Attenuators and power soak?

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:30 am

I'm gonna get one for sure eventually. Any recommendations? Aside from dr.Z I'm not familiar with an of the brands.

Joined: 14 Aug 2012 Posts: 95

I had a Tom Shultz one, really good, didn't suck too much tone and really useful as can set different amp ratings as well as attenuation. had couple of amps that used it with and never had issues! Gone smaller now and is the only reason I got rid of it

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 12:47 pm

Any attenuator you get needs to match/handle the power output of your amp, remember that and you should have no problems

If you have a 100w head, then you need an attenuator designed to handle that power, anything less and you could end up with an impromptu fire or destroyed attenuator

The Marshall Powerbrake would be my choice for high wattage applications

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6625 Location: Minnesota

Jet City is working on one to be released soon. It's an attenuator, with a mic sim out also.

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:05 pm

I do indeed have a 100w head. An ill have a look at the power brake. The jet city ill keep an eye on.

Before posting I was shopping again, am I correct in thinking this is much like the power conditioner issue? Meaning that I'm gonna have to spend some real coin for an atenuator that's worth a damn? Cause I've seen the prices from 25.00 to 350.00

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

lordkronos187 wrote:

I do indeed have a 100w head. An ill have a look at the power brake. The jet city ill keep an eye on.

Before posting I was shopping again, am I correct in thinking this is much like the power conditioner issue? Meaning that I'm gonna have to spend some real coin for an atenuator that's worth a damn? Cause I've seen the prices from 25.00 to 350.00

Did you buy a tube head? I thought you only had SS heads... I'm not paying enough attention lately lol.

Also just know that a power break on a high gain modern tube head is kinda pointless. Those amps are designed to get all their distortion from the preamp, hence the super high gain preamp. On many of them, once you start adding power amp saturation the tone won't be as good for high gain that requires really tight, focused feel and tone.

The reverse can be said for a medium to low gain tube amp that can benefit from power amp saturation. An attenuator on an amp like that can be very beneficial because you can crank the hell out of the master volume (or if your amp is non master then just on the volume) and get all the juice you need from the power amp.

On a high gain tube amp using an attenuator to add the power amp saturation you can achieve some great bouncy, greasy tone but it won't be tight and articulated like a high gain tube head with a lot of preamp gain and a master volume. That's the point of a master volume on those amps.

On all these low wattage, lunch box and mini heads coming out, the point of the low wattage and selectable power is to be able to get that saturated poweramp sound for that kinda rock, blues tone without destroying the paint on your walls. Any really high gain head, like a 5150 or JVM etc you can just turn the volume down and get that tight metal kinda tone. On my H&K I have 36 watts, 18 watts, 5 watts and 1 watt selectable but for the kind of music I play I just leave it on 36 watts because I don't need or want power amp distortion at all. If I was playing Indie or Blues, I would select the crunch channel and 5 watt and then goose the sh1t out of the power amp to get more saturation. Right now I just need it tight and focused though.

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6625 Location: Minnesota

The $25 variety are not attenuators. Those ones go in your effects loop, and act as a volume. That is not what you are looking for.

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 10591 Location: Canada

My usual post;

High gain tube heads get most (not all) of their distortion from their preamp section, (the small tubes). They just run one tube into another, into another, into another and overdrive each section until you get the desired distortion. KT-88s, 6550 and 6L6s are usually used in the power section (the big tubes), because of their wide frequency response and clean output. EL34s of course get dirty faster.

Non master volume tube amps, get most of their distortion from the power section, you have to turn these amps up loud to get the distortion. Power tube distortion sounds different then preamp tube distortion. It's a matter of opinion which is better, but most people tend to prefer power tube distortion... when they can get it. And that's the kicker.

Transistor amps and modeling amps get their distortion in the preamp section and sound pretty crummy when their power section overdrive so I can't imagine anyone wanting to put a HotPlate on one.

I have a HotPlate and have tried it out with my 5150, ENGL Savage 120 (long gone), Steavens Poundcake, Soldano and Marshall TSL. All high gain master volume tube amps and am disappointed for this use. If you're planning on turning your amp up and crushing your volume down to bedroom levels you'll be greatly disappointed. High Gain heads have surprisingly clean power sections (so they don't get muddy when you turn them up). It's actually quite surprising.

You also miss out on speaker to air interaction, speaker distortion, the shear volume, room effect, and your hearing curve is different for loud volumes then quiet ones (i.e. the Fletcher-Munson effect, that's why there is a loudness control on your stereo). It also affects your tone a bit, so you may not like it at all.

A HotPlate and such is great for taming a non master volume amp or running your amp at it's sweet spot, say 6 or 7, in a room you can only run at 5. But not cranked on 10 but only as loud as on 1.

Also consider wear and tear on your tubes. I don't think cranking your amp with a HotPlate is any worse then just cranking it, but you'll play your amp at much higher working levels then you normally would have, and that's a lot of wear and tear that those tubes may never had seen if you didn't have one.

I really recommend you try one before you buy it. Many people have one kicking around because it didn't suit their purpose, not because it's a bad product.

This is my opinion, from my experience with mine.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

I remember when I bought a THD Hotplate for the Krank Rev 100 I used to run. I hated it with the attenuator. I would crank it up to get that power amp saturated tone and it killed the sound of the amp at lower, but still very loud volumes without the attenuator.

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:22 pm

Armitage wrote:

My usual post;

High gain tube heads get most (not all) of their distortion from their preamp section, (the small tubes). They just run one tube into another, into another, into another and overdrive each section until you get the desired distortion. KT-88s, 6550 and 6L6s are usually used in the power section (the big tubes), because of their wide frequency response and clean output. EL34s of course get dirty faster.

Non master volume tube amps, get most of their distortion from the power section, you have to turn these amps up loud to get the distortion. Power tube distortion sounds different then preamp tube distortion. It's a matter of opinion which is better, but most people tend to prefer power tube distortion... when they can get it. And that's the kicker.

Transistor amps and modeling amps get their distortion in the preamp section and sound pretty crummy when their power section overdrive so I can't imagine anyone wanting to put a HotPlate on one.

I have a HotPlate and have tried it out with my 5150, ENGL Savage 120 (long gone), Steavens Poundcake, Soldano and Marshall TSL. All high gain master volume tube amps and am disappointed for this use. If you're planning on turning your amp up and crushing your volume down to bedroom levels you'll be greatly disappointed. High Gain heads have surprisingly clean power sections (so they don't get muddy when you turn them up). It's actually quite surprising.

You also miss out on speaker to air interaction, speaker distortion, the shear volume, room effect, and your hearing curve is different for loud volumes then quiet ones (i.e. the Fletcher-Munson effect, that's why there is a loudness control on your stereo). It also affects your tone a bit, so you may not like it at all.

A HotPlate and such is great for taming a non master volume amp or running your amp at it's sweet spot, say 6 or 7, in a room you can only run at 5. But not cranked on 10 but only as loud as on 1.

Also consider wear and tear on your tubes. I don't think cranking your amp with a HotPlate is any worse then just cranking it, but you'll play your amp at much higher working levels then you normally would have, and that's a lot of wear and tear that those tubes may never had seen if you didn't have one.

I really recommend you try one before you buy it. Many people have one kicking around because it didn't suit their purpose, not because it's a bad product.

This is my opinion, from my experience with mine.

I totally agree with this and what Lanning said. Attenuator's are used with non-master volume amp applications like the Marshall Major, Plex etc... because these amps sound like ass at low volume levels. The power tubes need to break up to get that raunchy rock sound and the only way to do that is to pour on the voltage. If you already have a highgain head, they really are pointless. For a SS application, there is no need at all. I figured you were using this for a non master volume amp

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:27 pm

i think im gettin it.

so to start, yes Lanning, i upgraded to a Randall RM100 a while back. got 3 MTS Modules : Blackface, Ultra , and a VHT Pitbull. each has a channel volume, and i have the master volume to toy with. the power section is 6L6's btw. so far i can put the channel volume around 6 or 7 but that means that the master has to stay at about 2-3 and thats just right to jam with the drumset and bass.

i just thought if i could up the master and lower the channel volume i could do some fun and different stuff with the tones. but if i up the volume much more then im gonna peel pain, break windows, and send my girlfriend in to early labor.

dont get me wrong, i love my tones, this isnt a need thing. i just wanted to find a way to take advantage of the power section saturation without destroying my house

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

lordkronos187 wrote:

i think im gettin it.

so to start, yes Lanning, i upgraded to a Randall RM100 a while back. got 3 MTS Modules : Blackface, Ultra , and a VHT Pitbull. each has a channel volume, and i have the master volume to toy with. the power section is 6L6's btw. so far i can put the channel volume around 6 or 7 but that means that the master has to stay at about 2-3 and thats just right to jam with the drumset and bass.

i just thought if i could up the master and lower the channel volume i could do some fun and different stuff with the tones. but if i up the volume much more then im gonna peel pain, break windows, and send my girlfriend in to early labor.

dont get me wrong, i love my tones, this isnt a need thing. i just wanted to find a way to take advantage of the power section saturation without destroying my house

You got a really great head. There is a lot of cool stuff you can get, especially the custom made modules. Check out Billy Corgan's rig... He uses a lot of modules but in a custom rack instead of a head like yours. But those kinds of modules are out there. If you want to have some fun then instead of getting an attenuator then look at some custom modules!

Here's the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eVH5vUR8u8

Here is the guy that made his mods.
http://salvationmods.com/
If you click on the "modification" link on the to of the page you can browse all the mods with prices.

Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 2740 Location: Southeast MI

I wouldn't bother with an attenuator for that head. Put your money into something else!

Joined: 13 Dec 2010 Posts: 3673 Location: Tampa, FL

Hands down best attenuator/load box I've ever come across is the rivera rock crusher, even the name is badass. Laughing

They overbuilt these things like crazy, they're tanks. There's a few videos floating around of them and IMO the sound from them is above and beyond better than anything else out there. They'd play a riff through a cranked marshall NMV. Then go through each attenuation stage and let you hear how close it sounds. Besides speaker breakup I can't hear a difference.

But at $500 it's a lot more expensive than anything else out there.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

Attenuators are boomerangs... At least that's what we called them when I worked at GC... 90% of the people coming in to buy them didn't know why they would need one... Said they had a high gain head, and then ignored our efforts to explain why they wouldn't be happy with it... Within a week they would come back to return it because they hated it. Out and back just like a boomerang lol... Of course if you have a 100 watt or even a 50 watt Plexi and want to goose the sh1t out of the power section there is nothing better. I have a friend that has a Webber he's willing to let me borrow to try with my JCM800. I can't wait to try that out. No OD in front, just put the master on about 7 or 8 with the Webber in line and watch my head vibrate off its feet! Twisted Evil

Joined: 13 Dec 2010 Posts: 3673 Location: Tampa, FL

Lanning is Killdozer wrote:

Attenuators are boomerangs... At least that's what we called them when I worked at GC... 90% of the people coming in to buy them didn't know why they would need one... Said they had a high gain head, and then ignored our efforts to explain why they wouldn't be happy with it... Within a week they would come back to return it because they hated it. Out and back just like a boomerang lol... Of course if you have a 100 watt or even a 50 watt Plexi and want to goose the sh1t out of the power section there is nothing better. I have a friend that has a Webber he's willing to let me borrow to try with my JCM800. I can't wait to try that out. No OD in front, just put the master on about 7 or 8 with the Webber in line and watch my head vibrate off its feet! Twisted Evil

Same here, seen that quite a few times at GC. I got mine for 2 reasons. One cause I have a 100 watt head in an apartment. It sounds amazing at low volumes but thickens up a little when the master is turned up, since I can't do that it's fun to use the attenuator. I don't have it set up like that all the time, just when I feel like it.
Other reason is for silent recording. A lot of attenuators double as load boxes, which basically means it takes the full load of the amp head and converts it to heat so a cab doesn't even have to be hooked up. Attenuators work the same way but always have to have a cab hooked up, cause there's still a load running through the speaker cables. So sometimes if I don't want to mic the cab I'll run DI out from the attenuator into my interface and use cab IR's to simulate my cab. Doesn't sound as nice but it works.

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:35 am

Lanning is Killdozer wrote:

lordkronos187 wrote:

i think im gettin it.

so to start, yes Lanning, i upgraded to a Randall RM100 a while back. got 3 MTS Modules : Blackface, Ultra , and a VHT Pitbull. each has a channel volume, and i have the master volume to toy with. the power section is 6L6's btw. so far i can put the channel volume around 6 or 7 but that means that the master has to stay at about 2-3 and thats just right to jam with the drumset and bass.

i just thought if i could up the master and lower the channel volume i could do some fun and different stuff with the tones. but if i up the volume much more then im gonna peel pain, break windows, and send my girlfriend in to early labor.

dont get me wrong, i love my tones, this isnt a need thing. i just wanted to find a way to take advantage of the power section saturation without destroying my house

You got a really great head. There is a lot of cool stuff you can get, especially the custom made modules. Check out Billy Corgan's rig... He uses a lot of modules but in a custom rack instead of a head like yours. But those kinds of modules are out there. If you want to have some fun then instead of getting an attenuator then look at some custom modules!

Here's the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eVH5vUR8u8

Here is the guy that made his mods.
http://salvationmods.com/
If you click on the "modification" link on the to of the page you can browse all the mods with prices.

maybe im just overthinking it. i havent really messed with the master knob much. for all i know the volume difference might not be all that extreme. maybe i can balance it by lowering the channel volume a bit and raising the master.

ill definately be looking in to salvations mods. the guy that did the vht pitbull is jadedfaith and hes got really good stuff too. ill watch the corgan clip in a bit, i wonder which ones he has. the possibilities are endless.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

Another thing is you may not be factoring in your speakers. The speakers you use are as important or more important than your amp. Speakers sound different at different volumes. A V 30 loaded 4X12 sounds quite different when you're pumping high dB through it Vs. playing at living room volumes. An attenuator isn't necessarily for living room volume. It's so you can bring a big fire breathing head down to club volumes. I don't know that I have ever used an attenuator that made an amp sound good at really low volumes. My H&K can go down to 1 watt, but I don't play that one watt turned down. The purpose is so you can rip the hell out of the master volume. 1 watt cranked up on a tube amp is almost too loud for an apartment so I don't even bother to attenuate it down from full power. I just run at 36 watts and turn the master down. I can't get my Celestion G30Ls cooking enough to push real air in my house no matter what because I'd get complaints so I don't bother trying to attenuate anything. That's for the tone I use though. If I were playing Blues or Indie Rock I'd use one to get some grind out of the power amp.

So I don't look at an attenuator as useful in an apartment. I can see it for using big watts on a small stage though so you don't get yelled at by the sound guy lol Laughing

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 3:31 am

Quote:

An attenuator isn't necessarily for living room volume. It's so you can bring a big fire breathing head down to club volumes.

thats the ticket! see i have a jam room on the top floor of this house. i can crank and rip fairly often. ive got a vox vt30 for the living room jams and bedroom practicing when the rugrat is asleep.

im never inteded to get the volume to "bedroom levels" with the head. just wanted to see what would happen with the master volume higher, but i was afraid i would like the tone even better but it would be too high to jam with the rest of the guys realisticly. i feel like too much more volume and ill drown out the bass. Razz

the cab is an old randall with vintage jaguars. theyve held up at all volumes so far. i hope they continue to do so.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

Also, remember if you like the tone and it's cranked up you'll learn about a new incurred cost... Re-tubing and biasing. Wink

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12250 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

id have to 100% agree with armitage and lanning.

power tube distortion on high gain amps sounds like s#%t. that whole power tube distortion phenom is from years of past before stacking preamp tubes to clip the signal.

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 5:11 am

BLOODROOT wrote:

id have to 100% agree with armitage and lanning.

power tube distortion on high gain amps sounds like s#%t. that whole power tube distortion phenom is from years of past before stacking preamp tubes to clip the signal.

im glad to hear it.

i guess part of my brain assumed that "high gain" amps NEEDED the power amp distortion/saturation to really get goin. like it was some kind of half and half deal between pre and power.

retubing and biasing i am not looking forward too. heres hoping mine last a good long while

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

When you hear the old pros telling you that the amps don't sound good until they are cranked... That comes from non master volume and lower gain amps that needed it. With technology the way it is today and newer modern amps coming with more gain that thousand gallon tub of a laundry detergent with the same name, there is no need to bother. But hey, it's your money man. Don't say we didn't warn you though lol.

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 6:45 am

Lanning is Killdozer wrote:

When you hear the old pros telling you that the amps don't sound good until they are cranked... That comes from non master volume and lower gain amps that needed it. With technology the way it is today and newer modern amps coming with more gain that thousand gallon tub of a laundry detergent with the same name, there is no need to bother. But hey, it's your money man. Don't say we didn't warn you though lol.

no worries love. ive heard the right argument to avoid the attenuator. i really dont think i need it for what im doing now. i was just illustrating my thought process that steered me toward it for the sake of conversation Wink

Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 1742 Location: NJ

lordkronos187 wrote:

retubing and biasing i am not looking forward too. heres hoping mine last a good long while

Retubing and Biasing is easy, it's literally a 5 minute job. Unless you're talking about spending the $ on the tubes and multi-meter.

And you can mix and match tubes.

My Lynch Box I have Tung Sol EL-34Bs and my RM100M I have JJ 6L6s on the outside and JJ EL34s on the inside.

And the modules are very responsive to pre-amp tube swapping too.

Some modules sound better with JJs, some with Tung Sol, some with Rubys, some with a mix and match in V1 and V2.

The possibilities really are endless.

It's a shame they dropped the line.

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:45 am

Steel City Psycho wrote:

lordkronos187 wrote:

retubing and biasing i am not looking forward too. heres hoping mine last a good long while

Retubing and Biasing is easy, it's literally a 5 minute job. Unless you're talking about spending the $ on the tubes and multi-meter.

And you can mix and match tubes.

My Lynch Box I have Tung Sol EL-34Bs and my RM100M I have JJ 6L6s on the outside and JJ EL34s on the inside.

And the modules are very responsive to pre-amp tube swapping too.

Some modules sound better with JJs, some with Tung Sol, some with Rubys, some with a mix and match in V1 and V2.

The possibilities really are endless.

It's a shame they dropped the line.

i hear you on the rest, but what do you mean 6l6 on the outside el34 on the inside

Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 1742 Location: NJ

lordkronos187 wrote:

Steel City Psycho wrote:

lordkronos187 wrote:

retubing and biasing i am not looking forward too. heres hoping mine last a good long while

Retubing and Biasing is easy, it's literally a 5 minute job. Unless you're talking about spending the $ on the tubes and multi-meter.

And you can mix and match tubes.

My Lynch Box I have Tung Sol EL-34Bs and my RM100M I have JJ 6L6s on the outside and JJ EL34s on the inside.

And the modules are very responsive to pre-amp tube swapping too.

Some modules sound better with JJs, some with Tung Sol, some with Rubys, some with a mix and match in V1 and V2.

The possibilities really are endless.

It's a shame they dropped the line.

i hear you on the rest, but what do you mean 6l6 on the outside el34 on the inside

The two outside tubes are a pair and the two inside tubes are a pair.

So you can put a 6L6 in the two outer most tube sockets and bias them accordingly, and then put an EL34 in the two inside tube sockets and bias them accordingly for a mix of both.

I also tried it 2 6l6 inside and 2 EL34 outside, but I liked the opposite combo better.

I know you got yours used too, so i don't know if you have a manual, but here it is and gives yuo the bias range for the different tubes on the last page.

http://www.randallamplifiers.com/images/stories/manuals/RM100-OwnersManual.pdf

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:58 am

Steel City Psycho wrote:

lordkronos187 wrote:

Steel City Psycho wrote:

lordkronos187 wrote:

retubing and biasing i am not looking forward too. heres hoping mine last a good long while

Retubing and Biasing is easy, it's literally a 5 minute job. Unless you're talking about spending the $ on the tubes and multi-meter.

And you can mix and match tubes.

My Lynch Box I have Tung Sol EL-34Bs and my RM100M I have JJ 6L6s on the outside and JJ EL34s on the inside.

And the modules are very responsive to pre-amp tube swapping too.

Some modules sound better with JJs, some with Tung Sol, some with Rubys, some with a mix and match in V1 and V2.

The possibilities really are endless.

It's a shame they dropped the line.

i hear you on the rest, but what do you mean 6l6 on the outside el34 on the inside

The two outside tubes are a pair and the two inside tubes are a pair.

So you can put a 6L6 in the two outer most tube sockets and bias them accordingly, and then put an EL34 in the two inside tube sockets and bias them accordingly for a mix of both.

I also tried it 2 6l6 inside and 2 EL34 outside, but I liked the opposite combo better.

I know you got yours used too, so i don't know if you have a manual, but here it is and gives yuo the bias range for the different tubes on the last page.

http://www.randallamplifiers.com/images/stories/manuals/RM100-OwnersManual.pdf

i didnt get a manual, so thank you. thats a great idea. i always loved the squishy rumbly of el34 but want the tight loud of 6l6. why not both Very Happy

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 347 Location: South-West Ohio

I would like to interject that an attentuator on a hgh gain amp is totally pointless - there is a good bit of compression and EQ chnage that happens at power tube distortion. I've never found a cranked power sention to reduce my distortion, nor make it "less tight", but it DOES compress and that can be REAL WEIRD if you're not used to it.

Also, the EQ changes slightly and there are a LOT of amps that DO sound like the poo when power cranked.

it is definately NOT for everyone, or even every amp.

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:16 pm

Now for something from left field.

I run an Ernie Ball Volume pedal in the effects loop. Which, to my understanding is placing it between the preamp & amp. Is that correct?

I get the tone I want and controll volume without loosing any tone from the amp. Though, the speakers don't really have a chance to add flavor unless the volume is up on the pedal.

Yes, I understand that some overdrive of the "big" tubes may be lost.

Thoughts?

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 347 Location: South-West Ohio

DeanMann wrote:

Now for something from left field.

I run an Ernie Ball Volume pedal in the effects loop. Which, to my understanding is placing it between the preamp & amp. Is that correct?

Unsure - it depends upon your amp. either way, sort of pointless unless you don't have a master volume. If you do have a master volume, then this is simply adding distance in your chain, and thereby, noise. Now if you havea non master volume amp, then you xan do this and get some preamp disortion and no power amp distortion.

What amp are you using?

Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 2740 Location: Southeast MI

pariah2 wrote:

DeanMann wrote:

Now for something from left field.

I run an Ernie Ball Volume pedal in the effects loop. Which, to my understanding is placing it between the preamp & amp. Is that correct?

Unsure - it depends upon your amp. either way, sort of pointless unless you don't have a master volume. If you do have a master volume, then this is simply adding distance in your chain, and thereby, noise. Now if you havea non master volume amp, then you xan do this and get some preamp disortion and no power amp distortion.

What amp are you using?

Yea, it's the same as a master volume. Between your preamp and power amp. It's useful if you want to control that on the fly...like you said there could be some downsides though. It works well for a solo control though to get a little more volume.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

A volume pedal just acts like a master volume, you don't get the power tube saturation just by turning the amp's master up and the volume pedal down. It's still quieter but tonally not the same thing. It's just like cranking your amp and not playing.... Or cranking your amp but only turning the guitar volume up slightly. You're not getting your power section cooking. It's just idling at a lower input level. An attenuator allows you to run the amp flat out and chokes the output level down to tolerable SPLs.

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:34 pm

Cool. I do like the results. Tone is good as is volume control. Though I may add a soak and power up a bit more. I use the volume controll more or less during leads. More of a dynamics control.

BTW, it'a a JCM 900. The 100 watt version. It has a nice switch to run it at 50 watts. I LOVE this head.