Cab Impulse question.

[Vinny]

Is it possible to some how disable the real speaker cab when I am using impulses with my amp head? Because everywhere I have heard that you need to have the head plugged into the cab so you dont fry it, but that kind of defeats the purpose of my intentions on using impulses- because I cant track at loud volumes.

Thanks guys.

 

[FIXXXER]

i guess you'll need a power soak

cheers
S.

 

[Vinny]

I've searched around for info on that, but have had no luck. Can anyone explain what exactly it does?

 

[FIXXXER]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_attenuator_%28guitar%29

 

[SethTheGreat]

Are you micing? Or direct out from the preamp on your head?

 

[Vinny]

It would be a direct out from the FX send or the line out.
Its a Bugera 333xl by the way

But I now read somewhere else that impulses dont need the head to be turned up high... which doesnt make sense because the tubes usually sound best when they are pushed...
I just need to know how to use my amp head with cab impulses with little to no volume coming from my real cab...

 

[Trevoire520]

It would be a direct out from the FX send or the line out.
Its a Bugera 333xl by the way

But I now read somewhere else that impulses dont need the head to be turned up high... which doesnt make sense because the tubes usually sound best when they are pushed...
I just need to know how to use my amp head with cab impulses with little to no volume coming from my real cab...

When recording the Fx send from your amp the only tubes in your signal are the preamp tubes, which aren't effected by the volume of your amp. It's the power amp tubes that sound nice when your amp is pushed.

You can record silently by attaching your amp to a dummy load, there's a sticky thread on the forum that shows you how to build one and it's very cheap. Just make to read the whole thread as some of the first diagrams in it are wrong.

 

[Vinny]

Yea, I remember seeing that sticky. I read through the first 3 pages of it just now.
Thanks alot for clearling that up!

Another question... By making a power soaker, would I be able to actually mic the amp at a lower volume and still have the same tone as miking it louder?
I'm sorry, I'm not really gifted in the electronics field... Haha

 

[Sloan]

Some amps can use the FX SEND with the master turned all the way down, not sure if the 333xl can do this. Try it out.

 

[SethTheGreat]

You should be able to just turn the master down on your head so that very little (or no) volume is coming from your cab. I'm fairly certain that it won't affect your send level. Like sloan, I'm unfamiliar with that head so I could be wrong, but the dummy load seems like overkill.

 

[SethTheGreat]

Just looked up that head. "line output with dedicated level control" is one of the features. So plug you cab in, turn the volume down on the amp, plug your line output into your recording rig, then use the pre gain and the line level control.

 

[Trevoire520]

Another question... By making a power soaker, would I be able to actually mic the amp at a lower volume and still have the same tone as miking it louder?
I'm sorry, I'm not really gifted in the electronics field... Haha

A dummy load and a power soak are not the same thing,

A dummy load is just a box of resistors that gives your amp a load to plug into so it can be run silently without blowing up.
A power soak is something that goes inbetween your head and cab and allows you to push your power tubes harder but turn down the volume coming out of the cab to a lower level.

 

[Sloan]

Just looked up that head. "line output with dedicated level control" is one of the features. So plug you cab in, turn the volume down on the amp, plug your line output into your recording rig, then use the pre gain and the line level control.

yeah, these to have a line out. i tried it once and it sounded SHIT. might have to experiment with this more.

 

[Vinny]

A dummy load and a power soak are not the same thing,

A dummy load is just a box of resistors that gives your amp a load to plug into so it can be run silently without blowing up.
A power soak is something that goes inbetween your head and cab and allows you to push your power tubes harder but turn down the volume coming out of the cab to a lower level.

I know
That's why I was asking about the Power Soaker for Miking the cab...