it looked right, but not an amp to be found on-stage. They had their amps off-stage, wired to speaker cabs that were enclosed in special isolation cabinets with mics. Sounded amazing.

    Also reminds me of a Weezer tour years back when the guitars and bass went through rackmount Line 6 Pod Pro's, and the entire band was on in-ear monitors. The only sound on stage was the drumkit and vocals. Great sound in the house.

    Compare that to the band I engineered a few months back who had a lead guitar player with a Marshall full-stack 3 feet behind him (and his vocal mic) cranked up. I killed the mic on his guitar amp; guitar was still too loud. Killed his vocal mic; still too loud. Turned the band up as much as the PA would allow; guitar was still too loud. Go figure.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    I saw Chris Cornell, no amps onstage, everyone playing through in-ear monitors. I BELIEVE the drums were 'caged'... Not only did it sound amazing, it was a really really clean look onstage.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • reaching hands
    reaching hands Posts: 370
    so...i got my mini mass yesterday and used it for rehearsal last night

    its a brilliant unit......managed to crank my amp and not kill anybody!, it really tightened up my tone more than i could imagine and the sustain i got was awesome. it will take some getting used to, as i've been used to being so over loud but hey, i'm on the right track :)

    after a few hours at cranked levels..the unit was only slightly warm, so that bodes very well.

    the treble boost is a great feature too.

    So for half the price of a thd i got a handmade unit from the US and didn't have to pay taxes/custom charges

    UP YOURS THD :D
    leeds 26/08/06....electric
    paris 11/09/06.....crushed...but estatic
    wembley 18/06/07.....oh yes

    'listen...you can hear the sustain...you just hold that note and you can go get a bite whilst its still going'

    the legend , nigel tufnell
  • gimmesometruth27
    gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 24,241
    reaching hands wrote:
    so...i got my mini mass yesterday and used it for rehearsal last night

    its a brilliant unit......managed to crank my amp and not kill anybody!, it really tightened up my tone more than i could imagine and the sustain i got was awesome. it will take some getting used to, as i've been used to being so over loud but hey, i'm on the right track :)

    after a few hours at cranked levels..the unit was only slightly warm, so that bodes very well.

    the treble boost is a great feature too.

    So for half the price of a thd i got a handmade unit from the US and didn't have to pay taxes/custom charges

    UP YOURS THD :D
    LOL at your last sentence.., glad you like the unit. yep, you know it is doing its job when it is a little warm. i use the treble boost on my thd as well, to my ears it gets a little muddy if you knock it down too many dbs..it sounds like its going to be an integral part of your sound from now on. i always like when people find things that work well for them. it reminds me of when i was figuring things out and how excited i used to get.
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    Ok now you guys have me tempted. My Traynor 80 watt is simply TOO LOUD for most uses. It's a combo though, so I'm not sure whether or not I could connect it or not?
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • gimmesometruth27
    gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 24,241
    keeponrockin wrote:
    Ok now you guys have me tempted. My Traynor 80 watt is simply TOO LOUD for most uses. It's a combo though, so I'm not sure whether or not I could connect it or not?
    sure you can. your amp section has a cable connecting into an input for the speakers of youramp. all you do is unplug that and plug it into the attenuator and run a second cable from the attenuator to that speaker input.
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • reaching hands
    reaching hands Posts: 370
    gimmesometruth27 wrote:
    reaching hands wrote:
    so...i got my mini mass yesterday and used it for rehearsal last night

    its a brilliant unit......managed to crank my amp and not kill anybody!, it really tightened up my tone more than i could imagine and the sustain i got was awesome. it will take some getting used to, as i've been used to being so over loud but hey, i'm on the right track :)

    after a few hours at cranked levels..the unit was only slightly warm, so that bodes very well.

    the treble boost is a great feature too.

    So for half the price of a thd i got a handmade unit from the US and didn't have to pay taxes/custom charges

    UP YOURS THD :D
    LOL at your last sentence.., glad you like the unit. yep, you know it is doing its job when it is a little warm. i use the treble boost on my thd as well, to my ears it gets a little muddy if you knock it down too many dbs..it sounds like its going to be an integral part of your sound from now on. i always like when people find things that work well for them. it reminds me of when i was figuring things out and how excited i used to get.

    yeah its gonna be very integral to my set up...getting my new amp (laney lionheart) tomorrow so it'l be different sounding again...its exciting though and i'm finally feel like i know what i'm talking about! haha
    leeds 26/08/06....electric
    paris 11/09/06.....crushed...but estatic
    wembley 18/06/07.....oh yes

    'listen...you can hear the sustain...you just hold that note and you can go get a bite whilst its still going'

    the legend , nigel tufnell
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    Stupid question.

    My amp is 2 channel, 80 watts, with a master volume. I want the power amp distortion on the dirty channel, but I would also like to maintain the amps clean tone for, well, clean work. Is this possible?
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    Also, is it worth it on a master volume amp? I've heard yes and no...
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • reaching hands
    reaching hands Posts: 370
    keeponrockin wrote:
    Also, is it worth it on a master volume amp? I've heard yes and no...

    i'm not too sure..my laney's are class a and don't have a master volume so at volume two without my minimass i was cutting through a mesa rectifier, drums and bass and that wasn't working the valves at all. it was just too loud and not getting the best out of the power tubes. now i can get some nice tight overdriven crunch without affecting the tone response.

    is the traynor full tube? (im not too up on them?). if it is then you should be able to achieve what you want. my vc30 doesn't start breaking up until vol.9 on the clean so i can still get some nice headroom and then switch the gain on and get some creamy sustain
    leeds 26/08/06....electric
    paris 11/09/06.....crushed...but estatic
    wembley 18/06/07.....oh yes

    'listen...you can hear the sustain...you just hold that note and you can go get a bite whilst its still going'

    the legend , nigel tufnell
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    reaching hands wrote:
    keeponrockin wrote:
    Also, is it worth it on a master volume amp? I've heard yes and no...

    i'm not too sure..my laney's are class a and don't have a master volume so at volume two without my minimass i was cutting through a mesa rectifier, drums and bass and that wasn't working the valves at all. it was just too loud and not getting the best out of the power tubes. now i can get some nice tight overdriven crunch without affecting the tone response.

    is the traynor full tube? (im not too up on them?). if it is then you should be able to achieve what you want. my vc30 doesn't start breaking up until vol.9 on the clean so i can still get some nice headroom and then switch the gain on and get some creamy sustain
    Yeah the Traynor is full tube. My dad just bought a 40 watt version for himself, maybe that'll be a better comprimise (I love having gear I can steal...)
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V

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