Attenuators...

[bigdawg]

so why are they so expensive...??Hotplates are well in excess of £200, so I was after a weber one (dead cheap in the US) and guess what the few people that do sell them are still charging over £200 for them...

Other than those cheap volume boxes that arent actually attenuators, anyone know of any other (cheaper) models that'll work well with a fender...???

[Col.Decker]

I think one of the DIYers on here made their own recently. Might be worth having a search around the old amp threads.





ps

I've got a hotplate and its not for sale... na na nana naaa

[bigdawg]

do they actually do what they say on the tin...?? I dont actually know anyone that has one to see what it does...

[Col.Decker]

Yep they're great.

I can run my Hot Rod Deleuxe flat out and have the sound attenuated down to a whisper. You do loose some tone the more you attenuate the signal, but for general gig use it's pretty much transparent. I use it with the amp volume on about 7, and the hotplate on the -8db setting which takes the edge off the volume and lets the valves do their thing.

[bertie]

Originally Posted by bigdawg

so so I was after a weber one (dead cheap in the US) and guess what the few people that do sell them are still charging over £200 for them...

order from Ted direct on his website - thats what most peeps that I know do/did

[sfocata]

Hotplates are pretty expensive, unfortunately.

A cheaper alternative is Weber... I'm using the Weber MiniMass, which has switchable ohm ratings, so I can use it with two differently-rated amps (rather than having to buy two Hotplates). I think it cost me about 130 USD, plus £15-20 for import duty. If anything, I think it sounds better on my Fender Champ than the 4ohm Hotplate I had previously.

[ecc83]

Expensive?
Well maybe but break it down. For a 100W soak (no point in marketing lower IMHO) you need 200W worth of R's. Tenner. Another ten gets you a die cast box for it. Then there is all the extra bits and pieces, resistors/level pot, connectors, switches and heatsink/mounting plate because YOU might not mind burning yourself on the box but Joe P will sue!

Those components alone get you up to 30quid no trouble and you have not even started thinking about filter circuits or engineering the case or prettying the whole thing up!

Yes, there are economies of scale but how many amp owners here own a power soak as well? Limited market.

But, DIY and up to 15W or so, not hard or expensive.

Dave.