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Mikeyboyeee
Well-known member
Want to order one today but everyone out of stock.
stephen sawall
Well-known member
They usually sell out a few days after anyone gets one. I ordered my directly from Fryette. It took about two months. It's the same with everything else since covids effect on shipping, getting parts and everything else.
War_in_D
Well-known member
Got mine in the other day, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Was planning to this weekend. I will say one thing, it's a heavy little bugger for no bigger than what it is.
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buddachile
Member
When I was looking for a PS2 nobody had it in stock. In my frustration I called Fryette to find out when there would be units available and was pleasantly surprised to hear they'd be shipping later that week. Call Fryette and cross your fingers the PS100's are close to shipping out.
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Mikeyboyeee
Well-known member
Tone Merchants has them. Just ordered one from Rob!
fek
Well-known member
Bought my PS2 used but mint. Worth every penny.
BraveBlackSea
New member
Yes! I mostly use with my Marshal JMP, crank the head to 10 and it sounds great at bedroom levels! The effects loop is a major plus!
LP Freak
Well-known member
These are probably the best attenuators on the market but they still are tone suckers
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buddachile
Member
Pretty much NOT tone suckers in my experience, if you know how to use them properly that is. In fact, I use my PS2 with my Emery Super Baby and Maz Jr to make them sound better (and louder).
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
Nope, they do suck some tone if you use it a super low volumes. I've had mine for a week and the louder you run it, the better it will sound like any attenuator. But they aren't totally transparent. Just the way it is when you use these...I do find it to be a super cool piece of gear and since I had a TRS dual foot switch laying around, the dual channel/loop feature is great. Not sure if I'm gonna keep it yet but I'll keep messing with the settings. It is clearly better sounding than the Jettenuator I have.
Right now though, when I have my 72 Tremolo volumes down without the PS it sounds better than with the PS at the same low volume. But when I run it with the PS at band level volumes it sounds nice. But that's fairly loud. However, it's not nearly as loud as without the PS and barely cracking the volume...sounds amazing but it's blow out my windows loud lol.
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buddachile
Member
Maybe that's not tone suck so much as the Fletcher Munson effect. It takes some effort for me to match the tone with the PS on/off (at the same volume in both cases), but I've done it with multiple amps.
LP Freak
Well-known member
The PS actually has a tone that I can hear in any amp I use it with
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ClintN667
Well-known member
I love mine but honestly haven't been using it much lately. I do prefer the PA50 by a large margin but I ended up selling it and keeping Fryette due to it having more features. I will probably end up getting another KSR PA when they come out with the rackmount version.
The Fryette is just too useful not to have one
The Fryette is just too useful not to have one
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
The one thing about attenuating a vintage NMV Marshall, you obviously won't get the screaming Celestion tone that we all love. That's the first thing and most important aspect missing in most cases.
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jape23
Active member
Yep, and that's why I've never had any interest in playing at bedroom/TV volume.
stephen sawall
Well-known member
Fryette is a few weeks out from having them. This information is from yesterday.
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buddachile
Member
For playing at bedroom/TV volume what works best for me is playing a mic'd sound (using dummy load & IR's or modelers) through my studio monitors.
Smash
Hack
The thing I noticed using the ps100 is it took a lot of the preamp distortion fuzz and cleaned it up. Maybe it was just the amp I was using it with. I ultimately didn't care for the unit because it didn't work for the application I needed it to. I never need to play at a lower volume. I just wanted to add a loop to a non loop amp, and I could not get rid of the ground loop that a zuul caused with it. I really don't understand using the ps100 with a master volume amp in the first place, but if I had a 100 watt plexi or something, I could see using it to attenuate.
stephen sawall
Well-known member
It really depends on the entire rig your using. Some rigs sound great with the Power Station. Some sound better with a THD Hot Plate.
In general the Power Station sounds better if your going for real low volumes. To be honest I don't think any of them sound that great at real low volumes and it has little to do with the attenuators. I strongly feel the speaker cab needs a certain amount of volume to sound decent.
As far as transparent Fryette and every other manufacturer is going to tell you it does effect the sound. I don't even try to make it sound transparent. I just try to make it sound best at the volume I want.
As for compression and dynamics all of them effect this aspect of the sound. Some much more than others. It can be a good or bad thing depending on what results you want.
In general the Power Station sounds better if your going for real low volumes. To be honest I don't think any of them sound that great at real low volumes and it has little to do with the attenuators. I strongly feel the speaker cab needs a certain amount of volume to sound decent.
As far as transparent Fryette and every other manufacturer is going to tell you it does effect the sound. I don't even try to make it sound transparent. I just try to make it sound best at the volume I want.
As for compression and dynamics all of them effect this aspect of the sound. Some much more than others. It can be a good or bad thing depending on what results you want.
stephen sawall
Well-known member
Here's an overview of power amp and reactive load characteristics Steve put together to hopefully answer some of your questions. Enjoy!
Two things we see frequently batted around in these discussions are: "Flatness" and "transparency". Both terms are often used incorrectly and without a clear understanding of the subject.
So, what does "flat" actually mean? In the real world of guitar amp behavior, not a lot really. For the record, we do not claim that the Power Station is "flat". We do claim that it is "more neutral" than a typical guitar power amp stage. Why do we say that?
First, contrary to a typical guitar power amp stage, the relationship between the power tubes and output transformer in the Power Station is such that the power tubes operate in a very linear region of their ideal operating range. This tends to subdue characteristics that we normally associate with a particular tube, and that in turn, prevents the power amp stage from imposing its sonic personality onto the sound of the amp being attenuated (or boosted).
Secondly, tube power amp source (output) impedance is high relative to a SS power amp whether Class AB or D. Power amps with very low source impedance (usually along with a correspondingly high damping factor), can sound relatively stiff and lifeless as a guitar power amp because they exert a lot of control over the behavior of the speaker. Also, a SS power amp normally requires a much higher output capability in order to prevent the player from crossing over into distortion territory, which in any SS power amp is pretty objectionable. SS power amps that exhibit lower apparent clipping do so either because there is a lot of negative feedback or compression imposed on the design, or the power supply is heavily filtered in order to stay as clean as possible, either of which sounds, and especially feels, artificial. In contrast, a tube power amp is allowed to slip into distortion territory because it sounds musically pleasing when doing so. No surprise there.
A tube power amp, having a significantly higher source impedance allows the speaker to react more - and often more slowly. Greater speaker reactivity means that a small amount of voltage from the speaker reaction reflects back into the power amp, enhancing the feel and responsiveness of the amp. Tube amps also utilize negative feedback to tame some of this reactive interplay between the speaker and amp, but it's generally less effective at controlling the speaker because of the higher amplifier source impedance. In fact, the Presence and Depth controls on the Power Station vary this feedback at very high frequencies (Presence) and very low frequencies (Depth). This is how the PS is tuned to interact optimally with whatever speaker you may be using it with.
What the player experiences when reamping their amp with the PS is not a coloration of the sound necessarily, but the effect of hearing that sound at a higher or lower volume than you normally would without the PS. For example, when you play the amp by itself, your pick attack is based on the amps volume and how hard you are able to dig in. With the PS connected, you are now allowed all kinds of license with regard to pick attack and playing intensity, which naturally changes how you perceive tone, volume, distortion and frequency response. The thing that changed really is your playing relationship with the amp. Only problem is, once you hit full output, the power amp then imposes it's own compression and distortion character on the sound of your amp. A higher powered tube amp eliminates that problem, of course at a somewhat higher cost. We originally chose 50W because that seemed to be a good overall compromise between cost, weight and size, and we, I think correctly, assumed that most people would be using the PS to reign in an unruly amp. For those who want both control, and the dynamic snap of a higher powered amp with just a bit of the horns shaved off, we've developed the PS-100.
Now, about "transparency", there is no such thing as a "transparent" reactive load. Its very job is to excite non-linear behavior in your amp, the same way a speaker does. And with regard to frequency response, power output and distortion, the notion that one power amp is more transparent than another is entirely subjective. For example, technically, a SS power amp may be more sonically neutral or flat than a tube power amp, therefore more "transparent" on paper. But do we really want that? When your standalone amp is interacting with its own speaker, there is a lot of give and take between the two that creates the amps personality. Insert a flat, low impedance SS power amp into the stew and a lot of that feel and character goes away.
So...if the reactive load in the PS is supposed to fool the amp into thinking it's hooked up to a speaker, why should that feel and personality depend on a supposedly "flat" tube power amp? The primary reason for using a tube power amp in the PS is to restore the interactive behavior between the amp and speaker that is lost when the amp itself is no longer driving the speaker you are listening to. And when you are in a room, how the speaker is driven, how the speaker creates reflections in the room you are in, the volume, and how your ears perceive frequency response at different playing volumes (Fletcher-Munson Effect), all weigh on the final result.
Once you attenuate your amp, you're turning it into a different, more useful and more fun to play instrument. Some things you may like about the behavior about the amp may change, while most of what you gain is beneficial. You don't lose the things you like. You just put them on the back burner and you can restore them with the flick of the Bypass switch. Now with a 100W amp and two sets of controls, you can get closer to both ideals and keep the FX loop active to boot.
The PS cuts the interaction between your amp and the speaker cabinet. As far as your amp is concerned, the PS *is* the speaker cabinet. This is important because there is an interaction between the amp and its speaker load. This interaction is 2-fold:
The speaker load actually determines how the amp, itself, sounds. So each cabinet makes the amp sound different.
The speaker moves and reacts to the amp's power, and the amp reacts to the speaker's behavior. So there's a dynamic interaction that changes with volume.
Two things we see frequently batted around in these discussions are: "Flatness" and "transparency". Both terms are often used incorrectly and without a clear understanding of the subject.
So, what does "flat" actually mean? In the real world of guitar amp behavior, not a lot really. For the record, we do not claim that the Power Station is "flat". We do claim that it is "more neutral" than a typical guitar power amp stage. Why do we say that?
First, contrary to a typical guitar power amp stage, the relationship between the power tubes and output transformer in the Power Station is such that the power tubes operate in a very linear region of their ideal operating range. This tends to subdue characteristics that we normally associate with a particular tube, and that in turn, prevents the power amp stage from imposing its sonic personality onto the sound of the amp being attenuated (or boosted).
Secondly, tube power amp source (output) impedance is high relative to a SS power amp whether Class AB or D. Power amps with very low source impedance (usually along with a correspondingly high damping factor), can sound relatively stiff and lifeless as a guitar power amp because they exert a lot of control over the behavior of the speaker. Also, a SS power amp normally requires a much higher output capability in order to prevent the player from crossing over into distortion territory, which in any SS power amp is pretty objectionable. SS power amps that exhibit lower apparent clipping do so either because there is a lot of negative feedback or compression imposed on the design, or the power supply is heavily filtered in order to stay as clean as possible, either of which sounds, and especially feels, artificial. In contrast, a tube power amp is allowed to slip into distortion territory because it sounds musically pleasing when doing so. No surprise there.
A tube power amp, having a significantly higher source impedance allows the speaker to react more - and often more slowly. Greater speaker reactivity means that a small amount of voltage from the speaker reaction reflects back into the power amp, enhancing the feel and responsiveness of the amp. Tube amps also utilize negative feedback to tame some of this reactive interplay between the speaker and amp, but it's generally less effective at controlling the speaker because of the higher amplifier source impedance. In fact, the Presence and Depth controls on the Power Station vary this feedback at very high frequencies (Presence) and very low frequencies (Depth). This is how the PS is tuned to interact optimally with whatever speaker you may be using it with.
What the player experiences when reamping their amp with the PS is not a coloration of the sound necessarily, but the effect of hearing that sound at a higher or lower volume than you normally would without the PS. For example, when you play the amp by itself, your pick attack is based on the amps volume and how hard you are able to dig in. With the PS connected, you are now allowed all kinds of license with regard to pick attack and playing intensity, which naturally changes how you perceive tone, volume, distortion and frequency response. The thing that changed really is your playing relationship with the amp. Only problem is, once you hit full output, the power amp then imposes it's own compression and distortion character on the sound of your amp. A higher powered tube amp eliminates that problem, of course at a somewhat higher cost. We originally chose 50W because that seemed to be a good overall compromise between cost, weight and size, and we, I think correctly, assumed that most people would be using the PS to reign in an unruly amp. For those who want both control, and the dynamic snap of a higher powered amp with just a bit of the horns shaved off, we've developed the PS-100.
Now, about "transparency", there is no such thing as a "transparent" reactive load. Its very job is to excite non-linear behavior in your amp, the same way a speaker does. And with regard to frequency response, power output and distortion, the notion that one power amp is more transparent than another is entirely subjective. For example, technically, a SS power amp may be more sonically neutral or flat than a tube power amp, therefore more "transparent" on paper. But do we really want that? When your standalone amp is interacting with its own speaker, there is a lot of give and take between the two that creates the amps personality. Insert a flat, low impedance SS power amp into the stew and a lot of that feel and character goes away.
So...if the reactive load in the PS is supposed to fool the amp into thinking it's hooked up to a speaker, why should that feel and personality depend on a supposedly "flat" tube power amp? The primary reason for using a tube power amp in the PS is to restore the interactive behavior between the amp and speaker that is lost when the amp itself is no longer driving the speaker you are listening to. And when you are in a room, how the speaker is driven, how the speaker creates reflections in the room you are in, the volume, and how your ears perceive frequency response at different playing volumes (Fletcher-Munson Effect), all weigh on the final result.
Once you attenuate your amp, you're turning it into a different, more useful and more fun to play instrument. Some things you may like about the behavior about the amp may change, while most of what you gain is beneficial. You don't lose the things you like. You just put them on the back burner and you can restore them with the flick of the Bypass switch. Now with a 100W amp and two sets of controls, you can get closer to both ideals and keep the FX loop active to boot.
The PS cuts the interaction between your amp and the speaker cabinet. As far as your amp is concerned, the PS *is* the speaker cabinet. This is important because there is an interaction between the amp and its speaker load. This interaction is 2-fold:
The speaker load actually determines how the amp, itself, sounds. So each cabinet makes the amp sound different.
The speaker moves and reacts to the amp's power, and the amp reacts to the speaker's behavior. So there's a dynamic interaction that changes with volume.