Keep Your Amp Cranked, Volume Down

[Tone Taster]

W/a silent speaker Config

 

http://www.demeteramps.com/products/cabinets/ssc1.jpg

 

Or w/an internal mod called power scaling (note attenuation fries your tubes and gets fuzzy and power dampening is different as well)

http://londonpower.com/kits/graphics/psbox1.jpg

[miroslav]

I'm not sure I would go to those mod lengths just to have a lower volume crank.

 

Also...how does it save your tubes...as the mod comes after the power tubes...so you are still cranking the tubes...which is the same thing as when you use an external attenuator...right?

 

I like the sound of my THD Hotplate...there's no real fuzziness to it when dialed in rightand for limited studio use...running the amp on full is not going to really do much damage to the tubes lifespan.

Ive used it with my 40W and 100W Traynor ampsthough these days, I just use my 5W Epiphone ampand I dont need the Hotplate.

[Tone Taster]

I have read reports regarding how real your amp sounds at a low volume w/the power scaling vs. attenuation

 

I tried dialing in the hotplate and did notice afizziness, but it was for only an hour

[A String]

Looks cool yZe! Are you thinking of trying it?

[mdrs]

I seem to recall seeing a sealed speaker cab that is commercial available???

 

Anyone else seen this??

[mdrs]

here's one;

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Randall-Isolation-12-Speaker-Cab?sku=480371

[Dr. Ellwood]

For recording, ever try putting your amp in a closet? crank it up with the recording mike in place and add or subtract clothes on hangers for soft or harder enclosure enviroment, monitor it from the playing postition outside of the closet and have a nice day!

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by ellwood:

For recording, ever try putting your amp in a closet? crank it up with the recording mike in place and add or subtract clothes on hangers for soft or harder enclosure enviroment, monitor it from the playing postition outside of the closet and have a nice day!

You beat me to it.

[Tone Taster]

Originally posted by A String:

Looks cool yZe! Are you thinking of trying it?

Yup, I'm having a tech whom I trust investigate the power scaling boxes.

 

I mean, my 60 and 120 W are LOUD. And, sound decent at lower volumes, but do not really reach their potential until arena-level volumes. So, they will be up on the operating table before long

 

I love the enclosed speaker cab, because i can go to a gig or a church where bandleaders or soundmen are militant about you playing direct - and then i can bust out that thing

 

I heard you can put that thing in a road case for even MORE

silence

[Dr. Ellwood]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

quote:

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Originally posted by ellwood:

For recording, ever try putting your amp in a closet? crank it up with the recording mike in place and add or subtract clothes on hangers for soft or harder enclosure enviroment, monitor it from the playing postition outside of the closet and have a nice day!

[Tone Taster]

Originally posted by mdrs:

here's one;

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Randall-Isolation-12-Speaker-Cab?sku=480371

I hope you can get one w/o a speaker, cuz vintage 30's are LAME !!!

[mdrs]

HeHe...I hear ya yZe....

 

I have a couple of cabs/combo's with Vin 30's that sound really good. That's certainly a personal preference thing, however.

 

I'm not really in the market for an isolation cab. I just posted it since it was close to the set up you mentioned. I'm pretty sure that some other company has one on the market, but I can't remember who.

 

I'm more of a "double ear plug", or "put it in the closet" kind of guy. I've also gone to smaller, A class amps that sound cool at lower dB levels. But, I'm playing at home.....not out.

[miroslav]

Not sure what you mean by "lame"...'cuz the Vintage 30s in my Traynor YCV40 & extension cab are quite "in-your-face"...

...but thats what I don't like about them, as they are too bright/edgy in-your-face.

I wish they had more low-end chunk and mellower breakup (which is why I prefer my 15" cab).

But some people really seem to like that edgy, cut-through-the mix tone...and Vintage 30s got it in spades.

 

Oh...and I to have done the cab-in-other-room on occasion when I want to really crank the amp without any attenuation box.

I made some VERY heavy duty speaker cables in different lengths that let me position the cabinets anywhere I like, while the amp stays close.

I have one 30 footer which is expressly for the purpose of moving that cab into the next room, while the amp stays in the control room.

I don't have any "neighbor" issues...but it's just too loud to stand next to a cabinet with 40 or 100 watts blasting out at you!

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by miroslav:

Not sure what you mean by "lame"...'cuz the Vintage 30s in my Traynor YCV40 & extension cab are quite "in-your-face"...

...but thats what I don't like about them, as they are too bright/edgy in-your-face.

I wish they had more low-end chunk and mellower breakup (which is why I prefer my 15" cab).

But some people really seem to like that edgy, cut-through-the mix tone...and Vintage 30s got it in spades.

 

 

Oh...and I to have done the cab-in-other-room on occasion when I want to really crank the amp without any attenuation box.

I made some VERY heavy duty speaker cables in different lengths that let me position the cabinets anywhere I like, while the amp stays close.

I have one 30 footer which is expressly for the purpose of moving that cab into the next room, while the amp stays in the control room.

I don't have any "neighbor" issues...but it's just too loud to stand next to a cabinet with 40 or 100 watts blasting out at you!

Yes, and I have had so many guys laugh at the idea of the closet recording but I have done it and seen it done lots of times. It is also a good way to acid test a new speaker or get past the break in period on one also ... it works!

[Chad Thorne]

Originally posted by ellwood:

For recording, ever try putting your amp in a closet? crank it up with the recording mike in place and add or subtract clothes on hangers for soft or harder enclosure enviroment, monitor it from the playing postition outside of the closet and have a nice day!

Any data on different fabrics accentuating different frequencies? I mean, I would think heavy wool would bring out the lows, whereas a silk dress might let the highs shimmer more...

[miroslav]

Most any type of clothing material will tend to attenuate the upper mids/highs...

...though if you place the mic a couple of inches in front of the grill (your typical close-mic rig)...and then crank the amp...

...the "room" isn't going to make much difference.

 

Any clothing in the closet will only help keep the level down and from bleading out into the other room...which is the main point.

 

Another way is to place the guitar cabinet in a different, bigger room...and then try and capture the room's acoustics...while at the same time isolating the cabinet from other instruments.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Yeah in fact I recorded that way into a live room and the engineer had the cans on me to hear the room acoustics along with my amp. When he started he moved the mike into lots of different postitions before he got what he wanted. As I recall there was one mike that didn't move at all and one he moved around allot. I don't know much about recording but listening to the different positions was interesting.

[Tone Taster]

Originally posted by miroslav:

...but thats what I don't like about them, as they are too bright/edgy in-your-face.

I wish they had more low-end chunk and mellower breakup (which is why I prefer my 15" cab).

I gues i equate that harshness w/ being lame