Attenuator and the old "volume" question chestnut

thecolourbox

So, I'm looking at an attenuator dummy load thing that has the option to attenuate to 5%, 3%, or 1% power. So on my new Pro Junior, a 15 watt amp, quick basic maths tells me that's 0.75w, 0.45w, and 0.15w respectively.

Firstly, is that right to assume as a sum?

Secondly, for bedroom playing, what does this mean for volume? Clever folks can answer in decibels etc which would be interesting, but essentially my puny brain would work well with an answer like "a bit louder than acoustic guitar volume" etc. I plan to push the PJ pretty hard

Thanks

matone

Trying to get the volume that low usually produces sounds similar to a demented wasp if
you push the amp .

thecolourbox

That sounds about right for my playing in fairness

ICBM

If you'll be running it through the combo's speaker, 0.75W is quite a lot - at home, anyway. 0.15W is probably close to the volume of an acoustic guitar I think. At a rough guess anyway. It will be in the right range for bedroom use at least, unlike a typical 5W amp.

I had to make a simple attenuator for my 0.5W ZVex Nano because it was too loud to use in the evening through a 4x10" cab...

thecolourbox

Ha yes this is the thing, i know its going to vary a lot but i can only try

It will be through the combo speaker yes. If I can get a nice sound at acoustic guitar volume that would be great. I'm not unwilling to compromise a bit of loss soundwise as long as its quite good

The volume on 2 at the mo is a nice level of volume, but I'm fairly sure the volume knob is not fully linear!

p90fool

You may not need to push either the amp or the attenuator that hard. In my experience the Pro Jr sounds fantastic when it just starting to break up when driven by a cleanish pedal. It doesn't really sound that good when run flat out.

I got some lovely Vox-ish chimey overdrive out of the PJ at very civilised volume levels using a home made L-pad and a Tubescreamer set almost clean. Think Coldplay's Parachutes album and you're pretty much there.

thecolourbox

Yeah i know what you mean and though that's not a sound I'm after specifically (I play a lot of White Stripes and Strokes, never ever Coldplay type stuff) its something I'm aware i shall have to experiment with

Unfortunately without an attenuator there's no way I'll get past 2 on volume at home, which is a nice clean but not what I want the amp for

p90fool

Coldplay is not something I aspire to either, but its a great general purpose sound.
The point I'm really making is that you don't have to drive the PJ that hard to get some great tones, which also means that you may not need as drastic a level of attenuation as you may think.

A PJ set halfway being hit by a fuzz pedal is awesome for Jack White type stuff, and I think a cheap L-pad should easily bring the volume down enough.

thecolourbox

I've never seen anywhere that sells these LPads though, hence my looking at attenuators. The Jettenuator has just sold out on Thomann so that's why I was considering others at the same sort of price

noisepolluter

Devil's avocado - is it actually worth using an attenuator for super-quiet cranked amp playing, rather than a pedal? 

You'll go through valves much quicker

Probably a fair amount of background noise

What would the power valve distortion sound like through a barely-moving speaker - and would a pedal be able to dial in a better sound for that situation

Not trying to rain on your parade - I pondered the attenuator option myself a while back but never got past these questions, it just seemed a lot to throw at a problem that in the end I decided wasn't really a problem. 

thecolourbox

I know what you mean and appreciate your Devils applecart, but I've tried the pedal thing for ages and it just sounds like I'm using an amplified pedal (which of course I effectively am). I also find that getting the balance between the two core sounds I use (overdriven and fuzz) much more difficult

The times when I've best found that balance and had a sound I like, it's come from boosting the amp, then having the fuzz between the two and switching on and off. Then for overdrive I have a boosted amp, wang on the fuzz and the booster boosts that instead and we're all happy.

Just played it on low with a cheap but good Joyo Sweet Baby, but just doesn't do it for me as I feel I could just have any old amp to do that and it sounds the same

noisepolluter

Fair do's - sounds like you've got a very clear idea of what you're after and how an attenuator would fit into the grand scheme. I guess I'll make some guacamole instead then