Surfcaster
01-14-2005, 02:27 PM
Okay, on another forum I heard people talking about using an L-pad to make an attenuator. I didn't know what that was, but looked it up on Parts Express website...the thing only costs about $8! And people seemed to like it, so I got one. Came yesterday. I wired 'er up last night but couldn't really test it out until this morning.
I was really impressed. I was afraid that it would really suck tone, but was surprised at how little it did....very little, really. I'm using it with a Mesa F-50. The only thing that concerns me a little is that if I turned the channel master up past 12 o'clock, the thing started sending out smoke signals....not sure whether it's just burning off some film or coating and will stop eventually, or if it was more serious than that. Anyway, if I cut back to about 12 o'clock it stopped, and really, it sounds pretty good there...over about 2 o'clock the power tubes really start compressing and I don't care for that sound too much.
I just need to build some sort of enclosure for it now...probably something vented, the thing gets pretty hot. Anyway, I also discovered that Weber SVT sells one put together for about $35, but then you can build your own for under $20. If anyone is interested in more info, let me know.
Anyway, I don't know that I'll use it a lot...don't want to burn up my power tubes too quickly, but it's a nice, very economical way to get some power tube saturation at reasonable volumes. It's still loud, but certainly much better than it would be otherwise. My only complaint is that it's got a non-linear taper and only gradually attenuates for most of the knob's rotation...really kicking in at about 3/4 of the way down. And then it cuts out entirely right at about the ideal volume for playing in the house. But for occasional use, it will work fine.
I was really impressed. I was afraid that it would really suck tone, but was surprised at how little it did....very little, really. I'm using it with a Mesa F-50. The only thing that concerns me a little is that if I turned the channel master up past 12 o'clock, the thing started sending out smoke signals....not sure whether it's just burning off some film or coating and will stop eventually, or if it was more serious than that. Anyway, if I cut back to about 12 o'clock it stopped, and really, it sounds pretty good there...over about 2 o'clock the power tubes really start compressing and I don't care for that sound too much.
I just need to build some sort of enclosure for it now...probably something vented, the thing gets pretty hot. Anyway, I also discovered that Weber SVT sells one put together for about $35, but then you can build your own for under $20. If anyone is interested in more info, let me know.
Anyway, I don't know that I'll use it a lot...don't want to burn up my power tubes too quickly, but it's a nice, very economical way to get some power tube saturation at reasonable volumes. It's still loud, but certainly much better than it would be otherwise. My only complaint is that it's got a non-linear taper and only gradually attenuates for most of the knob's rotation...really kicking in at about 3/4 of the way down. And then it cuts out entirely right at about the ideal volume for playing in the house. But for occasional use, it will work fine.