9/5/2023 0 Comments Attenuator for tube ampThen I could put some thermal compound on the resistor to help it stay cool and screw it down to the bottom of the enclosure. The first thing that I did was layout where the extra orange resistor needed to go on the the bottom middle of the box, then I could drill the two mounting holes and cut threads in them with a tap. Now this just barely didn’t fit, but I could take the metal cover off the back, and then ever so slightly sand down the plastic housing on the disc sander and then everything fit perfectly. Then on the front where the selector switch was I can put the L-Pad. On the back I can replace the three what I think are PS2 ports with the input / output jacks as well as the 4/8 ohm switch. I really wanted to use the existing holes in the enclosure since they were basically perfect. So to get started I laid out my components where I wanted them. Now you could buy a guitar pedal style enclosure for this, and that would work perfectly, but I actually dug around in my basement and found this old data transfer switch, and this little box should be perfect to re-purpose for this. We need an enclosure to put everything in. If you want to build the switch to change between 4 and 8 ohms then you also need this 8 ohm, 50 watt resistor, and a switch. So to get started we need this L-Pad, 2 1/4 inch jacks, and some wire. L-Pad for 8 Ohm only L-Pad with 4/8 Ohm Selector I want to also use this attenuator box with my silver tone twin twelve over there, so I am also going to add this 50 watt, 8 ohm resistor inside so that I can switch this box between 4 and 8 ohm.īelow are the schematics for the attenuator with and without the 4/8 ohm selector switch. In fact the wiring is literally printed on the side of the box. So if you have an 8 ohm output amplifier you basically just need to stuff this in a box with an input and output jack and you are all done. The main thing that does that is this giant potentiometer called an L-Pad. Help Support This Content!īasically this little box converts the power of your amp from volume to heat. Now obviously there are a bunch of attenuators that you can buy, but it really isn’t too hard to build your own. If you didn’t know an attenuator goes between your guitar amp and speaker and allows you turn down the volume of your amp, while still getting all the preamp and power amp tone from your amp. The best tube amplifiers to buy in 2023 at a glance:Īnyone who has suffered the misfortune of having to load a valve amp into a gig via a narrow and rickety staircase will appreciate the central plank of the St James series – to make proper valve amps that, through some extremely clever engineering, weigh about a third less than traditional tube amps.So maybe like me and have some sleeping babies at home, or maybe the sweet spot for tone on your amp is blisteringly loud, so in order to tame the volume on a tube amp an attenuator is what you need. If you do have concerns about noise levels, you might want to check out a digital alternative for home practice instead. Without a power attenuator or master volume control, a 15-watt valve amp will likely be too loud for home use – even a five-watt tube amp can be enough to make the neighbours bang on the walls. It’s not so loud that sound engineers will hate you, but you won’t have difficulties being heard above the drummer. If you are able to mic up your amp through a PA, we’ve found that 15-30 watts is the ‘Goldilocks zone’ for most gigging players.
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