Power Attenuators/Noise Gates (+ how to use t-cut)

[hhcave]

Could anyone tell me how badly these things affect the tone? As for the attenuator i would be looking to drive the amp at about 5 on the master volume but cut the volume to about 1-2 using the attenuator - how would this sound?

Also, could anyone please explain how to apply T-cut to my guitar (Les Paul) to remove the scratches/ blemishes on the surface?

Thanks!

[Horlicks]

I can comment on the ISP decimator that I own, the tone loss is minimal, most people cannot notice the difference even if they are listening for it. The tone does have a slightly brighter metally tone. It's nothing to worry about really if you have a noisy amp. I know some reducers such as the MXR Smart Gate and the Boss NS-2 are meant to suck quite a bit of tone although I have not tried them. I recommend the ISP if you are looking into a noise reducer.

[hamfist]

hhcave, seems to me that you might be confused about what a noise gate is.  What you described in your initial post is an attenuator.
   A noise gate does not lower overall volume, but just cuts out the signal once the volume gets below a certain level (like background hum/hiss when you are not playing. Once you start playing they should, theoretically, have no effect on the tone (although I suspect some of the cheaper ones may have negative tonal effects).
  Attenuators always have some tonal effects - sometimes good ones !  the more you attenuate, the more they affect the tone.
Usually a 4 to 8 dB attenuation (as you are describing) will have farily minimal tonal effects - usually will just take a bit of brightness off the top end (which can be good).
  Each different amp seems to take to different types of attenuator differently. Although the Hotplate is a pretty good one to start with, and easily available. I would suggest taking your amp to a shop to try out a hotplate with it. It's the only way you are going to find out for sure what affects it will have on the tone.

[hhcave]

Thanks hamfist - i know what a noise gate is, maybe it came acros as if i didn't; i just don't really know much about them


I think i will go for a hot plate in that case!

[ailean]

I have a hotplate and I find it really hard to tell the effects tonally. Yes if you attenuate heavily you can hear a tonal diffrence, but equally the speaker cones aren't moving as much so it could be that as much as the attenuator.

I'm very happy with mine, and when I was talking to a guy at Sounds Great about it he said that the Hotplate is a bit kinder to your power tubes than some of the others, he couldn't substantiate why as it was information passed to him, but I figured it was worth mentioning, if only so that someone can shoot that theory down in flames :)

[Alex]

I only have the Rocktron Hush pedal. It works well with my 5150 but not well at all with my JCM900. Luckily the JCM doesn't really need it. About the tone, I feel it makes the sound a bit softer on the treble end, which isn't that bad if you play at the "unchristian" volumes we played in my last band.

[hhcave]

Thanks for the replies...

Now could anyone pelase tell be how to apply t-cut to a guitar?

[indysmith]

Attenuators are silly for home use. Don't buy attenuators for home use. Home use is not what attenuators were designed for.

[hhcave]

Hmmm? What were they designed for then? I though they were designed for home use... :oops:

[indysmith]

Hmmm? What were they designed for then? I though they were designed for home use... :oops:

Making a deafeningly loud amp just really loud. good for band practice sessions and small/medium sized pubs and clubs.
Tame your amp down to TV volume levels and all you'll hear is a nasty glassy compressed fizzy version of your amp's tone.
Sorry.

[Philly Q]

Now could anyone pelase tell be how to apply t-cut to a guitar?

1. Find a soft, clean, white cotton cloth like an old T-shirt or bedsheet.  If it's not soft and/or clean it could scratch the surface, which defeats the object.
2. Shake the bottle of T-Cut, wrap the cloth round a finger and put a little T-Cut liquid on the cloth.  Not much, a little goes a long way.
3. Apply the liquid to the guitar and rub.  Really hard.  Straight lines or circles, it doesn't matter, but work on a small area at a time.  As you rub, the  T-Cut residue will disappear and you'll see the surface start to get shiny.
4. Get another clean, white cotton cloth and rub off any remaining residue.  Breathing on the surface to create a bit of a mist, like polishing your glasses, can help here.  Now the surface should be really shiny.
5. Repeat the process on the next small area.
6. When you're finished, give the whole thing a final polish with your nice clean cloth.

[hamfist]

Attenuators are silly for home use. Don't buy attenuators for home use. Home use is not what attenuators were designed for.

 That's rather a sweeping statement. I must be silly then for using a hotplate with all my recent amps at home. The hotplate allows me to use the same amp at home, at rehearsals, and at gigs.
  Even master volume amps usually sound noticeably better when you can run the master up at, say, 3-4. A hotplate using -8 or -12dB attenuation will allow you to do that at home. In my experience, most amps will sound better running the MV a bit higher, with a bit of attenuation, compared to just using the MV for volume control.
   With a non-MV amp, using an attenuator at home is essential, as it is the only real volume control you have, if you want to get any OD from the amp.
  All this is, of course, just my opinion. Maybe I am just silly.

  I think each amp has to be assessed on it's own merits, as to whether an attenuator may help tone at home levels. Some amps (often high-gainers) are very much designed around pre-amp distortion, and these often have excellent master volume controls. Many other amps are designed around the need to get the power tubes cooking a little bit, to reduce the rather fizzy nature of most pre-amps. With these latter amps, an attenuator is an absolute Godsend.

[hhcave]

Oh okay, thanks a lot - so final decision:

Get an attenuator or not to run my Mesa F-50 at roughly 4 on the master volume but attenuate it to a volume level of around 1 (what 1 would sound like normally on the amp) or not?

Thanks

[hamfist]

Oh okay, thanks a lot - so final decision:

Get an attenuator or not to run my Mesa F-50 at roughly 4 on the master volume but attenuate it to a volume level of around 1 (what 1 would sound like normally on the amp) or not?

Thanks

It sounds a very feasible plan. But my advice wouls be to take your F-50 into a shop first to try it out with a Hotplate.

  Either that, or make sure you buy an attenuator from somewhere that has a well-stated returns policy, so that you can get your money back easily if it's obvious that it's not going to work out as you hoped.

[kevincurtis]

Oh okay, thanks a lot - so final decision:

Get an attenuator or not to run my Mesa F-50 at roughly 4 on the master volume but attenuate it to a volume level of around 1 (what 1 would sound like normally on the amp) or not?

Thanks

I agree with Alan - you need to try it out and see if it works for you. It may help if you said why you want to do this? Is it simply for home practise, recording, small band...cos if its the former I probably wouldn't bother unless the money is there to burn.