Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

[some_dude]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

I mean come on guys, speak realistically. Dont say that i am risking my amp by turning the volume to 8 or 9, thats obvious. But if you are saying it will blow my OT the next time i do it then OK, i will listen.

You can crank it just fine.....just don't CRANK it.

I think you understand what I mean.

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

Scott, every time i have used mine it never got above room temp even with the volume at 5-6. This was the only time its ever been hot, but thats with the amp cranked. Im sure if i got a 100 watt version it wouldnt even break a sweat, but then again i would have to sell this one and fork out over $200. It does its job very well, so I dont think i will ever sell it unless it fails.

Anyway, you guys act as if my amp will explode if i crank it again, when amps such as Marshalls need to be cranked to the same volume levels to get their tone. Are Laneys not supposed to take this handling? I mean come on guys, speak realistically. Dont say that i am risking my amp by turning the volume to 8 or 9, thats obvious. But if you are saying it will blow my OT the next time i do it then OK, i will listen.

Among my collection of non master amps sits a scruffy Laney AOR 50 that only sounds great when dimed. When run on the low gain input pre and master are set to 10. When run on the hi gain input the master is dimed and the pre is set to 4 or 5 depending on the guitar I have. I just got back from rehearsal, amp was on for 2/12 hrs, attenuated with my Weber Mass and sounded fantastic. Been doing this with that amp for the 2 yrs I have had it. If you keep your amp healthy, Tubes good, biased proper, caps in working order, then you should be in good shape. Usually failure is connected to a weak component that was not addressed when it should have been.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

Why is it that Laney's are so damn loud? Everytime I read a review of a Laney amp, the person who has it says that it's damn loud, and louder than most of his/her other amps??? Imagine when I order my 100 watter Laney tomorrow :laugh2:

100 Watts!!! Dude, get the 50. You won't need much more than that. Like everyone has said, Laney 100 watters are freakin' LOUD!!! ...LOL.

As for the attenuator, yes, they get warm/hot. That is normal. What they are doing is taking the attenuated power from the amp and dissipating what is not sent to the speakers as heat. The more coming from the amp and the more attenuation, the more heat.

With master volume amps, you can get perfectly good tones without cranking the hell out of them. Attenuators are best suited for non-master volume amps where you have to get the pre-amp volume up to get the tone.

 

[Sune]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

100 Watts!!! Dude, get the 50. You won't need much more than that. Like everyone has said, Laney 100 watters are freakin' LOUD!!! ...LOL.

As for the attenuator, yes, they get warm/hot. That is normal. What they are doing is taking the attenuated power from the amp and dissipating what is not sent to the speakers as heat. The more coming from the amp and the more attenuation, the more heat.

With master volume amps, you can get perfectly good tones without cranking the hell out of them. Attenuators are best suited for non-master volume amps where you have to get the pre-amp volume up to get the tone.

It only exists in a 100 watt version. :laugh2: And I've already ordered it :laugh2:

 

[ErikH]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

It only exists in a 100 watt version. :laugh2: And I've already ordered it :laugh2:

I hope you ordered a case of earplugs for mom and dad and half the neighborhood too. :laugh2:

 

[Sune]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

I hope you ordered a case of earplugs for mom and dad and half the neighborhood too. :laugh2:

Well, I figured I could set my Marshall to 25 watts maybe and use it mostly at home.. And then when going out to play with others, or gigging, I could use the Laney.. But some people claim you can get decent tones out of the Laney at bedroom volumes since it's an master volume amp as my Marshall. I certainly hope I can use it at least to some extent at home, because it's got killer tones, there's nothing quite like that tone out there (Not what I've heard, at least), and it's my dream amp, the one I've been gassing for a long time..

Anyway Erik, I think the amp you were thinking about is the Laney GH50L, but it is different from the Iommi, the Iommi has high gain mods, a pre-amp tube or two more, and some switches which the GH50L doesn't have.

But yes, I bet it is one of the loudest 100 watt amp's available.. It is based on the GH100S which Tony used in the old times. S = stadium.. But it is different with the high gain mods etc. But the name of the amp which it is based on says that it must be loud.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

Well, I figured I could set my Marshall to 25 watts maybe and use it mostly at home.. And then when going out to play with others, or gigging, I could use the Laney.. But some people claim you can get decent tones out of the Laney at bedroom volumes since it's an master volume amp as my Marshall. I certainly hope I can use it at least to some extent at home, because it's got killer tones, there's nothing quite like that tone out there (Not what I've heard, at least), and it's my dream amp, the one I've been gassing for a long time..

Anyway Erik, I think the amp you were thinking about is the Laney GH50L, but it is different from the Iommi, the Iommi has high gain mods, a pre-amp tube or two more, and some switches which the GH50L doesn't have.

But yes, I bet it is one of the loudest 100 watt amp's available.. It is based on the GH100S which Tony used in the old times. S = stadium.. But it is different with the high gain mods etc. But the name of the amp which it is based on says that it must be loud.

You won't need to switch it to 25 watts. I've switched mine to half power and barely noticed any difference. That's what the master volume is for and I get plenty good tones at low volume although lately it's been getting run at 4 on the master. Sweetness.

Yeah, I was thinking of the GH50L. I really like that amp. Don't go giving me GAS. Last think I need to tell my wife is I got GAS for another amp....lol. I haven't tried the Iommi amp but considering who it's designed for, you know that thing is a monster.

 

[Sune]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

You won't need to switch it to 25 watts. I've switched mine to half power and barely noticed any difference. That's what the master volume is for and I get plenty good tones at low volume although lately it's been getting run at 4 on the master. Sweetness.

Yeah, I was thinking of the GH50L. I really like that amp. Don't go giving me GAS. Last think I need to tell my wife is I got GAS for another amp....lol. I haven't tried the Iommi amp but considering who it's designed for, you know that thing is a monster.

I wouldn't blame you if you had GAS for a Laney.. They have quite a unique tone, which I like. But yes, the Iommi is a bit more hotrodded I think.. And you can hear that if you listen to soundclips, or songs recorded with it.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

From what i've heard, Laney put some pretty meaty OTs in their amps, I wouldn't worry just yet. Those things are made for cranking, just maybe not 100% flat out all the time. They can handle a hell of a lot of power though, don't worry too much!

 

[B2D]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

The problem isn't the attenuator, the problem is that you can crank an amp to unreasonable levels and maintain reasonable volumes.

If you were to dime the gain and master volume on an unattenuated amp the OT would quit just as soon as it would on an attenuated amp......the only difference is that in the first case you're ears would be bleeding.

There's nothing wrong or unsafe about using attenuation.....as long as you don't use your amp in an normally unsafe manner.....for instance, like the way the threadstarter was using it.

Well said. Attenuators are NOT repeat NOT for turning your 200W Marshall Major into a practice amp that you can use in your bedroom. They are for taking loud tube amps and making their volume a few dB lower and more manageable so the bartender wont yell at you.

It got hot because you had the "faucet" opened up all the way and only letting a few "droplets" come out. All the excess energy got turned into heat.

It PROBABLY didnt do any damage to the amp. However running your amp like that (attenuator or not) will wear your tubes down a lot faster.

Oh yeah if you want a REAL attenuator spend the extra $$ and get and Airbrake. That thing rules. You can handle it with your bare hands immediately after a high-volume workout.

 

[Jonny R]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

Just out of interest, are there companies that sell beefier aftermarket transformers to put into amps?

Was thinking about it...comparing my Fender amp to my home hi-fi amp...the hifi amp is fairly small, has half the interior taken up by the two transformers, and weighs about 16kg...the Fender is much larger (2x12) and weighs 28kg all up...bit of a difference in philosophy there...although I guess the hi-fi amp is aiming at huge power reserves for really clean low-mid volume performance...

Hmmmm

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

Oh yeah if you want a REAL attenuator spend the extra $$ and get and Airbrake. That thing rules. You can handle it with your bare hands immediately after a high-volume workout.[/QUOTE]


Whether it gets hot or not is not an implication as to the quality of the unit. Most are supposed to get hot, just how they are designed. Maybe if you are cooking eggs on the thing there is a concern... My Mass gets plenty hot, but it is supposed to. We need to be careful in saying that only one brand works. There are many quality products on the market, that all do very similiar things, and at reasonable volumes will all sound extremely close to each other. The technology is good these days and for the most part build are similiar, either resistor or speaker motor methods. It really comes down to getting the right power application for your particular gear.

 

[greendy123]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

You won't need to switch it to 25 watts. I've switched mine to half power and barely noticed any difference. That's what the master volume is for and I get plenty good tones at low volume although lately it's been getting run at 4 on the master. Sweetness.

Yeah, I was thinking of the GH50L. I really like that amp. Don't go giving me GAS. Last think I need to tell my wife is I got GAS for another amp....lol. I haven't tried the Iommi amp but considering who it's designed for, you know that thing is a monster.

On the half power setting you talking about volume right? For me on the half power setting the volume is basically the same, but the tone is darker and I think the amp overdrives earlier.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

On the half power setting you talking about volume right? For me on the half power setting the volume is basically the same, but the tone is darker and I think the amp overdrives earlier.

Exactly. There's not much of a volume drop at all. It just changes from pentode to triode mode.

 

[B2D]

Re: Cranked amp to 10.. thought attenuator was about to melt

Whether it gets hot or not is not an implication as to the quality of the unit. Most are supposed to get hot, just how they are designed. Maybe if you are cooking eggs on the thing there is a concern... My Mass gets plenty hot, but it is supposed to. We need to be careful in saying that only one brand works. There are many quality products on the market, that all do very similiar things, and at reasonable volumes will all sound extremely close to each other. The technology is good these days and for the most part build are similiar, either resistor or speaker motor methods. It really comes down to getting the right power application for your particular gear.

I was kinda joking about the "get a REAL attenuator" bit but the fact is the Airbrake is a killer attenuator that doesnt kill tone and doesn't get very hot even after being fed some high wattages for extended periods of time. Good engineering, I guess.