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Post by znewtome on Oct 4, 2006 17:01:10 GMT -7
I have never used an attenuator. I'm considering the Z-Brake vs. a Weber Mass product.
One concern I have is heat. Do these get very hot? Do I need a rack or something, or can I just leave it on carpet, or on top of my cab? Space is a concern for me, but I don't have a rack.
The other I have is which product is best to use with a Master Volume. I have a cab for metal that is high wattage, and I'd like to tame it, but it's very full featured and has a master volume. Wilcutt says that these don't work well with master volume.
I'm also considering whether I'm going to buy a Ghia or Maz Jr for home use for A+ strat and les paul vintage sounds. It appears from comments here that the Z Brake works great with the Maz, but colors the tone too much with the Ghia - is that right?
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Post by John on Oct 4, 2006 19:29:28 GMT -7
While I don't have an Airbrake, I do have a Weber Mass. It's one of the older types, where it's a tabletop version vs the newer types that look like 1/2 rack models.
I have only used it with a Route 66 (32 watts) and an 18 watt Maz. Which is considerably less than it's 100 watt rating.
But I have used other attenuators in the past and they all seem to generate quite a bit of heat. Some more than others.
While I would not put it directly on carpet, I think you'll be alright with it on top of your cabinet. If you have any doubts, stick two pieces of wood under the unit. So the two wood pieces form rails. This will get it a bit more away from your cabinet. I did this for years.
Sorry, I can't comment on the Airbrake coloring the Ghia. But I will say I've never seen that comment.
I don't understand your second concern. You wrote: "I have a cab for metal that is high wattage, and I'd like to tame it, but it's very full featured and has a master volume."
You're cabinet has a master volume? And what is full featured?
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Post by taswegian on Oct 4, 2006 19:45:23 GMT -7
My airbrake doesn't get hot and I always put it on the floor when I use it. I think it's a fantastic attenuator. I think like most, the more you attenuate the worse it's gonna get. Having said that, the airbrake doesn't change the tone of my 66, just the response as you would expect. Sometimes it's handy to start the night on 2 clicks and then turn it off as the night progresses. I've heard some say it's ok with the ghia and others say it chokes it, there are a lot of variables that could influence how it reacts. Also, if you have a master on you're metal amp with all the features I'm not sure why you need the airbrake but with all those features, a master volume AND attenuation I would think the tone would be severely degraded, but the only way to know is to try it if you can.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Oct 4, 2006 20:11:45 GMT -7
I've been running my Airbrake with the Stingray on a four hour gig at one or two clicks down and it just gets a bit warm to the touch. I leave it right on top of the amp and it never gets warm enugh to affect the tolex.
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Post by znewtome on Oct 4, 2006 20:23:58 GMT -7
All,
Thanks everyone. Sorry, I meant amp, not cab. The full-featured one I have is a Genz Benz El Diablo 100 - it's got all kinds of options, but the master volume is BEFORE the EL-34s - it attenuates the signal from the pre-amp to the power-amp. So if I'm cutting that then I'm cutting the tone from the tubes I want to use and just relying on the pre-amp tubes. And no one wants to rely on those for tone. So what I'd really like is to be able to attenuate that power to my speakers and still run those EL-34s hot and driven. But everyone says no, the Z-Brake doesn't work well with amps with master volumes. So not sure how to do it.
Thanks on the heat issue. Even my Dell laptop power supply gets very hot. Hard to imagine that the attenuator doesn't get really hot. I figured one is called the Hot Plate for a reason. But if the Z-Brake is not getting hot, man that is one awesome design. Where does the energy go if not heat?
Mike
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Oct 4, 2006 20:58:05 GMT -7
All, Thanks everyone. Sorry, I meant amp, not cab. The full-featured one I have is a Genz Benz El Diablo 100 - it's got all kinds of options, but the master volume is BEFORE the EL-34s - it attenuates the signal from the pre-amp to the power-amp. So if I'm cutting that then I'm cutting the tone from the tubes I want to use and just relying on the pre-amp tubes. And no one wants to rely on those for tone. So what I'd really like is to be able to attenuate that power to my speakers and still run those EL-34s hot and driven. But everyone says no, the Z-Brake doesn't work well with amps with master volumes. So not sure how to do it. Thanks on the heat issue. Even my Dell laptop power supply gets very hot. Hard to imagine that the attenuator doesn't get really hot. I figured one is called the Hot Plate for a reason. But if the Z-Brake is not getting hot, man that is one awesome design. Where does the energy go if not heat? Mike Well my Stingray doesn't have a master volume, so I can't comment on that one, but I use a Hot Plate on my THD Flexi-50 and it does have a master volume. I think it works great, because I can dial up the master to the place where I'm getting exactly the amount of power tube saturation that I want, then use the Hot Plate for controlling the overall volume. Works great!
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