I think it's attenuater time

[Lydian]

I've got about $150 bucks I can get away with right now. '68 pro reverb AA165. Time to make those tubes scream I do believe. The pedals just don't cut it, I know the attenuater will kill the sound a bit as they say, but I still feel that 'roaring' amp sound will be represented. 50watt weber mini mass attenuater looks to be the prime candidate thus far. Any suggestions before I commit? You guys rock!

P.s. I plugs strat straight to amp no effects, maybe a wah if and when I need to cut some heads.

Cheers,
Dalton

[Lydian]

Wish me luck, I bought one. I'll post a review if I feel there isn't something already out there to say about it.

[olddawg]

I love mine. Spend the extra $20 and get the foot switchable option. Then you can use it as a lead boost. The Mini Mass doesn't color your tone much if you don't squash it too much and it also has a 3 position treble compensation switch. I haven't had a lot of luck with the DI out. I always get a ground loop him. But I haven't used active isolation.

[riz]

I have the bigger Mass 150. I like it because it has separate Bass and Treble controls on the attenuated output. I do squash the amp's output most of the way down, most of the time, and I find that being able to fine tune the Treble control really helps me find the sweet spot at very low volumes. Wouldn't be without it at this point--in fact I have two!!

[Riffraff]

That's encouraging to hear about the Mass 150. I have a 16 ohm THD Hot Plate and a Minimass 50. The Minimass 50 is very cool with my small amps and the Hot Plate was always outstanding with my Marshalls. I recently added a YBA-1 to my collection which needs a 8 ohm load. I've been using my Hot Plate and it sounds great but it's not 8 ohm and I really want to get the right attenuator for this.....and then probably sell the HP.

[Lydian]

There is a tone compensation needed when attenuated, nothing the tone stack can't handle on my Pro Reverb. This is far better tone than any pedal ive ever tried. Plus when I use the wah pedal now, the tone is sweet as can be. Cranked unattenuated I used a 17mm RCA black plate, however when attenuated the vintage mullard short plate sounds better in V2. Helps focus the low end. I'm very happy so far.

[Jammin'John]

Right Size Amp

I try to bring an amp to a gig that I can turn up.
That said,I have attenuators on several of my amps. If I find that the amp is too loud for the room I attenuate a little.
The next time I play that room I bring a smaller amp.
Those of you who attenuate a lot are playing an amp that's too big for the gig and you are beating the hell out of said amp.
I don't attenuate more than 3 or 4 db.

JJ

[riz]

JJ--Damn right I'm beating the hell out of the amp! And you are too, you're just using the output power (granted, less of it=smaller amp) to move the speaker more and make less heat than me. Dimed is dimed, and opinions about whether or not using an attenuator or not is harder on a dimed amp are moot to me. I have tinnitus and don't currently gig, but I still love to rock out by myself and enjoy my amp collection, which means low volume. So thanks, point taken, I'll play whatever amp I want. Maybe if I was gigging I'd do more like you. Also, maybe not everyone interested in an attenuator has more than one amp...

Riffraff--yeah I use it with 8 ohm loads mostly. In fact usually with a Deluxe du jour. Works great even with the knobs way down.

Lydian--glad you're enjoying it. I know the feeling!

[Jammin'John]

Yes,I am giging but I don't NEED to dime my amp to get off. You feel that you need to trash your amp. That's cool. Enjoy.
I care more about my amps health than you do apparently. I take care of them. They give me inspiration.


JJ

[pdf64]

A well designed guitar amp will be able to accommodate being overdriven; components may or may not be more stressed when overdriven than at idle, eg depending on the class of operation of the circuit they are associated with.
The user of such an amp would be wrong headed to think that by overdriving it, they are abusing it.
The only amp that won't fail is one that won't be used.

[olddawg]

I gig a lot. Unless I'm outdoors I try to keep the stage volume about the same for every gig. The drummer unmiked is usually what determines stage volume in most situations. (Or an irritable sound man) The lower the stage volume the better the vocals in most cases. I'm usually miked anyway if only for balance in the room or presence in the monitors. As I have said before, attenuators are good to take the edge off so you can hit your sweet spot in most venues. I find in most cases a 20 or 30 watt amp is all you need. (Although I have played a lot of gigs with a VJ dimed and had the soundguy freak out at the volume so go figure?) It depends on your style and genre, but to me not pushing your amp is like driving a muscle car at idle in 1st gear. Pedal and modeler guys may have a different opinion. It's all good. Whatever floats your boat.

[Lydian]

My only amp is a 40watt pro reverb 68- AA165. I also have a 40w Blues deluxe reissue at my disposal(drummer's), however it doesn't even come close to the tone produced by my Pro. Speakers, tubes, circuitry, I'm sure there are many reasons.

A smaller amp is on my wish list for sure. However I don't want any particle board crap, for lack of better words. I'll wait till I have 800 or so to get something great and hand wired. Maybe it's because I'm young and aggressive when I play, but I've never heard anything that sounds as good as a tube amp cranked. So big or small, I'll probably be pushing that sucker towards the limits. Robin trower, jimi Hendrix, Jeff beck quickly come to mind

I'm not worried about lowering the lifespan of output tubes a.k.a high octane fuel for this analogy. So I presume the next issue would be the output transformer to worry about, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm fairly certain the OT's were 'overbuilt' during this fender era and capable of being pushed throughout the full spectrum of the volume knob.

[Chuck H]

If I find that the amp is too loud for the room I attenuate a little.
The next time I play that room I bring a smaller amp.

This expressly implies that you are overdriving your amps because a clean tone that is too loud may simply be turned down.

Those of you who attenuate a lot are playing an amp that's too big for the gig and you are beating the hell out of said amp.

A bigger amp set up for an overdrive tone and then attenuated does no more damage than a smaller amp set for the same level of overdrive that is not attenuated. I think your implication is that attenuators are bad for amplifiers? What else could you be saying? If both amps are overdriving at the same level, why would one amp be damaged more than the other?

Yes,I am giging but I don't NEED to dime my amp to get off.

Same issue though... If one DOES dime their amp, beat the hell out of it as it were, are you saying that a bigger amp dimed and used through an attenuator is being damaged more than a smaller amp that is dimed into it's own speaker?

Oh yeah. You know where this is going.

[Justin Thomas]

I thought a dimed amp is a dimed amp is a dimed amp, no matter what. But I'd rather have a speaker attached... Funsies! A super Twin isn't THAT loud.

It's odd - the "old" people are the ones telling me to turn my amp up louder, because they want the guitar or bass I'm playing to "stand out." They know what definition is, and it's the "old" people (who grew up listening to music that was MOVING SOGNIFICANT VOLUMES OF AIR) who like it loud. Everyone in the room under 20 says it's too loud, walking around with fingers in ears. I guess those earbuds aren't as rockin as you thought they were, huh? Darn kids and their wussy pansy muzak. Even the young metalheads complain...

Justin

[Jammin'John]

I guess you're not understanding. I'm NOT arguing with you. You are somehow misinterpreting what I'm saying.
It's very easy to beat your amp with the attenuator.
That's what I'm saying.
You don't realize how far you are pushing it.

If I dime my amp I realize how far I'm pushing it because it's very loud.
BECAUSE it's very loud I can hear if I'm hurting something and if I do hear something bad I find out why it's making a bad sound BEFORE I break it.
If I'm heavily attenuated I can't hear those sounds AND I can't make good music if it's HEAVILY attenuated because it's VERY COMPRESSED.

I like dynamics.
I don't use a compressor and I don't heavily attenuate.
If I use the attenuator at all I only scrub off 4 db at most.

I totally agree that if I dime my amp and you dime your very same amp that we will be doing the same damage.

HERE's THE DIFFERENCE.
I am not dimming my amp and just beating on it.
I am backing the guitars volume down so that I can get different TIMBRES and work the dynamics.
Dynamics,getting loud and less loud,and quiet are what make good music.
Only playing your amp wide open,not so much.

"Same issue though... If one DOES dime their amp, beat the hell out of it as it were, are you saying that a bigger amp dimed and used through an attenuator is being damaged more than a smaller amp that is dimed into it's own speaker?"

NO,I'm NOT saying that. Honest to freakin' god I'm not.

JJ