Anyone Use an Attenuator on a 1 Watt?

[jw3571]

I know this sound stupid but even a 1 watt i super loud when cranked in my basement. Has anyone used an attenuator on 1 watt? If so how was it, how much tone did you lose?

 

[sonar]

Why are amp people allergic to pedals?

 

[cybermgk]

Why are amp people allergic to pedals?

Yea why goose the front end of that 1 watt with a pedal to get what he wants.

 

[kevinpaul]

I have a 2 watt Vox and new thought of hooking an attenuator to it. That amp seems fragile and not one to be pushed to the limit. That little Vox runs a 12x1 cab and a 10x1 cab and it is nice loud at about 5 and I had it up to the top level full out at 10. This thing doesn't break up or distort like a 40 or 50 watt powerful tube amp, it just don't have it.

 

[Iron Broadsword]

Why are amp people allergic to pedals?

^This method is good but sounds completely different, heh.



@the op - I attenuate my class 5, so sure why not. Attenuation is the way to go, imho.

 

[Frogfur]

Why not just quit playing before ear buds are all that is available.

 

[cherrysunburst00]

I know this sound stupid but even a 1 watt i super loud when cranked in my basement. Has anyone used an attenuator on 1 watt? If so how was it, how much tone did you lose?

In short, Yes. I don't think it is a stupid question in the least. 1 watt is VERY loud in a small room. Well over 105 db in my music room (an average sized bedroom).

I have 2 1 watt 50th anni Marshall heads (JMP & JCM) that are 1 watt, with built in attenuators taking it down to .1 watt. I also have a Blackstar HT1 (THANKS, cybermgk) with no attenuator, but I use it mostly for the headphones.

I would recommend that Swart Night Light Jr attenuator. It has a bypass switch, and when engaged, it has a pot for adjustable attenuation.

What 1 watt amp are you talking about?

 

[cherrysunburst00]

OK, so I took my JMP1 (it only has a volume knob, no master) with attenuation off and all knobs set at 3:00 on a clock (about 3/4). It was around 105 db. I then recorded the same thing with the Swart Mini Night Light engaged and minimal attenuation dialed in. It was in the neighborhood of 85 or so db.

See what you think:

https://app.box.com/s/fkle5c68uj72y1qw060b9lo7qxdddqn3

 

[Stevie 202]

I have a 2 watt Vox and new thought of hooking an attenuator to it. That amp seems fragile and not one to be pushed to the limit. That little Vox runs a 12x1 cab and a 10x1 cab and it is nice loud at about 5 and I had it up to the top level full out at 10. This thing doesn't break up or distort like a 40 or 50 watt powerful tube amp, it just don't have it.

Got an AC4TV

You gotta dime the little bugger to get it to distort and it's loud as hell.

I think you have to use different tubes or something but I'm not sure.
I don't stick my hands in that stuff. Little boxes of death they are.

 

[DavidRamey]

I know this sound stupid but even a 1 watt i super loud when cranked in my basement. Has anyone used an attenuator on 1 watt? If so how was it, how much tone did you lose?

You could install a less efficient speaker to quiet down the amp.

 

[cherrysunburst00]

You could install a less efficient speaker to quiet down the amp.

I read that all the time. Which speaker would you recommend, for say just old school hard/heavy rock?

 

[sonar]

You could install a less efficient speaker to quiet down the amp.

This approach is less effective the lower the wattage is from the amp. Plus the bass response is going to be mush. You kind of need a couple more watts to start playing with speaker efficiency and perceived loudness.

 

[DavidRamey]

I installed a Jensen P10R-F speaker in my Fender Super Champ X2. The WGS Veteran 10 is another good sounding inefficient speaker. Cheaper than a good attenuator and in my opinion sounds better.

 

[DADGAD]

I used to face my 4x12 into the back of my sofa and with the Plexi, it used to absorb a lot of the blast. Yes it is muffled a tad but it's better than angry neighbors and bleeding ears. Perhaps a folded moving blanket in front of the speaker could help.

 

[IronWeso]

For a one watt buy a piece of plexi glass instead of spending hundreds of dollars on an attenuator

 

[notjoeaverage]

I picked up a Panama 1x12 cabinet with built in attenuator and a Celestion Gold 16ohm it was used and a good price so why not. It does what you need Ive used it with a 2W Lil Night Train, 6W variable VHT Ultra, 15W/.75W Laney Cub, 15W Egnater.

http://panamaguitars.com/products/series/tonewood-series/

 

[hbucker]

I would recommend a Weber Mass attenuator. They work great.

As for tone loss, IMO, you won't lose much. Will you be able to tell a difference? Yes, maybe. But, I look at it as less a matter of 'tone loss' and more of 'tone difference' that can be adjusted, for the most part, with your eq. Along with the comment about pedals, I'm one to wonder how much it matters if you do lose some tone if you're just practicing in your bedroom/small room at home?

As it is, your sound isn't to your liking because it's too loud. 'Losing tone' may be a great trade-off for a tone you can actually work with.

This comment isn't to the op, since he already has his setup. I agree with the pedal comment, to the extent that when volume matters as much as it does for people practicing at home or in apartments, setting up a rig with pedals and a clean amp really is the way to go, IMO.

Your results may vary.

 

[JEDHRMC]

I've got a few of the 50th Anniversary Marshall 1-watters as described above... and as the OP mentioned the 1 watt setting is really loud - too loud to use in my condo so I use the built in .01 watt setting. On the other hand, while I really dig the tone of the 1 watt cranked, it's not quite loud enough to cut through with a strong drummer. As a result, I bought a Fryette power station which both acts as an attenuator (for amps up to 100 watts) and a 50 watt tube amp boost for the little amps. I gig with my 1 watters all the time - tone preserved close to 100% at full loud band volume. While I haven't tried it to attenuate the 1 watters I do use it to attenuate my 30 and 45 watt amps dimed, both in rehearsal and at home - no tone suck at all...

Something you may want to consider if you really want the tone of your little amp at both gig and home volumes...

 

[wwit]

Attenuate a 1watter? Yep, right now.

New Fender Bassmaster 45 head into my Eminence Wizard/Govener loaded Avatar 2x12 cab. Its the loudest 1 watt I have ever heard. I have owned a handful of different sub 10 watt amps over the years and at the 1 watt on the Bassmaster attenuator blows all those others away crazy loud.

I then put my Rivera Rock Crusher in between the amp and cab and even at -20db its still stupid loud at 1 watt. And sounded like crap.

Finally replaced the preamp tubes. Swapped the Fender Grove Tubes with a JJ ecc81/12at7 in V1 and JJ ecc83s/12ax7 in V2 & V3. Now I'm in tone heaven with this amp.

 

[foxtrot]

This is the sort of discussion that has me interested in amps with nice power/output scaling, maybe something like a Carr Skylark (built in attenuator that, when on, lets you dial in between 0 and 1.2 watts) or the Tone King Metro (power scaling from 0.1 to 40 watts!).