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JCM800 / Attenuator question

riffpowersriffpowers Frets: 344
in Amps
Been having a little bit of an amp/rig shakeup recently.


I used to use a jcm800 2203 with the gain on 3/4 and a ts808 with teh level right up.

I'm presently using a jcm800 2204 with the gain on 1/2, a ts808 with level and drive on 1/2 and a boss eq with the level and mids up for leads.
The balancing act is trying to get a good drive sound while still having a bit of a boost for leads.
Thsi seems to be a better compromise than my previous rig, but the amp is a little bit hard and fast response wise especially compared to turning the gain up and hitting it with a ts808 with the level on full.

I wondered if an attenuator might be the answer,

So i was wondering if I add an attenuator to let me get into the sweet spot at gig volume, would that mean that I'm back to square 1 with a lead boost??

Someone is selling a rivera rock crusher not too far from me and I've also seen a marshal power brake. Are these any good??

I'm hoping someone who's got mor eexperience of usng attenuators than I have will be able to give me some advise as to whether its worth doing or now.









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Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 72244
    Yes, an attenuator will defeat the ability to get a solo boost if you turn the amp up to the point where it really starts to fatten up, because that's where the power stage starts to overdrive. If you're running it below that point it will still help get a less touchy response from it though.

    I haven't tried the Rock Crusher, but the Powerbrake works extremely well with these amps, despite the age of the design.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

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  • photekphotek Frets: 1463
    edited June 2018
    Bad Cat Unleash or get the amp modded for 2 foot switchable master volumes?

    The other option is to use a pedal like the Greenhouse Effects Middleman boost to actually reduce the gain of the amp. I did this for a while with an 800. Set the amp up to your maximum gain and volume then use the pedal to attenuate the gain and volume. Switch the pedal off and you get a nice boost!

    You can also use a AB looper pedal, put the middleman boost in loop A and a TS in Loop B and you can switch between the two.
    My good traders feedback
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