Attenuator

fretmeister

I thought the Hot Plate was very amp dependent for tone suck.

But the Mini Mass I had was excellent with everything.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

I thought the Hot Plate was very amp dependent for tone suck.

Very much so.

fretmeister said:

But the Mini Mass I had was excellent with everything.

But oddly I found it mediocre with everything.

Just goes to show that it’s most likely user-dependent as well…

I’ve long since lost count of the number of people I’ve heard say that they tried one attenuator with one amp, didn’t like it, and so now think all attenuators suck tone with all amps - it’s really much more complex than that.

NelsonP

bertie said:

NelsonP said:

I've got a thd hot plate. It has bright and deep switches which remove the blanket over the amp thing pretty well.

ditto, but I wouldnt put the hotplate in the "cheap" bracket

  TBH  all the "cheap -er"  attenuators Ive had  [Weber mini mass and a Dr Z brake lite] have been fine

True. You can get them for around £150 second hand though, so they aren't too spendy.

p90fool

relic245 said:

ICBM said:

No, they don’t all suck tone like that. It’s unfortunate that the HB does, and without looking inside one I don’t know why.

I have the hb one and thought it was rather good.

Then again I'm using it to take the edge off rather than tame a beast to be bedroom levels.

I have the Jettenuator (basically the same as the HB one) and it's a very useful tool to have around, although it knocks off a minimum of 3dB as soon as you plug it in and does kill the sparkle on some amps. 

It's not bad with my Marshall Origin, excellent with my Session 5E3-Extra and my JCA 20H, pretty drab with an HRD and truly terrible with a Princeton Reverb. 

fnpt

I suspect they are very dependent on the amp. I usually run my Laney with treble and tone at 3/4 so not much room to adjust to more brightness.

Dave_Mc

fnpt said:

@Dave_Mc My thoughts exactly. I must now resist the idea of entering the rabid hole of attenuators...

LOL

ICBM said:

No, they don’t all suck tone like that. It’s unfortunate that the HB does, and without looking inside one I don’t know why.

It does seem to be a bit amp dependent, too, like some of the other ones mentioned. Though it may just be the output wattage, too... I've got a feeling the ones it sounded better with were 5 watters...

ICBM said:

Just goes to show that it’s most likely user-dependent as well…

I’ve long since lost count of the number of people I’ve heard say that they tried one attenuator with one amp, didn’t like it, and so now think all attenuators suck tone with all amps - it’s really much more complex than that.

That sounds like it'll get expensive very quickly!

(I suspect it's user-dependent, too. It felt like the "feel" was off with the HB one, as well. But again, that was worse with some amps than others...)

Lebarque

While we're on attenuators, which one works best with a 5E3?

ICBM

Lebarque said:

While we're on attenuators, which one works best with a 5E3?

Dr. Z Brake Lite. Stupidly overpriced for what it is, and I seriously doubt it will handle a 45W amp as claimed, but that’s fine with a 5E3.

Lebarque

ICBM said:

Lebarque said:

While we're on attenuators, which one works best with a 5E3?

Dr. Z Brake Lite. Stupidly overpriced for what it is, and I seriously doubt it will handle a 45W amp as claimed, but that’s fine with a 5E3.

Interesting. I had one of those with a Princeton Reverb RI ages ago and didn't rate it with that amp.

nero1701

I've been using an 'Elevenator' https://motomusic.co.uk/products/gas-effects-elevenator-amplifier-attenuator-8-ohm-50-watts

I've used it on a 68 ri princeton and a 65 ri deluxe reverb. Seems to do a nice job. 

ICBM

Lebarque said:

Interesting. I had one of those with a Princeton Reverb RI ages ago and didn't rate it with that amp.

It seems best on amps with no NFB.

There must surely be a decent equivalent that isn’t so wildly overpriced too… although I haven’t looked really.