Muff's Modules & More

de_raaf · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:01 am Post subject:

i have an old yamaha b212, cheap, loud ,kind like fendertwin, in controls etc
good solid state amp from the 70's

Danotranto · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:21 pm Post subject:

I thought attenuators were only useful with tube amps?

denim dan · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:05 pm Post subject:

"attenuator" might have been a little misleading there. that word is specifically used in the guitar marketing world to describe something that lets you pump the glow through the tubes while keeping a reasonable output level. i should have said attenuation, generally speaking.

while on most ss amps an attenuator or brake or power soak is useless because of ss output circuits, on a few they really help the cause. the sunn amps in particular. think of it as a secondary (or tertiary) master volume mixer control. the amp head sends to the speakers and the speakers distort, etc. to produce a sound that you either want, or don't want when it's really loud. using an attenuator in between with an ss amp, you can "trick" the system into producing something you want. obviously an attenuator on a built-in ss combo amp would be pretty useless.

case in point: i played and toured all over N.A. for several years in a few bands, "punk" genre i suppose you could say. we would rarely get our amps mic'd, much of it was diy showspace type stuff. before one of our last tours my sound city 120 head took a total shit, so i got a sunn concert lead instead to drive my ampeg v4 cab.

with the sunn cranked i could get this blistering tone that had a HUGE amount of attack in it, which i loved. but it would drown out everything but the cymbals. this attack didn't really exist at lower volumes, the tonal nature was kind of the same at low vol, but the sonic quality was greatly diminished. it sounded farty. few days later my pal gave me like some $10 volume box attenuator pedal, and that absolutely solved the problem.

i could get the same tone, with all the color and expression i wanted from my playing, at a reasonable enough volume.

a volume pedal would work, also. i didn't have luck with only the volume pots on the guitar though.

Tubeampguy · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:10 pm Post subject:

bump!

See my screen name eek!

sduck · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:20 pm Post subject:

There's nothing in this thread for you then, move along

There are plenty of tube amp threads - feel free to sing along!

Nuuj · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 11:28 pm Post subject:

I use a Gallien Krueger Backline 600 into Ampeg cabinets for both my Bass and my modular. I have a friends who uses it or guitar. Great SS distortion.

Tubeampguy · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:35 am Post subject:

Kent · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:47 am Post subject:

My favorite in the "If I could only keep just one" vein is the Crate VTX200S. An outstanding amplifier in many, many ways.

sonicwarrior · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:20 am Post subject: Re: Good Solid-State Amps

I have a PCL Vintage Amp Stagemaster 75 which I'm using with a Tube Town 1x12" box with a Jensen NeoDym. It has been developed by Jürgen Rath who is quite well known for his amp designs in Germany.