Anyone using a Attenuator with good results w/Friedman amps?

[Adambomb]

I've become more and more a home player now. Having 2 jobs, kids and 100 watt amps don't mix well (well the last one don't). and I'm thinking about a good unit that attenuates my BE100 volume down and has the ability to run and into my DAW for low volume recording and possibly for wet/dry setup. Anyone using an attenuator with their Friedman? Also If the tones not there I don't want to pay hundreds for a unit that makes my awesome Friedman sound just as good or worse than using the loop master to control volume.

It's really hard to tell how an attenuator is going to effect your tone by listening to demos, so thats why I'm posting to see if anyones had good luck with certain ones specific to Friedmans, preferably those who have 100 watters.

Fryette Power Station would be nice but I'm not wanting to drop that much. The Rivera Rock Crusher and Ultimate Attenuator seem to get really good praise with 100 watt amps.

EDIT** You know what, I'm not ruling out the Fryette Power Station just yet, that thing is a two 6L6 50 watt power amp also, man the specs look amazing.

 

[journeyman73]

PS is incredible!

i know a lot of these units are not cheap - but we spend so much on the amps, its a shame not to bring out their best if we can swing it

 

[iggs]

Have the RockCrusher and it works great ... no complaints to speak of.

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

Fryette is my favorite at 599.00 it's hard to beat.

 

[DG335]

I've used an Aracom with my JJ100, but I find that the master is good enough that I don't need it at all.

For silent late night playing/recording I use head phones. I connect the Aracom to the JJ speaker out and set it to Load with no speaker attached. I run the JJ Line out to a Torpedo CAB speaker emulator and either run that into my mixer and DAW or just plug headphones directly into the Torpedo CAB. This gives me totally silent playing with my choice of a bunch of different cabinets from greenbacks to v30's to whatever you want.

I high recommend the Torpedo CAB for this use. I find that it sounds much better than any volume I could possibly reach at night when the wife and baby are sleeping. They also make the Torpedo Reload which had the reactive load built in with the CAB. At the volumes I think you are looking for (I'm in a similar situation) I think you are going to run into the problem of under powered speakers. The CAB emulates speakers at full volume, so it sounds like a cranked amp.

The Fryette can be used as a load box much like the Aracom and it's cheaper. Suhr also makes a good load box.

 

[GregM]

Dave, if you're still reading this, is the STFU going to go to production? I know you've got a lot going on as far as new products and everything but I saw a section on your site for it so I was wondering. Any idea on price?

 

[journeyman73]

dont know if it was related but i think dave loves the PS and maybe shelved the stfu plans?

 

[LP Freak]

Fryette is my favorite at 599.00 it's hard to beat.

An endorsement from Dave goes a long way.

 

[bonedarrell]

I can't ever see needing an attenuator with a BE100??? The MV and/or the loop return gets me to a faint whisper with zero tone loss.

 

[Adambomb]

I can't ever see needing an attenuator with a BE100??? The MV and/or the loop return gets me to a faint whisper with zero tone loss.

Yea the tone is better than most Plexi type amps at low volumes, but there really is a big difference when you can crank any Friedman I've played. With overtones and that punchy girth you get from pushing the power section can't be done at whisper volumes or even at some small gig levels with any tube amp I've owned. Thats why Plexi's are one of the most common amps you see with attenuators.

Yea I was pretty sure Dave was going to be for the Power Station, that thing is a Fryette power amp and attenuator with several more options. Man I'd love to demo one before hand, but they are only doing pre-orders right now. If I don't focus on something else I'll end up getting one for the BE100. Really appreciate all you guys input.

 

[journeyman73]

I can't ever see needing an attenuator with a BE100??? The MV and/or the loop return gets me to a faint whisper with zero tone loss.

Yea the tone is better than most Plexi type amps at low volumes, but there really is a big difference when you can crank any Friedman I've played. With overtones and that punchy girth you get from pushing the power section can't be done at whisper volumes or even at some small gig levels with any tube amp I've owned. Thats why Plexi's are one of the most common amps you see with attenuators.

attenuation doesnt solve that, either. obviously, sacrifices need to be made if you cant crank it - just a question of which method(s) have the least sacrifice.

 

[DG335]

I can't ever see needing an attenuator with a BE100??? The MV and/or the loop return gets me to a faint whisper with zero tone loss.

Yea the tone is better than most Plexi type amps at low volumes, but there really is a big difference when you can crank any Friedman I've played. With overtones and that punchy girth you get from pushing the power section can't be done at whisper volumes or even at some small gig levels with any tube amp I've owned. Thats why Plexi's are one of the most common amps you see with attenuators.

attenuation doesnt solve that, either. obviously, sacrifices need to be made if you cant crank it - just a question of which method(s) have the least sacrifice.

I would agree here. You're not just hearing the PI pushing the power tubes, but you are also hearing the speakers which are going to be way under powered at wife/baby happiness or night time levels. For me, the only solution for getting cranked live sound was using the CAB.

 

[GregM]

Well, crap. I told myself I wasn't going to buy any gear this year after spending so much in 2014 but I think I sold myself on the Power Station. It's 2-3 times what I wanted to spend but I don't want to buy a cheaper one and go backward in tone. I'm too deep to stop now.

 

[journeyman73]

Well, crap. I told myself I wasn't going to buy any gear this year after spending so much in 2014 but I think I sold myself on the Power Station. It's 2-3 times what I wanted to spend but I don't want to buy a cheaper one and go backward in tone. I'm too deep to stop now.

its awesome!

 

[GregM]

...but they are only doing pre-orders right now.

I talked to them today and Power Stations are in stock and shipping. I heard back from them in like a half hour which I thought was pretty awesome.

 

[Adambomb]

That's awesome. Yea I'm gonna wait a little longer to make sure they work out all the kinds, not many kinks at all but couple people had issues with theirs but I imagine that's normal when u put out hundreds of a new product, and actually coulda been done in shipping.

Let me know when u get it and tell me what you think!

 

[LP Freak]

That's awesome. Yea I'm gonna wait a little longer to make sure they work out all the kinds, not many kinks at all but couple people had issues with theirs but I imagine that's normal when u put out hundreds of a new product, and actually coulda been done in shipping.

Let me know when u get it and tell me what you think!

Oh, so you're waiting for them to raise the price.

 

[Adambomb]

That's awesome. Yea I'm gonna wait a little longer to make sure they work out all the kinds, not many kinks at all but couple people had issues with theirs but I imagine that's normal when u put out hundreds of a new product, and actually coulda been done in shipping.

Let me know when u get it and tell me what you think!

Oh, so you're waiting for them to raise the price.

Price raise?...shhhh Oh lets hope not. For what the unit is it's actually priced decent. But if you read up on the forums where people have them, there has been some issues and I'd rather wait. You know other companies are going to copy this PS to a degree, why wouldnt they, it's awesome.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

i find my jj master volume to be so good that i dont use it.

but when i did my rock crusher worked great.

 

[sjk]

That's awesome. Yea I'm gonna wait a little longer to make sure they work out all the kinds, not many kinks at all but couple people had issues with theirs but I imagine that's normal when u put out hundreds of a new product, and actually coulda been done in shipping.

Let me know when u get it and tell me what you think!

Oh, so you're waiting for them to raise the price.

Price raise?...shhhh Oh lets hope not. For what the unit is it's actually priced decent. But if you read up on the forums where people have them, there has been some issues and I'd rather wait. You know other companies are going to copy this PS to a degree, why wouldnt they, it's awesome.

Go ahead and wait but I bet they do raise the price, but you can always buy used. I've got one and it's a great piece of gear to have around but I don't think your Friedman will need it (my BE doesn't) It's better used to attenuate nmv amps such as plexi's or add a loop to an amp the does not have one. Only like 2 problems from the feedback at tgp I have seen and one was likely shipping and the other one the guy blew his tubes and that could have been shipping as well (as you alluded to).