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Some more questions on Attenuators....

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(@e-sherman)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 374
Topic starter  

So I've purchased the Gibson amp. It's an amazing amp, and I got a great deal on it.
Here's the hitch:

It functions as two 15 watt tube amps in one chassis. I've confirmed this ( I think) by taking off the cover on the back and looking at the connections. According to Weber's site, you would plug an Attenuator into the amp by putting it inbetween the speaker and the power amp. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The problem I belive I will have in doing this is that there are two seperate plugs, and only one input into the attenuator. So would some sort of cable that converted the two down to one do the trick, or do I need a stereo attenuator?

My amp also has two speaker outputs, with a switch to switch the output between 16 and 8 ohms. This is for plugging the amp into other speakers, but I don't know if somehow the feature can be utilized with the attenuator.

Bear with me please as I try to figure all this stuff out!

The king of rock, some say lives
the lizard king, is surely dead
the king of France, lost his head
the King of Kings... bled
( email me at esherman@wideopenwest.(com). I almost never check my hotmailaccount.


   
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(@forrok_star)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2337
 

Yes the attenuator goes between the power amp and the speaker. Which amp do you have? If you have a stereo power amp and two speakers yes you'll need two attenuators. I have to use two units, one for each side of the stereo power amps I use. Six total.

Joe


   
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(@e-sherman)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 374
Topic starter  

Hmm, I suppose I'd have to get the Stereo Weber one then.

The other Idea I had was if I could get a stereo cable that converts down to one jack on the end ( the ones with two rings on the one jack are still stereo, i belive) and plug that into the attenuator, then get another of the same cable that would split back out into two plugs...I have no idea if the attenuators would accept a stereo jack though, or if that would even work.

The king of rock, some say lives
the lizard king, is surely dead
the king of France, lost his head
the King of Kings... bled
( email me at esherman@wideopenwest.(com). I almost never check my hotmailaccount.


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Connecting two tube amps to one single-channel attenuator or speaker isn't going to work as expected, because it puts the output transformers' secondaries in parallel. I've never tried it or read any discussion of this, and I'm just sitting here scratching my head about it. It would lower the output impedance seen by each amp. As the signal from the other amp is coming into the secondary of the output transformer as an "input," it would be transformed to a high voltage on the primary side that, if it fell on top of a high voltage signal peak being generated within that amp, might possibly cause some arcing. I wouldn't try it.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@e-sherman)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 374
Topic starter  

Ok, I guess I shall wait on an Attenuator then and get the pedals I'd like to have.

The king of rock, some say lives
the lizard king, is surely dead
the king of France, lost his head
the King of Kings... bled
( email me at esherman@wideopenwest.(com). I almost never check my hotmailaccount.


   
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(@forrok_star)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2337
 

My opinon is that equalizers and attenuators should part of a guitarist arsenal. You create your tone post the effects. It take more than just plugging one in. Like most effects they need to be experimented with and dial them in to achieve the desired sound. I have each one mine set different, for example of one amp, the Mesa Boogie side A is set to -4dB and side B is at -12 dB. The combination of the two gives me a certain sound. Using as many amps as I do in my rig is from years of experimenting and playing.

Then when you start experimenting by combining stereo, mono, hard mono, Quad then adjusting all the different sounds for each individual signal chain to create one overall sound. You'll have a sound original to you.

joe


   
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(@e-sherman)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 374
Topic starter  

While I agree with you in theroy, the reality is that one of the 50 watt webers is already 190, so getting two is looking at ALOT of money from my standpoint. I could get the mini Masses for 100, making it 200 total, but my amp dosen't have an EQ ( just a tone knob) so I don't think it would open up a whole lot of options for me tone-wise. If I get the stompboxes I want ( right now that would be the Hot Cake by Crowther Audio, though I'm looking forward to trying the Pigtronix Disnortion Pedal) at least then I'll have another option for my tone.

The king of rock, some say lives
the lizard king, is surely dead
the king of France, lost his head
the King of Kings... bled
( email me at esherman@wideopenwest.(com). I almost never check my hotmailaccount.


   
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(@forrok_star)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2337
 

An Equalizer pedal and a multi effects be a great investment. I forget sometimes what it was like first starting out. You may want to watch e-bay for attenuator's.

Here's an example. Altair PW 5 Power Attenuator An old but great one.

Joe


   
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