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Amp Too Damn Loud? Here Are 10 Attenuators That'll Save Your Bacon

Cop-call-deterring boxes from Weber, Two Notes, Bugera, Radial, Mesa/Boogie, and more.

Sure, you could simply roll down your amp’s volume when you receive the evil eye (or worse) from your bandmates, engineer, spouse, or neighbor, but then your tonal sweet spot disappears. We’ve rounded up 10 attenuation options, from $50 to $550, that’ll let you hit your amp as hard as you like, while still maintaining your friendships.

Torpedo Captor X

Not just an attenuator, this little powerhouse also functions as an IR loader and cab simulator, and can be paired with your laptop or mobile device for expansive tone shaping.

TWO NOTES
$549

Little Black Amp Box

This inexpensive and different device to attenuate allows you to tame your volume—while still pushing your amp’s front end—by placing it in your series effects loop.

JHS
$45

Brake-Lite

For any tube amp up to 45 watts, and for use with 4, 8, or 16 ohm loads, this attenuator mounts inside your favorite combo and out of the way while you enjoy bedroom-level audio volumes.

DR. Z
$299

Ironman II Mini

Ideal for tube amps up to 30 watts, and pedalboard friendly, this petite version of the company’s 100-watt unit attenuates your amp’s volume with the very same reactive load and transformer-coupled tech.

TONE KING
$395

PS1 Power Soak

Priced attractively, this 100-watt unit’s multi-impedance input connectors will match virtually any amplifier for cranked-amp tone at manageable volumes.

BUGERA
$117

Reducer

Developed in coordination with Tonehunter amps, this passive, point-to-point handwired attenuator features 200-watt power soak and is suited for amps with 4, 8, and 16 ohms.

SPL
$499

MiniMASS

Designed for 35-watt amps and lower, this box features a 3-position treble compensation switch and an actual speaker motor for realistic interaction between the attenuator and the amp’s output circuit.

WEBER SPEAKERS
$161

Headload Prodigy

This load box offers selectable output levels or complete attenuation, and features a built-in DI and EQ as well as an onboard headphone amp for those times you need to be completely silent.

RADIAL ENGINEERING
$399

POWERHOUSE

Rated for guitar amps up to 150 watts, this attenuator features five levels of power reduction, a 3-position voicing switch (normal, bright, or warm), and a speaker/load switch for options galore.

MESA/BOOGIE
$499

RockCrusher Gold Face

Boasting balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4" outs for easy interfacing, this attenuator/load box was designed to ensure the amp and speaker see each other in a proper relationship of impedance and inductive/capacitive reactance.

RIVERA
$549

Keith Urban’s first instrument was a ukulele at age 4. When he started learning guitar two years later, he complained that it made his fingers hurt. Eventually, he came around. As did the world.

Throughout his over-30-year career, Keith Urban has been known more as a songwriter than a guitarist. Here, he shares about his new release, High, and sheds light on all that went into the path that led him to becoming one of today’s most celebrated country artists.

There are superstars of country and rock, chart-toppers, and guitar heroes. Then there’s Keith Urban. His two dozen No. 1 singles and boatloads of awards may not eclipse George Strait or Garth Brooks, but he’s steadily transcending the notion of what it means to be a country star.

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Big time processing power in a reverb that you can explore for a lifetime.

An astoundingly lush and versatile reverb of incredible depth and flexibility. New and older BigSky algorithms included. More elegant control layout and better screen.

It’s pricey and getting the full use out of it takes some time and effort.

$679

Strymon BigSky MX
strymon.net

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Strymon calls the BigSky MX pedal “one reverb to rule them all.” Yep, that’s a riff on something we’ve heard before, but in this case it might be hard to argue. In updating what was already one of the market’s most comprehensive and versatile reverbs, Strymon has created a reverb pedal that will take some players a lifetime to fully explore. That process is likely to be tons of fun, too.

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Fender Player II Stratocaster HSS & Jaguar Demos
- YouTube
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