@Brandovibe No. But that particular attenuator, the Aracom PRX150-Pro retains whatever dynamics you already have, whatever the volume. For instance, I play my 40 Watt DV Mark Little 40 through the attenuator. When I crank that amp up, it sustains nicely, and that is retained, all the way down to bedroom levels. It's a great investment, and allows me to play even higher wattage amps in any setting.
@GoofyDawg Thanks, but the problem im having is with there being enough sustain in smaller venues where we need to turn down the stage volume, tone is fine.....
@GoofyDawg oh wait, i think i misread what you said. So basically if with the amp cranked to 10, or 11 if you have those, the sustain is good, that same level of sustain will remain as the volume goes down due to attenuation?
@Brandovibe Exactly. Your tone and sustain will be retained at any volume. Of course - and this goes for any attenuator - if you're playing real quite, like at bedroom levels, you won't get speaker cone breakup which often leads to many people thinking their tone has changed. The fundamental tone of the amp will not change at real low volumes. But if you're playing a club and just want to take the edge off, then that won't be a problem.
@MiniMousePoo2 Conceivably, yes. But it's not as if you'd be playing with the amp always fully cranked. I've been playing with the same power tubes in that amp for almost three years now, and I even had them biased pretty hot, and haven't had them wear out. Granted, they're NOS 1959 6V6's so their reliability is very good. Plus, with the Aracom unit's impedance matching, the amp isn't being hit with an impedance load and that could help in saving the tubes as well.
Thank you for the demo it does show the way the attenuators work. A couple of things tho: 1) There is a 3rd component to the total sound of a cranked amp - the speakers. So when you engage an attenuator you are lightening the load to the speaker and it won't react the same way as when it sees the full load, at full volume. 2) There is a view too that attenuators aid wear in the power tubes and other components within the amp - Weber has a good info page on their Website about the issues.
go for some tubes like tungsols or the ruby hg+ or mullards they are very quiet and high gain recommend dougs tubes he can match them in pairs and give you high gain or low gain realy fixed my headroom and I get the destortion at the right sweet spot that way tubes can do what the etenuator does because they can change the distortion timming and tone or gain a JAN 5751 large headroom large plates short plates give you early destortion as well.But tubes are costly but I went that route instead.
@korzon You'd never be able to do what you're suggesting with a non-master volume amp and get the volume of the amp to conversation levels. If you have a Master Volume then you can crank the pre-amp to get distortion. Unfortunately, you'll never get enough current to the power tubes to make them saturate. That's the purpose of an attenuator: It lets you crank both the pre-amp and power sections of your amp to take advantage of both the pre- and power tube distortion tone
@GoofyDawg I do it with the 6505+ so I use short plates in the v1 and they saturate nicely with the amp on 2.5 then when I go to practice I throw back the Jan 5751 and I get the headroom back,But I understand a master vol as well but the problem I dont like is the tone gets screwed up with the atenuator on my marshall master vol so I just use a rockmaster preamp to solve that the atenuators just get a bit mushy I guess you got to buy a top of the line one,the rockmaster was cheaper than the unit
Really helpful video, I wasn't even looking for anything about attenuation., I don't play guitar. But im a music technology student, I already understood attenuation, but not it's purpose on guitar cabs and this is a valuable piece of knowledge that i know will come into play when recording. Cheers!
I have a Crate Blue Voodoo BV120. Its 120 Watts RMS. What attenuator can I use with it? How many watts etc? I am looking at a Marshall PB100 which is 100 watts. Will that work? Do you know any cheaper ones?
@Drop2Flat Absolutely, as long as your combo has 1/4 jacks. To hook up the speaker to the attenuator, you'll have to get a female/female adapter to connect your combo's speaker wire to the speaker wire from the attenuator. If your speaker is hardwired to your amp, you'd have to have an amp tech install a 1/4 jack on your amp.
hmmm...I have to say, I preferred the tone of the pre amp clipping section only rather then both...I find it to sound a bit less "grainy" and a bit more articulate...if I were looking to play a monster solo though, clipping from both stages would prob. be the way to go..
I probably play too many fender Twins :P thoroughly enjoyed your video though...always wanted to see an attenuator in action
Question: What is the difference between the weber mass lite by THD and the regular THD Hot Plate? I use the blue THD with my JCM Marshall 200 "TSL 100 head" and 1960 slant cab and either a Strat or a Les Paul guitar. Is there anything different about this Weber THD and the THD Hot Plate that I am using? Very curious to know. Thanks, Jerry
@eelabob A master volume, while similar, is placed between the preamp and the power amp. It attenuates the signal going into the power amp. An attenuator, on the other hand, is placed after the power amp, thus attenuating the amp output. That way you can crank the master volume and take advantage of both preamp and power amp distortion. A good attenuator also requires several resistors plus a transformer of sorts. That's a lot of extra hardware; a lot more cost.
@eelabob Some do, such as Faustine and I believe Cornford does as well. However, to effectively do attenuation, you need a fairly beefy transformer and a network of resistors, and that will add a lot of extra weight and require much more real estate.
@eelabob Thats why I bought a preamp for my master vol just wish it had an effects loop return because I can change the headroom with the preamp it just saturates more.But make sure you buy a good hotplate or atenuator the cheap ones suck they ruin the tone so bad you cant tell an ibinez from a les paul they get realy mushy and sloppy so get a good one or just get a rockmaster preamp they saturate nicely and realy have a punch at super low vol,I use it for my butcher and vtm and it works great.
@808Monkseal@808Monkseal - It's truly transparent. There will be a perceivable change in tone as you get into high attenuation, but that's expected as your speaker just isn't pushing that much air. But this thing is a god-send that allows you to totally crank your amp - something most people have rarely or never done because it's too loud. If you go over to my site at, just search on "attenuator," and you'll hear my recorded clips. Most of them are recorded at conversation levels. Nice.
My question is regarding the THD hot plate. Im totally new to tube amp, so my question is can i invest in a 50W krank or randall with 2 112 speakers cabs for jamming with my band and use the amp with the hot plate for bedroom practice without having to invest in a solid state which im not a big fan of. Will the THD bring the volume down to bedroom level without killing the tone. If not how about a 20W (wt 2 112 cabs)tube amp.
@codyt5 With 1 Watt being as loud as a jackhammer, even that's too loud for some bedrooms, unless you turn the amp down to an agreeable level then use a dirt pedal to get overdrive. People always talk about a "bedroom level" amp, but unless they go solid state or do as I mentioned above, they're not going to get overdrive.
Does the attenuator also help with sustain at low volumes or just tone? Thanks :)
Brandovibe 1 week ago
@Brandovibe No. But that particular attenuator, the Aracom PRX150-Pro retains whatever dynamics you already have, whatever the volume. For instance, I play my 40 Watt DV Mark Little 40 through the attenuator. When I crank that amp up, it sustains nicely, and that is retained, all the way down to bedroom levels. It's a great investment, and allows me to play even higher wattage amps in any setting.
GoofyDawg 1 week ago
@GoofyDawg Thanks, but the problem im having is with there being enough sustain in smaller venues where we need to turn down the stage volume, tone is fine.....
Brandovibe 1 week ago
@GoofyDawg oh wait, i think i misread what you said. So basically if with the amp cranked to 10, or 11 if you have those, the sustain is good, that same level of sustain will remain as the volume goes down due to attenuation?
Brandovibe 1 week ago
@Brandovibe Exactly. Your tone and sustain will be retained at any volume. Of course - and this goes for any attenuator - if you're playing real quite, like at bedroom levels, you won't get speaker cone breakup which often leads to many people thinking their tone has changed. The fundamental tone of the amp will not change at real low volumes. But if you're playing a club and just want to take the edge off, then that won't be a problem.
GoofyDawg 1 week ago
Does this wear your valves quicker? as they are actually cranked
MiniMousePoo2 2 weeks ago
@MiniMousePoo2 Conceivably, yes. But it's not as if you'd be playing with the amp always fully cranked. I've been playing with the same power tubes in that amp for almost three years now, and I even had them biased pretty hot, and haven't had them wear out. Granted, they're NOS 1959 6V6's so their reliability is very good. Plus, with the Aracom unit's impedance matching, the amp isn't being hit with an impedance load and that could help in saving the tubes as well.
GoofyDawg 2 weeks ago
would a powered or non powered mixer between the head and cabinet work to control the high volume?
clintpoonae 1 month ago
@clintpoonae If you can match impedances, then it might, but I'd be worried about the mixer handling the power.
GoofyDawg 1 month ago
@GoofyDawg maybe a non powered mixer to handle the power?
clintpoonae 1 month ago
Thank you for the demo it does show the way the attenuators work. A couple of things tho: 1) There is a 3rd component to the total sound of a cranked amp - the speakers. So when you engage an attenuator you are lightening the load to the speaker and it won't react the same way as when it sees the full load, at full volume. 2) There is a view too that attenuators aid wear in the power tubes and other components within the amp - Weber has a good info page on their Website about the issues.
OzziePete1 1 month ago
your tone is crap, sorry
warriorxtman 2 months ago
a 15 watt amp requires only an attenuator but the 50 watters sound best with an attenuator AND a master volume.
rw5791 3 months ago
650 bucks? pfftt!
scarekrow9 4 months ago
the three words I hear most from my wife are TURN IT DOWN
Bflatest 5 months ago
in your opinion, how does the ultimate attenuator compare to this one?
manubro1 5 months ago
I like it how at 0:33 you can hear the guy whisper "hey, say thank you"
dancingdays88 6 months ago 4
go for some tubes like tungsols or the ruby hg+ or mullards they are very quiet and high gain recommend dougs tubes he can match them in pairs and give you high gain or low gain realy fixed my headroom and I get the destortion at the right sweet spot that way tubes can do what the etenuator does because they can change the distortion timming and tone or gain a JAN 5751 large headroom large plates short plates give you early destortion as well.But tubes are costly but I went that route instead.
korzon 8 months ago
@korzon You'd never be able to do what you're suggesting with a non-master volume amp and get the volume of the amp to conversation levels. If you have a Master Volume then you can crank the pre-amp to get distortion. Unfortunately, you'll never get enough current to the power tubes to make them saturate. That's the purpose of an attenuator: It lets you crank both the pre-amp and power sections of your amp to take advantage of both the pre- and power tube distortion tone
GoofyDawg 8 months ago
@GoofyDawg I do it with the 6505+ so I use short plates in the v1 and they saturate nicely with the amp on 2.5 then when I go to practice I throw back the Jan 5751 and I get the headroom back,But I understand a master vol as well but the problem I dont like is the tone gets screwed up with the atenuator on my marshall master vol so I just use a rockmaster preamp to solve that the atenuators just get a bit mushy I guess you got to buy a top of the line one,the rockmaster was cheaper than the unit
korzon 8 months ago
@korzon The quality of the attenuator is pretty important. Most attenuators that use a simple L-Pad sound pretty crappy at lower volume levels.
GoofyDawg 8 months ago
Really helpful video, I wasn't even looking for anything about attenuation., I don't play guitar. But im a music technology student, I already understood attenuation, but not it's purpose on guitar cabs and this is a valuable piece of knowledge that i know will come into play when recording. Cheers!
SkunkyMonky420 9 months ago
Hi,
I have a Crate Blue Voodoo BV120. Its 120 Watts RMS. What attenuator can I use with it? How many watts etc? I am looking at a Marshall PB100 which is 100 watts. Will that work? Do you know any cheaper ones?
Cheers
Eraj1979 9 months ago
@Eraj1979 The attenuator that I'm using there, the Aracom PRX150-Pro will safely handle any amp up to 150 Watts.
GoofyDawg 9 months ago
@GoofyDawg Thanks for getting back. So is that a 150 watt attenuator? Can I use a 100 watt one with my 120 watt amp? How much did yours cost?
Eraj1979 9 months ago
Can you use an attenuator with a combo amp?
Drop2Flat 9 months ago
@Drop2Flat - Yes. Thats if it has an effects loop
InterspeciesErotica7 9 months ago
@Drop2Flat Absolutely, as long as your combo has 1/4 jacks. To hook up the speaker to the attenuator, you'll have to get a female/female adapter to connect your combo's speaker wire to the speaker wire from the attenuator. If your speaker is hardwired to your amp, you'd have to have an amp tech install a 1/4 jack on your amp.
GoofyDawg 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
hmmm...I have to say, I preferred the tone of the pre amp clipping section only rather then both...I find it to sound a bit less "grainy" and a bit more articulate...if I were looking to play a monster solo though, clipping from both stages would prob. be the way to go..
I probably play too many fender Twins :P thoroughly enjoyed your video though...always wanted to see an attenuator in action
disissanchy 11 months ago
Comment removed
disissanchy 11 months ago
Comment removed
disissanchy 11 months ago
Question: What is the difference between the weber mass lite by THD and the regular THD Hot Plate? I use the blue THD with my JCM Marshall 200 "TSL 100 head" and 1960 slant cab and either a Strat or a Les Paul guitar. Is there anything different about this Weber THD and the THD Hot Plate that I am using? Very curious to know. Thanks, Jerry
TheGuitarjerry1126 11 months ago
Very cool vid dude... Makes sense !!!
wheeldeal 1 year ago
why don't amp manufactures just build these features into the amp "you would think that's what a master volume should do , i know it doesn't "
eelabob 1 year ago
@eelabob A master volume, while similar, is placed between the preamp and the power amp. It attenuates the signal going into the power amp. An attenuator, on the other hand, is placed after the power amp, thus attenuating the amp output. That way you can crank the master volume and take advantage of both preamp and power amp distortion. A good attenuator also requires several resistors plus a transformer of sorts. That's a lot of extra hardware; a lot more cost.
GoofyDawg 1 year ago
@eelabob Some do, such as Faustine and I believe Cornford does as well. However, to effectively do attenuation, you need a fairly beefy transformer and a network of resistors, and that will add a lot of extra weight and require much more real estate.
GoofyDawg 9 months ago
@eelabob Thats why I bought a preamp for my master vol just wish it had an effects loop return because I can change the headroom with the preamp it just saturates more.But make sure you buy a good hotplate or atenuator the cheap ones suck they ruin the tone so bad you cant tell an ibinez from a les paul they get realy mushy and sloppy so get a good one or just get a rockmaster preamp they saturate nicely and realy have a punch at super low vol,I use it for my butcher and vtm and it works great.
korzon 8 months ago
@korzon cheers i'll check it out
eelabob 8 months ago
I was thinking about getting myself one of these, but what affect on the tone does it have? Just curious. Thanks in advance.
808Monkseal 1 year ago
@808Monkseal @808Monkseal - It's truly transparent. There will be a perceivable change in tone as you get into high attenuation, but that's expected as your speaker just isn't pushing that much air. But this thing is a god-send that allows you to totally crank your amp - something most people have rarely or never done because it's too loud. If you go over to my site at, just search on "attenuator," and you'll hear my recorded clips. Most of them are recorded at conversation levels. Nice.
GoofyDawg 1 year ago
My question is regarding the THD hot plate. Im totally new to tube amp, so my question is can i invest in a 50W krank or randall with 2 112 speakers cabs for jamming with my band and use the amp with the hot plate for bedroom practice without having to invest in a solid state which im not a big fan of. Will the THD bring the volume down to bedroom level without killing the tone. If not how about a 20W (wt 2 112 cabs)tube amp.
TerrorBlade84 1 year ago
I also have a PRX150-pro but i kicked out the bitch anyway!!
pleximanic 1 year ago
@pleximanic HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
GoofyDawg 1 year ago
Haha nice intro! Pretty much sums up the need for a "bedroom level volume" amp in the household.
codyt5 1 year ago
@codyt5 With 1 Watt being as loud as a jackhammer, even that's too loud for some bedrooms, unless you turn the amp down to an agreeable level then use a dirt pedal to get overdrive. People always talk about a "bedroom level" amp, but unless they go solid state or do as I mentioned above, they're not going to get overdrive.
GoofyDawg 1 year ago
How much is it??
niko5469 1 year ago