Have a tube amp? Want to crank it without making the neighbors cranky? You need an attenuator! The Bugara Power Soak by Behringer might just fit the bill.
Had one and it works pretty darn good. For $80 or so its highly worth it. Tames things without messing up the tube sound and feel very much. I will note that getting a $200 or so attenuator like a Weber MiniMass gives much better control and improves sound.
Found this from the Bugera manual...EMULATED MIC balanced XLR output mimics a microphone in front of a speaker cabinet, ideal for signal feed to PA/recording consoles. The Line Out jack doesn't have emulation.
Terrific and informative information on utilizing a power soak. Thank you for taking the time to produce your instructional video! That’s gonna be my next purchase!
Nice job. Just ordered one from Sweetwater on their $49.00 blowout.!! These are copied from the Soldano designed Jett City "Jettenuator". I have been using the JHS little black amp box but they go through the effects loop and are recommended to be used alone there so you basically give up your loop although you can put it last in the loop but it will hamper your effects. My PRS HDRX-20 has no loop so this is the answer. The only amp I can crank in my apartment is my DSL-1 on the 1/10th of one watt setting. One watt on a tube amp is surprisingly loud. Also, the Bugera PS1 is not recommended for Solid-State amps. The Bugera is reported to get pretty hot on 100watt amps. Techs/players report It may give off an electrical odor when 1st fired up due to some machining oils used in its construction and initial resister heat so don't worry if that happens. The JHS is used on my Orange Crush 100 head {solid-state} even when playing live. Either one will work on my OR-15 { tube amp with loop} Can't wait to compare them on that one.
I have one and I love it for home recording and practicing. I tried to gig with it once using a 40 watt tube amp. It overheated and at first I thought my amp was blown but once I bypassed the ps1, my amp was fine and the next day the ps1 was working fine.
I have one and works well, I use it on a 100W Peavey head and a 20W Marshall head for bedroom playing. I will second the roll off on the higher frequencies, just adjust withe EQ on the amp. The gritty sound on the attenuation dial is the wiper arm of the dial rotating on the variable internal attenuator and is completely normal.
For $100 it does the job. This was the first attenuator I ever bought and I still have it as I think it's kind of cool to look at and makes a nice paperweight. Once you have a reactive load attenuator you'll forget all about resistive load attenuators hooked up to your amp. Save up and buy a reactive loadbox. It is worth it.
Used mine one gig so far, on a Marshall DSL 20C in a small club for NYE. It worked well, no heat issues ( it is passive), though each increase in attenuation required some adjustment in the 3 band EQ. With a simple untethering of the amp's speaker cable I was able to connect directly to the Bugera setting on top of the combo cab. A dab of white sight pain on the face of the rheostat knob makes it a lot easier to see.
@@SammyInnit Valid question. There are individual channel gain & volume pots, so no not a true "master" volume. For my purposes the "ultra" gain channel is useless, so this necessitates my utilizing the volume & gain settings of the "normal" to achieve my base tone, which unfortunately is "too loud" for some of the smaller venues we are booked into. Not an issue in larger or outdoors.
@GeorgeHeil-gg6wv I see. I'm currently looking for an attenuator. I have a 1984 JCM800 which is a master volume but you can tell, it just isn't as responsive turned down. I've just purchased a 1987X that has no master at all. I'd have thought it's all straight forward but it doesn't seem to be.
@@SammyInnit The Bugera worked well on a 20watt amp . . . gigged it quite a lot after acquiring it. Some EQ changes were required, but I usually have to veue match and fine tune anyway. Currently field testing a Fender Tonemaster "blonde". Best musical wishes.
I have a Katana head and I wonder if this will work with it. It is a solid state amp but it can go up to 150watts and I live in an apartment as well so I have never even tried playing it that loud.
If the twin is similar to the Deluxe it should just be a matter of pulling the cable out from the speaker (from the amp) and routing it to the power soak and then adding another cable from the soak back into the speaker.
amps require a load at the speaker output, or they will get damaged or destroyed...if i want to use my bass amp as a recording pre-amp, and use the line out of my bass amp (swr 350) to record, but dont want any speaker at all, what would i plug into the speaker output to simulate a speaker or load? could i simply make a shorted 1/4 plug or will that do damage also?
Hi. Did I understand correctly? I can use just the head connect it to the PS1 and then to the interface without using a cabinet and it will not fry a head, right? Greetings from the Polish Coast 🇵🇱🤘
What are your thoughts on using this in a live band situation? I mic my 50w mesa boogie but I can't really turn it up to that sweet spot... I've heard people say it gets really hot...I'd be using it for about 4hrs at a time
I never noticed it getting really hot - but I've not played for like 4 hours at a live show or something. I also was only pushing 22 watts through it, not 50, you YMMV. For about $100 I would say it's totally worth a try.
While it achieves a similar effect it’s definitely not the same final result. I find that using a master volume can change the character and responsiveness of an amp, whereas a power attenuator doesn’t (or at least to a lesser effect). Plus some attenuators allow you to override the speaker on a tube amp altogether allowing for headphone practice or direct silent recording. For the price even if your amp has a master, I think it’s worth a purchase.
It's all about where the signal is attenuated from (the guitar, amp head, or speaker cab). Lowering it at the guitar lowers the amount of signal getting to the amp - which will make the amp respond differently. Lowering the signal from the head to the speaker is the best way to keep the amp response as similar to a truly "cranked" amp as possible.
I saw another video where the user made a very small wooden platform just the size of the bottom plate of the PS1. He drilled holes in the platform bottom for cooling and small legs just high enough to elevate it off of the top of the amp. To finish off, he painted the platform black. He says it helps with the heat dissipation.
Do you mean you only need one cable to hook up the Bugera?, or one extra meaning two ( total) Where do you connect the bugera? I can't find ANY vids on how to hook it up to my amp.@@rickysubie
@@jimbo1959 your speaker cable will be hooked up to your amp that indicates the ohms. On the dsl20cr, it's 16 ohms, disconnect that cable from your amp output, plug that same cable to the bugara input that says speaker. You'll need one cable to connect your amp output jack to the bugara jack that indicates the ohms
Thanks Ricky,but my " speaker cable "will not even reach the top of the amp when unplugged! ( it's only about 3 inches long). That's why I need a second cable!@@rickysubie
