Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: indysmith on September 11, 2005, 05:12:20 PM
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well i've finally stopped kidding myself that i can play loud all the time. neighbours, parents, grandparents, friends, brothers, have all complained its too loud (in fact everyone who's heard it except my band).
How much should i pay for a 2nd hand 8 ohm hot plate. they're so expensive for what they are, its just like paying £200+ for another mastervolume. do you think they're worth it. i'm quite impressed that it has built in noise reduction though, i've gotta say, if i got a hot plate, it'd save me buying a few more other pedals aswell.
Also, i don't suppose it'd be an easy job to build your own would it? and it'd probably be rather dangerous too, but, techy folk, if i'm wrong, please tell me so, and tell me how!!!
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I've been using a hotplate for the last 9 - 12 months - at home, rehearsals and live. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you want to have a listen, check out my clips, they were all recorded in my spare bedroom using the hotplate meaning I didn't need any pedals to get a nice overdriven tone.
No idea what they go for second hand and wouldn't have the first clue about building one.
I should mention it's not worth thinking about unless you have a valve amp.
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https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/weber/mass.htm
i got this instead!
$270\£147 inc shipping + £26 import fees\tax (100w version i wanted... other wise its $190 + $45 shipping for 50w version)
has EQ adjustment on it,line out, switchable ohms, treble\bass frequency switches, etc etc
not been able to test it fully yet (waiting on my new guitar) but i've heard good reviews + its cheaper than the hotplate :)
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I have a Weber Mini Mass which is the same thing but cheaper and no bass/treble boosts. I'd say they are really good, even though mines a bit dark. I think the Weber would be good for an amp with loads of treble on tap, as it cuts alot of treble if you want lots of attentuation.
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lol, the weber mass sounds like a good idea, because my JCM800 seems waaaaaaay trebly at the moment, as yu might have read in another one of my posts. i'll check that out:D
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Im kinda thinkin about selling mine as my amp is pretty muddy without it, its kinda just adding to the problem, but then again its useful I guess! If I can get a Hotplate at a decent price I'll PM you whenever that is, if your still interested by then :lol:
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awesome, thanks a lot :lol:
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The BKP demos have my Hotplate with my JCM800 2204, I'd not recommend the MASS, I swapped from a MASS to the Hotplate, for heavy attenuation they sound better to me. The bass stays firmer, and tehy have noise reduction too.
You can build fixed level attenuators pretty easy. Somewhere on Webers site there's a schematic.
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well i think that after a bit of research i'm going to save up and go for the hotplate, as it seems to have the best reviews, and not many people (apart from those major annoying, super picky 80 year old "gurus") say anything bad about the tone. I've never had a chance to hear my amp louder than half volume, and when i got it that high it was only briefly, cuz everyone starts yelling at me to shut up, i'd love to hear what she sounds like fully driven!!!
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Im using a THD hotplate 16 ohm with my amp.Im still working on the overall sound as I havent had it long but sounding nice with the hotplate,its been a good but pricey investment.
Marshall TSL 122 combo
Gibson Les Paul Standard
and finally Gibson Faded flying V fitted with Geoff Whitehorn Crawlers...................Nice THANX TIM AWESOME PICKUPS.
[/b]
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I think the THD has a line out with a level control. Could you use a pair of headphone with it if it is really late @ night?
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yes you could
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But it sounds kack
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lol, guitar thru headfones ALWAYS sounds kack. even if yu have the biggest best Grado's. (i found that out the more expensive way)
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Sorry to resurrect this, but I'm looking at getting an attenuator.
From what I've read, the THD does of a better job of attenuating, but the Weber has the options. I'll probably go for the Hot Plate, as I only use a 16ohm cab with a Marshall Super Bass, so don't really require the extra options. Simply because I can't afford anything else :lol:
Anyway, do these things require their own power to work, or do you hook them up and away you go?
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The Hot Plate gets it's power from the current in the loudspeaker cable. No additional power is needed. :)
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The Hot Plate gets it's power from the current in the loudspeaker cable. No additional power is needed. :)
:D
Thanks for that.
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I ended up buying a hotplate purely because they were the easiest to get hold of. The Weber ones are supposed to be pretty good, but that doesn't surprise me as Ted Weber knows his stuff. The Dr Z ones are supposed to be good, although they are made by another company for them.
As far as headphones are concerned, I'd say unless you get a proper headphone amplifier don't buy expensive headphones. I've got some Sennheiser HD600s and they sound shite through a standard headphone socket. It makes me laugh that some people buy really expensive headphones for their iPods because good headphones need more output than the iPod can provide - although the ZVex ImpAmp looks fun.
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So how exactly can i connect headphones on my hotplate in order to play silently?
Get the hotplate to "load" and plug the phones where the line-out is?
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So how exactly can i connect headphones on my hotplate in order to play silently?
Get the hotplate to "load" and plug the phones where the line-out is?
No, you will need to set the HP to "Load", and run the Line Out into something that has a headphone out, like your hi-fi, heaphone amp, or recorder of some sort.
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So how exactly can i connect headphones on my hotplate in order to play silently?
Get the hotplate to "load" and plug the phones where the line-out is?
No, you will need to set the HP to "Load", and run the Line Out into something that has a headphone out, like your hi-fi, heaphone amp, or recorder of some sort.
Thanks man, so i would presume, that my Yamaha Hifi amp, would serve me well for silent practicing ;)
Amp> THD to load> line out to HifiAmp > headphones or recorder. :D
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Could the Line Out be used for plugging into a PA?
Has anyone tried this?
Or used it for recording?
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Amp> THD to load> line out to HifiAmp > headphones or recorder. :D
Yes, that will work!
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Could the Line Out be used for plugging into a PA?
Has anyone tried this?
Or used it for recording?
Yes, it'll work. I don't like the sound, myself -- it ain't pretty!!
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Could the Line Out be used for plugging into a PA?
Has anyone tried this?
Or used it for recording?
Yes, it'll work. I don't like the sound, myself -- it ain't pretty!!
Ah, hoping it would be a useful alternative to mic'ing up :(
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Ah, hoping it would be a useful alternative to mic'ing up :(
IMO, the alternative to mic'ing is just to go with stage volume!!!!
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i run my amp into my Mass, then use the line out on the mass to go into my Line6 GuitarPort on my pc... Then i use the pre-amp patch and add a 'virtaual 4x12' and tweak the mic type\placement... hey presto fantastic sounds via headphones and PC.
The raw lineout signal with headphones is pretty pants though!! Even with tweaking the Mass lineout tone controls.
With the Mass i think you can power 2x sets of speakers and the line out at the same time, for a huge wall of neighbour killing sound :P
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Willo should be sending me a HotPlate pretty soon! I'm real excited about it! I read today that the noise supression makes it glow??? COOL! What should i expect? is it gonna sound sweet, yes? 8) Any tips with the dials??
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Also (Sorry for these annoying questions), do I need to use a speaker cable between the Hot Plate and the Cabinet?
Obviously I have to use one between the amp and the Hot Plate, I'm not that silly....
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Also (Sorry for these annoying questions), do I need to use a speaker cable between the Hot Plate and the Cabinet?
Yes. Speaker cable in and out of the Hot Plate. :)
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sorry to hijack the thread ( I just want to ask this now while this thread is still active), but is there any point in a hotplate for a high gain master volume amp? I've got an engl savage se coming, and any of the engls I've tried have sounded very good at low volumes, but would a hotplate really improve the tone?
I know hotplates/attenuators are primarily used for either non-master volume amps, or master volume amps that still rely heavily on power valve overdrive for their tone (like HJM's JCM800)- would it help a modern high gain tube amp?
Again, I apologise for asking this before I've even got my amp, but I figured it was handier asking now, than having to make my own thread later.
Thanks for any input!
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YJM? HJM?
man, just go london power style and install your own power-scaling kit :D
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sorry to hijack the thread ( I just want to ask this now while this thread is still active), but is there any point in a hotplate for a high gain master volume amp? I've got an engl savage se coming, and any of the engls I've tried have sounded very good at low volumes, but would a hotplate really improve the tone?
I know hotplates/attenuators are primarily used for either non-master volume amps, or master volume amps that still rely heavily on power valve overdrive for their tone (like YJM's JCM800)- would it help a modern high gain tube amp?
Again, I apologise for asking this before I've even got my amp, but I figured it was handier asking now, than having to make my own thread later.
Thanks for any input!
I can tell you this man,
I got an LC30II MV amp, it doesnt sound good with poweramp overdrive imho (maybe its because its classA and 4xel84 or something).
What i can say is, that at around 2 to 2.5/10 on the MV pot, the amp starts to sing... and the hotplate is the only way to have that kind of setting with reasonable home-volume... Basically the hotplate is VERY usefull imho, in order to reach the "sweet spot" of the amp where it sounds more open, more rich etc... for that alone it was worth it.
I would suspect that something similar could be achieved with your Engl.
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thanks, math! i'll look into one, depending on how satisfied i am with the tone already.
and steve, yeah, i meant HJM, i think i got my wires crossed there! :oops: