The Black Keys Fan Lounge Forum

I really need some help. I figured a lot of TBK fans that are in bands might have the same problem as me. I'm using a Traynor 40w tube amp and I love the thing, the tone is great and it really works well with all of my pedals. PROBLEM is a lot of the natural tube overdrive that I love getting out of it only comes when I push the volume up, and I end up being way too loud. Almost every show I've ever played I've been told to turn it down. Once I turn it down I lose so much of the sound I'm looking for, my guitar will sound weak. Dan A uses tube amps and he loves pushing them to get that natural tube fuzz but he also has an army of different amps to work with for any given venue.
I've been doing research on attenuators and I'm starting to think that's the answer. I'm claiming ignorance to cabinet heads since my amp is a combo. Do they do something similar?
Does anyone have any advice on how to keep my volume tolerable in a smaller venue? 40watts is a lot of noise for most places. I don't want to buy a smaller amp, I just need something that works with my current set up.
HELP!?

The people that tell you to turn it down are pussies. It's supposed to be loud.

@metachronos
Well spoken, sir!

Check out Ted Weber.com. That guy is the real deal and his customer service is great. I have one of his Blue Dog speakers in my 5E3 Fender Tweed Deluxe clone and a "power dump" attenuator (no longer made).

He does have several new ones though and a great explanation on their operation.

My amp does not have a master volume, just a "presence" knob, which is more of a tone control. From what I've researched online, attenuators are a very amp-specific item. They have to be built exactly to match your amp's impedance. Almost all of the affordable attenuators seem to have similar reviews, that the more you crank them up the more tone you'll lose. The Dr Z Brake Lite does look good, TubeCube is good too but they're sporadically available on ebay.

I've been in this situation and here is my experience. (1) If you're too loud you risk people who might like your music to leave or worse you won't be asked back for another gig. Unless you can pack a venue (people pay to see you headline) or you're the Rolling Stones; that's when you can crank it because that's what your fans want. But until then, the best thing is to be palatable. Believe me I love loud guitar but not everyone else does and the house mix of the band is more important than my ego. (2) I've used Attenuators and unless you're paying for a good one (ultimate Attenuator or even a THD) most will color your tone. The cheap ones, I'd pass they compress,squash and remove any sort of body to the tone way to much for me. I've sold my 40watt amps and bought a lower watt 18 watt amp (plenty loud) that I can use to connect to external cabinets to get more girth when needed. A small amp (e.g. 12 - 22 watts) can sound plenty loud/huge when in a PA, but a loud amp not in the PA can get lost. Again, this has been my experience working in different venues. I've also found using a plexiglass shield in front of my speaker cabinet will reduce the volume coming off stage which improves the house mix and stage volume. Good Luck and if you get one make sure it matches the impedance of your amp. Meaning if your amp is 16 ohm and you have 2 x 8 ohm speakers wired in series, you'll want a 16 ohm attenuator. Be sure to check with your amp and attenuator manufacturer for best results.

jmjohnson40 - 21 hours ago  » 
Unfortunately, Ted Weber passed away a year or two ago. His son is running things now. I haven't heard anything one way or the other about change in quality. I have a Blue Dog in my Ampeg Gemini that I love, as well.
Those are def worth checking out.

Oh damn. That's too bad. I hope his son can carry on his legacy. RIP Mr Weber.

BBgil,

Another thing to factor in is whether some of the tone you really love is coming from speaker breakup. Chances are, it is. You won't get that with an attenuator. You only option then, is to get a much less efficient speaker that breaks up at softer volumes.