Weber MiniMASS or MASS attenuator questions

[DoneDeal11]

Hey, I recently got a Peavey 5150 tube head, the sound is amazing, but it doesnt have a master volume control, only pre and post gain for both channels. Post gain works fine as a volume knob, but since I want a high gain sound, if i turn it up it's no good for playing in my house, so I'm going to get a Weber MiniMASS so I can use the head in my bedroom as well as for band stuff.

So here's the quiestion

The amp is 120 watts, so would at 25 or 50 watt miniMASS work with it? This might be a dumb question, but I know nearly nothing about all the complicated sound stuff, im just a guitar player, haha

I figure it should work as long as its the same impedence as everything else, but I just want to make sure before i buy something lol

[Neon Soul]

Nope.

 

Weber recommend you get an attenuator greater to or larger than your amp.

 

You would need one rated at least 120. I'd recommend getting an attenuator rated at 200 watts.

[thirsty one]

 

Nope. Weber recommend you get an attenuator greater to or larger than your amp. You would need one rated at least 120. I'd recommend getting an attenuator rated at 200 watts.

 

 

 

Neon Soul is correct!

[DoneDeal11]

why's that? with the THD hot plate you only have to match the impedance

[Neon Soul]

why's that? with the THD hot plate you only have to match the impedance

 

Because the Hotplate can handle an amp up to 185 watts (or so it claims).

 

People don't look into this enough. That is why the Marshall Powerbrake gets a bad rap. It can handle 100w, perfect for a 50w amp, but people think because it's marshall they can use it with any head and run their 100w head into it turned to 11. A 100w head like the JCM 800 puts out something more like 120w which the attenuator has trouble handling which can lead to tube damage or transformer damage.

[Agreed]

Er, the Post Gain is that amp's Master Volume. The Pre Gain is what controls the level going into the preamp, and what would normally be labeled a "Gain" knob on other amps. It's what controls how hard the Preamp drives. The "Post Gain" is what controls the level coming out of the preamp and going into the power amp, exactly what a Master Volume knob does. Since the 5150 gets all of its massive distortion from a big row of cascaded preamp tubes, you should be able to get your high gain sound at low volumes with some judicious EQ.

 

The power section does contribute some nice stuff to the sound, and it can be pretty sensitive with its adjustment making it hard to get just the right level of loudness when you're trying to keep things quiet, so an attenuator isn't necessarily a bad idea... But you should understand how your amp works before deciding one way or another there.

[jds22]

 

Er, the Post Gain is that amp's Master Volume. The Pre Gain is what controls the level going into the preamp, and what would normally be labeled a "Gain" knob on other amps. It's what controls how hard the Preamp drives. The "Post Gain" is what controls the level coming out of the preamp and going into the power amp, exactly what a Master Volume knob does. Since the 5150 gets all of its massive distortion from a big row of cascaded preamp tubes, you should be able to get your high gain sound at low volumes with some judicious EQ. The power section does contribute some nice stuff to the sound, and it can be pretty sensitive with its adjustment making it hard to get just the right level of loudness when you're trying to keep things quiet, so an attenuator isn't necessarily a bad idea... But you should understand how your amp works before deciding one way or another there.

 

 

This.

 

I've heard that attenuating a 5150 really doesn't offer that much improvement. Could be wrong, never tried it myself, but based on the 5150 circuitry it makes sense.

[emperor_black]

'Agreed' is correct. The 5150 (owned one before) has most of its distortion in the preamp section and I WAS able to get good saturation with passive humbuckers at bedroom volume through a Marshall 2x12.

 

I also owned the same Weber minimass rated at 50 Watts. i had talked to weber before the purchase and he agreed partially. If you're not turning your amp volume to '10' a 50 watt attenuator should be good enough. And as 'Agreed' said above, you will not get much benefit by turning the amp's volume up anyways. Like others said, a Marshall head gets much of its distortion in the output section; hence the need to turn up the amp and consequently a matched power attenuator.

 

That said, you could try putting an eq pedal in the loop and reduce the level on it and try increasing the post gain volume to a acceptable level for in-home use. most agree attenuators suck tone. Its been over three years since I owned the setup, but from what I remember, the weber attenuator sucks tone like anything. I did not like it at all.

[Davo17]

 

'Agreed' is correct. The 5150 (owned one before) has most of its distortion in the preamp section and I WAS able to get good saturation with passive humbuckers at bedroom volume through a Marshall 2x12. I also owned the same Weber minimass rated at 50 Watts. i had talked to weber before the purchase and he agreed partially. If you're not turning your amp volume to '10' a 50 watt attenuator should be good enough. And as 'Agreed' said above, you will not get much benefit by turning the amp's volume up anyways. Like others said, a Marshall head gets much of its distortion in the output section; hence the need to turn up the amp and consequently a matched power attenuator. That said, you could try putting an eq pedal in the loop and reduce the level on it and try increasing the post gain volume to a acceptable level for in-home use. most agree attenuators suck tone. Its been over three years since I owned the setup, but from what I remember, the weber attenuator sucks tone like anything. I did not like it at all .

 

 

Did yours have treble compensation? I use mine sparingly and I think it sounds great-though I admit I have not tried the high end attenuators.

[emperor_black]

Did yours have treble compensation? I use mine sparingly and I think it sounds great-though I admit I have not tried the high end attenuators.

 

Yeah I believe it did. But it was a long time ago and I dont remember if the tone sucking was bearable or too bad. I do remember seeing Kirk Hammet's backline on a guitar world mag and he had some amp plugged into a 100 watt Weber Mass attenuator.

[Davo17]

Yeah I believe it did. But it was a long time ago and I dont remember if the tone sucking was bearable or too bad. I do remember seeing Kirk Hammet's backline on a guitar world mag and he had some amp plugged into a 100 watt Weber Mass attenuator.

 

Cool, I actually e-mailed Weber before he passed, and he made the comment that most amps dont put out near the wattage they claim. I wonder what the actual wattage on my HRD is.