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Does anyone know if THD licensed their Hotplate out to Gibson? I'm looking at page 35 of the new Musician's Friend magazine, and they both sell for $300 and look absolutely identical. Hmmm. Just wonderin. If they sound the same, I'd rather have the Gibson, since the black/gold would look better sitting on my amp.

looks like it.

how bout' that? I'm sure they did. There's no way they'd get away with a copycat like that otherwise.

Why do those things have to be so damn much money? $300??? You can buy a 27 inch TV for $300, so I don't want to hear about parts cost. I want one, but can't blow that much. They'd probably sell a ton of them if they were $175.

Do some more research, probably some asian company makes both of them with different colours and some cosmetic diferences (knobs switches). I'd try to get two messed up and compare them, who know's, you might use parts from one and repair the other, that way you could even choose colours.

i'm with you...too damn much!! i quot;needquot; a 16 ohm hot plate but i keep putting it off due to the stupid price. also, i rather have the cool random color THD than the gibson myself

-Mike

Gibson probably contracted THD to make them....

IMO a Weber Mass or Mini Mass is far better that a THD hot plate...not that the Hot Plate is bad, but the Weber is (IMO) better!

oh yea...and the Weber is cheeper!

Weber mass kicks total ass and is cheaper than the hotplate!

Do they bost cost the same or does Gibson overprice the living sh!t out of theirs AND have QC issues with it?


Originally Posted by the guy who invented fireIMO a Weber Mass or Mini Mass is far better that a THD hot plate...not that the Hot Plate is bad, but the Weber is (IMO) better!

I've heard people who prefer the THD over the Weber and people who prefer the Weber over the THD. I'm always interested in what makes someone prefer one over the other. What's your take?

I think its a similar story with Budda Wahs and Dunlop. Budda designed it, but Dunlop manufactures and distributes it. That's why you see Budda Wahs at GC and Mus. Friend.


Originally Posted by GearjoneserWhy do those things have to be so damn much money? $300??? You can buy a 27 inch TV for $300, so I don't want to hear about parts cost. I want one, but can't blow that much. They'd probably sell a ton of them if they were $175.

I'm with you man... I would've had one years ago if they weren't 3 bills. I've been searching for a used 8ohm hot plate for a while now... I haven't seen them go for less than a deuce on ebay. Now that Gibson seems to be making the same ones that will eventually increase the used market??

Speaking of attenuators... there's this one out there called the Ultimate. I read an article on Tone Quest about it a while back. Anyway these frickin things I think are around 5 hunded!!! That's probably why THD hasn't lowered their price!!!

Fawkers!


Originally Posted by KGMESSIERI've heard people who prefer the THD over the Weber and people who prefer the Weber over the THD. I'm always interested in what makes someone prefer one over the other. What's your take?

I own both. Some amps sound better with the Weber and other sound better with the THD. My guess is that the impedance curves of the two are somewhat different over their range of attenuation which affects the frequency response of the signal passed though to the speaker.
As for the cost, attenuators need to be pretty bulletproof because a component failure can take down a $3000 amp in heartbeat. Though the MASS sounds great, I'm not as confident that it's as roadworthy as the THD. The one I ordered from Weber had some parts that didn't survive shipping. For a 2 lb device to have internal bits break free in shipping doesn't inspire great confidence that it'll thrive in a duffle that gets tossed in my car's trunk. OTOH, the Hotplate is built like a tank.

I just bought a THD Hotplate a few weeks ago, and the bulb, bright, and deep switches are the same ones from the Gibson model, not the ones shown on the THD pic GJ posted. They defiantly look like the same exact model. I’ve never used a Weber MASS, but I can attest, in agreement with aleclee, that the Hotplate is a tank. You could run over it and it’d still probably be fine.

FWIW, XSSIVE, the THD colors aren’t as random as you might think. All 16 ohm hotplates are blue, 8 ohm is pink/magenta, 4 ohm is red, and 2.7 ohm is gold. ;


Originally Posted by MikeS
FWIW, XSSIVE, the THD colors aren’t as random as you might think. All 16 ohm hotplates are blue, 8 ohm is pink/magenta, 4 ohm is red, and 2.7 ohm is gold. ;oh, yeah i know, i just ment random as in a wild anodized color vs black and gold. should have been more clear. although that means i end up with blue for all my amps (thank god all 3 are 16ohm or this could get real pricey lol). too bad it won't be pink hahahaha. eventually i'll buy one. i have no problem spending my cash but something about the $300 for it always bothered me as GJ said so i keep putting it off. it seems to be more like a $200 item to me i guess. oh well.

-Mike

To justify spending $300 on a hotplate, I convinced myself of the following:

1) I have a $1200 amp head that isn't being used to its full potential unless I turn it up past the point of sonic danger. My hearing is worth more than $300.

2) I spent $1200 on an amp, what's another $300 to get the tone I'm after?

3) While the hotplate is not the cheapest attenuator, the extra dough is cheap insurance on an amp that took a few months to pay off.

IMO, the ONLY negative criticism I have for the hotplate is that you must buy a model to match the cab's impedance. Should you ever need a different impedance, you have to have a different hotplate. I don't understand how they can't incorporate a switch into the hotplate so you can select the proper load.

Yes, extreme necromancy. Don't hit me.

However, I stumbled over this thread, then went searching for the Gibson Power Stealth, and found this: from : localhost/the horrible indignity of being at Sweetwater.com, I noticed something interesting.

XLR Balanced and 1/4quot; Line Outs for recording and Live

So it apparently has an XLR balanced line out, which the THD unit doesn't...

Edit: aha...
what can I expect tonally from a hot plate or Weber with a JCM800?