Suggest a PowerSoak

JacksonShredHead

JacksonShredHead

New member
Ok, I wanna try using a powersoak/attenuator to let my amp run a little truer at practice levels. Which powersoak should I go with? The Hotplate or the Marshall PowerBrake? I don't want it to change the eq of my amp any and I noticed the HotPlate has all the bright functions and stuff on it. Any suggestions?
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

Hot Plate. No question of it. Either way your going to have to tweak your EQ. Thats just the way it is with attenuation. Your ear hears mids better at lower volumes. Fletcher Munson is your friend. You can fine tune a bit with the switches on the hot plate but its a very broad brush.
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

It's going to change some things- finding the right attenuator for your amp and you is about the same as finding the right amp for you.

I've heard the best things about the Hot Plate- but I also have a friend who's more than happy with his old Scholz unit. I've heard unflattering things about the Marshall unit, and I've heard good things about the Dr. Z unit.

I had this cheap no-name unit that sounded great with my Marshall, but not so good with my Bassmans (Bassmen?).
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

You will get tone alteration no matter what, unless you set the attenuation so low that it hardly does anything. It attenuates EVERYTHING, including tone. How much depends on how much you want to spend. I think the weber mass and dr.z are the best. The hotplate doesnt have switchable ohms and ive heard the mass and dr.z are better for certain things.
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

Would one power soak match better than another for a Mesa Roadster head and 2x12 8 ohm cab to get the overdriven powertube sound at a reasonable bedroom level?

What do you use for your Mesa?

Alex
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

jmh151 said:
I have the Hotplate. It alters the tone too much
Click to expand...

How much are you knocking it down? The HP is the best there is. If you don't like that one you need to find a different solution. Attenuators won't work for you

Attenuators are not meant to knock down a dimed 100w plexi to bedroom levels. They will ALL sound like ass if you try that.
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

alex1fly said:
Would one power soak match better than another for a Mesa Roadster head and 2x12 8 ohm cab to get the overdriven powertube sound at a reasonable bedroom level?

What do you use for your Mesa?

Alex
Click to expand...

They can all knock it down that much but it won't sound good.
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

alex1fly said:
Would one power soak match better than another for a Mesa Roadster head and 2x12 8 ohm cab to get the overdriven powertube sound at a reasonable bedroom level?

What do you use for your Mesa?

Alex
Click to expand...

If you want full overdriven power tube tone at reasonable bedroom levels, you need to get yourself a lower-wattage amp. No two ways about it.

- Keith
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

KGMESSIER said:
If you want full overdriven power tube tone at reasonable bedroom levels, you need to get yourself a lower-wattage amp. No two ways about it.

- Keith
Click to expand...

+1 million

I have a 100watt MASS and it is the biggest tone killing waste of $$ in my arsenal... and through the years i have purchased some real turds here and there! Sounds like ass on the Mesa.. sounds like ass on the jcm 800 (which I bought it to try and tame a little).

i had a buddy over who is not a guitar player when i got the MASS delivered in the mail & tried it out and even he remarked at how "flat and dead" the attenuated tones were and that just the plain old turned down to bedroom level amps by themselves sounded "alive and rich" in comparison.

He was right

And so is KGMESSIER...

IMHO anyway! :firedevil
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

pixelpusher said:
+1 million

I have a 100watt MASS and it is the biggest tone killing waste of $$ in my arsenal... and through the years i have purchased some real turds here and there! Sounds like ass on the Mesa.. sounds like ass on the jcm 800 (which I bought it to try and tame a little).

i had a buddy over who is not a guitar player when i got the MASS delivered in the mail & tried it out and even he remarked at how "flat and dead" the attenuated tones were and that just the plain old turned down to bedroom level amps by themselves sounded "alive and rich" in comparison.

He was right

And so is KGMESSIER...

IMHO anyway! :firedevil
Click to expand...


I am exactly the opposite, the Mass is the among the best musical tools I have for useing my vintage amps. If you are gonna sell it let me know, I have a buddy looking to snatch one up.
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

I have a Hot Plate that I use sometimes with my JMP 2204. It's good for letting me push the power tubes a bit whilst keeping the volume at club/pub levels, but as Keith says anything more than 8dB attenuation kills the tone. If I'm playing that amp at home I prefer the sound of it's pre-amp distortion (or the CM PlexiTone) to the highly-attenuated power amp distortion. I don't use the Hot Plate for bedroom-level playing.
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

My Weber Mass blows the Hotplate out of the water. No comparison. The Hotplate looks cooler but that's about it.
 
Re: Suggest a PowerSoak

Do you have an effects loop?

Try this cheap alternative: Volume pedal in the loop. I just picked up a Morley Little Alligator with a "Minimum volume" knob. I just tried it yesterday for just a very short time. My thoughts are that it takes away some top end, adds some noise, but at 30 bucks versus 230 bucks it might be the way to go if your just jamming at home. I have a Hotplate, but I need to attenuate more than 8dB to get there most of the time, so I am trying this volume pedal trick on for size. Plus with the pedal you can use various speaker loads, 8ohm, 16, whatever. Hotplates are load-particular. BTW, I do like the hotplate, but was interested in this alternative.
 
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