attenuator question

[OldTelecasterMan]

For those that use an attenuator. Do you find your sound to be more consistent when changing volume levels because you can just adjust the attenuator and not the amp? I'm looking at adding one to my rig to alleviate adjusting when going from venue to venue.

 

[elvis]

I have used an atten with my Electradyne, which is too loud for any gig I might play. It does seem to help with consistency with that amp, but only because it's low gain and much of the tone is in the power amp. The atten also adds a bit of blandness to it, which I guess is fairly consistent..

Changing volume does affect the tone, but at least I get the dynamics of the power amp. Pushing the speakers and my ears more or less also changes tone quite a bit. Below about -14dB the atten really sucks the life out of the amp.

 

[Hypnotoad696]

Not many replies so I'll chime in. I tried out an attenuator with my 4 for a while and it was a freaking nightmare. Killred the tone, gave breakup where I didn't want it.... In no way did I find it beneficial. Write down ur setting for different venue sizes, master the black art of adjusting ur guitars volume on the fly... I also tried an atten with my dv5 head and dc3 combo and it was a nightmare as well. Seems to me amps of this quality weren't meant to be attenuated.

 

[Monstercastle]

I generally use my Hotplates all the time. Not a gigging musician. There is some tone impact that I can eq out, but it really helps to take some volume off and let the amp breath better. 4-8db settings are pretty good, but the tone suck is more severe at 12db and beyond. I have my eye on a Rivera Rockcrusher.

 

[knotts]

I use a Rock Crusher religiously. I don't use it to crank my amp and play at bedroom levels. I usually turn up my amp and set it to -3 or -8. If you like the settings at -3 and then turn down to -12, it retains much of the character. If you turn it down past that, you'll need to re-EQ the amp to get tones you're looking for.

I tried a hotplate in the past and returned it quickly. I didn't like it as much as the rock crusher for the reasons Monstercastle mentioned. Radial makes one which is probably worth looking at if you like to spend a lot of money. I haven't tried it myself, but Radial makes great stuff.