Lazy J 20 owners - using one at home?

FreddieVanHalen

Wonder if @Wazmeister or @Gassage may be able to help.

I've been using my Lazy J into a loadbox + impulses but I've been thinking about unplugging it from all that stuff and just playing through it's own speaker.

Problem is, mine's pretty f. loud when the volume's cranked, even with the VAC turned fully down.

How do you use yours? Clean + pedals?

thomasross20

Can you get power scaling fitted to it for home levels?

FreddieVanHalen

Hi @thomasross20 it's a good shout but that's what the VAC is, but even with that turned all the way down the amp is still too loud to use in a flat when the volume controls are cranked.

First world problems!

RaymondLin

thomasross20 said:

Can you get power scaling fitted to it for home levels?

At its lowest setting it is still rated at 5W, and 5W cranked is loud enough to be heard a few houses down, easily. 

FreddieVanHalen

thomasross20 said:

Can you get power scaling fitted to it for home levels?

At its lowest setting it is still rated at 5W, and 5W cranked is loud enough to be heard a few houses down, easily.

My neighbours concur!

thomasross20

5W defo LOUD and that's why I never went for the Brunetti Pleximan but power scaling can take you down to 0.1W and lower...?

FreddieVanHalen

thomasross20 said:

5W defo LOUD and that's why I never went for the Brunetti Pleximan but power scaling can take you down to 0.1W and lower...?

I know other amps have power scaling like that but don't know if the J is built that way - maybe it's too much of a compromise for the circuit in this one, dunno...I am not an expert in these things.

I will give Jesse a call over the next few days to get this thoughts but just wondered how other owners were using them.

I mean, I can use the loadbox and I'm enjoying it with a drive pedal this evening but it would be nice to get amp drive at more manageable levels without using the impulse approach...

fretfinder

Not sure @Gassage will be able to help - I believe he now uses a Lazy J40 at home, and that doesn't come with VAC!

FreddieVanHalen

fretfinder said:

Not sure @Gassage will be able to help - I believe he now uses a Lazy J40 at home, and that doesn't come with VAC!

Aha! Yeah, he's obviously got a different set of problems/priorities to me then :-)

Wazmeister

Me...

Plug in Normal channel
Strat
Tone at 'noon'
Vol Normal channel = 10 o clock
Bright vol - start full up and lower till you hit sweet spot (10 o clock it was earlier when i played)
VAC 8-9 o clock

I think...

FreddieVanHalen

Thanks @Wazmeister just tried that, gives me a nice pushed clean at "punchy" home volume levels. I like it! Would also be good to be able push it harder though for the Neil Young in meltdown kind of sounds too, so I'll have a chat with Jesse. The load box and sims might well have been the best solution to get that in a flat.

crunchman

You might be better off with the "pushed clean" and then use a decent pedal for drive.  That's how I tend to set mine anyway - at home or playing out. Those pushed cleans are what makes the Lazy J so special for me.

FreddieVanHalen

Thanks @crunchman yep, they do sound great. Will give me a chance to experiment a bit more with drive pedals, try and resist buying a cruiser, etc, etc :-)

Moe_Zambeek

Neil Young meltdown at low volume, you say? Buy yourself an Audio Kitchen The Big Trees and use it in amp mode with the speaker in the J20. 2.5 watts of fat fuzzy overdrive if you want it...

hotpickups

FreddieVanHalen said:

Thanks @crunchman yep, they do sound great. Will give me a chance to experiment a bit more with drive pedals, try and resist buying a cruiser, etc, etc :-)

You can't have a J20 without owning a cruiser as well lol

FreddieVanHalen

Moe_Zambeek said:

Neil Young meltdown at low volume, you say? Buy yourself an Audio Kitchen The Big Trees and use it in amp mode with the speaker in the J20. 2.5 watts of fat fuzzy overdrive if you want it...

hotpickups said:

FreddieVanHalen said:

Thanks @crunchman yep, they do sound great. Will give me a chance to experiment a bit more with drive pedals, try and resist buying a cruiser, etc, etc :-)

You can't have a J20 without owning a cruiser as well lol

Oh god there's a grand more than I've got right now, right there  :-)

Would love to try both of those, I guess the Cruiser is well documented but I'd never heard of The Big Trees....interesting, thanks for the pointer...

crunchman

I ended up selling my Cruiser.  It's a great pedal but it has no eq.  I would have liked to be able to dial out a little bit of high end.

ThePrettyDamned

Amt do a very clever load box that can attenuate a signal. So long as you pulled the VAC down to 5w or so, it should handle it and reduce output to the speaker to about 10 percent. 

If I understand it right. 

http://amtelectronics.com/new/amt-power-eater-pe-15-load-box/

ThePrettyDamned

There is a Koch one but I'm not sure if it's reactive - if not, it may not sound as good and be flatter... But if you're after a sonic meltdown it may do the trick. Again, I know nothing about it but I'm considering one. 

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/attenuator-loadbox/koch-db60-h-dummybox-home?gclid=CjwKEAjw5cG8BRDQj_CNh9nwxTUSJAAHdX3fXxTNxDmnlZK9ZFOlpzP8lP6Z2yUIJg02vtWg5dW8LhoChLzw_wcB

FreddieVanHalen

@ThePrettyDamned appreciate the heads up on the AMT boxes.

I do already have a couple of decent attenuators, though the problem with using them with the Lazy J is that the speaker cable in there has been cut to exactly the right length to reach the socket on the amp and no more, so it's impossible to connect it directly to a box outside of the amp.

I could look for some kind of connector socket/adaptor I suppose so that I could extend it....that would enable me to run the J into its own speaker through an attenuator....

ThePrettyDamned

You'd run one cable to the load box which could be behind the amp, then the stock cable from there. Maybe. 

I'm not sure if it would sound good though. Some amps don't like attenuators much. But worth a look in.