hot plate v power breal

[Jonny Dubai]

Hay there. Any of you chaps use any of these

THD Hot Plate or Marshall power break

I am in the market for one at the moment and wanted to know your thoughts,

Cheers,

J

[jamminjim]

Have you seen what Ted Weber offers?

Weber attenuators


Weber speaker motor attenuators are a better attenuator and a better value than the others. They are a reactive load and the others are a resisitive load.

[mr.b]

THD hot plate every time J lad. that's my twa pence worth anyways. for me they just seemed to deliver a truer tone once attenuated.

[parker1963]

I use a Power brake and a Tom Sholz(From Boston) Power Soak and find that the Power Soak is the better device.You can pick them up on Ebay as they stopped making them.Mine is from 1983 and still works perfect and has a choice of 4, 8 and 16 ohm settings and solid state or tube switch as well.

Parker

[Cole]

Hi Guys,

This has always been an interesting topic, for anyone wishing to get the glorius tones yielded by overdriving EL34, KT66, 6V6, 6L6 tubes etc...

Just my experience but I have to say, the Ultimate Attenuator (UA) is THE way to go for getting Marshall on "10" at bedroom levels. Actually, I have both the Hot Plate and the UA. The Hot Plate is cool, but when you get attenuation down past -12 db it starts to take away a lot of the character of the amp. I have found that the UA absolutely does not take away anything from the amp at all. I swear by this little piece of equipment and it has become a mainstay of my signal chain.

My Axis guitars through my PTP wired JTM45 plexi clone (with MM trannys and NOS mustard caps) with the UA sounds AND feels great. Tight, focused bottom, clear bell-like top end and the amp goes into sweet harmonically rich controllable feedback on almost any note. Each note from the speakers sounds like it has a 3D halo surrounding them and they feel like they "burst" from the fretboard of the Axis.

Shall I go on.....

[beej]

Hey Johhny-

There's a new product on the market that's getting rave reviews, brand new. Read this thread on HRI. (Btw, Dave Friedman ("Racksystems") does rigs for a ton of the big guys these days, including EVH.)

[robelinda2]

Bad Cat has a great attenuator, but the UA is awesome.

[KoreyD]

Thanks for this! I've just been looking into an attenuator the last couple of days, and the Webers seem like a great deal! I think I'm sold on a MASS III.

Have you seen what Ted Weber offers?

Weber attenuators


Weber speaker motor attenuators are a better attenuator and a better value than the others. They are a reactive load and the others are a resisitive load.

[Axilla]

...maybe gotta check out whether this one's available where you live, Jonny, but I had the chance to compare a THD Hotplate and a TAD (TubeAmpDoctor.com) "Silencer", and the Silencer was the better sounding one thru all levels (AND the most expensive attenuator I've yet seen -> works as well as a dummy load box and has a speaker emulation output for direct recording & stuff...).

TAD Silencer™ Power Attenuator RS TAD TubeAmpDoctor

...I'm still saving for one - it's well worth the money Read the specs...

[Jonny Dubai]

Cheers for all the info chaps. May have to go with the THD just because it is readily available in the UK. I think it will keep more of the tone as opposed to the Marshall.


Thanks again,

J

[marantz1300]

Try using a 1x12 or 1x15 cab. You have to drive the amp harder to achieve the same loudness as a 4x12 or 2x12 ,so the amp reaches the sweet spot at a lower volume.Might not be the same as a 4x12,but it sounds good.

[Dizzy]

Cheers for all the info chaps. May have to go with the THD just because it is readily available in the UK.
Thanks again,

J

Might be a bit late, but the Koch Loadbox / Loadbox II are great units - and should be readily available in UK too, no ?

See www.koch-amps.com and click on accessories.

EDIT : Yep, readily available online in UK : Loadbox II Free Delivery (16 ohm version)

[jamminjim]

Thanks for this! I've just been looking into an attenuator the last couple of days, and the Webers seem like a great deal! I think I'm sold on a MASS III.

Korey, I don't think you can go wrong with a Weber MASS. Great Attentuators that are less than half the cost of those other guys. PLus this guy is an EE and designs, tests and builds them himself. Not made in China or elsewhere. You can also converse with him on his forum or through his email link. He stands behind his products, made in Kokomo Indiana, USA.

Trying to find out if he ships overseas.

Jim

[JMB27]

Bad Cat and Dr Z make some good 'uns

[floyd99]

hey guys,

i'd like to jump on the back of this.. if i wanted to use a THD Hotplate (for example), and use it to run direct to the PA, a quick look at the THD manual says to just run from the LINE OUT of the THD to the mixer.

However that doesn't make sense to me. Does the THD have speaker cab simulation? I would have thought I'd need to run from the THD line out into something like a H&K Redbox speaker cab and from there into the mixer.

Has anyone used a THD for this purpose? I'm also intrigued by the fact it has a "LOAD" setting whereby you can basically turn the output to zero and disconnect your speaker.. that could be good for running direct too, in situations where I just take the amp head and then use other means for foldback (in ears from the desk, a powered wedge, etc). Again has anyone actually tried this? This sounds like a great idea (if it works) - I can use my own amp, which I spent a fortune on and love, and still keep the audio guy happy by running direct.

I am doing a show at the moment where I had to run direct for the first time and it's not really working for me. I did it by using a Sansamp GT2 into a DI off to the mixer, and a powered wedge next to me for personal foldback. To the punters it probably sounds fine, but to me it's just not the same.. it sounds artificial and lacks something. I don't feel "the tone" ! so i'm interested in trying something different the next time I need to do this.

it's worth noting that I don't have overdrive on my amp. it's 100w all tube, but the power is for clean headroom, not for overdriving. All dirt comes from stomp boxes.

cheers
dave