Top loadboxes for the money

[H-evolve]

I've been searching on the forum and there are tons of posts about LoadBoxes, but nothing really stating if there is one better than the other, when taking into consideration its price.

The ones I know (haven't necessarily tested them, but know their existence):

- Rivera RockCrusher
- Rivera RockCrusher with EQ
- Torpedo Live
- Torpedo Reload
- Radial HeadLoad
- Radial Prodigy.
- THD HotPlate

Which one is the best purchase for your money, considering it would be used for both silent recording AND volume reduction. Ease of use, quality, tone (ideally not too much tone sucking), etc.

The Torpedo Live isn't that interesting for me, as I don't plan on using their IRs. The Reload is a nice device, but it's the most expensive of the lot, it's 3 times the price of the standard Rock Crusher.

I have only tried the standard RockCrusher. Seems to work really well, but it does some tone sucking. You need to use the 2 switches to bring back the bottoms and highs. But, once you activate them, it sounds quite good. So for me, for the price, it seems like the best purchase.

What would be your ranking? Do you have other devices not in this list that should be in there?

 

[FrancescoFiligoi]

I would strongly recommend either the Suhr Reactive Load, or the Torpedo Reload (I own the Reload).

 

[Delitzsch]

Suhr Reactive Load

That's my pick, as well.

 

[H-evolve]

I would strongly recommend either the Suhr Reactive Load, or the Torpedo Reload (I own the Reload).

Interesting, I was under the impression that the Surh Reactive Load was not a power attenuator (you can't use use it between your cab and the amp). Therefore, you can only silent record with it, you can't use it to just reduce the volume on your amp and play through your cab... I was misinformed?

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Suhr or Torpedo Live get my vote. You never know when you might want to use the IRs down the road. Less gear is always a good thing.

 

[Delitzsch]

you can't use it to just reduce the volume on your amp and play through your cab

Whoops. Didn't see in your original post that you wanted volume reduction to the cab as a feature. In that case, the Suhr cannot do that.

 

[Delitzsch]

Which one is the best purchase for your money, considering it would be used for both silent recording AND volume reduction.

With this in mind, I'd recommend this. http://www.fryette.com/power-station-integrated-reactance-amplifier/

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

With this in mind, I'd recommend this. http://www.fryette.com/power-station-integrated-reactance-amplifier/

That Fryette unit looks nice too. It's got a headphone out which is a plus... And Fryette gear is usually built bullet-proof.

Someone needs to do a shootout comparison video of all these back to back.

 

[H-evolve]

With this in mind, I'd recommend this. http://www.fryette.com/power-station-integrated-reactance-amplifier/

Didn't know that product, quite nice indeed. It seems similar to the RockCrusher,but it might do something more. I'll have to read about it. Thanks for the info, I'll look into it.

 

[Delitzsch]

Someone needs to do a shootout comparison video of all these back to back.

I haven't done a shootout of these, but I have used a few of these mentioned here. I didn't like the Torpedo or the Hotplate because it seemed to affect the high-end in a way that I found unpleasing. The Fryette has been great. I've heard good things about the Rivera, but never used it personally.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

I haven't done a shootout of these, but I have used a few of these mentioned here. I didn't like the Torpedo or the Hotplate because it seemed to affect the high-end in a way that I found unpleasing. The Fryette has been great. I've heard good things about the Rivera, but never used it personally.

Thanks. Steve Fryette always builds great stuff. I've tried the HotPlate before as well... and it was OK. It got the job done, but when on the max setting it did compress the sound a little too much. But they are really well made.

 

[Pot]

having had a hotplate and currently owning a rivera rockcrusher, the second is clearly superior. I can say the diference between them was pretty noticeable using a mesa rectifier, not so much with a 5150. Guessing that the amp does matter. Cant comment on the others...

 

[H-evolve]

having had a hotplate and currently owning a rivera rockcrusher, the second is clearly superior. I can say the diference between them was pretty noticeable using a mesa rectifier, not so much with a 5150. Guessing that the amp does matter. Cant comment on the others...

My bandmate has the "regular" RockCrusher and uses it with its dual rectifier. It does suck a lot of tone without the switches activated, but once you do, you get back what you lost.

And, the thing is, the Fryette looks very nice, but is still nearly twice the price of the Rock Crusher (the one without EQ), and it seems to be very similar. Ok yes, it has a linear volume attuneation instead of 3 dB steps you get on the Rivera, but still... I'd need to hear an A/B comparison to be able to say "Oh yeah the Fryette is worth the extra 200 to 300 bucks".

 

[Manicompression]

The Fryette is on my short list of must own items. The loadbox and direct out aspect is cool and surely an improvement over the Weber Mass I use currently, but what I am most stoked about is the effects loop. I can finally dial in my pedalboard and have my delay and verb effects consistent from amp to amp.

 

[AnnWeber0101]

I would probably choose Rivera Rock Crusher with EQ. However, I don't know if this is the best choice... I generally often doubt my actions recently because I lost a large amount of money last year. I invested all my money in a pyramid scheme and it collapsed, and with it all my money. I was very worried and even went to a psychologist. Now I've hired a financial adviser I found here https://yourmoneygeek.com/find-the-best-financial-advisor/ . And my savings are gradually growing.