Attenuators

Here is a pretty good article on compressors, including definitions like Threshold.

Compressor Basics

Compressors are often used by guitarists to even out the volume of their playing. This can be especially helpful using techniques like tapping. It can make you sound better than you actually are. They are also used to increase the sustain of notes. Compressors are very popular with Metal players.

On the other hand, compressors are probably not as popular with Blues players who want to play with dynamics. They want the music to have peaks and valleys in volume and emotion.

So compressors can be good or bad depending on what you are after. If you are after a very even, fluid sound with long sustain, compression is good. But if you want to control your sound with your fingers and playing attack, compressors (or too much anyway) can take the life out of your playing.

On the other hand, compressors are probably not as popular with Blues players who want to play with dynamics. They want the music to have peaks and valleys in volume and emotion. That's why I don't have or want one.

Ricochet

I am not a big fan of compressors either. To me it is kinda like cheating, like those vocal processors that correct pitch. Whatever happended to learning how to sing and hit the note? :D

Just my opinion, but compressors sound very artificial to me. Not that I am some great player, but I love to crank my amp loud where it picks up every little noise and move you make. Oh yeah, awesome. This is when I can really play.

I've found that I really love to be in the upper end of the "clean" range on a tube amp, where the tone is heavily dependent on the picking dynamics.

I use a compressor to help achieve different tones. Both with my orignal and to create other guitarist. Here's an example. Lets say I was asked to sound like "DEF LEPPARD" . I would then go to a preset that I have spent alot of time programing to imitate that tone. Along with equipment and some of the settings values.

Compressor:
Drive..... 78%
Output... 94%
Slope..... 4:1
Attack.... 4ms
Release.. 750ms

Combined with Analog Effects which include: Expander, Distortion, Noise gate, Equalizer, AES (Acoustic Environment Simulator), Program level.

Combined with Digital Effects which include: Low Pass Filter, Chorus, Reverb, Regen DDL.

Total combined Mix: Dry 0%, Analog 75%, Digital 62%.

Joe

Sorry to resurrect the thread, but does anybody have opinions on resistive vs. reactive attenuators? Weber sells ones that have actual speaker motors, but they are much more expensive than the resistive loads. Has anyone tried both?

I have just the reactive one, and one of the advantages is that you have a line-out, tons of stuff you can use that for. DI with cabsims, using post-poweramp effects with a neutral second poweramp etc. Pretty cool.

All of the models seem to have a line out, no?

Even though it costs more, I would go with the reactive model with speaker motor. I own the Weber 50W Low Power Load Dump (resistive model). It works well, but it does seem to cut high frequencies with lots of attenuation. Now, a tube amp will roll off some of the highs when you saturate the tubes anyway, so perhaps it is not so much the attenuator, but I have not tried the speaker motor models. I would like to get one some time. But I understand the speaker models do not cut high frequencies as much. I like the models that allow you to boost your highs.

I do like some of the features mine has, it has a Line Out, and it is also switchable 4, 8, and 16 ohms, so I can use it with all my amps in almost any situation. I use it with my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (40W), Marshall DSL401 (40W), and Epiphone Valve Jr. head (5W). It also has Bypass, you gotta watch that. If you have your amp really cranked and switch to Bypass you can get really blasted by your amp. :shock:

They didn't have the speaker motor model when I purchased mine a few years back, but I would have gone with that.

I was a little shocked when I first received my attenuator. It is just a simple box, very lightweight, didn't feel very rugged at all. But it works just fine and never gets hot. It has nice rubber feet, I just set it on top of my amp. Takes awhile to learn how to use it. I like to turn up the clean channel on my amp until it just starts to break up well, then use the attenuator to bring the volume down. You can get that old type of overdrive guitarists used back in the 50's and 60's by simply cranking their one channel amps. It is a very nice, smooth overdrive. It is not fake sounding like lots of pedal overdrives, it is the real deal. :D

Sounds like early The Who recordings like I Can See for Miles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgfU6Tn0Dog

Still sounds like a real guitar but your tone thickens up and long sustain.

You have to buy speaker cables (not instrument) with your attenuator, they have them on the site. I have one cable with 1/4" male jacks on both ends, one end plugs into the Speaker Out on my amp head, the other into the input on the attenuator. The other cable is 1/4" male one end, 1/4" female the other end. The male end plugs into the output on the attenuator, then I plug the 1/4" jack from my speakers into the 1/4" female. I think the cables were about $7 each, I got two 2' cables and they are plenty long enough.