Guitar Forum by DBZ Guitars

kakos

May 31 2009, 06:34 PM

THIS QUESTION HAS BEEN RESOLVED!!!!!!:)

QUOTE

at the moment ive got a 150 watt amp and then the amp im thinking of getting is a 120 watt

this is for both live (when i find a band) and bedroom use...

i have a big family so if i crank up the volume my parents or siblings have a go at me... i need something to take down the wattage for only bedroom use i was told a Attenuator will help on another forum, no idea how to use them tho, can i get my amp modded so i can have doffrent Wattage settings , like 20,50,120 or some thing, im sure theres a way to do it ...

thanks guys
Kakos

Slanderous666

May 31 2009, 06:46 PM

QUOTE (kakos @ May 31 2009, 08:34 PM)

at the moment ive got a 150 watt amp and then the amp im thinking of getting is a 120 watt

this is for both live (when i find a band) and bedroom use...

i have a big family so if i crank up the volume my parents or siblings have a go at me... i need something to take down the wattage for only bedroom use i was told a Attenuator will help on another forum, no idea how to use them tho, can i get my amp modded so i can have doffrent Wattage settings , like 20,50,120 or some thing, im sure theres a way to do it ...

thanks guys
Kakos

What amp would you be using out of curiosity? Anyways as for attenuators the cheapest ones you can get are weber attenuators which range from 50-150$. As for modding your amp the only mod I know of is a half power mod where you pull the 2 outer power tubes of your amp to get 50% of the wattage. I think it's important to note though that wattage doesn't equal volume. Take a look at this article from premier guitar. You'll notice that 60watts is not 50% the volume of 120 watts of power. Theres only a 3 decibel difference.

http://digital.premierguitar.com/premiergu...906_1/?folio=58

Avenyr

May 31 2009, 08:10 PM

There is no way to mod an amp that I know that does what you want to do. I would not personally recommend Weber attenuators for anything over 100Watts. They are cheap for a reason however. They are cheap made and of pretty unequal quality. They get the job done for low wattages amps but to tame big beasts, it's not the best.

I used to have a Weber Mass III and knew a friend who had a Mini-Mass and we got rid of them for something much better. I'm getting a Faustine Phantom and he got an Ultimate Attenuator.

The very best attenuator is the Faustine Phantom but be ready to pay for it. The Ultimate Attenuator is probably more affordable and easier to find. If you want cheaper, the THD Hot Plate is pretty decent and probably the most popular of them all but really kills your tone when your volume is highly attenuated. Keep in mind that an attenuator is for all tube amps only. If you use one with a Solid State you're going to destroy your amp, attenuator and possibly cabinet.

A good attenuator will allow you to use it as a load which means you can use the device to receive the load of the amplifier and not use the speaker cabinet. You will then be able to use the line out of the attenuator to a console or headphone amplifier and play with headphones silently while your amp is killing at concert levels.

If all you care about is playing at low volume but don't want to pay 300-500$ and up for a good attenuator, you're almost better off using the master volume on the amp as a cheap attenuator will make the amp sound the same or almost and won't be worth it.

VolTatz

Jun 23 2010, 06:22 PM

QUOTE (Slanderous666 @ May 31 2009, 07:46 PM)

What amp would you be using out of curiosity? Anyways as for attenuators the cheapest ones you can get are weber attenuators which range from 50-150$. As for modding your amp the only mod I know of is a half power mod where you pull the 2 outer power tubes of your amp to get 50% of the wattage. I think it's important to note though that wattage doesn't equal volume. Take a look at this article from premier guitar. You'll notice that 60watts is not 50% the volume of 120 watts of power. Theres only a 3 decibel difference.

http://digital.premierguitar.com/premiergu...906_1/?folio=58

QUOTE

Avenyr Posted May 31 2009, 09:10 PM
There is no way to mod an amp that I know that does what you want to do. I would not personally recommend Weber attenuators for anything over 100Watts. They are cheap for a reason however. They are cheap made and of pretty unequal quality. They get the job done for low wattages amps but to tame big beasts, it's not the best.

I used to have a Weber Mass III and knew a friend who had a Mini-Mass and we got rid of them for something much better. I'm getting a Faustine Phantom and he got an Ultimate Attenuator.

The very best attenuator is the Faustine Phantom but be ready to pay for it. The Ultimate Attenuator is probably more affordable and easier to find. If you want cheaper, the THD Hot Plate is pretty decent and probably the most popular of them all but really kills your tone when your volume is highly attenuated. Keep in mind that an attenuator is for all tube amps only. If you use one with a Solid State you're going to destroy your amp, attenuator and possibly cabinet.

A good attenuator will allow you to use it as a load which means you can use the device to receive the load of the amplifier and not use the speaker cabinet. You will then be able to use the line out of the attenuator to a console or headphone amplifier and play with headphones silently while your amp is killing at concert levels.

If all you care about is playing at low volume but don't want to pay 300-500$ and up for a good attenuator, you're almost better off using the master volume on the amp as a cheap attenuator will make the amp sound the same or almost and won't be worth it.

Very well said.... though you need to take into account the following...

You can built an attenuator that takes you to even - 32 db ( got proof for that ) .... There are many kinds of attenuators and the important thing in building ( or selecting which one to buy ) is first of all to know all kinds of circuits and technologies behind attenuators ( there are 6 to my knowledge ) and how they work ( obviously ) .... A friend of mine has been asking me to built him an attenuator for a long time now ( around 6 months ago or so ) ... So since there are people here interested with attenuators.... I'll start the project right away...

Also one tip.... an attenuator ( if you buy one ) must not only attenuate the signal dropping it to -3db or -35 db but also keep the tone perfect.. and also when you built an attenuator ( or buy one ) you need to understand that the specific attenuator you are builting ( or buying ) can only work ( most of them to my knowledge ) in only a specific wattage... If you go beyond that ... you will probably burn a tube or the attenuator ( since some of them are getting very hot during operation )

Best Regards,
VolTatz

kakos

Jun 23 2010, 07:01 PM

wow this thread is over a year old, i thought it got wiped ...

on topic:

that november i did get a THD hotplate as a birthday present, it destroyed my tone, so i went back to head-cab and keeping the volume below 1 :/ ....

im currently only using it as a load box for recording now ... cant wait to get a palmer PDI-03 then i can get rid of the THD and have a good tone for recording as well :)

VolTatz

Jun 23 2010, 07:32 PM

QUOTE (kakos @ Jun 23 2010, 08:01 PM)

wow this thread is over a year old, i thought it got wiped ...

on topic:

that november i did get a THD hotplate as a birthday present, it destroyed my tone, so i went back to head-cab and keeping the volume below 1 :/ ....

im currently only using it as a load box for recording now ... cant wait to get a palmer PDI-03 then i can get rid of the THD and have a good tone for recording as well :)

wow ! I really need to start to look to the date first before posting...damn!

By the way one of the best attenuators out there ( to my knowledge ) is the faustine phantom

Cheers,
VolTatz

JayOhh

Jun 24 2010, 06:15 AM

QUOTE (kakos @ May 31 2009, 06:34 PM)

at the moment ive got a 150 watt amp and then the amp im thinking of getting is a 120 watt

this is for both live (when i find a band) and bedroom use...

i have a big family so if i crank up the volume my parents or siblings have a go at me... i need something to take down the wattage for only bedroom use i was told a Attenuator will help on another forum, no idea how to use them tho, can i get my amp modded so i can have doffrent Wattage settings , like 20,50,120 or some thing, im sure theres a way to do it ...

thanks guys
Kakos

A little off topic, and looks like you don't need help anymore. But for everybody else struggeling with too loud tubeamps:

I live in an apartmentbuilding, so can't make that much noise while practicing at home. I mainly use software and my Mac when playing, but I wanted that sweet Marshall tube-sound, so I got myself the Marshall Class 5 a couple of weeks ago. 5 watt class A tube combo. Its a one channel amp so to get that crunch Im after you have to dime it, but that would be ok since it's only 5 watts ( I thought ). Damn was I worng... This thing can rip the pictures off the wall, so Im still playing with the volumeknob under 2.

Bottom line, low wattage doesn't really mean low volumes. But still keeping the amp ;) Sweet as hell even on low volumes, but no gain/crunch/distortion. Use it for funk/blues with my Les Pauls. For the heavier stuff, my DBZ will have to cope with GuitarRig4...