5 Watts Is Still Quite Loud! I Suggest an Attenuator 

One of my favourite things to do when I was able to was to use a small valve amp through my mini mass, and slave it via an eq into a small high headroom quality solid state amp. That way you can get the small amp in it’s sweet spot, compensate for eq needs and have it at any volume needed. After having another cardiac arrest I was unable to drive and work again for some time so the solid state stayed and I had to move the small toob monsters on. Too much stuff to move and set up when getting lifts etc it’s a method I’d return to in a flash in the right financial position. That setup also lets you put time based stuff in the Goldilocks spot after the compression of the little amp but before the delivery system. My initial foray into use attenuators was with my ac30 and 50w plexi but I felt live that it impacted dynamic range and eq too much though I’m sure with some of the more recent re amp designs like the fryette, waza , badcat etc those issues could be avoided. Thank you for proliferating such great music, info and vibes Eric you are a diamond in a sometimes stony barren landscape

When I researched my first guitar amp purchase I was looking for a 1 Watt tube amp. I ended up buying a Blackstar HT5th because I couldn’t resist the 2*10 configuration. But as I suspected, it’s way too loud for blasting at home. I made my own adjustable attenuator which sits at the back of the combo permanently. I bought a Monacor hifi attenuator and soldered on a male and a female jack, done. The thing’s rated for 15Watts so it won’t burn. Works well enough for me.

Cool information Eric, thanks for sharing. I'm actually looking to buy my first attenuator right now and this was really helpful. Thanks!

Video is spot on and insightful as usual. I love my attenuators (Ironman II Mini and "Alex's Attenuator"). Currently I'm trying my hand at building one for my JMP. The circuit is from a Marshall forum, designed by a wonderful gentleman named John Hewitt (The M2 Attenuator.)

Congrats on the new album! Can’t wait to listen to it!

Thanks to your mentions in previous vids, the Weber Minimass has been saving my ears for many months now. Use it with a Fender EC Vibrochamp 5 watt amp. It works. Yes, it does impact my treble but the treble boost switch on the Minimass and/or a Boss GE-7 Equalizer helps. My ears thank you. Looking forward to your new album. Eat pizza!

The attenuator is the best transparant drive on the market, it's THE always on pedal ;-)

Congratulations on the new music my friend; I will be taking it for the spin shortly. The quick bits I’ve heard so far have got me “in the mood” to play along and ruin it for those nearby. Hoping there’s maybe a touch of skronk in there, for my selfish aural needs. Thanks Eric!

I’ve downloaded the new album, look forward to spinning it a few times today! Good overview of attenuators here, thanks for that. Have a great weekend my friend.

So true... although I have several behemoth choices my go to amp recently has been a Blackstar HT 1w Head through a 1 x 12... it sounds great so last week I bought a used 5w version (I guess thinking it would be better) but it's too loud. A mighty 1 watts is where it's at guys!! PS I am loving and benefitting from your Guitar Zen course Eric... thanks man!

Great info, dig the VU nod as well,

I really like 5W tube amps, I did use them with a dr. Z brake lite attenuator but for home use I recently bought a Roland JC22, and I must say, with the strymon deco in front, this thing sounds really satisfying no matter the level. (Even a headphones out available) I’ve sold my latest tube amps (supro RK 10”, blackstar artisan 15) both really loud. But at some point I will probably buy another 5 or 10W tube amp (thinking VoX AC10) because they do have a sound of there own. But I also have tinitus like you Eric so for now I’m fine with my JC at low levels. Take care Eric!

Great playing and videos. Appreciate them.

Thanks for the video, Eric! Low watt tube amps are just way louder than people think they're gonna be. I have a few 50th anniversary 1 watt Marshalls, and when they're cranked up, most people would never believe they were only 1 watt. Attenuators are a great invention indeed.

Hats off Eric, your album is seriously impressive. Your guitar philosophy really shines through, excellent stuff!!

Man, I really dig your content, all the right stuff!! ..once had a little Vox Ac4 with an 8” or 10” cab and that thing sounded so amazing and was plenty loud, and I traded it like a dummy…. Small amps are my favorite. Loving your new tracks and thanks for the Velvet Underground!

Sounding great as ever my friend that supro is one cool amp 🔥 🔥 I will be listening to your new album while guitar building tomorrow 👍

The album is legit man. Such a vibe. Also, loving your TrueFire course still. I’ve never had so much fun with guitar

I too suffer from Tinnitus, like old cassette tape hiss but way louder. All the time. Life, unlike old HiFi equipment, doesn't have Dolby noise reduction. This advice is vital. If you don't have a master volume amp, or you just think a tube power stage cooking is the only way to tone heaven then heed the words of The Haugen. Spare yourself what I suffer. There is no cure, just strategies to help you cope. If you love music get the album. It's sublime. Spread the word.

Wow I have been looking to buy a antinuater you have solved and helped me on my volume issue thank you..

Hooray! New Record! Sharing on Friday Album Slack feed at the university I work at next Friday! ✌️😃🎸

That’s a little spooky. I just watched your vibro champ video earlier where you mentioned possibly making an attenuator video, and this just popped up. Anyway, thanks for the advice!

After 20 years of spending money on solutions to play with some tube breakup in the house, I finally gave up and just bought a Vox Amplug along with some rechargeable AAA batteries, and paired it with some good studio headphones. It mimics a cranked tube amp amazingly well. It was the best $50 I've ever spent on gear. It also has a signal input to practice with a backing track. I sometimes even drop my Sony field recorder into the headphone line to lay additional tracks, and then send it back in for another session It's a valuable and portable practice setup at a very low cost, and sounds great for the price.

Bundle Up is BITCHIN 😎👍 Chances Are and This morning are in my head now...Thanks😎👍 Have the Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb, and am happy with clean tones and with a tube screamer and delay pedal...for good blues The Catalyst has made a home for itself in my apartment for blues, rock and fusion. Can even get a decent Pink Floyd version of Sorrow that won't be annoying the neighbors thanks to the built in attenuator 😉 Do I miss my '59 Narrow Panel RI Bassman...with my extensive pedalboard...? Yes... but those are different days. Am covered for the most part for "Good Enough" current days. Great video...as usual 😎👍 😎👍❤🖖 Love Brother

I installed a Night Light Jr. in my Swart STR-Tremolo and it lets me get satisfying tweed crunch at bedroom levels. Makes practicing much more fun!

Great video. I'm still learning about tube amps and use it strictly in my home. I've had a Blackstar HT1RH 1 watt amp, an Orange Micro Dark 20 watt hybrid amp and currently have a Marshall Origin 5 which is 5 watts or .5 watts. I currently play in .5 watts. I'm curious why don't you use a 1 watt amp if the 5 watts is still too loud? I'm currently thinking about trying the Fender 68 custom vibro champ reverb b/c with the Marshall I am not happy with the sound unless it has 2 boost pedals stacked for an always on sound.

Congrats for your album Eric! I will listen to it hopefully this week. I have a question: If a tube amp has an effects loop, I can do the "attenuator" trick by putting a volume pedal on the effects loop. I have done that and it works, but I am not sure if I am doing any kind of damage to the amp and if this method has the exact same results than the real attenuator method like the one that appears in this video of yours. It would be great to know that. Cheers from Santiago, Chile

Between tubes and volume issues, highly considering getting a Quilter Aviator Cub. Old school solid state and a headphone jack for silent playing.

Who loves the sun!! Rock on, man. Loving the new album. Listened to the whole thing at work today. Twice!

Wow, Eric. The new album is great. I've been a big fan of your lessons and guitar playing, but your writing, voice and production are all there as well. I'm truly impressed.

I always like your choice of example chord progressions. Go VU!

Your praising of attenuators (specifically the Weber) led to me saving a good bit of cash. As I was eyeing some "lowprice boutique" ($2000 CAD) 10-15 watt amps that, because I play at home (but also wanted enough in case of gig/jam), required master volume. Until the Bob Ross of guitar RU-vid highlighted the Weber, then I realized I could have a "midprice mass production reissue" without a master volume (which can be a cooler tone) then attenuate it for around half the price. Whilst also not having to ignore non master volumes amps anymore. So that's cool.

Great tunes on the record Eric.

Good advice (of course), but I gotta say, I love your selection of riffage. Sounds great too.

I have a "small" Excelsior (Fender) amp. 13 Watts, 15" Speaker... Plenty loud in my little apartment studio. Good thing I can use plug-ins or my Iridium for recording direct... Digging the new album! Thank you, Eric! Be good to you!

Yeah I think people overlook how freaking loud some of these small amps get! I have a Vox AC4 and a Fender blues junior and they are both deceivingly loud, especially the blues junior. I can only turn it up to about 4-5 before my neighbors start complaining, so I’m probably gonna buy one of these Weber’s

None of the attenuator demos I've watched online have a dB Meter in the room to quantify how much volume you're able to roll off with the attenuator. Listening on my computer (even with good headphones) I'm not hearing the volume difference well enough. Not complaining, just observing. Btw, your videos effing rock, Eric ! ✌

I don't have any publicity connections but I just followed you on Spotify and I will certainly listen to the Album. Congratulations by the way

Thanks Eric, good info here.

Thanks Eric, great video for ‘bedroom and church’ use fiddlers! Especially inner city dwellers!

A man who knows and loves his Lou Reed can only be a worthy one.

You are by far the coolest guitar guy on guitartube. Some guys in this realm are pretty pretentious and dare I say, dorky? Don’t get me wrong, “That pedal show” is awesome, and I love Mick and Dan, you’re just a tad more laid back. A+ channel Edit to add: Dan and Mick were not who I had in mind when I said “dorky”. You have to set your amp to just as the amp starts breaking up to figure out who I was talking about.

25 years playing with a Hot rod deluxe too load and an attenuator changed my life! 😍

Wise counsel, as always.

Thanks for this Eric. Currently shopping for a small tube amp. Would you recommend a 5w Fender Vibro Champ with an attenuator or a 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue with an attenuator. I’ll be playing mostly in my basement and on occasion carrying with me for friends house playing. Also would the mini mass eliminate buzz coming from my Compressor pedal. Thanks.

I had a vox ac4 which I traded for a helix. Just nuts how loud 4 watts of tube power is.Took time for modeling technology to get to a stage where I was happy with it but it's there now. That supro sounds great though!

Agreed! My Tonemaster twin at 10 on 1W is still too loud for inside the house (when other people are home).

I've been using the Palmer Eins Head at home for a while. It has 1 watt and is only operated with preamp tubes. This makes it great to experiment with different tubes. It's a fantastic little amp at half the price of an Attenuator ;)

man I've got you playing over and over on Spotify, love it, familiar but unique if that makes any sense

Hey Eric, I have a Fender Pro Jr IV, do you think an attenuator would help in reducing some of this hiss/hum? Would it allow me to reach that sweet breaking point without breaking my ears as well? And which attenuator should I get? I like the Weber but they have loads of different models. Thanks very much

For what it’s worth, I have the Jet City attenuator. Also passive. It does take a touch of the high end away. But, it DOES allow you to crank your amp as much as you want, and not have the volume be insane. I use it on a Twin Reverb. I’ll have to use it on my VibroChamp to see if it stops some of the noise…I didn’t know about that.

I use a Tone King Ironman II attenuator. Very little tone suck and that's only when it set at -20db or so. Should be noted that attenuators can't be used if the speaker is hard wired to the amp - which unfortunately is the case with my AC15. Know any way around that?

Great advice, love your Velvet Underground rendition!

attenuators are great but sometimes and some might make your 2k abit loud and singled out from the rest of the mix especially if you use hot active microphones. especially if you use them in live settings on i.e a marshall stack 60a cab variant, then you will hear the differense between the quality of the attenuator. Very informative and great video.

How does that solution compare with master volume, or amps that have a watt selector switch?

Excellent News on the New Album !!

I bought this exact attenuator a few months back based on your recommendation. I use it with my 12w Princeton and it’s _fantastic_.

Nice! A Little Rock and roll!

Thanks, Eric

Just bear in mind that it isn't all about "wattage": it is much more the efficiency/sensitivity of the speaker. An amp equipped with a 90 db speaker will be louder at 1 watt than an amp equipped with a 85 db speaker at 5 watts...

Does a tube amp with a Master volume, do the same thing? For example an AC 15?

1:30 Pegging the meter!

Hey Eric, Hope you are well. You mentioned in the video you would post a photo on attaching attenuator to amp? Any chance you can still send?

I got get an use a speaker soak from Carls Custom Guitar for around 60 bucks so I can turn up the Fender SuperChamp past 2. It requires no power either. The Super Champ I have has separate line connection to the speaker so it was just getting the Speaker soak a s speaker wires to make the connection. I can’t really say how much it colors the sound versus a true attenuator but it is an inexpensive way to try it out.

Also what would be dope would be a full gear tour video!

Attenuators are a must. I have a Two Notes Captor X and it works wonders. Also to get the amp signal to pc. Oh yes, new record. Very 70's style classic rock.

i have a 57 custom champ, it is BEAUTIFUL clean, at around 3 or 4, and comfortable to my ear. BUT ya buy a champ for that glorious tweed OD sound. I can only get it at 9+ on the amp with my Stratocaster, which rattles the windows and I fear will damage hearing long term. I have tried putting a TS-808 on it, I do get good overdrive at lower volumes that way, but that is the TS overdrive sound, not the raw tweed champ sound right? I wonder if an attenuator would be the right solution for me, or if there is another method I should try first.

Great album! I'm stuck at 2.37 on Drift .. rewinding endlessly trying to figure out HOW? Don't tell, I loves me a puzzl.

Congrats on the album, sounds great, doom Tom Petty nails it, I do wish the vocals stood out in the mix a bit more, you have a great voice, so impressive Eric.

First line correction: If you love music get the album. It's sublime. Spread the word.

I know it wasn’t good but ….. For years we rehearsed at FULL volume. Marshals, Ampegs and full kit in a tiny room. We played full bore punk and rock and roll. Never an earplug in sight. The first couple songs were painful. After a bit that part of my hearing would quit and it was more comfortable. The crack of the snare was the worst. Good times.

Since you are pushing the front end harder in order to get breakup, but then attenuating the signal to speaker, is that putting undue wear and tear on your tubes?

I usually play alone at my room, but wanted to have something powerful enough to jam with a drum eventually. Can I do it with a 5W amp? It wouldnt be a gig at a bar, for example, just friend jamming.

found your record on bandcamp. will download!

Does this work with fender blues junior?

I got a 5w laney lionheart studio during second lockdown. Oddly it was hard to get but totally worth it for the .5 watt output function. Super nice creamy overdriven sounds at volumes that won't bug the neighbours, with a bonus of a usb output. Great Channel Eric, hello from Ireland!

Thank you

Hey Eric you rock

My Vox ac4 thankfully has a built-in attenuator. Problem is that 1/10th of a watt is still quite loud on full tilt.

new record! awesome

Tried a Weber Mini Mass once and did not like it, sounded nothing like the amp at lower volume, muffled, no dynamics, i mean how would that work, at bedroom volume it does not move the speaker enough. But 5 watts you can hear half a mile around if i crank that in my flat.

Hey Eric, Just a heads up... some random (presumably middle eastern person, I looked at what the other videos were) has already posted your new album to youtube.

Have you ever heard of Peter Green? Especially his live recordings from late 60s. his tone was to die for. Cranked fenders on 10

I've been trying to get 'edge of breakup', first on my Marshall DSL 5 (didn't succeed but I was not sure what I was looking to happen. I only play at home and don't want to annoy anyone including me. I heard about the Supro Amulet - its got three power settings: 15w, 5 , and 1w and thought 'I'll be able to get 'edge of breakup' at a reasonable home environment level - wrong !! I cranked the amp on the 1w setting and got the breakup - I could hear that very clearly but way too loud to live with. Eric put me onto the MiniMass which I got 2 days ago. I've only dabbled with it so far 'cos I got a stinking cold but I can already hear it will get any sound the amp can make at virtually any volume. It has a treble bleed switch which seems to boost treble that the unit caps. So - now I can get fuzzy sounds without a distortion pedal, which is what I wanted - guitar sounds with the character the amp creates - not sounds a computer based amp synthesises. As Principal Skinner once asked Mrs Crabable - 'Would you like some creamium with your bevary, Edna ?'

I bought a used attenuator, a Bugera Power Soak PS1 for my Blackstar HT-5R MKII. It was the best thing I've ever done for the amp! I can now push it a bit and that makes the pedals sound very different! I'll also use it with my used Blackstar Artist 15 (I have yet to pick it up) and also with the used Marshall Origin 50C that I'm planning to buy from a guy.

I had my Dr. Z hard-wired. Alas, it is still too loud as the amp is 15 - Watts and it's only a 4-step atenunuator. I wish I'd heard of this one. On the positive, they also work in reverse.

My suggestion: VHT special 6 ultra. With an attenuator and effect loop included :) 6w of joy downgradable to 1!

Marshall dsl 1, 1 watt or .1 watts. It's awesome!

There's a guy that works at my local guitar store that builds "5 watt" Champ clones with a single 6L6 power tube and a 10in speaker. It's probably more than 5 watts.

I bought a Vox AC4 and in a home space it’s too loud unless I use the master volume. So 4 watts is too loud, too!

Will be downloading your new record..

Is this appropriate for a Blackstar HT5RMKII

Is that MiniMass a load box?

Sometimes hum can be from poor ground schemes, or poor quality filter caps.

This is the truth…I had a 5w Fender Champ tweed. I got rid of it because I couldn’t play without my wife complaining about the noise. I replaced it with a 12w Princeton and it was perfect. I can’t explain it but I don’t care what anybody says….a 5w Champ on 6 is LOUDER than a 12w Princeton on 6. 6 is where I keep the Princeton at pretty much all times, and I can’t imagine needing an attenuator with it.

Would you need to modify a delta king 12?

Eric I wish I could give you enough love lol

Put it in a closet and/or use baffles and don't plug into the wall without a line conditioner and surge protector in one (not a power strip)

Rock and roll VU ❤

I have a clone 5e3. I’ve found it gets really farty with the Weber attenuator. Wish I could get good tone with that thing.