Attenuator Recommendation?

[YMI5150?]

Yep. Grab a power brake and do the one wire mod. Search the forum and you'll find it.

[Capt Vemo]

Yep. Grab a power brake and do the one wire mod. Search the forum and you'll find it.

Ive just been hearing to much negetive crap about the one wire mod. It really effects the tone and responsiveness of a plexi badly. So far all the clips Ive heard it makes it sound more like a modern late 80s early 90s amp. And thats not what Im going for at all. Im pretty darn close to that little extra gain I want and once I get my head back this week with the one minor tweak he did to it. I may be more than happy and not even want a powerbrake or any mods. Ive only heard one guy that got the one wire mod down to where it dont really affect the tone much.

[908ssp]

what he's saying is the Hot Plate is not well suited to attenuate all the way down to bedroom levels. sucks tone. I can attest to this.

Ahh ok stay away from Hot Plates. What about Marshalls power brakes are they any good and do they affect the tone much when dropping it donw to bedroom volumes? Ive seen them for around 250.00 Im still not quite satisfied with my gain and sustain at bedroom volumes. I dont really want to modify may head if I dont have to and would rather stay away from distortion pedals. Unfortunatly I dont have 500 to 800 to spend on one of the Arcoms Ive also been reading alot that cranking you head on 10. And using a power brake to lower the volume to the speakers. Still means your amp is on 10 and can cause you to go though speakers and various amp parts quicky. Do to them getting so hot anyone experienced this much? I was gonna get a variac and run it at 90 volts like EVH did. But I just got the Tube Amp Book and it said if you love your amp never hook it up to a variac and drop or raise the voltage.

You're getting a lot of bad info. It never hurts an amp to turn down the voltage. The absolute worse that can happen is by turning down is to shorten tube life and many debate it on both sides nobody has proved anything. You don't have to pay $500 to get a good attenuator but there are far more bad attenuators on the market than good ones. The amps were designed to run on 10 and if run at 100 volts will do so long after your dead.

[Capt Vemo]

You're getting a lot of bad info. It never hurts an amp to turn down the voltage. The absolute worse that can happen is by turning down is to shorten tube life and many debate it on both sides nobody has proved anything. You don't have to pay $500 to get a good attenuator but there are far more bad attenuators on the market than good ones. The amps were designed to run on 10 and if run at 100 volts will do so long after your dead.Alex
Marshalls....
http://www.myspace.com/alexsattenuator" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thats basicly what I read in the tube amp book. They said variacs are primarily used by amp builders to gradually raise the voltage until they see how stable the amp is. I dont think I really need one anyway Im sure a good attenuator will be more than enough. And being that its a 50 watt plexi with a MV Im guessing I really dont have to run the amp on 10 anyway get it up to around 7 or 8 on the MV and drop it back off on the powerbrake to bedroom volumes. From what Im reading about the attenuators theres some good ones out there priced decent. But the main thing is the tranparency of them as far as affecting the tone of the speakers. I keep hearing the Aracom is one of the best for that and from the looks of it you would only need the 600 dollar model. The other one just seems to give you a few more ohm options other than that it appears to be exactly the same. And I dont need to be able to go down to 2 or 4 ohms Im always gonna be running 16 or 8ohms.

[Did J]

Yep. Grab a power brake and do the one wire mod. Search the forum and you'll find it.

I did the mod on PB100 that Ralle/Staalhoofd/zeed did and works great, here is the post http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php ... ke#p281593" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

b.

[Capt Vemo]

Yep. Grab a power brake and do the one wire mod. Search the forum and you'll find it.

I did the mod on PB100 that Ralle/Staalhoofd/zeed did and works great, here is the post http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php ... ke#p281593" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

b.

I dont think he meant do the mod on a powerbrake I believe he was talking about my amp. I think Im gonna save up my bucks and get a Aracom and maybe a variac. I really dont wanna go screwin around with mods to the amp I love this thing and would rather not void the lifetime warranty by perfoming mods to it. Ive just heard to many bad things about the one wire mod just ruining the sound of a good plexi. The Aracom seems to be the most transparent out of all the clips Ive heard so I will suck it up and spend the 600+ on the pro model. I dont see any need to spend the 800 on the DAG model.

[Tone Slinger]

Try a Lar/Mar ppimv before you start trying out attenuators.

[SteadyEddie]

I love the Lar/Mar. I haven't tried most attenuators, but it blows my Weber MiniMASS attenuator out of the water. Even at low-low levels, it's better.

[Capt Vemo]

Try a Lar/Mar ppimv before you start trying out attenuators.

I actually have that in my head and it sounds great at bedroom volumes. But its pre amp distortion and not power tube distortion and I would like to get more of the power tube distorion with it. Thats why I want to be able to crank the amp more and use a attenuator.

[Tone Slinger]

Well the ppimv isnt EXACTLY pre amp distortion. It is different sounding than a v1 cascade, like what you would find on a 2204 or 2203 Marshall. A ppimv lets the FULL voltage of the preamp through, so in many ways, it is very similar to what you get from output tube distortion.

This is the thing. If you are playing at a lower volume but want output tube distortion, then an attenuator may not work so well. They can get a flubby type tone and/or a very harsh type response. Half attenuated (which is still LOUDER than you would be able to play, unless you are doing out door shows or BIG clubs) is as much attenuation you are gonna get and still sound good.

The Aracom and the Rivera are better at more attenation I hear though. Maybe try those. The Powerbrake (with the Ralle tweak/mod) sounds excellent, but requires another load to get at lower volume (more attenuation) .


By all means try attenuators. You may like them better. Also, maybe get that 2204 style cascade. That along with a late '60s to early '70's era preamp spec with your ppimv is a very versatile spec, as far as getting lots of classic hard rock distortions in one lone head.

[somethin'else]

+1 and don't forget Alex Attenuator kicks royal ass too.

Do both if you got the scratch. PPIMV and 'tenyater. Then you're covered, find your favorite blend. Lotta possibilities then.

[Capt Vemo]

Well the ppimv isnt EXACTLY pre amp distortion. It is different sounding than a v1 cascade, like what you would find on a 2204 or 2203 Marshall. A ppimv lets the FULL voltage of the preamp through, so in many ways, it is very similar to what you get from output tube distortion.

This is the thing. If you are playing at a lower volume but want output tube distortion, then an attenuator may not work so well. They can get a flubby type tone and/or a very harsh type response. Half attenuated (which is still LOUDER than you would be able to play, unless you are doing out door shows or BIG clubs) is as much attenuation you are gonna get and still sound good.

The Aracom and the Rivera are better at more attenation I hear though. Maybe try those. The Powerbrake (with the Ralle tweak/mod) sounds excellent, but requires another load to get at lower volume (more attenuation) .


By all means try attenuators. You may like them better. Also, maybe get that 2204 style cascade. That along with a late '60s to early '70's era preamp spec with your ppimv is a very versatile spec, as far as getting lots of classic hard rock distortions in one lone head.

Actually I got my head back today and this thing cranks no need for a attenuator. It has the PPIMV the Lar/Mar version in it. And I dont think when Curt makes these he does little tweaks to them that differ slightly from a tradional Marshall. What he feels makes them more musical and gives them abit more balls without having to have a mod in them. I do use a clean boost pedal with it up about half way although its got plenty of gain at bedroom volumes without it. I also use a exciter as far as effect the only pedal I really use is a Vox wah pedal. And when I use that I pretty much use it like Schenker did back in the day. Click it on find a sweet spot and leave it along more to find a certian tone than a wah effect. Im not big on effects or distortion pedals Im pretty much a plug straight into the amp kind of guy. I couldnt be happier with the sound I have now and think I will be saving my money when it comes to a variac or attenuator. If I start playing out again I may get a Aracom attenuator incase I come accross a need for it to avoid driving a sound man crazy turning it up to loud.