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Post by mtlrecords on Apr 25, 2013 17:35:32 GMT -7
Hey guys,
I'm wondering if anyone has experiences with both of these and can compare and contrast?
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Post by Lefty on Apr 30, 2013 11:59:22 GMT -7
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Post by mtlrecords on Apr 30, 2013 13:16:43 GMT -7
I'm not offended. I've looked at both links and done quite a bit of research since I posted this, but was hoping for more detailed opinions from the Dr. Z users. In the Z-talk thread, no actual discussion or comparison of the Leash takes place so it's kind of worthless.
On the TGP thread (found easily enough through Google, agreed) the descriptions are mostly pretty vague. And people talk about using the attenuators with amps I either don't own or would never want to own. Some useful info though.
I went with a Leash by the way. As I did more research on the Air Brake I was turned off by the altered impedance of the Z attenuators as the attenuation was increased. It could spell bad new for my amps' OT transformer at high attenuation settings and 4 ohm cabs...loving the leash
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 1, 2013 19:36:56 GMT -7
Looking at many of the links offered up by Google, one thing I see is a total misunderstanding of how to operate an attenuator. What you have to realize is that your ears and your brain try to compensate for things they expect. This causes a lot of folks to try attenuators and immediately brand them as bad or tone sucking. But they did the worst thing they could do - they started wide open and used the attenuator to turn the amp down. Well hell, even when I do that with my master volume it doesn't sound as good. I LOVE the sound of a loud amp.
On the other hand, if you start out with the attenuator at maximum, turn on the amp and set up your sound, then use the attenuator to come UP to the volume you wish to play, your ears and your brain go bananas over how great it sounds. If you don't believe it, try it. I'm not making it up.
That said, I've spent a lot of time playing through attenuators (even designed one of my own back in the '70's) and this seems to be the most prevalent miss among guitarists I see writing about their experiences. I do find minor differences between the ones I've tried (Airbrake, Brake Lite, all of the THD Hot Plates) but the differences are way down in the mud when you use it to turn UP instead of DOWN.
Try it.
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Post by mtlrecords on May 1, 2013 19:47:26 GMT -7
Thanks for the input Steve. I was really just hoping some people might have A/B'd the Leash and Air Brake to see what differences there might be. I'm loving the Leash now, even at highly attenuated settings, so no problems here.
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Post by jammergreg on May 6, 2013 20:45:51 GMT -7
Thanks for the input Steve. I was really just hoping some people might have A/B'd the Leash and Air Brake to see what differences there might be. I'm loving the Leash now, even at highly attenuated settings, so no problems here. I hear you don't have to use the fan where heat is not a problem. So you don't always have to plug it in. Cool, right?
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Post by mtlrecords on May 7, 2013 7:28:38 GMT -7
Yeah, that's what I know about the Leash- you don't have to have the fan going, but it's a good idea if you're attenuating heavily and there is a lot of heat. It's not a big deal to plug it in for me though, so I just always do it.
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Post by jammergreg on May 7, 2013 10:17:27 GMT -7
Yeah, that's what I know about the Leash- you don't have to have the fan going, but it's a good idea if you're attenuating heavily and there is a lot of heat. It's not a big deal to plug it in for me though, so I just always do it. Yeah, I'll just plug it in to be safe and not sorry. Thanks.
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Post by jammergreg on May 8, 2013 23:34:00 GMT -7
Hey guys, I'm wondering if anyone has experiences with both of these and can compare and contrast? I'll have both on Tuesday. I'll do the A-B thing. After having BLs for 4 or 5 years I just learned how to use it RIGHT Tonight, as per DR Zs advice. Start out with it all the way to 4 clicks (full Attenuation) season amp to taste and then add less attenuation. It worked like a charm. I use to start out at full vol and BL off. Dah!! Who knew? DR Z did.
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Post by justblues on Nov 13, 2013 6:01:35 GMT -7
I know this is an old thread, but was hoping to get some feedback from Owners of Dr Z amps without a master volume who are using the Leash. I have a Maz 18 NR and use a Brake Lite and the combo work great. I am thinking about getting another Z amp without a Master volume and wonder if the Leash offers significantly better control than the Brake Lite. What do you think?
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therev
Junior Member
Posts: 52
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Post by therev on Nov 13, 2013 11:32:08 GMT -7
I have a Bad Cat Unleash and also a Wreck - I tried an air brake at the shop and it was fine and pretty transparent as these things go, though I have to say I wasn't that impressed by the amount of attenuation available even on its strongest setting! However, I bought the Unleash because it has 2 huge factors Ive never seen on any other attenuator - 1. You have 2 foot-switchable channels, so you can still get a solo boost (something all other attenuators I've tried won't do (they just soak up any attempt to go louder as you would expect) and 2. it has an effects loop in it, so I can have my reverb and delay etc behind the amps natural distortion ! These 2 factors make it a winner in my book. Sounds pretty transparent too, or at least as transparent as any other attenuator. Also made my Bad Cat, which is also a really good manufacturer, so its decent kit, its way smaller than the air brake and sits on top of my amp much better. However you also need to plug it in, because whilst it attenuates as described it isn't passive like the air brake - It actually has a Class D power amp in there,s o you are actually re-amping rather than truly attenuating, so whilst you attenuate you can also boost up a 1 watt or 5 watt practice amp to 100w. This might be an issue if you are a purist, however I have to say that it tames my wreck for smaller venues great, and as I say adding the effects loop and switchable channels is just a game changer for me! Very happy with it. Any questions or stuff you want me to try, just gimme a shout mate Cheers, Mark ! :-D
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Post by justblues on Nov 13, 2013 15:33:16 GMT -7
Thanks Therev...sounds like the unleash would be a good investment.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2014 10:31:57 GMT -7
I went to your first search link. The first result brought me back here.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Apr 14, 2014 18:42:06 GMT -7
I went to your first search link. The first result brought me back here. Maybe you could write a script to bounce back and forth!
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