man if i lived in an apt, I would have to rent a place to crank it up, join a band, and just live with playing acoustic at home. I wouldn't be able to stand the volume restriction for playing guitar or just playing music through a stereo. I had some 15 watt amps and cranked them living in a duplex for a short amount of time and the neighbors came over said they couldn't even hear the volume on their tv
I bought an Orange Tiny Terror, at 15watts it's as loud as my 50watt amp.
I bought a book explaining this phenomena. In fact, on average, there is only a 3 decibel gain in volume upon doubling the wattage in an amp.
The more wattage you have in your amp, does necessarily not mean it will have more volume. The amount of gain an amp has, can greatly increase the rated power. Also, speaker efficiency is a huge variable in pertinence to volume levels.
I think i'm in the same situation. Bought an Marshall Class 5. Turned out to be very loud. First i had the Mass 50 but i think that this one damps to much. Now I changed it for the Mass 25. But i'm still waiting for it. Curious how it sounds with this one.
I need an attenuator. I built a "dwarf short scale Strat copy" for my 10 y.o son, and gave him my little 30W amp, asking him not to play too loud. 1st thing he did: turn all knobs to 10, SO, I'm going to cut the balls of that AMP, before I pass my son through the mincing machine.
We don't live in an apartment anymore, we don't have trouble with neighbours. BUT, I have a good TIP. I put it in the next COMMENT ...
When I was living in an apartment, after talking to my neighbours, I found out that the most disturbing frequencies were the BASS ones. I follow the advices that a recording engineer once gave to me :
I cut a piece of plywood (sized like Amp base), made 4 holes (about 2" wide) in the corner, glued it on 1" thick hard foam, glued 4 tennis balls in the holes, and put the amp on top of THAT. That cut most every BASS frequencies that were transmitted to my neighbours through the building walls. COOL
I thought your demo was nicely done. One of the few attenuator demos that I found informative. I am considering either the Weber MiniMass 50 or Mass Lite model. You have a nice little rig. Thanks.
No. A pentode / triode switch is not an attenuator. Pentode / triode operation cannot be adequately explained by me in 500 characters, but a quick Googling could provide you with hours - nay - years of reading about tube amplification concepts.
a pentode triode switch is a switch between the type of operation in the power tubes. one runs a little lower in power, and one runs a little higher. The volume difference is only minorly audible, but the sounds of each individual one are different. pentode is usually a little bit harsher, while triode is usually a little bit warmer. Though it does add to the versatility of the amp, its not like an attenuator. Hope that helps
its hard to tell listening through my crappy computer speakers but is there some tone degradation going on at max amp volume ? I had a power soak attenuator a few years back and I hated what it did to my tone
It is extremely important to note that a "Power Soak" style attenuator applies a purely resistive load, of which Weber says "These attenuators are much like the other attenuators on the market, and provide a less natural sounding tone when heavily attenuated."
A speaker motor attenuator, like a MiniMASS, employs an entirely different concept and execution.
Speaker Motor type attenuators "apply a reactive load on the amp... and provide a much more interactive, natural sound when in use. They affect the tone less than the resistor-based models."
read up at Weber's attenuator page on their website. I can't link it here, but it's easy to find.
Also of note, I was not really crazy about that amp in general --- it did get fizzy and flabby in the higher gain range. I have since sold the amp (and the attenuator along with it).
just to contribute to the discussion, i didn't get Weber attenuators because of the $30-$50 more that they costed compared to bitmo's attenuators.
i understand that they 'sound less natural' but since when have attenuators ever presented a completely transparent representation of the amp's original tone?
an attenuator is an attenuator guys. spending $30-$50 more isn't going to do you leaps and bounds.
in the end, you won't be using the attenuator in a live show. does it really matter then?
@000steelandstone000 the webber has a built in speaker driver that mimics a pushed speaker AND it doesn't care what ohmage you plug it into...show me ANY attenuater that does that?
thx for the video. been thinking about getting a MASS for my BH5 head as well, so nice to see the demo.
I disagree with your assessment about humbuckers with the BH5 though. My LP sounds great through it and ive been happy with the tones from humbucking SGs and 335s as well. Especially with a tubescreamer or bluesdriver in front of the amp.
man if i lived in an apt, I would have to rent a place to crank it up, join a band, and just live with playing acoustic at home. I wouldn't be able to stand the volume restriction for playing guitar or just playing music through a stereo. I had some 15 watt amps and cranked them living in a duplex for a short amount of time and the neighbors came over said they couldn't even hear the volume on their tv
brianendersmusic 4 months ago
I bought an Orange Tiny Terror, at 15watts it's as loud as my 50watt amp.
I bought a book explaining this phenomena. In fact, on average, there is only a 3 decibel gain in volume upon doubling the wattage in an amp.
The more wattage you have in your amp, does necessarily not mean it will have more volume. The amount of gain an amp has, can greatly increase the rated power. Also, speaker efficiency is a huge variable in pertinence to volume levels.
BritaniaRuleAgain 5 months ago
probably the only piece of guitar equipment used to make your guitar quieter. haha nice vid brah
NickMercurio 6 months ago
The mic is bad or that amp sounds like shit. Nothing like a Princeton reverb for practice.
journeyquest1 10 months ago
I think i'm in the same situation. Bought an Marshall Class 5. Turned out to be very loud. First i had the Mass 50 but i think that this one damps to much. Now I changed it for the Mass 25. But i'm still waiting for it. Curious how it sounds with this one.
RoyvanRikken 11 months ago
@RoyvanRikken - likewise I just bought a Brunetti Singleman 16 - it's switchable to 1W output but even that's too loud to turn up!
alexmc69 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
The Dr. Z Brake Lite works well also, in my Epiphone Valve Jr.
Guppy915 1 year ago
Real nice demo.
I need an attenuator. I built a "dwarf short scale Strat copy" for my 10 y.o son, and gave him my little 30W amp, asking him not to play too loud. 1st thing he did: turn all knobs to 10, SO, I'm going to cut the balls of that AMP, before I pass my son through the mincing machine.
We don't live in an apartment anymore, we don't have trouble with neighbours. BUT, I have a good TIP. I put it in the next COMMENT ...
EarthSuburb 1 year ago
When I was living in an apartment, after talking to my neighbours, I found out that the most disturbing frequencies were the BASS ones. I follow the advices that a recording engineer once gave to me :
I cut a piece of plywood (sized like Amp base), made 4 holes (about 2" wide) in the corner, glued it on 1" thick hard foam, glued 4 tennis balls in the holes, and put the amp on top of THAT. That cut most every BASS frequencies that were transmitted to my neighbours through the building walls. COOL
EarthSuburb 1 year ago
Cutting the Wattage should cut the output just a little but it's not going to let you dime the amp at speaking volumes.
smoss469 1 year ago
I thought your demo was nicely done. One of the few attenuator demos that I found informative. I am considering either the Weber MiniMass 50 or Mass Lite model. You have a nice little rig. Thanks.
playthecray 1 year ago
Does the webber affect the tone ??
CypherThanatos 1 year ago
isn't it bad to stack attenuators like that? hate to be negative, and appreciate the demo but ,the breakup your getting is terrible !
HackerGuitarist 1 year ago
Do you still like it? Is it safe?
andy92811 1 year ago
we got ourselves a john mayer fan! nice tone and playing.
Donbon25 1 year ago
What? Doesn't it have a 3/5 watt switch? Isn't that an built-in pentode/triode attenuator? Still confused :-)
BTW i just ordered a MiniMASS 50w because of your vid. Thanks!
usefulcoin 1 year ago
No. A pentode / triode switch is not an attenuator. Pentode / triode operation cannot be adequately explained by me in 500 characters, but a quick Googling could provide you with hours - nay - years of reading about tube amplification concepts.
HotSEXJ 1 year ago
@usefulcoin Wattage doesn't really effect volume much, it's more of headroom.
JimmyPage968 1 year ago
a pentode triode switch is a switch between the type of operation in the power tubes. one runs a little lower in power, and one runs a little higher. The volume difference is only minorly audible, but the sounds of each individual one are different. pentode is usually a little bit harsher, while triode is usually a little bit warmer. Though it does add to the versatility of the amp, its not like an attenuator. Hope that helps
ruffles272 1 year ago
@usefulcoin I have used that amp for over a year now and love it.
the 5/3 watt switch is more of a tonal change than a loudness one.
I prefer the tone of the 3 watt setting. The 3 watt setting does indeed
lower the volume a bit, but quite slight, not like 1/2 or anything.
cheers
rhykko77 1 year ago
doesn't this head already have an attenuator built in? I'm confused...
usefulcoin 1 year ago
Don't be. The Blackheart BH5H does not have any sort of attenuator built in.
HotSEXJ 1 year ago
@HotSEXJ you played seymour duncan demo riff awsome.
21zband 1 year ago
its hard to tell listening through my crappy computer speakers but is there some tone degradation going on at max amp volume ? I had a power soak attenuator a few years back and I hated what it did to my tone
youboobtube100 2 years ago
It is extremely important to note that a "Power Soak" style attenuator applies a purely resistive load, of which Weber says "These attenuators are much like the other attenuators on the market, and provide a less natural sounding tone when heavily attenuated."
A speaker motor attenuator, like a MiniMASS, employs an entirely different concept and execution.
HotSEXJ 2 years ago
Speaker Motor type attenuators "apply a reactive load on the amp... and provide a much more interactive, natural sound when in use. They affect the tone less than the resistor-based models."
read up at Weber's attenuator page on their website. I can't link it here, but it's easy to find.
HotSEXJ 2 years ago
Also of note, I was not really crazy about that amp in general --- it did get fizzy and flabby in the higher gain range. I have since sold the amp (and the attenuator along with it).
HotSEXJ 2 years ago
thanks for the info as I am thinking about picking up a weber mini mass myself but was afarid of the issues i had previously with a power soak
youboobtube100 2 years ago
you're welcome! I did a lot of research before I made a purchase, I'm glad to pass my findings along.
HotSEXJ 2 years ago
just to contribute to the discussion, i didn't get Weber attenuators because of the $30-$50 more that they costed compared to bitmo's attenuators.
i understand that they 'sound less natural' but since when have attenuators ever presented a completely transparent representation of the amp's original tone?
an attenuator is an attenuator guys. spending $30-$50 more isn't going to do you leaps and bounds.
in the end, you won't be using the attenuator in a live show. does it really matter then?
000steelandstone000 2 years ago
@000steelandstone000 the webber has a built in speaker driver that mimics a pushed speaker AND it doesn't care what ohmage you plug it into...show me ANY attenuater that does that?
HackerGuitarist 1 year ago
the cool riff u did on 6:14 sounds very familiar...
from what song was that again? tnx and congratulations for giving the neighbors a good nights sleep hehe
renomtv 2 years ago
That was just a random E chord embellishment - and thanks for watching!
I have since moved out of the apt. and into a house, and am playing a Fender Hot Rod Deville 212 now!
HotSEXJ 2 years ago
thx for the video. been thinking about getting a MASS for my BH5 head as well, so nice to see the demo.
I disagree with your assessment about humbuckers with the BH5 though. My LP sounds great through it and ive been happy with the tones from humbucking SGs and 335s as well. Especially with a tubescreamer or bluesdriver in front of the amp.
bonchula 2 years ago
Good playing! The attenuator works really well...I think I need something like that for the Epi jr. Thanks..see you on SDUGF.
-dave
darnright 2 years ago
@darnright I use one with an epi junior combo. sounds fantastic but doesn't wake the kids. Great bit of kit. Only paid £35 on Ebay for it. A steal
justinwiggy 2 years ago
Blackhearts are cool.
crittoprrr 2 years ago 2