Attenuator?

[moose209]

The guitarist I work with quite a lot is looking to get a attenuator for his Triple RectumFryer and has a dilema.

The Megadump - they appear to not answer his emails and info requests, I seem to remeber somebody maybe EA saying it was great, not sure. Does anybody have one, is it as good as the hot plate, and did you have similar issues witrh delivery time lack of communication.

The Hotplate - any good, obviously the Nike of the attenuator world but does that make it a good thing?

What attenuators have people used and to what extent have they worked. Which have you chaps found to be best for the job of power without ear splitting SPL.

Ta very much guvnors

Mos

 

[006]

I've used several THD HotPlates over the past few months, basically renting them out for the studio from time to time. I bought a MEGA DUMP from Weber though. The Weber does all ohm loads in one box, does the same damn thing as the HotPlate, costs a lot less, plus it has extra features that really help when you're attentuating.

Out of the two, I'm more than glad I went with the Weber instead of a HotPlate. That said, other people on the forum here have HotPlates and like them very much...such as kazrog if I remember correctly...but I'm pretty sure they never heard of/used a Weber MEGA DUMP.

The HotPlate is the "Nike" of the attentuator world only because THD advertises it. When is the last time you saw a Weber ad? Also, the guy at Weber (...basically Mr. Weber, lol) probably isn't answering e-mails as promptly as you'd like him to because it's pretty much a one-man operation and last I heard he has been diagnosed with cancer and is probably trying to deal with that + run that company. So I would say that you should certainly understand his situation and basically give him a break. THD probably has well over 30 employees to deal with e-mails and shit.

~e.a

 

[cobhc]

Bastard beat me to it, was just about to tell ya bout this thread EA.

 

[miche]

The Megadump - they appear to not answer his emails and info requests

weird. I wrote them a few days ago and got an answer like 1 hour after.

I ordered the mega dump, it should be here in a few days.

 

[kaomao]

I bought a THD hotplate because I calculated that with all customs and fees weber would cost me really twice its price. here in europe I didn't find anybody selling that thing.
Anyway THD won't have the same tone as cranking the amp loud.
I have to do an a/b test just to see if it's my hearing that is so special or it's really the THD that is not as the real thing.
a) cranked + thd
b) cranked
Anyway maybe it was better paying a lot more and have that weber, especially the one with that speaker thing, maybe could sound way more natural, but I don't really care if the tone is not the same as the real thing, the important thing is to not have a fizzy tone at home levels.
Anyway guys if you want to record a really natural loud signal go to a rehearse space and pay the rent for two hours.
If you wanna play your loud amp at home as me buy the thd or weber if you live in the usa as Elephant says.

 

[miche]

I bought a THD hotplate because I calculated that with all customs and fees weber would cost me really twice its price.

that much? damn, I hope I won't have a bad surprise when it arrives. I'll let you know how much I'll pay for customs, but I don't think it's gonna be that high.

 

[moose209]

weird. I wrote them a few days ago and got an answer like 1 hour after.

I ordered the mega dump, it should be here in a few days.

yeah thats what they told my mate about a month ago - I'll let him know about the situation at weber as the multiple load ability is a great feature.

That is exactly what I meant by the nike of the attenuator world, but I and my mate are all about what is great for the job, not the name - hey I wanna a black machine and a deizel - when was the lasttime you saw any adds by them. Word of mouth the best form of advertising.

I'll let my mate know about the situation and convince him to hang on, Half my family has bitten the bullet due to cancer in the last 15 years - instead of pumping billions into arms we should really be trying to fight the biggest killer in this world.

 

[moose209]

I bought a THD hotplate because I calculated that with all customs and fees weber would cost me really twice its price. here in europe I didn't find anybody selling that thing.
Anyway THD won't have the same tone as cranking the amp loud.
I have to do an a/b test just to see if it's my hearing that is so special or it's really the THD that is not as the real thing.
a) cranked + thd
b) cranked
Anyway maybe it was better paying a lot more and have that weber, especially the one with that speaker thing, maybe could sound way more natural, but I don't really care if the tone is not the same as the real thing, the important thing is to not have a fizzy tone at home levels.
Anyway guys if you want to record a really natural loud signal go to a rehearse space and pay the rent for two hours.
If you wanna play your loud amp at home as me buy the thd or weber if you live in the usa as Elephant says.

Really and truly he should have brought a dual but when you get an endorsement with mesa you kind of get happy and buy the triple, but unless your in a stadium the thing is way too fucking loud, and most venues cant handle it! So there has to be an attenuator, plus recording at quiter volumes sounds better with one.

 

[006]

The Triple isn't really that much louder than a Dual though...that 50 extra watts is only like 3dB more. But regardless, without an attnetuator, you can never realistically crank your amp, to say 8 or 9 on the master volume. With an attentuator you can though.

~e.a

 

[moose209]

But to get the weight out of the amp you really need to drive it and at present we haven't been able to take it over 5 or 6 even in big venues (1000 approx) Without it drowning everything else out and killing the band what a way to die hey by rectofyer!

 

[kaomao]

that much? damn, I hope I won't have a bad surprise when it arrives. I'll let you know how much I'll pay for customs, but I don't think it's gonna be that high.

Maybe twice is too much, but I think that thd is much cheaper here.
With THD I don't have to pay for customs and shipping.
I paid the THD 269 euros brand new.

 

[moose209]

Maybe twice is too much, but I think that thd is much cheaper here.
With THD I don't have to pay for customs and shipping.
I paid the THD 269 euros brand new.

wow it's 220 cheapest in the uk and thats in pounds! The weber is £130 + Vat so £170 + shipping £180 max but obviously he has trouble at the moment - I'll have to do more research.

 

[moose209]

Has anyone used the Weber Mass attenuator - that looks pretty cool and the theory behine it is quite sound.

In reality I'm asking EA if he has or what he thinks about it

 

[moose209]

https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/weber/mass150.htm

Although a wee bit pricier the idea sounds great

has anyone used one?

 

[johnnypreset]

I've heard great things about the Sequis Motherload.

http://www.motherload.co.uk/motherload1.html

Might be overkill if your just looking for an attenuator, and they cost a mint as well.
I hate being skint.

 

[006]

Yeah the Overload is a great product, but it's still not offering much for what you pay. The Weber MASS is what I was originally looking at, I just decided to buy the MEGA DUMP instead, that's all. All of the Weber products get good reviews. The MEGA DUMP can handle more wattage than any of the other attentuators that Weber makes, thats the only reason I got it, because I'm using it for several different amps that vary in wattage (and a friend of mine has a 200W Randall, etc., so I needed something that could handle anything I threw at it.

~e.a

 

[moose209]

In the end - he has decided to buy the Mass (150W speaker motor based) As he has a masters in mechanical engineering and the idea works for him. Thanks for your help guys - when we do some new demos I'll post the results. In the interim check my other band if you want a good time. Peace Ladies.

 

[Carrier Flux]

the weber looks really nice. I picked up a hotplate recently and love it. it doesn't 100% reproduce the sound of a cranked amp/cab, but it still helps my amp sound good at levels that are tolerable when living with other people. I've been doing some recordings and they're turning out as good as anything I've done.

 

[moose209]

Without a doubt the Hotplate is good, an ex guitarist friend of mine who due to illness has had to retire has his triple rec in his 'studio' which is basically the front room in his flat - a georgian (no soundproofing possible) floorboards are the only thing between you and your downstairs neighbour house. And his downsatirs neighbour - who just happens to be one of the best up and coming engineer in London can't hear a fucking thing when he has it cranked up to max on the amp and 70db bedroom on the amp. But to my ears it sounds funny a bit fizzy so I think the Weber is the way forward.

 

[ltratt]

> But to my ears it sounds funny a bit fizzy so I think the Weber is the way forward.

I have a Hotplate in a Univalve amp (it's not exactly the same as the stand alone box, but it's supposedly pretty similar). It was definitely pretty fizzy treble-wise at high levels of attenuation. So I wrote to Andy Marshall (THD main man) and he gave me a mod which basically involved snipping out a resistor from the hotplate which improved the attenuated sound no end. I don't know whether this would apply to the standalone unit - probably not, but you never know.