Attenuator recommendations

chris78

Looking for an attenuator that can deal with higher powered amps if need be.

Ive had tone king amps and always found the Ironman to be very good, if slightly compressed at max attenuation.

Anything else I should look at? Ox box? Boss tube expander? 

nero1701

chris78 said:

Looking for an attenuator that can deal with higher powered amps if need be.

Ive had tone king amps and always found the Ironman to be very good, if slightly compressed at max attenuation.

Anything else I should look at? Ox box? Boss tube expander? 

Ive a couple tone king amps..

The iron man attenuator is great but I wish it had an in-between setting. Full attenuator too quiet. The next click too loud. 

FarleyUK

I have a Boss TAE and it's amazing - loads of functionality and the attenuator is not a click switch so getting the volume right is easier.

chris78

FarleyUK said:

I have a Boss TAE and it's amazing - loads of functionality and the attenuator is not a click switch so getting the volume right is easier.

Thanks- I’ve read both that it’s a good attenuator and a terrible one. Got to love the internet! 

Any view on whether it preserves tone at lower volume or compresses like the Ironman?

LionAquaLooper

Bugera Power Soak? 

nick79

Fryette Powerstation gets my vote. I think its most likely the best and most useful piece of gear I’ve ever bought. 

mark_jwedge

nick79 said:

Fryette Powerstation gets my vote. I think it’s most likely the best and most useful piece of gear I’ve ever bought. 

+1 totally agree

digitalkettle

mark_jwedge said:

nick79 said:

Fryette Powerstation gets my vote. I think it’s most likely the best and most useful piece of gear I’ve ever bought. 

+1 totally agree

+2 totally agree more (although it's not actually an attenuator )

Petepassion

Some say it depends on what 'flavour' amp it is, being Marshall, Fender, Vox, etc.
From personal experience I have owned Palmer, Aracom, Badcat, THD, Ironman, Bugera, Audiostorm, Ultimate, Boss TAE and the Marshall Powerbrake.
   Mostly used through Marshall superleads and my Vox AC50 which is powered by EL34's and gets very close to a Marshall sound anyway.
   As a stand alone organic attenuator the Marshall Powerbrake was by far the best. The Aracom, Badcat unleash and Ironman all affected the tone in some way, whereas the Powerbrake was very transparent.
   And the Powerbrake is great providing you don't attenuate too far, 'cos then the sound gets comprimised. The alternative path is one of re-ampers, whereby the signal is soaked, then re-amped. This way the sound is the same no matter what the volume(with the exception of all the speaker and volume science). I had a Boss TAE and it was brilliant and so many options regarding multiple footswitchable rigs, all with their own EQ, compression, delay, reverb and solo boost, but not as gig friendly as a Powerbrake.

BlueStrat

I had the THD Hotplate with my Rivera Chubster 55, worked a treat

ICBM

I've always found the Powerbrake works best with 'British type' amps, and the Hotplate best with 'American type' amps - more to do with the power stage design than the preamp voicing, I think. I haven't tried a lot of the more recent ones though.

GoFish

Are the Weber ones any good?

FarleyUK

chris78 said:

FarleyUK said:

I have a Boss TAE and it's amazing - loads of functionality and the attenuator is not a click switch so getting the volume right is easier.

Thanks- I’ve read both that it’s a good attenuator and a terrible one. Got to love the internet! 

Any view on whether it preserves tone at lower volume or compresses like the Ironman?

It sounds to me like it's pretty transparent at low volumes - might be worth getting one from a retailer with a good returns policy and trying it.

Zapple

digitalkettle said:

mark_jwedge said:

nick79 said:

Fryette Powerstation gets my vote. I think it’s most likely the best and most useful piece of gear I’ve ever bought. 

+1 totally agree

+2 totally agree more (although it's not actually an attenuator )

+3 for the Fryette and totally agree on probably being the most useful piece of gear I've ever bought too.

BrizzleRocker

For pure attenuation I’d happily recommend the Audiostorm boxes. https://audiostorm.uk/ And you’d be supporting a small UK maker too! The Hotbox easily deals with my overly efficient 100w head.

chris78

BrizzleRocker said:

For pure attenuation I’d happily recommend the Audiostorm boxes. https://audiostorm.uk/ And you’d be supporting a small UK maker too! The Hotbox easily deals with my overly efficient 100w head.

Very interesting- thanks.
Looks almost too good to be true at that price 

Petepassion

BrizzleRocker said:

For pure attenuation I’d happily recommend the Audiostorm boxes. https://audiostorm.uk/ And you’d be supporting a small UK maker too! The Hotbox easily deals with my overly efficient 100w head.

I used one with my Twin reverb and got some lovely Jack White growl

BrizzleRocker

chris78 said:

BrizzleRocker said:

For pure attenuation I’d happily recommend the Audiostorm boxes. https://audiostorm.uk/ And you’d be supporting a small UK maker too! The Hotbox easily deals with my overly efficient 100w head.

Very interesting- thanks.
Looks almost too good to be true at that price 

I met the maker at the Bristol Guitar show and like you, was skeptical. Over the years I’ve tried THD hotplates, Palmer, various Two Notes but the Hotbox just works. My amp is too hot for my Captor X so at home I generally attenuate and then run into the Two Notes. Live I’ll just get the amp cooking and then knock it down a bit on-stage with Hotbox.

-Ed-

Where are you using it?

I’ve had a PS2 and TAE. I just have the TAE now as it was better at home. Transparent and the fan spins up when it’s needed and is less intrusive. Both were very good options. 

I don’t need one anymore though as I’ve reduced my amp collection and only kept the ones with excellent MV

theterracat

+4 for Fryette. I know it is boring to pile on and not offer creative suggestions but it is just so good. As a home player, I could not own and play big amps (such as Marshall 87x) at appropriate levels of output valve cooking without it. Played a Power Brake once and it was... fine. But PS2 does so many other cool things...

steven70

I have a Rock Crusher. Quite useful from a practical POV, but never been that impressed with the sound. 
I'm not convinced attenuators are much use other than for knocking off a few dBs in gig or rehearsal situation. 
Accept that many people feel otherwise.
Maybe the Fryette, as that does the re-amping thing if I am right?