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Everyone is always complaining that we guitarists
are too loud. The soundman gripes
about needing us to turn down so he can
control the overall stage mix and promises
we’ll sound “killer” out in the crowd. Mom
yells at us when we’re learning “Smoke On
The Water” to “Tune it down!” or “Tone it
down!”… neither of which make any sense
(it’s “Turn it down!”) but somehow relates
to making our rocking a quieter affair. And
those of us fortunate enough to have amps
that output more sheer volume than our
homes can accommodate are either treated
to a visit by the cops at our door or evil
stares from our neighbors as we quickly pull
our cars into the garage after work on Friday
night ready to jam. In all these cases and so
many more we can thank our good friend the
power attenuator, for its magic allows us to
play our favorite amps without everyone getting
on our backs and bringing us down!
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Power attenuators have been around for
decades in various forms, but with the proliferation
of enterprising companies and
the need to control the various scenarios
mentioned above, they have never been as
popular as they are today. As much as we
love our 50- and 100-watt non-master volume
amps, long gone is the need for this kind of
power for the majority of us. PA systems have
dramatically improved to the point where
a 5-watt amp can keep up with the loudest
drummer in arena settings and still be heard
by all—the sound man was right! But aside
from their ability to reduce the volume of
higher wattage amps, many modern attenuators
can serve us in ways that range from
downright practical to creative tone shaping
and beyond. This article will focus on some of
the other creative uses of attenuators and will
hopefully shine some new light on the “big
volume knob” we know them as today.
Caution: High Voltage
Before even getting into the various uses of
attenuators, it should be stated that tube
amps carry lethal voltages and you shouldn’t
go poking around your amp’s innards if you
don’t know what you’re doing! Leave that to
a qualified tech and save yourself to continue
playing guitar another day. That said, this is
not a technical article, and I won’t be asking
you to take plate voltage readings or bias
your amp, so let’s move on!
The Power and the Glory
Sometimes attenuators get a bad reputation
for blowing up amps. There may have been
some questionable designs in the past that
put amps at risk, but these days there are a
lot of great choices available that are safe
to use. While I personally have never blown
an amp while using an attenuator, I do know
that if you dime your amp, any parts that
are stressed are going to be exposed. And
most of us running attenuators are using
them because we like the tone of the amp
full up, or close to that. Before you fear the
attenuator will blow the output transformer
on your favorite vintage amp, it might be
wise to take it to a qualified tech and have
it tuned up. What you may have thought of
as a solid and safe amp (because you run
an overdrive pedal in front of it with the volume
on 3) could be teetering on the edge
of destruction if you ramp it up. How are the
tubes and tube sockets? What about the filter
caps (especially on vintage amps)? Is it properly
biased? So many things need to be right
when you run an amp full out, just like a car
in the Indy 500. And don’t let anyone tell you
that vintage Marshalls, Hiwatts and the like
weren’t designed to be run on 10. They were,
and players have been using them that way
for decades! Besides, even at a volume of 6, 7
or 8, you’re dealing with some serious power,
so take care of your amp and know its running
order before plugging it into an attenuator, or
a speaker cabinet for that matter.