Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: hunter on July 16, 2009, 03:45:15 PM
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Check it out, Pete Thorn (guitarist of Chris Cornell and others) demos the Faustine Phantom Attenuator.
I think the difference between unattenuated and attenuated is just different speaker travel, it's awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71h7Lv7LKcU
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It's that time of the week already! 'Hunters bite-size HRI thread highlights of the week' :lol:
:P
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Sounds good.
Any idea of price and availability??? Really need an attenuator... Or rather, my wife, kids and neighbours do...
:(
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Aren't they 750USD or there about :?
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This is what I have from TheGearPage:
The new prices for the Faustine Phantoms are as follows:
Phantom DX (multiple impedance model) - $749 retail
Phantom z4 (4 ohm impedance) - $659 retail
Phantom z8 (8 ohm impedance) - $659 retail
Phantom z16 (16 ohm impedance) - $659 retail
A deposit of 50% is required to secure your order. Currently, all orders should be placed only through Tone Merchants:
Phone: Noel Evangelista at (866) 795-6808
Email: noel@tonemerchants.com
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wow, that's a lot of money. I think i'm still going to get a weber minimass, just to see how i get on with attenuators. :lol:
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Problem is that a lower priced attenuator will suck tone, so you can also play low volume again. Think it's gotta be this or the UA (even more $$$).
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A deposit of 50% is required to secure your order. Currently, all orders should be placed only through Tone Merchants:
Is it my imagination or is Tone Merchants some kind of Suhr cartel?
Not only is Ed Yoon the director of Marketing, Sales, & Customer Service at Suhr Guitars but he's also the owner/manager of Tone Merchants. And there are 2 Suhr amps in the rig in the video.
This kind of thing really puts me off this kind of gear, no matter how much GAS I get.
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Sounds pretty transparent down to -6dB, after that the bass thins out.
I dare say that you could re-EQ the amp to compensate for this though.
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Sounds pretty transparent down to -6dB, after that the bass thins out.
I dare say that you could re-EQ the amp to compensate for this though.
Do you think this is an inevitable consequence of the Fletcher-Munson effect?
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I also asked Pete and he said he had the mic pre optimised for full on and didn't readjust its gain when switching in the attenuation. So with less speaker travel and less optimum mic gain you can as well explain some loss of punch.
It's expensive, but it's cheaper than the ultimate attenuator, and the latter needs a separate power supply and doesn't sound as good it seems. Guess this is a once in lifetime investment and then no more need (like if you get a THD you'd pay less but would always look for improvements).
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I think it sounds poo. Gets really glassy and nasty as the volume goes down. I noticed the effect on -2dB...AND on youtube! wtf is the point of a -2dB setting? when is that gonna be useful?
I don't think attenuators are the way forward.
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For the price would buy a smaller amp for home use
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For the price would buy a smaller amp for home use
Hmmm... not so sure about that. Even 5 watts of valve amp could do with a little of the volume attenuated, certainly in my house!!!
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I agree - I have a Champ 600 - great with a 2x12 and an OCD - but it needs an attenuator to be truly at terrace house bedroom levels. Heck - even the 1/4 Killer Ant needs to be attenuated to stop the neighbours thumping the wall
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You could certainly buy my 1W Cub for less than that. :)
Also, Power Scaling is cheaper and better.
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Sounds pretty transparent down to -6dB, after that the bass thins out.
I dare say that you could re-EQ the amp to compensate for this though.
Do you think this is an inevitable consequence of the Fletcher-Munson effect?
yep, I'd say so (from what I can remember of sound engineering classes at Uni; hungover) :lol:
that attenuator is certainly one of the better ones I've heard - it really retained the treble and mids.
the lower settings really are just down to the speaker not moving enough air imo (as per JPF's comments above)
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You could certainly buy my 1W Cub for less than that. :)
I was thinking that buying a 1w bedroom amp would be better too.
What valve are you using in the Cub's output stage? - maybe an ECC82 in parallel SE??? Are you running the B+ quite low too so the volume stays moderate?. I remember my experiments with this kind of set up and found that there was a sweet spot with the B+ in keeping the amp's punch.
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Has anyone used Weber attenuators?
I'm fast coming to the conclusion that it's hit and miss regarding attenuators - nothing more guaranteed to split the crowd...
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You could certainly buy my 1W Cub for less than that. :)
I was thinking that buying a 1w bedroom amp would be better too.
What valve are you using in the Cub's output stage? - maybe an ECC82 in parallel SE??? Are you running the B+ quite low too so the volume stays moderate?. I remember my experiments with this kind of set up and found that there was a sweet spot with the B+ in keeping the amp's punch.
In my experiments with varying the B+ on output stages using a regulated power supply there do seem to be points at which the amp sounds better than others.
I expect with all attentuation you are fighting the non-linear nature of sound perception versus volume (Fletcher-Munson effect) and ability of the amp to drive the speaker cone.
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Has anyone used Weber attenuators?
I'm fast coming to the conclusion that it's hit and miss regarding attenuators - nothing more guaranteed to split the crowd...
I had one, wasn't that great, I ended up not using it and sold it to some Marshall NMV full stack dude.
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You could certainly buy my 1W Cub for less than that. :)
I was thinking that buying a 1w bedroom amp would be better too.
What valve are you using in the Cub's output stage? - maybe an ECC82 in parallel SE??? Are you running the B+ quite low too so the volume stays moderate?.
Right valve, but it's in push-pull. The voltage is lowish. Sounds great, and authentically like a big amp! :)
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You could certainly buy my 1W Cub for less than that. :)
I was thinking that buying a 1w bedroom amp would be better too.
What valve are you using in the Cub's output stage? - maybe an ECC82 in parallel SE??? Are you running the B+ quite low too so the volume stays moderate?.
Right valve, but it's in push-pull. The voltage is lowish. Sounds great, and authentically like a big amp! :)
Have you got any more details (and pictures!) of the Cub, Martin? I'm intrigued!
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You could certainly buy my 1W Cub for less than that. :)
I was thinking that buying a 1w bedroom amp would be better too.
What valve are you using in the Cub's output stage? - maybe an ECC82 in parallel SE??? Are you running the B+ quite low too so the volume stays moderate?.
Right valve, but it's in push-pull. The voltage is lowish. Sounds great, and authentically like a big amp! :)
I've messed round with the same thing, but not PP yet - just // SE. What primary Z are you using with the ECC82s in PP - triodes are quite forgiving in this respect afaik.
The tones I got were really nice with the ECC82 output stage, but it wasn't quite as grunty as a pentode. I know most players I've spoken to weren't keen on using valve types they weren't familiar with, but I think better results could be had with pentodes such as 6SL7/6SN7 or maybe even a 6G6G or 6K6.
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Have you got any more details (and pictures!) of the Cub, Martin? I'm intrigued!
No pics, as both of my prototypes have been sold now. I have the parts for another one, but not had the time yet to build it!
It's built on a small chassis, about 8" x 6", and has gain, tone and volume controls as standard. It's all valve and has 2 x ECC83 and 1 x ECC82, and is good for about 1W. It'll cost about £400 for the head, and can be configured in a number of different ways (fancy a 1W Trainwreck?) :)
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I've messed round with the same thing, but not PP yet - just // SE. What primary Z are you using with the ECC82s in PP - triodes are quite forgiving in this respect afaik.
The tones I got were really nice with the ECC82 output stage, but it wasn't quite as grunty as a pentode. I know most players I've spoken to weren't keen on using valve types they weren't familiar with, but I think better results could be had with pentodes such as 6SL7/6SN7 or maybe even a 6G6G or 6K6.
The primary Z is quite high, but possibly not as per the manual. Don't want to go into too much detail! :wink: My results with the triodes have been excellent, and for selling-on I'm happier using common, current valves.
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I've messed round with the same thing, but not PP yet - just // SE. What primary Z are you using with the ECC82s in PP - triodes are quite forgiving in this respect afaik.
The tones I got were really nice with the ECC82 output stage, but it wasn't quite as grunty as a pentode. I know most players I've spoken to weren't keen on using valve types they weren't familiar with, but I think better results could be had with pentodes such as 6SL7/6SN7 or maybe even a 6G6G or 6K6.
The primary Z is quite high, but possibly not as per the manual. Don't want to go into too much detail! :wink: My results with the triodes have been excellent, and for selling-on I'm happier using common, current valves.
So is this like a Zvex Nano?
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I've messed round with the same thing, but not PP yet - just // SE. What primary Z are you using with the ECC82s in PP - triodes are quite forgiving in this respect afaik.
The tones I got were really nice with the ECC82 output stage, but it wasn't quite as grunty as a pentode. I know most players I've spoken to weren't keen on using valve types they weren't familiar with, but I think better results could be had with pentodes such as 6SL7/6SN7 or maybe even a 6G6G or 6K6.
The primary Z is quite high, but possibly not as per the manual. Don't want to go into too much detail! :wink: My results with the triodes have been excellent, and for selling-on I'm happier using common, current valves.
I know that data sheets will tell you to use a 50k primary in SE mode, or around 25k if you're paralleling the triodes. As for PP, I know the AX84 Firefly uses a 22.5k primary via a Hammond 125A OT, though many people seem to think it sounds better with a lower primary than that. Oh, and the Firefly is self-split PP, not the typical PP arrangement you see in a plexi for instance.
It's an interesting theme for sure, I'll have to get off my arse and get one built past prototype stage - my tests were just done with the 1w output stage added onto an existing amp.
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Have you got any more details (and pictures!) of the Cub, Martin? I'm intrigued!
No pics, as both of my prototypes have been sold now. I have the parts for another one, but not had the time yet to build it!
It's built on a small chassis, about 8" x 6", and has gain, tone and volume controls as standard. It's all valve and has 2 x ECC83 and 1 x ECC82, and is good for about 1W. It'll cost about £400 for the head, and can be configured in a number of different ways (fancy a 1W Trainwreck?) :)
Sounds great! I may be up for one...eventually!
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OK WTF....
Buy a new amp or something. That kind of money does not seem worth it at all.
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So is this like a Zvex Nano?
Not really. It's bigger and is a "proper" amp, using full size valves and full HT.