Just bought this astonishingly good unit from Modernist last week and have been blown away. I really didn't expect a great deal as I have had several attenuators over the last 20 odd years including a Power Brake and an Ultimate. Most of the units I've owned or used have been used in conjunction with 50 or 100 watt heads and just haven't been impressed at all. Could be down to me, I don't know, but I really did persevere and eventually gave up.
This Mini Mass is a 25 watt version so a smaller unit with less capacity which is what I was after as I wanted to use it with a '72 Marshall PA 20. Now these aren't loud amps for a JMP but as I run them flat out and use the volume on the guitar I thought it would be nice to be able to take the top 10% off. Spent a few hours with the unit today and it is absolutely brilliant.....it's almost impossible to tell that there's an attenuator in the circuit. OK, so I wasn't winding it right down, maybe between 10 and 20% tops. With the flick of a switch on the front of the unit you can flip between normal (on) and bypass so it's easy to A/B the attenuated sound and the 'real' sound.
Also, there's a nice 3 or 6 DB treble boost located on the front of the unit which is also excellent.....shame they didn't have the boost on a dial in basis rather than switchable fixed settings but it's a really handy option for a little kick. Shame it's not foot-switchable.
If the 50/100 watt Weber units are as good as this then I reckon I need to get another. Anyone had/or have a 50 or 100 watt Weber attenuator? If so be interested to know how it fares.....
Comments
"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
No. I can completely silence my amp. The motherload is designed for you to record a cranked amp at zero volume, directly from its DI output. Must say i haven't had stellar results recording with it, well not yet, but that may be my own incompetence. It's a fabulous attenuator
The big advantage for me with this unit is that it offers a 3 or 6 db boost and that really does clean things up on the neck pickup. These little PA20s kick out a reasonable volume when jumpered and running hot but as with many EL84 amps it can get a bit slushy on the neck, particularly with humbuckers and P90s. I found that kicking in the 3db boost just took the edge off and the 6db gave it a bit of brightness.
"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
+1. Great on fenders. Pants on Marshall's and Mesa.
I’m so bored I might as well be listening to Pink Floyd