software

Are they just made out of pricey components and materials or is it one of those quot;captive marketquot; things?

I've been wondering the very same thing lately. You can imagine it would be easy to prey on people's fear that they might fry their precious vintage Marshall if they bought a quot;cheapquot; attenuator.
the small market drives the cost of production higher (per unit) than a more widley used commodity ... they cant amortize the cost over a very large production run ... they won't sell THAT many more of them if they lower the price ... so they are maximising their profit on the ones they do sell ...

as a luxury item (no one NEEDS one to survive), it is pretty impervious to economic forces ... face it, someone has already dumped $$$ for an amp that is so loud that it needs to be attenuated .. this proves they have disposable income ... the extra 'surcharge' for this accessory is in line with many 'add-ons' to luxury items

t4d

I would imagine it's more pricey components with a little quot;WE GOT YOU NOWquot; thrown in.

They have to withstand a lot of power without sucking up the tone, so in doing that in a compact unit probably ain't cheap.

Get a Weber MASS......best value IMHO

BTW....check these out:

from : localhost/power scaling


Originally Posted by tone4daysface it, someone has already dumped $$$ for an amp that is so loud that it needs to be attenuated .. this proves they have disposable income ...

Can't argue with that!


Originally Posted by PUCKBOY99I would imagine it's more pricey components with a little quot;WE GOT YOU NOWquot; thrown in.

They have to withstand a lot of power without sucking up the tone, so in doing that in a compact unit probably ain't cheap.

Even if you get a fancy-pants super pricey attenuator, you're still getting a lot of your quot;tonequot; quot;sucked upquot; (I'm glad you used those terms- I couldn't have described it better!). If you're just getting a big ass variable resistor, you're kinda doing the same thing, but you're not providing an active load, nor allowing for tone bypass. Check around to industrial electronics stores and see how much a quot;big ass vairiable resistorquot; will run you.

There's no room for failure in an attenuator. If something goes bad, it can take the amp with it and then you have people like me griping about it on every guitar board on the internet. The next thing you know, nobody's buying your product out of fear that it'll fail and destroy the amp in the process.
Engineering and components like that come at a price.


Originally Posted by Simon_FCan't argue with that!

I can.

This amp that needs to be attentuated in question is a Carvin Legacy. Those run for only $800 brand new.


Originally Posted by The Golden BoyEven if you get a fancy-pants super pricey attenuator, you're still getting a lot of your quot;tonequot; quot;sucked upquot; (I'm glad you used those terms- I couldn't have described it better!). If you're just getting a big ass variable resistor, you're kinda doing the same thing, but you're not providing an active load, nor allowing for tone bypass. Check around to industrial electronics stores and see how much a quot;big ass vairiable resistorquot; will run you.

I like quot;big ass vairiable resistorquot; better! Hey B2D, what did the Airbrake run ya' ????



I mis-spelled quot;variable!!!!quot;


Originally Posted by PUCKBOY99I like quot;big ass vairiable resistorquot; better! Hey B2D, what did the Airbrake run ya' ????

They list new for $300. I picked mine up for $225 plus shipping from a guy on thegearpage.net.

That Legacy is working out great for me but MAN is it heavy artillery when it comes to volume. I literally had soundmen yelling at me that it was still too loud last week and it was on 2.

The good Dr. recommended one to me, however I've never picked one up. I eagerly await your review man.

Luke

The modern attenuators don't use a ton of resistors to attenuate the signals, unless your using the highest level of attenuation they really don't take away that much from your tone. One thing many players have a hard time dealing with is that at lower volumes your tone will sound different - not due to any of the electronics in the amp but because of your ear and how it functions. Lower the volume (without changing any of the aspects of the signal) and you'll also lower the dynamics of your tone.

what makes an attenuator exspensive?

making it not sound like sh*t

I remeber when the first generation of attenuators came out- back in the late 70s, the Scholtz was about 120 bucks, and the altair was a little more. So in today's prices, I guess it's about the same. It takes some real heavy duty ceramic resistors to attenuate safely, so I'd say the cost of materials, plus, as was mentioned, it's a fairly small market that buys them.


Originally Posted by B2DThey list new for $300. I picked mine up for $225 plus shipping from a guy on thegearpage.net.

That Legacy is working out great for me but MAN is it heavy artillery when it comes to volume. I literally had soundmen yelling at me that it was still too loud last week and it was on 2.

Hey, that's not too bad. That's what I paid for a new Weber Stereo MASS.

Good luck....look forward to the review

PPIMV - $8.00

sorted.


Originally Posted by B2D.. Those run for only $800 brand new.

you help me make my point, friend

think of the price of that toy in relation to what most people pay for housing in a month ... or car payments .. or whatever ...

when the price of the amp grows into 4 digits, my point becomes even clearer ... are attenuators engineered to manage heat dissipation too? ... something like a resistor network in a paintcan filled with tar like they use in the power transformers on the utility poles? shunt the unwaned power to the resistor grid and let them get hot, but the tar will serve as a heat sink to keep them from roasting?

or do i have that all wrong?

t4d

Actually this is how attenuators work... they produce heat by sucking up the power from the amp (which is quite much) that is then again dissipated.


Originally Posted by tone4daysyou help me make my point, friend

think of the price of that toy in relation to what most people pay for housing in a month ... or car payments .. or whatever ...

when the price of the amp grows into 4 digits, my point becomes even clearer ...

are attenuators engineered to manage heat dissipation too? ... something like a resistor network in a paintcan filled with tar like they use in the power transformers on the utility poles? shunt the unwaned power to the resistor grid and let them get hot, but the tar will serve as a heat sink to keep them from roasting?

or do i have that all wrong?

t4d

$800 amp thats loud as a maw faw $225 to make it sound good at low levels.... yeah i guess you're right. I guess not many people think of some quot;inexpensivequot; amps being loud SOBs though.

I've heard many heads that were louder, mind you, but the tone of this amp is raging and brutal... its very fat and very smooth. Not as gainy as you'd think either. What it lacks in gain it makes up for in pure balls and harmonic overtones. This is an amp that LIKES high volume settings.