Attenuators. Whose is the shiznit?

[tomteriffic]

A friend of mine has a non master volume Marshall that was built/rebuilt by Gerald Weber. He's coming to realize that an attenuator might be a good idea since he hasn't heard the amp at full song in a decade.

So, who is building the absolute shiznit of attenuators for that sort of thing.? THD? Rivera? Dr Z? Price is not an object.

BTW, it's nominally a 50 watter but has been measured at 90 clean watts....

TIA

[django49]

Someone here posted recently that the Bad Cat Unleash is a great attentuator that has a few other tricks up its sleeve, INCLUDING that ability to "amp up" lower wattage amps. (An attentuator and an "attenuator-in-reverse"). Not the least expensive. MIGHT be the most useful.

I got a call into Greg at BCR and reserved one.

[murkat]

the THD hot plate was made for marshalls,

and for a marshall, they do sound the best.

I have try'd alot of them, always back to the THD... for a Marshall.

[The Shark]

Alex's Attenuator. The best I've tried. You can find info on the web. They look like a cheap kit and work better than anything I've tried. And I've tried a bunch of them. THD was a close second, but washed out quicker. JMHO.

[gorch]

Weber mass are what I love at most.

[Jakeboy]

All I own are NMV amps so attenuators are my friends......I have 2 Weber MASS units that work fine for trimming a few DBS off my Marshall Bluesbreaker and my 18 watt Marshall 1974 clone. I have several size amps so when I want true bedroom volume, I either use my Champ or just throw a pedal in front. I like the looks of the Rivera Rockcrusher attenuator.......but $500 is a lot .......if I had a 50 watt Plexi, i'd use my Weber and pay the hell out of it!

[veatch]

I've used:

* THD

* Dr Z

* Weber MASS

* A few others that are not good enough to remember - all based on resistive load

As said, if yer looking to knock the signal down a lot, all will add color. I think they all get "farty" sounding around -9dB, some sooner. In the -6 - -9dB range, the Dr Z was the most transparent, though i liked the THD quite a bit. The Weber seemed more "musical" - it added a bit of color and compression, but when you dial in the amp with it, i thought it gave the best overall sound and feel.

That all being said, i've sold all of my attenuators off except for one MASS that works, but vibrates due to a problem with the speaker driver. Cost of a new driver was about the same as another unit, so i kept it for a load box. (heh- he said "load"...)

As with all of these things, opinions vary, so trust yer own ears.

[Bobby Marshall]

If I were getting a new one I would look at the Suhr reissue of the Jim Kelley power attenuator. They worked together on the reissues and Suhr has a pretty good reputation for their products. And $750 is reasonable for something that will make any amp usable for stage or home. What good is a prized amp if you cannot turn the volume past 1 or 2?

I own and use a Faustine Phantom for my Mesa Boogies and Marshall. Company is out of business but it works very well. I paid the same for this as the Kelley is priced. These seem to be difficult to find used due to low production and that they work well.

Most people seem to like what they have. I would explain your main application, home vs. stage. I used mine for stage. Again, it works great but I have not been able to find another.

Good hunting.

[FrankieIII]

the THD hot plate was made for marshalls,

and for a marshall, they do sound the best.

I have try'd alot of them, always back to the THD... for a Marshall.

Amen, brotha!

[HoboMan]

I have a Bad Cat Unleash and it's GREAT.

It turns any amps output into 0-100 watts.

It has dual footswitchable volumes and also an effects loop.

I use mine at every gig.

[BCR Greg]

I loved the Hotplate until I got an Unleash. Now there is no going back. Two switchable volumes, and effects loop and the ability to make a tweed Champ annihilate a Marshal 4x12.

NOTHING comes close.

[Jakeboy]

Holy cow on the Unleash!!!!! I gotta get one to use with my tweed Champ and my 5w 60s Custom Kraft 1x12. My tweed Deluxe will also benefit from this. The idea that it can attenuate as well as as re-amp transparently is a game changer! Why aren't we hearing more about these?

[BCR Greg]

Call me.

[RichRS6]

I looked at lots of attenuators and put a deposit on a Faustine Phantom then they went out of business (got the deposit back from my C.C. Co) finally decided not to get one but went for Eminence reignmaker speakers instead which have a "knob" on the back which allows you to reduce the speakers output by 9db's.

According to Eminence thats like turning a 100w amp into a 12w amp.

They make 2 different voiced speakers, British and American and are a good speaker upgrade anyway.

Theres a pretty good demo on Eminences site.

http://www.eminence.com/

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eminence-Reignmaker-FDM-Tone-Adjustable-12-Speaker-/180705473273?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a12e2b2f9

This works better for me as there are less wires/boxes involved less potential "tone sucking" and it was a whole lot cheaper.

They don't reduce the volume to bedroom levels but allow you to get more power tube saturation on stage without drowning out the rest of the band.

[polara]

Wish I'd known about the Bad Cat when I had my AC30. Tried a Weber Mass and it made it quieter but didn't sound much like an AC30 after that. Really dulled it down.

[JES1680]

Haven't tryed the unleash, but have owned,

Dr Z Airbrake

THD

HO / Ultimate

Power Brake

Iron Man

I own 2 Aracom attenuators, they are hands down the best I've ever used, they reatain the feel of the cranked amp, and have the ability to set the input and outuput inpedance separately so you can use any amp with any cab.

Attenuators, (if you use one), are a part of your signal chain and will color your sound. The trick is finding the one that colors it in a pleasant way.

[zorrow]

The Weber MiniMass works marvels. It does color the tone to a bit darker sound (just slightly), but it compensates well with a "Treble" (or something like that) switch that has two steps (3 et 6 dB).

It also accepts 4, 8 & 16 Ohms speakers.

I have one extra around at home, but don't remember if it's 25 or 50W. I can check if you want and will offer you a deal -please PM me if you're interested.

[sixesandsevens]

Someone here posted recently that the Bad Cat Unleash is a great attentuator that has a few other tricks up its sleeve, INCLUDING that ability to "amp up" lower wattage amps. (An attentuator and an "attenuator-in-reverse"). Not the least expensive. MIGHT be the most useful.

I got a call into Greg at BCR and reserved one.

That was probably me. It really is like an amplification leatherman. My personal favorite trick is that it has an FX loop so if your amp doesn't have one... now it does.

Call me.

Wisdom there.