Opinions on the Weber Mass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SFW
  • Start date Start date
SFW

SFW

Well-known member
Looking for a good attenuator for my 1987. For those of you who have used them, how do you like the Weber mass? I'm looking at either a Mass or the Alex Attenuator. I'm leaning toward the Mass because I can select the impedance. I have an 8 ohm cab now, but plan to get a 16 ohm cab in the future, and really don't want to purchase a second attenuator. Thoughts?
 
What are you trying to do with the attenuator? Ie are you just trying to drop it a few DB, planning to slave, or trying to drop it down significantly?

From what I have read, about any attenuator will knock down a few DBs.

I went with the Alex attenuator and love it. I was surprised how much I had to run it to drop my Masco MA-50 amp. I was going to to get the Rivera rockcrusher, but read that in the studio mode was where it wasn't the greatest, plus I got a great deal on a used Alex Attenuator.
 
You can get by with a hotplate but it sucks below the first two notches for the most part... why not the new jet city?
 
I have a Mini-mass and it works pretty much as advertised. As you dial off volume you lose some highs, but mine has a switch to boost highs to balance things back out.

The Rock Crusher is pretty cool, Alex and Ultimate attenuators, but don't overlook the BadCat unleash. It can act as attenuator, add a loop, or reamp for more power.
 
My Alex was significantly better than the Weber in my opinion.
 
Buckeyedog":86nkpfi3 said:
My Alex was significantly better than the Weber in my opinion.
Click to expand...


Yes, but is the Alex worth twice the price of the Weber? This past weekend when I saw Tom Kiefer, and he was using the Weber and his tone was outstanding. I was strongly considering the Alex until he sent me a price quote for the unit. It is more than double the price of the Weber unit that I am looking at. Just makes me wonder...

As far as use... I would like to be able to actually be in the same room as my 1987 and not go deaf...lol! Last night when I fired it up from the first time, I wasn't able to get the volume above 1 before things were falling off the walls in my house. And while I have no intentions of running this thing full bore and using the attenuator to dial it back, I would at least like to get the amp up to where it breathes.
 
SFW":28hmp0jq said:
Buckeyedog":28hmp0jq said:
My Alex was significantly better than the Weber in my opinion.
Click to expand...


Yes, but is the Alex worth twice the price of the Weber? This past weekend when I saw Tom Kiefer, and he was using the Weber and his tone was outstanding. I was strongly considering the Alex until he sent me a price quote for the unit. It is more than double the price of the Weber unit that I am looking at. Just makes me wonder...

As far as use... I would like to be able to actually be in the same room as my 1987 and not go deaf...lol! Last night when I fired it up from the first time, I wasn't able to get the volume above 1 before things were falling off the walls in my house. And while I have no intentions of running this thing full bore and using the attenuator to dial it back, I would at least like to get the amp up to where it breathes.
Click to expand...

I actually felt the difference was worth it. But it was easy to afford at the time as well, so it wasn't as big of an issue for me. I think I may have sold a pedal or two to make up for it.
 
You can find a used Alex attenuator for a little over $300 and I think it's worth the up charge from a weber mass myself.
 
Maybe the yet to be released Friedman Attenuator is a possibility as well?

I own a Tube Amp Doctor Silencer (16ohm version), that I quite like a lot, but I also would prefer a 8/16ohm attenuator to be more flexible. From what I have experienced, a lot attenuators effect the sound badly. Haven't tried the Weber though.
 
I have a Weber Mini Mass. It works. But most of the range it doesn't drop it down too much, except at the highest setting. Perhaps I should have gotten a model that can handle even more watts. Anyways, it sounds good and I don't hear tone loss.
 
I used the Mass with a Splawn quick rod. I didn't like it all. I hated what it did to the sound. Sold it quick and used a volume pedal in the loop. Sounded much better. FWIW that is the only attenuator I ever used.
 
I use a Mass for my rig. It's great because you can dial in low and mid/high on two different knobs to compensate for how the speaker respond at different levels. The tone is maintained through it, and it's got a convenient bypass switch. I used to have a Hot Plate and it ruins your tone, that's why I got into the Mass. Another cool thing about the Mass is it provides a load, and has two speaker jacks. You can plug any two cabinets into those jacks without worrying about impedance, just leave your amp on 8 ohms. Something to note is that there is a sweet spot on most heads, where the level hits the power tubes just right. Find that sweet spot in bypass, leave your amp set there, and use the Mass to control output.
 
I use one for burn ins and it's been reliable for many years, with the exception the pot got scratchy pretty quick. THey line out function on mine, an early one, is totally shit.

No attenuator sounds great at high levels of attenuation and this is no exception, but it's OK for a little bit of taming.
 
The weber mass is good. I had one that I used on my old quickrod and carvin legacy...many of my youtube vids are with the 100watt Mass Lite. I sold it cuz the volume taper on my new quickrod is awesome. But if I owned a loud ass amp, I woulda kept it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top