POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

[zozoe]

Hi all~~ In my very limited experience with power soaks, I have never been truly satisfied with what I've heard. But I now find myself in the situation where I need one to keep neighborhood peace. Without spending $300+ for the upper echelon of soaks, which of the 'lower' priced soaks are worthy of transparency, no added overdrive, (which I noticed with my only experience with a lower end unit), and tonal adjustments, if any. The amp I really need this for is my Budda TwinMaster 10, an 18 watt non-master monster. Thanks for all the great help I have always received from you all~~

🕉

 

[VinceT]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

My main amp is a 1998 Budda Verbmaster 18W (your Twinmaster with onboard reverb), so I know your volume pain - glorious, but LOUD!

I’ve always used a THD Hotplate 8Ohm with my Budda and it works great - I even use it as a silent recording box into IRs.

That said, Mike Whitney of Whitney Amps helped me out by fitting a master volume to my Verbmaster (nothing fancy, just a passive 1MOhm pot after the existing Volume) and that has brought a whole world of flexibility to the amp - using both volume controls on the Hi input is just wonderfully flexible (and definitely very, very different from using the low input on its own).

If you do go the route of modding internally, take a couple of minutes to check the back of your pots. My Verbmaster was very noisy and I noticed there was no ground bus wire across the back of the pots (it was relying on physical contact between pots and chassis for grounding). A quick add of a direct soldered ground bus cured ALL the noise issues I’d been having for years!)

Between these two mods, my Verbmaster has never sounded so good - true tonal inspiration!


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[zozoe]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

Thanks VinceT,,, Does that 1Mohm pot act as a master of sorts, & I would figure it affects the level hitting the tubes,,,,? What is that pot actually doing? I like what you're describing, though!!

 

[formula73]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

I gotta tell ya, I run a Weber Mass 100 on my Metaltronix M-1000 and it’s a godsend with the +3 (and +6) db treble boost.

I imagine a lower wattage model would work GREAT for you and be cheaper.

 

[VinceT]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

Thanks VinceT,,, Does that 1Mohm pot act as a master of sorts, & I would figure it affects the level hitting the tubes,,,,? What is that pot actually doing? I like what you're describing, though!!

Yup, that’s exactly what it’s doing. It’s post preamp, so just affecting the power tubes. The Budda pushes the power tubes in Hi mode, so you get saturation from both pre- and power-amp. With the master, I can take the pre- higher and then reduce the power, the other way around, or bring both up at the same time. And,if I ever feel like it, I can max the master and have the original spec circuit. So much flexibility in those two controls!

I’ll check with Whit where he Master is specifically in the circuit.


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[zozoe]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

Thanks, VinceT,,, that would be great. I still want to hit those power tubes. Looking forward to your answer from Mike..
Kenny ��

 

[jeremy]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

Yup, that’s exactly what it’s doing. It’s post preamp, so just affecting the power tubes. The Budda pushes the power tubes in Hi mode, so you get saturation from both pre- and power-amp. With the master, I can take the pre- higher and then reduce the power, the other way around, or bring both up at the same time. And,if I ever feel like it, I can max the master and have the original spec circuit. So much flexibility in those two controls!

if its a single gang pot then its a pre pi mv, dual gang pot probably a post pi mv. the post allows you to drive the pi tube hard and keep the volume down. there is no way to get "power tube" distortion without running the amp hard. when you run the mv full up, you are just allowing the full preamp signal to hit the power tubes but you still need enough signal hitting those tubes to get them to break up. ive never heard pure power tube breakup and chances are no one else here has either. when you run an amp full up you are hearing preamp, pi, and power tube distortion, maybe some speaker break up too. part of what we miss when using even a good attenuator is that the speaker isnt being pushed the same way. a mv with a good attenuator will help knock down the db's a little but too much and youll definitely notice. a less efficient speaker is a good way to knock down the volume. with a tube rectifier you could try rolling that to see if you can bring the voltages down but thats another ball of wax

 

[VinceT]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

if its a single gang pot then its a pre pi mv, dual gang pot probably a post pi mv. the post allows you to drive the pi tube hard and keep the volume down. there is no way to get "power tube" distortion without running the amp hard. when you run the mv full up, you are just allowing the full preamp signal to hit the power tubes but you still need enough signal hitting those tubes to get them to break up. ive never heard pure power tube breakup and chances are no one else here has either. when you run an amp full up you are hearing preamp, pi, and power tube distortion, maybe some speaker break up too. part of what we miss when using even a good attenuator is that the speaker isnt being pushed the same way. a mv with a good attenuator will help knock down the db's a little but too much and youll definitely notice. a less efficient speaker is a good way to knock down the volume. with a tube rectifier you could try rolling that to see if you can bring the voltages down but thats another ball of wax

Yes to all of the above. It’s a pre-PI master volume, so definitely reducing any chance of PI and power-tube distortion, or speaker break-up.


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[EC Strat]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

Weber mass 50w or 100w depending on the amp. The treble add back does wonders and my PRRI sounds really good at bedroom level overdriven. Have the Weber set at 1.5 volume

 

[hamerfan]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

I have best results using both at the same time. A volume box in the effects loop as pre pi and a conventional power soak (Tom Scholz) with not more than -9db. Over 9db you hear a loss of highs.

 

[dystrust]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

My main amp is a 1998 Budda Verbmaster 18W (your Twinmaster with onboard reverb), so I know your volume pain - glorious, but LOUD!

I’ve always used a THD Hotplate 8Ohm with my Budda and it works great - I even use it as a silent recording box into IRs.

I used a 16 ohm Hotplate with my 2555 Jubilee for years when I needed to knock a few db off. It sounds almost identical at -4db and pretty good down to -8db, but deteriorates quickly after that. The Jubilee has a master volume, so I'm not trying to control a completely cranked 100W amp. It sounds decent with the master at 2, but the sweet spot is from about 2.5 - 4, while it gets over compressed and spongy above 5.

I picked up a Mini Jubilee 2525H in 2017 and my Hotplate doesn't get much use these days. I'd love to try it with IRs sometime, but have yet to get around to it.

 

[VinceT]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

I used a 16 ohm Hotplate with my 2555 Jubilee for years when I needed to knock a few db off. It sounds almost identical at -4db and pretty good down to -8db, but deteriorates quickly after that. The Jubilee has a master volume, so I'm not trying to control a completely cranked 100W amp. It sounds decent with the master at 2, but the sweet spot is from about 2.5 - 4, while it gets over compressed and spongy above 5.

I picked up a Mini Jubilee 2525H in 2017 and my Hotplate doesn't get much use these days. I'd love to try it with IRs sometime, but have yet to get around to it.

Right, the -12db and -16db aren’t tonally wonderful (though sometimes necessary just for volume “politeness” at home!) but I think that’s more to do with the lack of push on the speaker - silent into IRs, the Budda sounds great.


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[esandes]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

I heard good things about the rivera rock crusher.

 

[MGW]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

Iron Man

 

[zozoe]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

What are IR's?

 

[VinceT]

Re: POWER SOAK RECOMMENDATIONS

What are IR's?

Impulse Responses - google or YouTube the term - there’s tons of good info out there.


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