cheap inline volume pad/control???

[Mcrelly]

Hello, I am wondering if my guitarist can benefit from a volume decrease before his signal goes into his amp.

he runs a passive 6 string into a couple of pedals, but does not have a master volume control with the pedals. so, he ends up running his Fender hotrod blues deluxe tube amp. he ends up running his master at like 1 1/2, so I'm wondering if he's getting maximum impedance matching or optimum tone while running the master so low???

I was thinking of suggesting he put a passive "pad" in between his pedals and amp, like 20 or 40 db?? he has no pad on the amp and his gain control is for overdrive.

please brothers help me out in finding something that could go "inline" between the amp and pedals

thanks!

[Diggler]

To minimize noise you should supply the biggest signal you can. You don't want to give it a weak signal and then have to boost it more... because as you turn up the volume of the signal, you're also turning up the volume of the noise in the system.

[Mcrelly]

what I'm saying is he is trying to run a "line level" signal into a "instrument" input. I'm wondering if there is any advantage to get his line level down to instrument level?

[Trevorus]

Originally Posted by Mcrelly

what I'm saying is he is trying to run a "line level" signal into a "instrument" input. I'm wondering if there is any advantage to get his line level down to instrument level?

If he needs more attenuation, plug into the #2 input. Most guitar pedals still put out an instrument signal level.

Another thing with those Hot Rod series of amps, their volume pots are linear slope potentiometers. This means they get loud really fast, but after about 4, it doesn't get that much louder. It can be kind of hard to control sometimes.

If you want a good way to attenuate his amp, put a volume box in the effects loop. They sell them on ebay, but with a 100K potentiometer from Radio Shack, 1/4" jacks, and a little enclosure, you have an effects level attenuator with no mods to the amplifier. This is the best way to go. (BTW, I used to own one of those amplifiers.)