Fender Supersonic 22

[JeffB]

I always found it interesting that Bad Cat wouldnt warranty an amp that had been used with an attenuator. Even there own Leash. They were upfront about it at least.

Proving you used one I thought might be an obstacle for them.

[rockabilly69]

Not all attenuators are created equally. The Alex is a custom built unit that simulates the dynamic charactoristics of the the speakers contribution to tone as power to it increases.

 

I don't know the physics behind it but there are different kinds of loads an amp pushes. One is an "inductive" load which is created by the speaker and varies in a non-linear manner as volume is increased. The Alex (a a couple of other brands) mimics this dynamic. It also provides a knob to manually boost the high end at the highest levels of attenuation. This counters the "tone-suck" that some complain of when using an attenuator.

 

If you ever get a chance to see one in person it will be become evident by weight alone that there's some additional content in the attenuator that you won't find in others such as the Weber, or even the Dr. Z air brake I use (which I'm quite happy with, BTW). The thing must weigh 10 lbs.

 

I think it's a must-have for artists who want to record using higher powered amps in their studios. It would also provide a lot of vesatility to use those amps in smaller venues.

Those are nice attenuators, I've used one, and I also own an Ultimate Attenuator, but I don't like using any attenuators on the vintage amps

as they are somewhat hard on the transformers.

[jazzam]

For me, tube amps are a maintenence nightmare. Look into an Evans RE-200. 25 LBS....

[tulk1]

I just can't get along with attenuators. Well, the ones I've used so far, anyway. Had a Tom Scholz long ago; have used a Marshall. Currently have a Dr. Z, the one that mounts inside the combo box - which is sitting on a high boy in the music room. Anyone want to try it?