Fixed problem: LOUDNESS

[paintballnsk]

Ok,
So I've posted in the past that my amp was too loud. People told me go buy a THD hotplate or something blablabla.

They were all good ideas, but very expensive ideas.

I told them I would buy this simple $20 attenuator on ebay that goes through your effects loop. Many people told me "you amp already has that", "this wont work", "this will only make your preamp tubes brighter, but not your power amp".

Well I gotta say, it was the best $20 I've ever spent. And it definitely does it's job. Your amp must have an effects loop with 100% saturation for it to work properly, which my dc10 has.

Now this is what I used to do. (For the high gain Lead) I crank the amp down to 2 or 3 on the master and 2-3 on channel. Having the master below 3 obviously means your 6l6 tubes will not sound warm or thick. But this was the only volume I could stand to play at practice levels. Now we do love to get loud now and then, but It's often unnecessary. The amp sounds best I think at atleast 4 and 4. Also I use an Ibanez 808, which I think is a necessity if you want good pinch harmonics and better crunch.

What I do with this, I put the channel on about 6, and the master on about 6. I then use this thing as a second master volume.

It sounds amazing at any volume now. Even cranked low it sounds thick and warm.

If you're having volume problems, need an extra master volume, or just want better tone at lower volumes, take a $20 risk and try one of these. Apparently the guy custom makes them as well, so if you tell him what amp you have and send him a link to your mesa manual, he'll tell you if it will work or not. He also has 100% satisfaction guarantee, and only $4 shipping. So if it doesnt work for you, send it back.

 

[MetalHorse442]

One thing i've done on my triple rec is that since it's a two channel triple it has no global master it has only channel masters, I run a delay pedal, and engage the loop, increase the channel volumes and turn down the loop active master and it works wonders. Sounds similar to what you're doing. You should post some clips of your DC-10, I'm really interested in what they sound like, I've been itching to buy one lately.

 

[paintballnsk]

::bump::

 

[paintballnsk]

Umm, no. I don't want to "Have" to crank my amp up at full volume all the time to get a good sound. And I also play with earplugs.. always. But I want to be able to get that same good tone at any volume. The attenuator that I bought worked great

 

[MetalHorse442]

IMHO, if your amp is too loud, that's fantastic! you wouldn't need to crank to earthquake levels like me.

1) use ear plugs
2) don't stand 10 ft in front of the cab

I guarantee you it won't be unbearably loud if you do 1 & 2...

I'm sure Ministry doesn't use attenuators...

I am SO glad i'm not your sound guy. I played the Glendale arena where i live in Arizona, we're talking a huge hockey arena home to the AZ coyotes. I played my recto on 3! Anything louder then that and you're overpowering the mic and it's going to sound like crap. I'm not flaming you here cuz I love to play loud to but when you end up that loud it's beyond ridiculous, It's nice to have that power when you end up playing a large venue with no amp mics but it sounds so much better to mic an amp and send it thru the house PA generally.