Lower Volumes???: 1980 Marshall NonMaster Super Lead

[Racerx2k]

Also, dont forget that an attenuator sucks tone big time. So, there you are, buying an amp for its tone and then using an attenuator which sucks all the mojo

Not entirely true. I use a Scholz Power Soak, and detect no tone suck, whatsoever. Depends on the attenuator.

[CharvelRocker]

Not entirely true. I use a Scholz Power Soak, and detect no tone suck, whatsoever. Depends on the attenuator.

Impossible. It will never sound the same with an attenuator as with it, you'll not be moving as much air, which contributes somewhat to the tone, particularly it seems with larger speakers. by that virtue, no attenuator will ever be able to recreate the sound of the amp being cranked.

You might as well just get a good OD pedal. Cheaper than an attenuator and if you get a fairly transparent one that just boost without coloring your tone, the effect will be nearly identical to a good attenuator.

OR, you could just not buy a Marshall that could blow down small homes at high volumes

[emperor_black]

Impossible. It will never sound the same with an attenuator as with it, you'll not be moving as much air, which contributes somewhat to the tone, particularly it seems with larger speakers. by that virtue, no attenuator will ever be able to recreate the sound of the amp being cranked.

+1
Also, at higher volumes, you might notice that you dont necessarily need as much gain as you would at lower volumes since some of the distortion is coming from the speakers themselves. You cant get that mojo at lower volumes. What you perceive as "no loss" is just that you are not hearing most of the higher/lower freqs at lower volumes. That's why SS amps sound so good at lower volumes. but once you crank them up, all the crap is louder and its "real" tone is heard. Which unfortunately sucks.

You might as well just get a good OD pedal. Cheaper than an attenuator and if you get a fairly transparent one that just boost without coloring your tone, the effect will be nearly identical to a good attenuator.

when you use an OD pedal, arent you just pushing the preamp tubes into distortion? the tube-tone we all like is mostly coming from the power amp tubes which need some serious cranking to get the good overall sound.

[CharvelRocker]

when you use an OD pedal, arent you just pushing the preamp tubes into distortion? the tube-tone we all like is mostly coming from the power amp tubes which need some serious cranking to get the good overall sound.

True, you do push the preamp tubes, though in my VJ I never noticed a huge difference. Some people do like to put OD's in the effects loop, but I've never tried it. I've also heard that it doesn't work as well in some amps. Comes to down to preference I guess. I prefer to use mine as a solo boost or to give me more gain for stuff like Metallica/Megadeth. The one difference I did notice on my VJ with the OD on the preamp and the natural powertube distortion is it seemed to have a bit more midrange "bite" and was a little clearer.

[emperor_black]

Maybe this is the perfect thread to ask about this doubt I always had... What's the deal with those volume boxes that are abundantly available on the bay? the description says that you put these volume boxes in the fx loop and you can control the amount of preamp sound that goes into the power section and hence use it as a master volume. I always dismissed the idea, but coming to think about it, we dont want to lose the tone the preamp's are putting out, but we necessarily dont need the volume right? Any thoughts on this?

this is the device I'm talking about. I understand that any device that lowers an input's volume can be used. Like an OD pedal with gain at zero and level reduced. Or an eq pedal's level reduced.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VOLUME-BOX-Attenuator-MESA-BOOGIE-Tube-Amps-VoodooMan_W0QQitemZ270260611919QQihZ017QQcategoryZ10171QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Racerx2k]

Impossible. It will never sound the same with an attenuator as with it, you'll not be moving as much air, which contributes somewhat to the tone, particularly it seems with larger speakers. by that virtue, no attenuator will ever be able to recreate the sound of the amp being cranked.

Yes, it is quite possible. Besides, what you are referring to, in your above example, is not a results of tone suck from the attenuator, but the fact that you are not moving the speakers as much. Two different things, really, which is not the attenuator's fault.

[Nazgul]

Maybe this is the perfect thread to ask about this doubt I always had... What's the deal with those volume boxes that are abundantly available on the bay? the description says that you put these volume boxes in the fx loop and you can control the amount of preamp sound that goes into the power section and hence use it as a master volume. I always dismissed the idea, but coming to think about it, we dont want to lose the tone the preamp's are putting out, but we necessarily dont need the volume right? Any thoughts on this?

this is the device I'm talking about. I understand that any device that lowers an input's volume can be used. Like an OD pedal with gain at zero and level reduced. Or an eq pedal's level reduced.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VOLUME-BOX-Atten...QQcmdZViewItem

I was just looking at this a week ago...let's hear what the big guys say.

[toejam]

Those little volume boxes are just like using a volume pedal in your effects loop.

[rstites]

Also, at higher volumes, you might notice that you dont necessarily need as much gain as you would at lower volumes since some of the distortion is coming from the speakers themselves. You cant get that mojo at lower volumes.

This is true, but I think the acoustic reinforcening feedback due to volume is the single biggest thing that cannot be recreated. That's what the extra distortion is really after: mimic the natural endless feedback that you have with a guitar in front of an amp that is cranked to deafening volumes. Through a Superlead cranked up, you can go from fairly clean to endless sustained notes just be adjusting your attack and angle/distance from the speakers. At any lower volume you can't recreate that. The closest you can get is by increasing distortion.

My recommendation with Superleads anymore is to save them for the studio. Record all that goodness in an environment where you can be as loud as you need to be, and then go to something else live that isn't as tonefull but is more even across volumes.