I'm thinking about buying a smaller amp, or an attenuator?

[ChetMagongalo]

So my amp is a lot louder than I need to play at bedroom volumes. It's a musicman HD130. I don't run it very loud ever unless no one is home or i'm playing with other people. I think I might be happier with a quieter amp. I've also thought about maybe buying an attenuator to get the same effect. G

Anyone into attenuators or small amps? I'd be looking for a guitar amp, not a bass amp.

[KaosCill8r]

Yeah I use a THD hotplate with my HRD. Tames that amp nicely.

[Hyphen Nation]

Huge fan of the univalve. Easy to find used south of $500.
Always been intrigued by EmorySound, as well: http://www.emerysound.com

[frigid midget]

A classic delimma:)

Been there myself. Went with the attenuator, but still sold my twin shortly after. A good attenuator is always nice to have around, but they're not cheap.

Unless you're in love with the HD130, I'd say it makes sense to maybe replace it with something in the 15watt range, which in most cases will still cut it in a rehearsel situation. And though for home use it'll still be a bit too powerfull to really sound at its best, but it'll be a lot more manageable as well as convenient than your musicman.

[Boxbie]

I'vew owned two HD130s (the 2x10 combo and head with 4x12 box).

They are really loud! Having said that, the break up isn't stellar.
If you don' absolutely love the sound , sell it. A fender deluxe reverb might be a better size

[univalve]

Huge fan of the univalve. Easy to find used south of $500.
Always been intrigued by EmorySound, as well: http://www.emerysound.com

This.
Put some low power stuff in (e.g. 6W6) the univalve and fun for ours... (There is also the PicoValve by JetCity - very similar and THD designed.)
Never heard emery stuff in person but that is also a low power amp that gets praise.

Yeah I use a THD hotplate with my HRD. Tames that amp nicely.

Works for my Ramparte perfect.

[backwardsvoyager]

Didn't you have a JC120 or am I thinking of someone else?
Fully solid state amps are my favourite for dual bedroom/loudness duties. JC120's are great but anything old and made in japan to reasonable quality will generally sound awesome at all volumes. I fucking love my Yamaha YTA-95 and it's like 100 watts and still sounds great at bedroom level. Seriously making me doubt whether I need to bother with tube amps since all venues will mic my shit and stop before it gets to a level where it sounds great so why bother with it at all.

Do people that own amps as loud as a HD130 actually use it towards it's limits or like the way it sounds more than anything lower wattage? I've always wondered. Big loud amps just seem unwieldy to me. Maybe they sound better attenuated to lower wattages than a cranked lower wattage amp or something.

[Muff_Diver]

vox ac4 yo. Probably cheaper than an attenuator too.

[skullservant]

Yeah I would suggest a small combo amp rather than an attenuator, you can get something like a Vox AC4, or Valve Junior Combo, or something that is tube for the price of a decent attenuator. That's what I ended up doing so I had something for home and something for out

[D.o.S.]

I think I've told this story before, but when I saw Queen Elephantine they had a Valve Jr combo running a 4x12 for their guitarist and they were still pretty loud. There was a PA, though.

[bigchiefbc]

I ended up going the attenuator route, and I'm pretty happy with it. I got is crazy cheap, because I got an old one off of eBay, and it's never failed me or given me trouble. The only complaint isn't really a complaint is that at very high attenuation levels (like upwards of 30 dBs), it sounds a bit dark and some of the shine on the signal gets dulled a bit. But I really never need to turn it up that high at all, even when my son is sleeping.

[ChetMagongalo]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys! So I do definitely want to keep the HD130 because I think it sounds really great with my bass, and I will definitely need at that volume to play with other people. Also it sounds better with a bass at bedroom volumes.

I was looking at the Fender Excelsior, anyone have any qualms with it?

Didn't you have a JC120 or am I thinking of someone else?
Fully solid state amps are my favourite for dual bedroom/loudness duties. JC120's are great but anything old and made in japan to reasonable quality will generally sound awesome at all volumes. I fucking love my Yamaha YTA-95 and it's like 100 watts and still sounds great at bedroom level. Seriously making me doubt whether I need to bother with tube amps since all venues will mic my shit and stop before it gets to a level where it sounds great so why bother with it at all.

Do people that own amps as loud as a HD130 actually use it towards it's limits or like the way it sounds more than anything lower wattage? I've always wondered. Big loud amps just seem unwieldy to me. Maybe they sound better attenuated to lower wattages than a cranked lower wattage amp or something.

Yes I did have a JC120, way too loud for my bedroom, I couldn't turn it up past like 9 o clock. It did sound great though!

When i'm playing with other people I turn it to like 5-7 on master and gain, so kinda!

[univalve]

Excelsior and Big Muff is my Standard home jam. Perfect.
It is a bright amp: i don't use it without a Pedal with tone control.

[rfurtkamp]

Depends on what you want out of it. As others have noted, I don't think there's a great magical breakup sound out of a Musicman - it's not a tweed Deluxe, and even then, speaker distortion is part of that as well.

I'm at a loss - do you want something you can turn past 9 oclock because you don't feel like you're using it fully, or?

If the JC sounded good in the room, doesn't matter if it was on 1 on the dial IMO.

So I'm trying to figure out here what you're asking or wanting.

[penelope tree]

The new AC4 model (equipped with a 12" speaker) seems to be pretty good. The new Ibanez Tube Screamer amp seems quite intriguing, I suppose it's an attempt to emulate the appeal of the Pawn Shop amps.

http://www.guitarrista.com/sites/defaul ... SA5TVR.jpg