Attenuators

$325 for a HRD is a good deal. You can pick up a footswitch for around $40 I believe. But really, you probably won't need it.

The HRD is known for it's great clean channel. And this is probably the biggest reason for this amp's success. The Drive channels are not so popular. They are OK, but very 60's, '70s sounding. You cannot get Metal or Grunge out of this amp without a pedal.

Most people today prefer a pedal or multi-efx for distortion or overdrive over amp distortion or overdrive anyway. So more than likely you will just use the HRD's clean channel with a pedal for your distortions. This is what I do. I very rarely use the Drive channels. But they are not as bad as some say. You can get that famous Carlos Santana tone easy. This will give you an idea of what the Drive channels sound like on the HRD.

As for attenuators, I use a Weber Low Power Load Dump (50 watts). You simply run this between the speaker and the amp head. You need two cables, one male/male and the other male/female. You can pick them up at the site. You need to use speaker cables, not instrument. Hookup is super easy, takes me 30 seconds top.

I have used my Weber attenuator for many hours with the amp really cranked. My attenuator does not get very hot. It gets warm, but nothing that would cause damage. The attenuator sits on rubber feet that seperate it from the amp. I set my attenuator right on top of the amp. It has not been a problem at all. It really doesn't get that hot at all.

Here is the Weber Attenuator page. See Low Power Load Dump 50W, 25W under Resistor Based Models. This is the one I own (50 watts).

http://www.tedweber.com/atten.htm

I am very happy with mine. It has selectable 4, 8, and 16 ohms (I use 8 for the HRD). It has a Volume on the front. It also has a bypass switch. Gotta be careful with that. If you turn the attenuator off with the amp cranked you are gonna get a LOUD surprise. :shock:

On the back it has a Line Out. So you could run this into a PA mixer or even another amp and get your amps overdriven tone.

When I first got this attenuator I was a little shocked. It is just a simple little metal box. Doesn't weigh much either, seemed a little cheap. But it works very well and I am very happy with it. It allows you to crank this amp which is super loud. You can get the amps natural overdriven tone which sounds great and keep the volume very low.

Hope this helped.

just a question, what is the point of an attenuator? Not to overpower your cabinet or what?

An attenuator is used to allow you to really crank an amp into saturation or overdrive, while keeping your volume down.

On the HRD's clean channel, when you turn Volume up around 4 to 5, the amp will start to overdrive or breakup. This is like a mild distortion. This is the tone you hear on many early amps. Think of early The Who. This tone is sought by many guitarists. Also, sustain is increased, and you can get effects like feedback.

The problem is, at 4 or 5 this amp will be incredibly loud. Neighbors down the street will be calling the cops. :shock:

An attenuator takes part of the signal to the speaker and converts it to heat. Other types have an actual speaker that will receive part of the signal.

But the result is you get the overdriven amp tone at very reasonable volume levels.

Weber explains better than me on their homepage.

Weber Attenuators

Thanks for your help Wes. I knew you'd respond to this post. Did you buy your attenuator through Weber's website or did you pick it up somewhere else?

I have an Ibanez Sonic distortion pedal that I plan on using when I'm playing metal and I also plan on picking up an overdrive pedal.

I've heard so many tales about how incredibly loud this amp is that it's hard to believe. I've seen a bunch of used HRDs for sale even though I've heard nothing but good things about them. I have a feeling that people buy this amp and then realize that there's no way they can use it in there apartment/parent's house/dorm room, etc... Not many people know about attenuators I'm sure. I'm looking forward to getting this home and seeing what 12 is REALLY like!!! My nearest neighbor is at least 100 yards away from my house. Let's see if I can wake him up.

what kind of condition?sounds like a good deal.

Like Wes, I use a Hot Rod Deluxe. Unlike Wes, 99% of the playing I do is with the guitar straight into the amp. I've got the Weber Mini-Mass, which is the speaker driver attenuator. I'll second Wes' endorsement of Ted Weber, who builds a fine product and sells it for far less than other manufacturers of attenuators and speakers

The HRD can be played at home without an attenuator, you just can't get it above 1. :D

But really, you can, and it sounds great. It is a very full and warm sounding amp. A Strat or Tele sound beautiful through it, but my LP sounds great through it too.

I ordered my attenuator straight from the site. I had no problems at all. I also bought the male/male and male/female speaker cables on the same site as well. I believe they were $7 each.

Yes it is easy to find used HRDs. According to Fender, the HRD is the #1 selling tube amp of all time. So they are out there everywhere. I have seen many gigging bands that use the HRD.

Nobody gets to be #1 by accident. This is a very good amp. You would have to pay a lot more to do better. I often go to the local music store and bang around on Twin Reverbs and Twin amps. Really, I cannot hear that much difference. My HRD sounds just as good to me for 1/2 the price. Maybe the super tone freaks can hear a difference. It is very slight.

I also use this attenuator with my Marshall DSL401. This amp is 16 ohms, but the Load Dump works great with it too. So the 4, 8, and 16 switchable ohms is a very nice feature.

I really wouldn't turn the amp to 12. That is really pushing the amp to it's limit. I have done this once or twice, but I usually just crank the amp to 6-8 when using the attenuator. You get great natural overdrive at these settings without blowing the amp up. :D

I have a Deville I'm using with Weber low Power Load Dump. Since the Deville is a 60 watt amp the attenuator does get a bit warm. I emailed Weber after I realized I had an under rated attenuator for my amp and Ted was very prompt and helpfull in answering all questions.

I bought it online with no problems.

By the way he said it would be OK as long as I don't turn the amp all the way up.

Weber's a solidly reputable dealer.

Looks like most everything was covered. Yes they can get hot and so does the amp when its driven harder than normal. A good attenuator is designed for it. it also is a good Idea to keep an extra set of tubes handy. They can go bad faster when their pushed harder. God knows I go through them. Then again my equipment is on for days at a time and I also use external cooling fans. Not so much on stand alone amps but on the rack mounted ones.

They are something every guitarist should become familar just like any other tools or effects.

Joe

Not to hijack this thread, but I asked a similar question over Harmony Central and I was told to try a compressor pedal. Does this work under a similar principal?

The compressor pedal just evens out the volume. The quiet parts get boosted a lot, the louder parts not much, so it all comes out even. Doesn't do anything on the output end of the amp, where the attenuator's cutting down the signal to the speaker.

An attenuator and a compressor are two totally different animals.
A compressor "compresses" the range of volume of a signal. When the volume reaches a preset level, the loud frequencies are lowered in volume and the quiet volumes are raised in volume, to reduce ("compress") the difference in volume between various frequencies.
An attenuator reduces the volume of the output from an amplifier, before feeding it's output to the speakers. It equally reduces the volume of the entire frequency spectrum.
The compressor is placed between guitar and amp, whereas the attenuator is introduced between the amp's output and the loudspeaker.

Hmmm. I don't think a compressor has anything to do with evening out the frequency ranges. That's an EQ pedal.

The compressor's derived from AVC (Automatic Volume control) in old AM radios. It just amplifies more when the input signal's weak, less when it's strong. It works across the whole frequency range, though any effect may have tone controls built in.