Attenuator for F50 combo

[Boogiescot]

I want to get the power valves up and cooking at bedroom levels on my F50 combo. I bought a gizmo through ebay for £30 ( Deano's amp booster box ) which goes in/out of the effects chain but have since heard that this will not be attenuating the power valves - can anyone tell me more on this? I also thought about yellow jackets and EL84's, having read that this will greatly reduce output but when I asked the area mesa distributer I was emailed that "the engineer advises against this" - but no explanation why. Can anyone else advise? Finally, if it comes down to getting an attenuator, can anyone recommend one and is there one that will suit this amp in particular? (I play a Gibson LP Deluxe if that has any bearing). Many thanks.

 

[survive autodafe]

i wouldn't worry too much about that. the f50 sounds great at bedroom volume imho.

 

[fishyfishfish]

The best Attenuator I have tried was the Z Air Brake, but I don't think that will solve your problem. Being that you are getting all your distortion from the pre-amp and the power tubes just making that louder, it will sound more "Choked" and solid state sounding at "Bedroom" than without one.

 

[giorikas81]

Have you tried the volume in the loop thing? was that the thing you mentioned? I think that the preamp alone gives great sound in low volumes but that master needs to be up from 9 o'clock. And you can't do this without lowering the volume in the loop. Anyway it is not the same with power tube distortion, but to tell you the truth I don't think it is necessesary. Power tubes sowewhat darken the sound if this is what you want which I believe it to be a good thing when playing at loud volumes. But many complain in bedroom volumes about treble loss and I think it is kind of relevant but, what I focus on is that the f-series has the potentiall to sound really good at low volumes without an attenuator. Maybe not the same but I and many others prefer the non-attenuated clearer sound!!!

 

[Boogiescot]

Thanks to all for your help - much appreciated. Think I'll stick with the box into the effects loop just now (deano volume box) - does anyone know if these are wired to do the same thing as rickc007 was asking about in recent post on "mod"/volume/master control that talked about the effects chain pot etc? Thanks again

 

[fabien]

This amp booster box thingie will NOT, I repeat NOT make your output tubes cooking at low volume since the effect loop sits always BEFORE the power section of an amp. It's only advantage on the F50 is that it gives you a general master volume affecting both the clean and OD channel, something I miss on this amp. Depending on the pot used it will also give you a more useable low setting range, where both clean and OD master have this sudden jump from no-volume to already-not-so-low-volume. But this type of unit you can build yourself in about 5-10mn for not much more than €5.

As mentionned by others, a Z-air-break, THD HotPlate or Koch LoadBox are real attenuators that come between the amp and speaker and these will allow to crank the tubes at reasonnable volume but the more attenuation, the more tone alteration you'll get (such as compression and frequency loss). And they are not cheap!

In opposition to tohers in this thread I do not think that the F50 sounds good at bedroom volume. The clean is fine and stays warm en balanced at low volume but the OD channel is very compressed, though quite creamy at very low volume but quite raspy above that until you reach band volume where the power tubes bring body and warmth.

F50 is a loud beast that has to be played loud to enjoy fully. But then it's boogie heaven!... and hell for neighbours/bandmates :lol:

Cheers
Fabien

 

[Boogiescot]

Thanks fabien - Its good to get a little more info as to what this box is doing/not doing. Maybe I need to check an attenuator to see if I like the difference in sound or prefer the unattenuated low volume as others suggested. Thanks again .