Can you attenuate with a volume pedal in the FX loop?

[EXPcustom]

Someone told me if you run a volume pedal in the effects loop of an amp you can attenuate with it?

Is this true, will it screw up an amp? If this is true then why pay money for an attenuator?

 

[guitarslinger]

yes, you can, but you need to use the low impedence 25K model, and NOT the 250k model

 

[dass101]

That pedal does not work as an attenuator, it just works as a Master Volume. Why not use that instead?

 

[Sixtonoize]

It is, technically, a form of attenuation, but it's not the same as using a Hot Plate or similar device.
A Hot Plate will take the power generated by your power tubes and dissipate it as heat, which allows you to drive your power tubes, but still get manageable volume levels.
A volume pedal or volume box in the FX loop decreases the signal before it ever gets to the power tubes, so no matter how high you crank your amp, you're still not pushing the power tubes at all.

In some amps, they help to tame touchy master volumes. In an amp with a good MV, they're pretty useless.

 

[11justin22]

That pedal does not work as an attenuator, it just works as a Master Volume. Why not use that instead?

yup, the effects loop is generally after the preamp and before the power amp stage. if u stick a volume pedal here is simply doing the same thing as a master volume because they are also between the pre and power stages. an attenuator is after bothe pre and power and before the speaker. so you aere attenuating the whole amp andnot just the pre. did that make any since

 

[Motorpud]

That pedal does not work as an attenuator, it just works as a Master Volume. Why not use that instead?

Most people that use attenutaors use them for non master amps AFAIK I think it's easier to have a master on the floor (if you can find a good one) for easy access anyway that way you don't have to turn knobs on the amp especially if you're playing out and it's dark. Someone should build a stompbox with a volume pot in it so you can turn it where you want for a volume boost or to lower it

 

[guitarslinger]

Oh, I guess I thought by "attenuate", you just needed to tame the volume in real time at line level before the power amp.

 

[Dig]

Someone told me if you run a volume pedal in the effects loop of an amp you can attenuate with it?

No. By adjusting volume within the effects loop you're only adjusting how hard the preamp is hitting the power amp.

Is this true, will it screw up an amp? If this is true then why pay money for an attenuator?

To serve the purpose of an attenuator you need to be able to control the volume post power tubes and pre speaker(s). An attenuator must be able to absorb some of the load that is normally transferred into an audible sound by your speaker(s). I'm no electrician or technician, but judging by the fact that speaker cable is a much heavier gauage than an instrument cable or patch cable I'd say that putting a volume pedal between your power amp and speaker(s) will first blow the pedal then blow your amp. ... again.... I'm not an expert. ... and I can now see that a few other people have posted some good info as I was typing this, but I'll post anyway.

 

[EXPcustom]

I think you guys explained it well thanks for the replys.

 

[nbarts]

I've been doing it for months now, but don't expect the same results as you would get from an attenuator.