Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

I just toasted my weak ass eBay power soak last night.

Looking for a WEBER MASS 100 or equivalent attenuator. (Thanx JW)

Using on a 100 watt Marshall 1959...

Whatcha got?

What brand was the weak assed one, so I can avoid at all cost?

Hey Scott, sorry to post something a little off topic. I don't have an attenuator.

But I was helping someone on another forum with tubes in his Fender Bandmaster Reverb amp and guess what dude??

http://www.fenderholic.com/schem/bandma ... _schem.gif

2- 6l6's and "ONE" rectifier tube. So anyone who thinks they are only done in pairs would be wrong. When I saw that, I immediately thought of your Marshall. I know your situation was a little different, but it is true that you can find amps with only 1-rec tube.

I seem to recall my old Super Reverb only having one rectifier tube. Believe it or not, I "upgraded" it with a Groove Tubes transistorized rectifier module!

When I sold that amp to good 'ol Cesar Diaz, the mother of all amp techs, he assured me that the solid state rectifier would be the first thing to go.

HJ

I have a 16 ohm THD Hotplate that I used on my 1959SLP. It was essential equipment with that monster! I still use it once in a while with my Vintage Modern for reamping in a wet/dry setup without using the VM's loop. The HP's line out is very handy. I've been thinking about selling it but I hate to part with gear. It's a nice unit, built like a tank. The Weber Mass is a cool unit too. It's nice to have an attenuator with a selectable impedance if you have more amps.

This is the one I cooked..

http://cgi.ebay.com/VOLUME-BOX-ATTENUAT ... 286.c0.m14


The question about the rec tube?

I have no idea..sorry.

I've seen that thing before and have heard about a lot of people that don't know any better ruining their amps with them. WORD TO THE WISE.......that thing is not a true attenuator. It should ONLY be used on line level signals.......NEVER between the head and speaker cabinet. Their marketing it as such is really very irresponsible. When people talk about getting that cranked amp sound they are talking about the preamp AND power amp sections of the amp, this doesn't let you do that. It's nothing more than a volume pot in a box that you can stick in your effects loop. It's no different that using a volume pedal. True attenuators act as a load between the amp and speaker cabinet. They reduce the overall output of your amp. They convert some of the amps output to heat, dropping the volume in the process. They MUST be matched with the output impedance of the amp or the windings in the amps output transformer will overheat and short out. The device in that link (if used correctly) acts like a typical master volume reducing the volume coming from the preamp section before it hits the power amp section of your amp......all you are getting is preamp grind.....just like turning up the amp and turning down the master. NEVER try to hook that up like an attenuator between your tube amp and speaker cabinet because YOU WILL fry your output transformer.

Okay, now that the public service announcement is over....

In your application this would be somewhat useful if you have a 1959SLPX because they have a EFX loop and no MV. How did you have that hooked up that caused it to fry?

I was just using it in the way I thought you were supposed to hook it up with the effects loop and the next thing you know it was just lifeless.

I am glad it was cheap if it was to commit appliance suicide.

"would not buy again"

Capt, I laways hooked up a power soak or my Weber or Hotplate between the amp and the speakers. I know they make some devices that just go in the loop, but Ive never used one or no of anyone who has off the top of my head.

I am sorry, I am foggy about it.

All I know is that I used it the way it's supposed to be used and I found it to be inert.

No power, no noise, nothing...

I am going to get a Marshall PB100 and get it over with.