"adaptor boxes"

[tonequester]

tonequester here.

Has anybody out there had any experience with the Pro Co DB1, passive direct box, in using it to connect a low power tube amp to a higher output S.S.
amp ? I don't want to screw up the tone of the tube amp any more than I need to. Any other suggestions on this subject are much more than welcome. Thamks in advance for your time and effort. tonequester.

[Chuck H]

I guess it depends on how you plan to hook it all up. The direct box is not a suitable load for any tube amp. Not even a small one. If it's a low power tube amp you can always build a simple circuit to provide a load and a variable ouutput to drive a larger amp. Maybe describe your goal and intentions in more detail.?.

[Steve Conner]

The DI box can be used no problem, provided you also use a dummy load resistor (or the amp's own speaker) in parallel with it. The reason is as Chuck says, the DI box doesn't load the amp, and tube amps have a habit of self-destructing when run without a load, much as your car would if you put it in neutral and put a brick on the gas pedal.

FWIW: I used to record bass parts in the studio like this all the time. I connected my tube amp to a DI box and a load resistor, which was a huge wirewound rheostat that I picked up on Ebay. The feed from the DI box went to the mixing desk. I used a cheap Behringer DI box, don't tell anyone!

If all of this is too complicated for you, the Bad Cat Unleash is an off-the shelf, one-box solution.
http://www.thesignalrocks.com/bad-cat-unleash

[Jag]

I used a cheap Behringer DI box, don't tell anyone!

LOL! Done that!

I'll also add, if you are going to use a dummy load or the amps speaker, the H&K Redbox is my favourite! Products - Redbox Pro - Hughes & Kettner

[tonequester]

tonequester here.

Many thanks guys ! I think that I'm finally getting this "connection" through my thick head, do to the help I've received here. Chuck H. I just finished reading your last post to me, complete with Enzo's chart(much thanks to Enzo), and your excellent explanation about load and signal strength. This kind of information is a great help to me. It saves hours of Googling(an art on it's own) for me, and the price of books that usually assume that I know something are outrageous anymore. I have two "great" books on tube circuits that were supposed to be a good read for a beginner like me, that to this day, 25 years after I bought them are still over my head. One is "An Approach To Audio frequency Amplifier design by the General Electric CO. LTD. of England, and the other is Mullard-Tube Circuits For Audioi Amplifiers. They were $50.00 when i bought them ,and I'll bet they are double that now, if you can still get them. Thanks for the advice on the D.I. boxes Steve. I've noted the Bad cat Unleash and it's "thread"which i will check out. perhaps for a bungler like me the "one stop fits all" approach is the best. With my first estimate up of the cost of my first all tube build, it appears that I will have plenty of time to "bone up" while i save my pennies and dimes. Good tone can be quite expensive ! Glad to make your aquaintance Jag, and thanks for your input on what you prefer to use with a dummy load. The Red Box has been suggested at least three times to
me on this subject before, your recommendation caps it. If I do go with a dummy load on my little experiment, the Red Box sounds like it will do the job bmore than adequately.
Thanks again to all, including Enzo for his chart. Here's hopeing that you all have great days, whether in Glasgow,Scotland., the pacific northwest, or parts unknown., tonequester.

[Chuck H]

That'a a nice "thank you". I want to add that your assesment of the forum is right on with my experiences here. Having someone with proper knowledge interact, read and understand what your asking, then, having assesed your experience level and wording answers and explainations to suit is a very fast way to learn. And this forum is the best at it. I try to help where I can because I think it's important to contribute but I'm not one of the real shiners here. One of my favorite places.