Tried my SLO with an attenuator

[pianoguyy]

Let's face it - if you can't hear it, how do we know it sounds better.

[jspeed]

The Rockcrusher is the way to go!

[Adieu]

Try a volume box (essentially a volume potentiometer stuck thru the effects loop) before you splurge on those.

Your power tube gain wll, of course, dwindle, but you can get a 100-120w to whisper quiet levels even with insane preamp tube gain


The way it works is it's basically a master-master-volume and acts as a multiplier on the master/post gain knob setting... or a fine-tuner, if you will. Set both to 1 and you get 1% volume. without any of that sweat beading on your brow, move it by a hair incrementally, and pay attention and keep your hands steady lest baby wakes up / mom whoops yo ass and grounds you till you're 45 / the cops show up


For more moderate reduction, on most amp designs you can pull a pair of power tubes (usually both inners or both outers, but it's specific ones so find out first) to half-watt a quad-power-tube amp.

[Catharpin]

Try a volume box (essentially a volume potentiometer stuck thru the effects loop) before you splurge on those.

Your power tube gain wll, of course, dwindle, but you can get a 100-120w to whisper quiet levels even with insane preamp tube gain


The way it works is it's basically a master-master-volume and acts as a multiplier on the master/post gain knob setting... or a fine-tuner, if you will. Set both to 1 and you get 1% volume. without any of that sweat beading on your brow, move it by a hair incrementally, and pay attention and keep your hands steady lest baby wakes up / mom whoops yo ass and grounds you till you're 45 / the cops show up


For more moderate reduction, on most amp designs you can pull a pair of power tubes (usually both inners or both outers, but it's specific ones so find out first) to half-watt a quad-power-tube amp.

I'm not sure you understand how the rock crusher works. The speaker impedance changes with the frequency of the signal, this load presented by the speakers to the amp changes dynamically. Taking the load away changes the dynamic between the speakers and the power tubes. The rock crusher works to preserve the active load on the power tubes by approximating the impedance of the speaker to the amp while sending less volume (amplitude) to the speaker. A volume (resistor) in the loop just cuts the load going to the power tubes and does not allow the tubes to work in the full range that produces "the tone" we all lust for.

[PowerTube]

I'm not sure you understand how the rock crusher works. The speaker impedance changes with the frequency of the signal, this load presented by the speakers to the amp changes dynamically. Taking the load away changes the dynamic between the speakers and the power tubes. The rock crusher works to preserve the active load on the power tubes by approximating the impedance of the speaker to the amp while sending less volume (amplitude) to the speaker. A volume (resistor) in the loop just cuts the load going to the power tubes and does not allow the tubes to work in the full range that produces "the tone" we all lust for.

What you're saying makes sense, but there's also validity in what he's saying. Someone playing in their bedroom might not necessarily need or want that power tube overdrive. It depends on the player.

And.... he could also cut the input volume down with any pedal that has a volume control in front of the amp, i.e. between the guitar and amp. That will allow him more power tube saturation while keeping the volume sane.

But I do think that the OP should try the volume box idea before splurging on an attenuator. If this were a single channel Marshall from the 60's or 70's, I might view it differently.

[lynchfan6]

Update nearly a year later....haven't plugged in the Rivera Rock Crusher since probably last July. Honeymoon was short lived. Was raving about it on here but then tried it out during an outdoor gig last June and I felt that I liked the punch of my SLO better without the attenuator. In a way... to my perception, in a live gig, the attenuator almost made the amp sound too compressed....like lost in the mix more, which is not typical with this amp. Just plugged it in with my SLO again last weekend to try it out again.....same verdict. I'm pretty happy with the master volume on my amp and the headroom the power amp section supplies, so I think I'm gonna pass this Rock Crusher on soon. I think I understand what JGCable was saying now about attenuators and live performance with a high gain amp, as I truly do get my gain from the preamp with a tubescreamer in front for just a tiny solo bump.

[jgcable]

Update nearly a year later....haven't plugged in the Rivera Rock Crusher since probably last July. Honeymoon was short lived. Was raving about it on here but then tried it out during an outdoor gig last June and I felt that I liked the punch of my SLO better without the attenuator. In a way... to my perception, in a live gig, the attenuator almost made the amp sound too compressed....like lost in the mix more, which is not typical with this amp. Just plugged it in with my SLO again last weekend to try it out again.....same verdict. I'm pretty happy with the master volume on my amp and the headroom the power amp section supplies, so I think I'm gonna pass this Rock Crusher on soon. I think I understand what JGCable was saying now about attenuators and live performance with a high gain amp, as I truly do get my gain from the preamp with a tubescreamer in front for just a tiny solo bump.

Yep.. my experience exactly. It sounded and felt compressed and the punch was gone. All the things I love about the amp were gone. Its not just the SLO either. I have tried several different attenuators on many different high gain amps and I just don't like how they react. Clean is different though. If you play clean and you need to tame an amp an attenuator can work.