Breaking In a Guitar Amp's New Speaker?

Attenuator's kill power tubes and power transformers and the sound. I own a few but never use them. Then used a Dumbelator it runs through the effects loop cutting the preamp signal to the power tubes and also gives you control on the effects level.
My latest build I'm only putting out 30 watts RMS and have a master volume on the clean channel and overdrive channel I can play at any volume level now.
 
67plexi said:
Attenuator's kill power tubes and power transformers and the sound. I own a few but never use them. Then used a Dumbelator it runs through the effects loop cutting the preamp signal to the power tubes and also gives you control on the effects level.
My latest build I'm only putting out 30 watts RMS and have a master volume on the clean channel and overdrive channel I can play at any volume level now.
Click to expand...

The trick for me was going from high-wattage amps to low, now I get all the control I need at lower volumes, but with plenty of firepower for when the occasion calls for it.
 
Massive blues play list, on shuffle, 4 to 6 hours :)
Pretty much any frequency I'll ever hit is going to pop up sooner or later - lol.
Not to mention, the joy of groove'n to good tune'age while stinker'n around with sump'n else...
Ya, probably better ways to do it, but I enjoy this way...
 
67plexi said:
Attenuator's kill power tubes and power transformers and the sound. I own a few but never use them. Then used a Dumbelator it runs through the effects loop cutting the preamp signal to the power tubes and also gives you control on the effects level.
My latest build I'm only putting out 30 watts RMS and have a master volume on the clean channel and overdrive channel I can play at any volume level now.
Click to expand...

What I like about the Weber Attenuator is, my 40 watt tube DSL40C sounds great at about '5-6' on the volume knob, and with the Weber, I can get the same tone at a much lower volume level. I have even used the Weber for smaller live venues and it just sounds phenomenal....
 
syscokid said:
Good observation about tubes. Even well seasoned tubes will behave differently after a few minutes of being fully on. In fact, whenever I get to participate in a local jamfest with one of my amps, the first thing I try to set up is the amp. Get the amps power on with the estimated volume set, and let it warm up real good.

When it's time to pack it up, the first thing I do is shut off the power. I try not to move the amp at all, and pack up everything else. Go have a beer... BS for awhile... by now the amp should be on the cool side. Now it's a good to time to move the amp. If you have to move a hot tube amp, then try to do it as gently as possible. Those tubes will thank you for it... :fingersx:
Click to expand...

Turning the amp on before you play in that “jam” is a good idea. I used to have a Blackstar HT1 combo and the two tubes in it warmed up very quickly after I passed the one year mark of owning it. It used to fool me into believing there was something wrong with it, but I don't think that was really the case. I should have recognized what was happening and perhaps have done what you do; namely: turn the amp on way before.... and when time to play it, adjust the e.q. for the now fully warmed up tubes. My excuse for this: it was being unfamiliar with tube amps after playing solid state for so many years........no comparison, really.


Stratstrangler
 
Sorry, I've come late into this thread. Generally speakers don't need a huge amount of breaking in - it's just a matter of flexing the suspension for a while to relax it. The best way to do this is with a bass. That moves it around far more than a normal guitar does. If it is a closed back cabinet, open it up - that will allow the speaker way more freedom of movement.
 
Many of the modeling and SS amps of today do not offer an open back option.....much like the back pressure required for engines to run efficiently I feel some are designed with a particular speaker and cabinet for a reason. I have read of others changing the Orange 35RT speaker and the Fender Mustang speaker to very negative results. Similar to putting a more OPEN exhaust system on a fuel injected engine.......if you can't remap the mix it's going to run like crap
Some things are designed to fiddle with others are not
By nature tube amps beg for adjusting fiddling and changes SS amps seem not to be ....at least the ones I've owned
 
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