Speaker Load Mimic Device?

[Jim C]

As always, many opinions but not many who have actually done this.
Worked years in a 24 track pro studio.
back in the day, the hot lick was either a Countryman active or Jenseon passive transformer for bass DI. Have also used other gain matching devices like a Alembic Preamp. One of the best DI's I ever had was an Ampeg V4B with a 300 watt, 4 ohm balast resistor on the output side and a line out to the console via the line out.
Very quiet, warm, and dynamic.
OTOH, I never tried the output side of a tube amp through a Countryman with the amp in an iso both to really appreciate the dynamics of a non-linear load.

[Mr. Foxen]

I'm not entirely convinced the only resistive load thing is nearly as important to making recordings like that sound funny as the colour from the speaker and mic.

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by JHAz

+

tedweber.com scroll down to Attenuators (left hand side of the page).

USE THE LINE OUT. No sense risking whatever might go wrong if you overdrive the Peavy's inputs . . .

Although supposedly that's how Terry Kath got his guitar sound for his little freakout on the Chicago Transit Authority. Fender amp speaker output to fender amp input to speaker. Fun while it lasts.

On the CTA liner notes I'm pretty sure it lists a pre-amp into an amp as the source of distortion.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Jim C

As always, many opinions but not many who have actually done this.
Worked years in a 24 track pro studio.
back in the day, the hot lick was either a Countryman active or Jenseon passive transformer for bass DI. Have also used other gain matching devices like a Alembic Preamp. One of the best DI's I ever had was an Ampeg V4B with a 300 watt, 4 ohm balast resistor on the output side and a line out to the console via the line out.
Very quiet, warm, and dynamic.
OTOH, I never tried the output side of a tube amp through a Countryman with the amp in an iso both to really appreciate the dynamics of a non-linear load.

I'm sure your recordings were fine anyway.



Really does sound awesome, though for distortion, micing a cab is easier since you don't have to go through EQing a speaker sim into it. And really, it's not that difficult to speaker DI and doesn't really need too much special care. I've done it using a simple resistive dummy load on my B-15. It runs a little hotter than usual but didn't hurt it. It runs pretty hot anyway. Nowadays I just use a REDDI since it's way simpler than any of it and sounds just as good for clean sounds. And by "just as good," I mean "Identical to a B-15 speaker DI'd and set near flat but a shade quieter."

[JGR]

Originally Posted by Jim C

As always, many opinions but not many who have actually done this.
Worked years in a 24 track pro studio.
back in the day, the hot lick was either a Countryman active or Jenseon passive transformer for bass DI. Have also used other gain matching devices like a Alembic Preamp. One of the best DI's I ever had was an Ampeg V4B with a 300 watt, 4 ohm balast resistor on the output side and a line out to the console via the line out.
Very quiet, warm, and dynamic.
OTOH, I never tried the output side of a tube amp through a Countryman with the amp in an iso both to really appreciate the dynamics of a non-linear load.

I spent a lot of time messing around with this back in the day and eventually ended up building my own, and it was much better than what I could find commercially at the time. Tapping a signal off the speaker jack with the amp driving a real cab also works great (huge difference in dynamics/feel/response compared to purely resistive), but then you are stuck with having to use an isolation cab as mentioned if you want it to be silent.

[Jim C]

It really comes down to just a few things like:
* Can you afford a REDDI if you want a great tubey DI?
* Do you have the space (and money for you home studio guys) to build a proper iso cabinet for an amp for miking, or do you have the ability to record direct and then send the signal back to an amp for a mic track?
* Do you even want a warm tubey sound or do you like a passive or active DI just the way they are.

[BogeyBass]

Yep, simple and easy.

need a dummy load dont know if you need 8ohm or 4ohm

parts express has 100watt loads already in a case for yah
instead of rigging one up with big ceramic resistors.

check em out = 8ohm and 4ohm

just need to change the terminals on those wires to male 1/4 jack or speakon whatever you amp has.

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by BogeyBass

Yep, simple and easy.

need a dummy load dont know if you need 8ohm or 4ohm

parts express has 100watt loads already in a case for yah
instead of rigging one up with big ceramic resistors.

check em out = 8ohm and 4ohm

just need to change the terminals on those wires to male 1/4 jack or speakon whatever you amp has.

They still will need to be mounted to an aluminium plate or heat sink for them to handle their rated power.