equalizer and attenuator

Everyone will have equipment that works for them and may not for another. There is many different ones on the market saying one is better than another wouldn't be good advice I will give you the names of the ones I use or have used. For equalizers I use rack mounted units. Alesis, Art 341, Peavey. Their stereo 15 band, except the Alesis which is 31 band. For attenuator's and Dummyloads I have a few custom built units which where made by Rivera Research and myself. Others would include Altair, Power soak, Hot plate, Rocktron Juice Extractor.

For pedal Equalizers would include MRX and Boss. Some of the other folks here have been using the weber Mass system. That one I haven't tried. WES use'd that one perhaps ask him how it sounds and works.

Joe

thanks.

Your Welcome

joe

Did I hear my name? :D

I often recommend the Danelectro Fish & Chips 7 Band EQ:

Danelectro Fish & Chips 7 Band EQ

And Weber Attenuators:

Weber Attenuators

But you must remember, I AM THE MASTER OF CHEAP. I simply do not have a lot of money to spend on gear. But I do care about quality. So I am always looking for the best gear I can get without spending much money.

And I figure there are lots of folks out there like me, especially young people who also do not have loads of cash to spend.

So, I would never claim that these are the best out there. The old saying is true, "You get what you pay for". There is better gear available if you have the money to pay for it. And I would recommend you get the best gear you can afford.

That said, both of these are solid gear. They are not junk. They work well. I would especially recommend the Dano EQ, I think it is excellent. Yeah, the case is plastic, but I have never had a problem with any Dano pedal, and I own many. And this thing really works well. It does everything an EQ should. The only problem I've ever had is the high frequencies squeal when the battery gets low. But all pedals act goofy when the battery dies. So that is not a defect whatsoever, that's how electronics normally work. I power all my pedals off a pedalboard anyway, so that is never an issue for me. But this Dano EQ is excellent for the low price.

Behringer has recently come out with some incredibly low priced pedals. I own a lot of Behringer gear, so I would not be afraid to recommend them either. So check this EQ out if you are on a budget.

Behringer 7 Band EQ Pedal

Wow, just $20. You can hardly lose here. But I have no experience with this pedal. But Behringer makes pretty good gear for great prices.

But if you have the money, you can buy much better. Like this MXR 10 Band EQ.

MXR 10 Band EQ

Now I am sure this is better than the Dano or Behringer EQ. It should be, it costs a lot more. But also, 10 bands is much better than 7 bands, this will really allow you to fine tune your tone.

And it is the same with the attenuators. I was a little disappointed when I took my Weber 50W Low Power Load Dump out of the box. It felt like a tin can. The construction is not very quality at all. But, I am 100% satisfied with how it works and the features it offers. It allows me to crank my amp very high to get natural tube saturation while keeping the volume very low. It is switchable 4, 8, or 16 ohms, it has a bypass so you can see what your amp sounds like without attenuation, it even has a Line Out so you can run out into a PA, recording equipment, or even another guitar amp. The volume control feels a little scratchy when you turn it, but it makes no noise whatsoever. You do not turn the volume up and down constantly anyway. You find the volume you like and leave it there. So this is not a problem at all. Some people claim attenuators rob your highs. It does seem like this, but I have always noticed that you lose a little of your highs when you push your tubes anyway. It is very normal for the tone to thicken up. Anyway, you can always use your amps EQ (or your EQ pedal) to compensate for this.

But you can spend much more for attenuators. And they would probably be much better construction, and probably offer additional features. Here is the well known THD Attenuator.

THD Attenuators

This is probably a great attenuator, but it costs about 4 times what I paid for my Weber ($75).

One more thing, sorry this post is so long. Attenuators are a very subtle device. I say this because you might spend $300 for an attenuator and be disappointed with what it actually does. I completely agree with Joe that an attenuator puts your amp over the top. If you really want your amp to scream, have looooong sustain, feedback at will, an attenuator will do this. But it is not some gigantic difference from your amp alone. I agree with others who say that a good tube amp sounds great at low volume. My HRD sounds awesome at low volume without an attenuator. With the attenuator at low volume the amp does sound better, but it is not a gigantic difference, it is very subtle. So you might be a little let down. But I am not. I can hear the difference and really like it. And an attenuator is really great for playing overdriven tones at gig volumes. If I turn my HRD up to 6 at a gig it sounds incredible, but it is deafening loud. :shock:
With the attenuator I can bring the volume down to reasonable limits, but still get my amps true overdriven tone.

And attenuators are a little difficult to use. You don't want your clean channel to break up necessarily. You want to go up just enough to get the most warmth and fullness from your amp and speakers without breakup. So, this takes some real experimentation.

So if you are into super clean tones, an attenuator is not much of an advantage at all. Attenuators are best for those who really want to drive their amps into natural overdrive, but control the extreme volumes.

Whew! :D

To add to Wes: I have the Behringer EQ pedal. It sounds surprisingly good (no more tone sucking then the boss one, which is much overpriced if you ask me) and is supercheap. So whats the catch? Durability: the faders seem flimsy as is the battery compartment. For using it in a homestudio it rocks. Gig with it every day and you'll need a bag full of them. Definitely not something you want to throw in the back of your truck after a gig like you could with the boss.

although i'm not the master of cheap, i sometimes wish i was. in any case, i'll probably check out both the danelectro and the behringer equalizers at some point soon. the only thing about the danelectro is that i bought one of their chorus pedals and i don't think it work, or it doesn't work right. i have it in my drawer; i don't use it.

Thats where a lot of pedals I've had that didn't make the cut are in a box I call pedal heaven. There's numerous pedals in there from buying them to company's sending them to me to test drive over the years. After awhile your tone and style emerge you know what units will get you that tone. For me its all tube amps, equalizers, an attenuators. Sure my main recording and show rig is more than those units, but its based around them.

I bracket everything with equalizers and I have either dummyloads and attenuators on the tube amps. I know it may not be for every guitaist to use this type of equipment. I explain what works for myself perhaps to help you find what will work for you.

joe

i have to jump in on this, i use a weber attenuator and an mxr eq, like wes and joe,
i feel there is no better sound you can get, than a good tube amp , eq, you can build
and tweak your sound, but those are the building blocks. 8)

Joe,

You say you have dummyloads AND attenuators on your tube amps ...

Can you explain that a bit? Why both? What's the advantage? How do you wire it up? etc ...

The Dummyloads allow me to run the tube amps harder with an output at line levels and don't need speakers connected. I use a 100 watt tube power amp as a pre-amp. which gives me power and control at line level right from go. The attenuators need speakers connected to them, which are at the final stages of my signal chain. The combination of tube amps, equalizers, tube effects processors, dummyloads, attenuators, speakers and how their all connected has taken me years of experimenting and trial and error to create my original sound.

Please remember that most of my equipment has been custom built and/or modified in some way.

Joe