Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: blue on September 26, 2006, 10:54:54 PM
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yep, like the topic heading says, i've bitten the bullet and dived back into the valve amp ocean! it's many years since i had to get rid of my marshall, circumstances have changed, and a Genz Benz El Diablo 60c is the partner i've chosen for my return to the fold!
i'd forgotten what it's like! the last couple of years i've been using a pod xt with studio monitors, and i'd fooled myself into thinking that it was very like a proper amp. now, in comparison to my ancient 10 watt practice amp, it is! but the Diablo is a revelation. i could never get the 7 string miracle man in my les paul to sound good through the pod, i've almost changed it several times, suddenly it sounds amazing! the mississippi queens in another Les Paul always sounded great, but they've taken on a whole new dimension now. i think they'd be even better through a more vintage style amp, but let's not get carried away just yet! i've rediscovered gorgeous musical feedback! and there's plenty of tweaking still to be done
of course, the times i can crank it up, even in it's still very loud 30 watt mode, remain few and far between, so i find myself ruminating 'pon the purchase of an attenuator. but which one? i've immediately discounted the marshall power brake, just too many stories of unreliability. the others i've found are the Dr.Z airbrake, THD hotplate, and Weber mass. thing is, if you read online reviews, every one seems to have been equally praised and damned! basically, the owners evangelise about the one they've bought and spit blood and dust on the competition. has anyone here tried any? i'm leaning towards the weber, it's the cheapest and has gotten just as much good word as the others. anyone want to stick a dagger in my credit card before it's too late? :?
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Congrats, blue!
Turn it up so I can hear it from here!
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I tried the old MiniMass with my fender and didnt like it, cut off lots of highs and made the sound all mushy.
Now have a hotplate to just cut a few db off and it works perfect for that :D
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Thanks TO, keep your ears open at the weekend, i'll see what i can do!
and Tom, yeah, if i just wanted to tame it a little it wouldn't be a big problem, and i would be using it for that too, but i could do with being able to reduce the volume a lot. i realise this is where attenuators run into trouble, i'd just like to find which is the least bad, if you know what i mean. will a low volume attenuated amp sound worse than just the amp with the master turned down? how does the hotplate fare when you really turn it down?
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If you are the DIY type, you might want to consider these Power Scaling kits:
http://www.londonpower.com/kits/psbox.htm
http://www.londonpower.com/kits/psk.htm
Supposedly, this technology is not as detrimental to tone as the Hot Plates, et. al., but of course they are more trouble to install.
I have not tried them, but soon I might.
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Yeah I dont really like having to use the Hotplate under -12db as it just sounds weak, because you arent pushing the speakers enough or something I guess.
I think those power scaling kits that 3th3r posted links to are meant to be the best but not sure if installing something on a brand new amp is a good idea..
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!!! i was just looking at these... is it the combo or head?
what kind of sound can you get out of it?
congrats man, they look really cool.
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The thing with attenuators is that (i've a THD and a weber micro mass) you lose so much of the oomph and tone unless you slightly attenuate the signal- and for many people this is not enough.
I'm going to try, for recording purposes, using the attenuator with a Palmer PDI09 to see if this is affects/colours the tone of the speaker sim sounds.
Oh and welocome back to the world of valves, totally agree ,there is nothing like 'em for that interaction between you and the speaker, and of course you now have something else to source and buy- better valves!
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Tom, thanks, it does seem that low volume will be the biggest problem. the best thing would be for me to try it and see if i can live with it. expensive experiment though!
Sambo, it's the combo. on the clean channel it's a bit like an old marshall i think. i wind up the channel gain which gives an ac/dc kinda rhythm sound when you hit it, then with picking dynamics and your volume control you can get a good clean sound. the hot channel has masses of gain and has a more modern rock sound, i'd say somewhere between marshall and mesa. but if you step on the "attack" switch it gets an upper mid and volume boost which turns it into a raucous jcm800 kinda sound. the second mode on the hot channel adds even more gain for your howling leads! i spent the first day on the hot channel, just revelling in it! since then i've been fiddling with the clean, or "warm" channel, seeing what all i can get out of it. the amp can be switched between 60 and 30 watts, which doesn't make that much difference to the volume, but the lower power mode is a bit warmer and darker. in 60 mode the clean channel is more fender/boogie in character. makes less difference to the hot channel.
DeanS, thanks, a recording would be very helpful. obviously it won't sound like my amp, but to show the difference between attenuated and unattenuated would be excellent.
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Nice purchase!
Maybe another one to add to list is KOCH Loadbox. I hav'nt tried it but KOCH has a good rep. for amps (although it aint cheap, but what is lol).
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Gah your description makes the amp sound just like what I want. This forum is so bad for gas :(
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Gah your description makes the amp sound just like what I want. This forum is so bad for gas :(
(http://img.epinions.com/images/opti/c2/e9/Beano_Food_Enzyme_Dietary_Supplement_Drops-resized200.jpg)
:lol:
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nice work, blue. The ED is a really good amp for the price. Kick-ass, in fact.
Dunno much about atenuators, unfortunately...
:drink:
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Blue where and for how much did you get it?
thanks for the info, big help.
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Sounds like a great amp Blue- interesting review.
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Post pics and clips ;)
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i'd love to do clips, but no recording gear :cry:
pictures i can manage! hopefully get one or two up this evening. although, it is just an amp, not really that exciting to look at...unless i get all the little lights to light up! and maybe some glowing valves! ah, i feel the photographer coming out in me!
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if you can't test em before purchase, get the THD, as it's most well known and therefore easier to trade on ebay. You could also get one from www.thomann.de who offer 30 days return policy.
Weber Mass is risky as you'd have to take care of all the shipping stress and couldn't return it - and selling on ebay might be difficult due to the small number of people who know it.
Ideal case you could compare 2 or 3 power brakes in a shop with your amp and guitar ...