i am looking for devices so that I can get a sick killer overdriven tone on my 400+ without making peoples ears bleed and all the china fall off the walls.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
anyone use a THD hotplate?
- Thread starter xshawnxearthx
- Start date
I don't think you'll find an attenuator rated to handle a 300 watt amp.
Here's what I did:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238662
Here's what I did:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238662
i saw that awhile back but my bass is still under warranty so I dont want to mess with that. if it wasnt, i would totally have a tech do it for me.
Yeah- I think the highest rated attenuator I've seen was up to 150 watts or so...you could always buy some less efficient cabinets or something!
I personally dig the preamp tube grind I get on my 400+, I doubt many people in the audience could tell the difference! Plus preamp tubes can be driven more without squashing your dynamics like power tubes (at least in my experience...).
Karl
I personally dig the preamp tube grind I get on my 400+, I doubt many people in the audience could tell the difference! Plus preamp tubes can be driven more without squashing your dynamics like power tubes (at least in my experience...).
Karl
i feel stupid because i dont know how to drive me pre-amp tubes. If i bring my volumes above 3 on both and it is super loud.Yeah- I think the highest rated attenuator I've seen was up to 150 watts or so...you could always buy some less efficient cabinets or something!
I personally dig the preamp tube grind I get on my 400+, I doubt many people in the audience could tell the difference! Plus preamp tubes can be driven more without squashing your dynamics like power tubes (at least in my experience...).
Karl
Hmm. Great minds think alike!
I jsut asked the same question here:http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=304599&page=2
But it looks like this thread answered it!
Driving either extremely hard will squash dynamics, but the power tube overdrive will be much smoother.
maybe not your amp, but definitely your tubes.
when gigging hard w/ my dr. z airbrake, my amps'll go thru literally twice as many power tubes vs. not so hard gigging.
I don't know if you're referring to your Alessandro or your Sadowsky, but in both cases, those amps are fairly conservative for tube bass amps and not really pushing anything ratings-wise. Power tubes do take the biggest hit, and that's the problem with other tube bass amps.
With something like an SVT or other 300 watt tube amps on the market that are even LESS stable, an attenuater can be recipe for fireworks. With tubes running at their limits to get high power and volume, attentuating the output and running them flat-out can overheat their internals. They could and probably will short and take out a good portion of the amp with them.
In regard to the OP, while a bass 400+ is pretty conservative circuit, modern 6L6GC's run the gamut from incredible to outright junk, and Mesa has used nearly very kind of them and there's no telling what driving the piss outta a set of Chinese 6L6's will make them do.
Can you take out some of the power tubes? You probably won't hear the volume drop, but it might make the tubes work harder. We tried this on a friend's Fender Twin Reverb.
Thats what anderbass did, well, essentially, he has a series of switches rigged up which removes the cathodes of pairs of tubes from the circuit.
