mwc
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Posts: 3
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Post by mwc on Jun 1, 2023 12:12:33 GMT -7
Hi
I’m in dire need of an attenuator for my Weber 5E7 Bandmaster. My band mates are complaining that I’m too loud. From what I found reading the schematic of this amp the 2 and 8 ohm taps on the OT are not in use. Because of this I’m rather sure that it uses the 4 ohm tap and from what I’ve read the Brake-lite works with 4-16 ohms. However, the speakers are 3x10” at 8 ohms each and combined at 2,67 ohms. My question is, will there be any issues with the Brake-lite and this combo?
Thanks for any help on this matter. Cheers
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Post by John on Jun 1, 2023 12:16:36 GMT -7
As far as I remember, the brakelite is not dependent on any ohm reading. Put another way, the brakelite can be used for all amp ohm ratings. (maybe not 2 ohms? but good luck finding a 2 ohm output jack)
Just make sure the speaker resistance/ohms match the amp jack.
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mwc
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Post by mwc on Jun 1, 2023 12:34:11 GMT -7
Yeah, that’s what I find weird about the amp. As per Leo Fenders own Bandmaster schematic the speaker impedance and OT are mismatched. So I would assume that using a brake-lite should be okay.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Jun 1, 2023 13:45:19 GMT -7
With that 2.67 ohm load because of the 3 speaker arrangement, you'll have a mismatch with the Brakelite (which works at 4, 8, and 16 ohms according to the manual).
I'm not certain what happens in this case -- as a general rule, the amp seeing a higher impedance than it's rated for (here it wants to see 2.67 ohms and it would see 4 ohms on the Brakelite) is ok (you'll loose a little power and some say tone, but here the difference isn't that great). What I'm not sure about is the Brakelite then outputting to a 2.67 ohm speaker load since that's lower than what the Brakelite wants to see. It may be that the difference between 4 ohms and 2.67 isn't really an issue unless you're diming the amp all the time ... but somebody smarter than me needs to chime in. My guess is it would work, but could be suboptimal in terms of tone, and perhaps a little hard on the transformer and power tubes.
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Post by scottyc13 on Jun 1, 2023 14:10:19 GMT -7
I would check with Weber. Their MiniMass may work. I like the Brake Lite better, but its their amp.
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Post by ME on Jun 1, 2023 18:39:59 GMT -7
Brake-Lite is in essence a resistive network. It works by dissipating power through heat… It doesn’t really change the relationship between the output transformer and the speaker. If your speaker is X ohms, plug the Brake-Lite into the X ohm output of the amp. In the case of an amp like yours, just place the Brake-Lite “in line” between the amps output and the speaker. The amp will “see” the ohmage of the speaker. Shouldn’t cause any issues. ME
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mwc
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by mwc on Jun 2, 2023 13:45:57 GMT -7
Thank you all for getting back to me. Still don’t feel safe using the brake lite since the weird speaker impedance. I’ll get in touch with Weber and see what he got to say about it.
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Jun 2, 2023 13:56:42 GMT -7
Whatever you end up with, plug your speakers into it and measure the load (w attenuator in circuit) before plugging into your amp. This will give you a rough idea of what the amp will see, which will vary obviously with frequency changes.
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Post by sharkboy on Jun 2, 2023 14:45:58 GMT -7
Doesn’t Weber also still have an impedance matching transformer device still? www.tedweber.com/z-matcher/ This is a fairly handy gadget.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Jun 2, 2023 14:48:18 GMT -7
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Post by scottyc13 on Jun 3, 2023 3:49:48 GMT -7
Perhaps Weber could build a MiniMass for the lower impedance. They use a speaker motor in the design and build speakers. I think they are clever enough to do this.
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klmn
New Member
Posts: 26
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Post by klmn on Jun 3, 2023 10:29:24 GMT -7
Hi I’m in dire need of an attenuator for my Weber 5E7 Bandmaster. My band mates are complaining that I’m too loud. From what I found reading the schematic of this amp the 2 and 8 ohm taps on the OT are not in use. Because of this I’m rather sure that it uses the 4 ohm tap and from what I’ve read the Brake-lite works with 4-16 ohms. However, the speakers are 3x10” at 8 ohms each and combined at 2,67 ohms. My question is, will there be any issues with the Brake-lite and this combo? Thanks for any help on this matter. Cheers Maybe disconnect one speaker? With two speakers in parallel that would give you a 4 ohm load.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Jun 3, 2023 15:07:36 GMT -7
Hi I’m in dire need of an attenuator for my Weber 5E7 Bandmaster. My band mates are complaining that I’m too loud. From what I found reading the schematic of this amp the 2 and 8 ohm taps on the OT are not in use. Because of this I’m rather sure that it uses the 4 ohm tap and from what I’ve read the Brake-lite works with 4-16 ohms. However, the speakers are 3x10” at 8 ohms each and combined at 2,67 ohms. My question is, will there be any issues with the Brake-lite and this combo? Thanks for any help on this matter. Cheers Maybe disconnect one speaker? With two speakers in parallel that would give you a 4 ohm load. Yeah, but then you’d lose what makes a Bandmaster special - those 3 speakers and mismatched impedance.
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klmn
New Member
Posts: 26
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Post by klmn on Jun 4, 2023 10:09:06 GMT -7
Maybe disconnect one speaker? With two speakers in parallel that would give you a 4 ohm load. Yeah, but then you’d lose what makes a Bandmaster special - those 3 speakers and mismatched impedance. With the attenuator between the amp and the speakers, he'll have already lost that.
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