attenuator

[boost]

There have been rumors going around in some circles of individuals that I am too loud. In the past, I would silence these false accusations with firings, incarceration, public humiliation, and/or possible death. This is a new day and age and I am attempting to change my ways as it has become increasing hard to dispose of the bodies and cover tracks.

The amps I am attempting to attenuate:

Ceriatone Expression (Trainwreck Express clone - 35 watt EL34's)
Budda Suprdrive 80 (80 watss - 6L6's)

I really only need to knock down a few Dbs off for live playing. I'm not planning on any 'bedroom' levels here. I have a modeller on the way for home use. Just need to take the levels down a bit live.

I like the features of the Bad Cat Unleash even though I may not use all them. The idea of this as a backup amp (with a MIAB) is also appealing. The Rockcrusher seems to get good reviews also. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg either. Will something cheaper like an Airbrake, Weber MASS, etc. still retain your sound at just a few clicks down? Again, not looking to go any further than that.

What have you guys used?

 

[AndyK]

I've used many of them, and can say the Airbrake is the best at retaining tone, without breaking the bank (they go for $200 used).

But, if you want a few DB reduction, look at those Recycled Sound Power Plug attenuators!

 

[TrueTone500]

Turn the MV down?

 

[boost]

Turn the MV down?

The MV sweet spots on both these amps is quite loud. Turning it down changes the tone, in a bad way. I also want to experiment with the MV out of the circuit with the TW clone.

 

[TrueTone500]

Turn the MV down?

The MV sweet spots on both these amps is quite loud. Turning it down changes the tone, in a bad way. I also want to experiment with the MV out of the circuit with the TW clone.

Just doesn't seem like there's any way around the volume = tone thing. My Guytron GT20 has a built-in step-down attenuator which is on-par with most available component devices. Using a low-watt amplifier combined with re-amping is an acceptable solution. YMMV...

 

[polaris20]

Turn the MV down?

The MV sweet spots on both these amps is quite loud. Turning it down changes the tone, in a bad way. I also want to experiment with the MV out of the circuit with the TW clone.

That's what I've experienced too, in the past. Some amps either have a high sweet spot, or they have a shitty MV knob taper, or both. In these cases, a good attenuator is still really handy.

 

[carlygtr]

Love the Rivera Rockcrusher. Been using it with my Landry and it takes that "too loud" edge off

 

[gtrwun]

I have a Weber Mass and to me the best part of that unit is the line out. I've used it to slave an amp into a power amp to tame the volume and honestly, doing this sounds light years beyond what any attenuator can accomplish in my opinion. So you would go ....guitar/TW clone/speaker out/Mass/Line out/power amp input/Speaker cab. You can crank the TW as much as you want to get your sweet spot and control the overall volume with your power amp.Your still getting the power tubes into the equation this way as your tapping in after the power section of the TW. The options are many. You can introduce effects into a non-effects loop amp this way and also run stereo or WDW if you feel. If all this is too much work, or hassle, yeah the Mass works OK at taking the edge off a few DB's, but It always seems to change the feel and tone too much for me to use it in that way.

 

[rupe]

I use an Alex with my Trainwreck Express (JM) and it does a great job (better than any others I've tried including Power Brake, Hot Plate, Air Brake, Weber, and Ultimate), although I'm not a big fan of attenuation with that amp overall...it cuts down on the interactive nature between guitar and amp, which is driven in part by volume. I've never played an Express clone so I can't say much about that, except that an Express doesn't have a master volume so yours wouldn't be an exact clone.

That said, I've preferred the Alex over those others with all of the amps that I've tried it with, including a 1959RR, Marsha, and Chieftain. It's low on features (it does have a line out though) but high on performance and relatively cheap.

 

[ronmail65]

Turn the MV down?

The MV sweet spots on both these amps is quite loud. Turning it down changes the tone, in a bad way. I also want to experiment with the MV out of the circuit with the TW clone.

It's about the sound of the band as a whole -- not full optimization of your tone. Just turn down.

Or, if your amps have series FX loops, then put a volume pedal through the loop and govern your overall volume with the pedal (it's fairly transparent). The attenuator will color your tone and modify the character of your gain. Plus these are MV amps -- so why attenuate?

 

[gtrwun]

^^^^ the Trainwreck is not a master volume amp as Rupe stated. Sounds like this guys clone is not an exact clone. I had an Express clone at one time and I hated the way that circuit sounded with any kind of attenuation. Just not a good combo.

 

[TrueTone500]

I had an Express clone at one time and I hated the way that circuit sounded with any kind of attenuation...

Same experience I had when using my Rivera RC with my AC30. I tried several attenuators with that amp, and every one of them killed its character VOX tone? One the other hand, the RC worked incredibly well with my MV (RK100) amp.

 

[boost]

Thanks for the replies. the TW clone does have a MV and I know this was not in the original circuit and does change the character of the amp. I want to remove this to get it closer to what the original amp was. Having said that, the sweet spot on this amp will still be too loud and need some sort of attenuation. No way your going to use this live in a club without one.

The Budda I'm not so worried about as it may be on the block in favor of some sort a JMP Marshall or similar clone, but I wouldn't mind trying the attenuator out on it to see what it can do.

I know all of them will change the tone somehow and you are not pushing as much air. I get that. The Rockcrusher and Bad Cat do things differently, but are more affordable than an Ironman or Aracom. People say the Rockcrusher retains tone very good and the Bad Cat re-amps so that has me intrigued as well.