One of the many reasons I wanted a tele was to make my first foray into electric as simple as possible for learning. I found a 100w Vox modeling amp for real cheap in town off of Facebook to play with the old 60's Vox guitar from the closet that I managed to get into just-playable condition. It features 15 steps of reactive load attenuation, each with pure transformer coupling.So my pickups are ordered and my first tele should be playable in my hands very soon. This creation by Mark Bartel is perhaps the best guitar amp attenuator on the market, but it does come at a higher price. Very nice!Īll the above attenuators are extremely good values and all but the Airbrake can be had for less than $200, but if cost is not a concern, then check out the Tone King Ironman. One thing that mnakes this one special is the ability to select a mode that uses a light bulb to create some attenuation while also adding a slight touch of compression. This power attenuator features four attenuation settings and a bypass. ![]() Swart Amplifiers also makes a very popular attenuator called the Swart Night Light. Z released the Brake Lite SA, which is a stand alone version of the Brake Lite, designed to be used with heads and cabs. It's also rather unique since it is designed to be permenantly installed inside a combo amp. This model also comes in a smaller package known as the Brake Lite, which is essentially the same thing minus the "bedroom" knob. It features five settings (four levels of attenuation and a bypass) and a "bedroom level" knob. Z Airbrake is one of the more popular models that was actually designed by Ken Fischer of Trainwreck fame. What models do you carry? We carry several models from Dr. When it is driven less, the tone of the speaker will change slightly. Naturally, some of your tone comes from the speaker being driven. In our experience, the potential tone loss comes moreso from a reduction in the volume of the speaker. You'll read or hear about people referring to small degrees of tone loss when attenuating. What is the disadvantage? Well, there's always a trade-off, but in this case it is negligible. The reduced wattage that isn't converted to heat is then sent to the speaker. Most then use a coil to reduce the wattage by converting the excess wattage to heat. They replicate the ohm load of a speaker so the amp doesn't "know the difference". How do they work? Attenuators are placed between the output of the amp and the speaker. The speaker then reproduces the tone of a cranked amp at a reduced volume. An attenuator allows you to crank the amp up without blasting your ears because it bleeds off some of the wattage being sent to the speaker. ![]() With regard to tone quality, tubes love to be ran hard since they produce their best tone when ran at plate voltage. Why use an attenuator? It's well known that the harder a tube amp is driven, the better it sounds. What does an attenuator do? Essentially, it allows you to drive your tube amp harder without the associated volume that comes with turning up. This article hits upon some of the specifics of the various amplifier attenuators we carry, but first we'll explain some simple basics (which many of you already know). ![]() Since we sell a huge amount of higher end boutique tube amps, we get asked quite often about attenuators and how they will affect tone, volume, dynamics, etc. FINANCING Blowouts Gift Certificates Testimonials Reviews & Articles
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