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Post by kaseri on May 16, 2005 20:12:23 GMT -7
I just got an Airbrake and it seems to work well. It's transparent up through the #4 setting. Bedroom settings seems to rob more tone than I'm willing to give up. What are your experiences with the Airbrake? Will anyone make an attenuator that can retain clarity and tone when used at "bedroom" settings or are we @ the mercy of technology limits in regard to attenuators?
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Post by Lefty on May 16, 2005 21:29:00 GMT -7
I never really saw much need for the Bedroom setting personally. But I did hear a little loss with the Air Brake vs. straight in cable even with the Air Brake completely off. It's a great tool just the same. But attenuators are just a band aid on getting great tone, not a cure all.
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Post by kaseri on May 17, 2005 12:49:16 GMT -7
Guess I need to move to the suburbs so I can play my amps loud all the time
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Post by Lefty on May 20, 2005 16:20:14 GMT -7
That would help! ;D
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Post by rpavich on Jun 12, 2005 4:13:25 GMT -7
I've got a MAZ-18 and I use an airbrake all of the time...I may be getting old but for practice I use it on the bdrm setting and for gigging I use it on about mid point just to get the amp to work a little harder and get the "just right" point on feel and dynamics...
bob
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Post by iananderson on Jun 26, 2005 12:57:47 GMT -7
Can I use the air brake with various amps? Or do I need one for each ohm rating like the hotplate?
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Post by kaseri on Jun 26, 2005 14:46:33 GMT -7
Ian...
You can use the Airbrake with any cab. 4, 8 or 16 ohms. No need to own more than one Airbrake!
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Post by iananderson on Jun 27, 2005 1:56:03 GMT -7
Great to hear that thanks for the info. Thats the reason why I never got into attenuation. I'd need 3 hotplates. It's definietly on my short list of things to get.
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Post by kaseri on Jun 27, 2005 4:13:19 GMT -7
Bah.. we don't need no stinkin hotplates!
You'll enjoy the Airbrake. Makes life much easier.
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Post by myles on Jul 6, 2005 11:46:32 GMT -7
I have used the Airbrake on a lot of amps and in a lot of situations. Those of you that have been to my place know I have a lot of these "sorts of devices" ranging from the original GT speaker emulators to Hot Plates, Palmers, Webers, self designed and build stuff of my own, etc.
Recently at the Loggins & Messina concert at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles we had an issue come up again during sound check. This issue first raised it's head in early June when the tour was being set up.
Jimmy Messina plays with three amps. The two outer amps are for effects.
Kenny Loggins plays with two amps in stereo. They each use nice large condensor mics ... Shure KSM-32's in most cases. If you see a show you will notice that the sound is superb with no bleed through and things are not blaring. The stage volume is kept lower than usual. The problem was, when an amp is turned to like "2" it is not coming into it's sweet spot. I was asked to bring in some GT Speaker Emulators as they have a 25% and 50% speaker out provision. The issue for me was that these are:
1. Rack mount units that need AC power .... I have enough wire on stage already.
1a. Rack them where?
2. Features such as EQ and effects loops (not needed at all).
3. Set for one impedance.
It immediately came to mind that an Airbrake in the bottom of each amp would be perfect. No AC needed ... set it to "2" and then I can take the amp to "4+" instead of "2" on the amp. The sound will be great and the sound folks will be happy. It will also keep the folks playing on stage happy.
The Airbrake is a simple, bulletproof and compact device.
For club use here is a tip.....
When you set up at soundcheck ... set an airbrake to 3. Get your levels where you like them and you are good to go. Put the airbrake on top of the amp or where it is easy to get to.
As the place starts to fill up during the evening, people drink more ... thinks get louder .... it is a piece of cake to keep your tone without changing the amp settings (which change your tone and feel). Just wander over to the airbrake and click the left knob one click to the left ... going from "3" to "2". Now all is right with life again. If things get louder and hour later just click to 1, or then 0. Once you are at zero you can just go ahead and dime all the amps controls and go for broke until the police are called.
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