Lone Star / Hot Plate advice...?

[ellem52]

So the real question is do you NEED a THD or similar if you have an LSC?

 

[ja22y]

If you have the ones with the 10w option then the answer is no. For the 50/100, you don't 'Need' it but if you want power tube distortion, then yes. But first you need to discern yourself w/ pre and pwr distortion. At common settings, you'd get a little of both so that's why they sound similar. At extreme setting one way or the other, the difference is quite obvious, to me anyway.

 

[gregrjones]

I tried a Hot plate out recently with my LSC and was surprised to NOT hear the improvement.

In fact, I took it out to a gig and thought my tone was more muffled in the highs with it. I had the bright switch engaged....

I'm not impressed with it.

In the bedroom, I might not hear the muffling, but it definitely colors the amp with a subtle deterioration.....

 

[ja22y]

I tried a Hot plate out recently with my LSC and was surprised to NOT hear the improvement.

In fact, I took it out to a gig and thought my tone was more muffled in the highs with it. I had the bright switch engaged....

I'm not impressed with it.

In the bedroom, I might not hear the muffling, but it definitely colors the amp with a subtle deterioration.....

You mentioned 'improvement', what 'improvement' were you expecting?

 

[CudBucket]

So the real question is do you NEED a THD or similar if you have an LSC?

Well, I use mine for high gain mostly. Channel 2, Gain and Drive at 3pm, Treble at 3pm, Mids at 9am and Bass at 9am or off.

I think it sounds great at low volume. It's the best Mesa I've played at low volume.

 

[MrMarkIII]

The Channel Masters, Output, Solo, whatever you want to call them, are all volume controls before the signal hits the power tubes and speaker(s).
A Hotplate, or similar "attenuator", hooks up between the output transformer and the speaker(s), and is thus after any amp control knobs.
Two very different animals.
The idea is you can crank the master volume (solo, output, etc.) on the amp, then dial back the loudness with the "attenuator". This works the power tubes harder by driving the power tubes into clipping (distortion, overdrive, etc.)
Does one "need" one? That depends on if you want more power tube clipping, or pre-amp clipping.
Most modern amps are designed for pre-amp clipping.
Most older amps, don't have separate gain and master controls, so the only way to get any distortion is power section distortion, which requires loud volumes.
When you take the Output/Solo controls out of the signal path, the Channel Masters become the Output controls. RTM.