What do you know about...

[elbandito]

...Attenuation?

I've never used one before but I now live in a house where I can't turn my amp up to a decent level (by my standards). Since it's all about saturation, low levels kinda defeats the point.

I bought one of these on Ebay: http://bit.ly/8XHEnq but due to some logistical issues, it couldn't be sent. I've since been thinking about just buying an L-pad and throwing it in a little box, like the Little Sucker attenuator that you can find on Ebay for an exorbitant price (well, I guess it's not that bad but why pay $50 when you can put one together for less than $20?)

Do any of you use an attenuator? Any recommendations on a decently priced pre-fab one or advice on the L-pad idea?

[elbandito]

Also, why is it that my 8 ohm amp sounds better when driving a pair of 16 ohm speakers than it does when it's pushing its proper load?

[devnulljp]

Also, why is it that my 8 ohm amp sounds better when driving a pair of 16 ohm speakers than it does when it's pushing its proper load?

A pair of 16 0hm speakers connected in parallel = 8 ohms.

[eti]

FWIW I hooked up an L-pad to a '50s Sears Silvertone harp amp many years ago. Worked fine. Got the fully cranked sound at low volumes.

[elbandito]

Also, why is it that my 8 ohm amp sounds better when driving a pair of 16 ohm speakers than it does when it's pushing its proper load?

A pair of 16 0hm speakers connected in parallel = 8 ohms.

Yeah, but that's not the point I'm trying to make... When I have two 16ohm speakers being driven from the 16 ohm out on the amp, it sounds okay. When, I switch the speaker out jack to 8 ohm and drive the same speakers, the sound changes quite a bit. My guitar sounds bassier, fuller and punchier.

[moose23]

Also, why is it that my 8 ohm amp sounds better when driving a pair of 16 ohm speakers than it does when it's pushing its proper load?

A pair of 16 0hm speakers connected in parallel = 8 ohms.

Yeah, but that's not the point I'm trying to make... When I have two 16ohm speakers being driven from the 16 ohm out on the amp, it sounds okay. When, I switch the speaker out jack to 8 ohm and drive the same speakers, the sound changes quite a bit. My guitar sounds bassier, fuller and punchier.

When you have two 16 ohm speakers connected the load is 8 ohm so the amp should be set to 8 ohm. I hope I'm not reading what you wrote completely wrong when you say two 16 ohm speakers.

[elbandito]

L-Pads seem to only come rated for 50w... Anybody seen one rated higher? My amp is 50 watts, and I think that if I dimed it, I might run into some problems.

[eti]

L-Pads seem to only come rated for 50w... Anybody seen one rated higher? My amp is 50 watts, and I think that if I dimed it, I might run into some problems.

Use 2 in a series?

I dunno what's the worst that could happen? It won't cut your volume 100%?

Disclaimer: Not responsible for any damage.

[elbandito]

L-Pads seem to only come rated for 50w... Anybody seen one rated higher? My amp is 50 watts, and I think that if I dimed it, I might run into some problems.

Use 2 in a series?

I dunno what's the worst that could happen? It won't cut your volume 100%?

Disclaimer: Not responsible for any damage.

haha. Nice disclaimer. I think if I ran too high a load into the L-pad, it'd overheat and fail, which would cause a huge volume jump to course thru my amps electrical veins, potentially causing a speaker to blow. I'm not sure but neither am I willing to risk it.

After some intensive googling, I've found a couple links that need sharing. The first is to a site that sells 100w L-pads and the second is to a schematic for building true-bypass l-pad attenuators, though why anybody would need a true-bypass attenuator is beyond me.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-261
http://www.guitarpug.com/2008/07/diy-wattage-attenuator-box/