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SurfGuitar101 Forums » For Sale / Trade »

Permalink Very good price on power soak at musician's friend $199

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badash
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Joined: Aug 18, 2006
Posts: 1732
Link Posted on Jun 05 2007 10:56 PM

There was some talk of power soaks awhile ago. Here's one http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibson-Power-Stealth-Power-Attenuator?sku=481181

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estreet
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Joined: Mar 17, 2007
Posts: 839
United Kingdom
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Link Posted on Jun 06 2007 12:20 AM

It's difficult to see how it can have a fan AND need no power. It looks good, but it's really easy and cheap to build yourself a rudimentary one of these.

—

http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns

Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery.

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ajarvez
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Joined: Apr 03, 2007
Posts: 33
Winter Park, FLA
Link Posted on Jun 06 2007 11:57 AM

The fan runs on the juice from the speaker output. Remember, the signal going from the amp to the speaker is still a voltage, and can still power a small lamp or motor, albeit with very few volts available. The attenuator just diverts part of that energy to the fan motor rather than dissipating it all as heat.

You can make your own attenuator for around $50 & up; there was an article on building one in Vintage Guitar a few months back. I built two, but really never use them; without the compensating "bright" & "deep" switches of the better commercial units, it really deals a mortal blow to the tone & dynamics of the amp. I found the master volume on my Reverend actually sounds much better for reigning in the watts. But like they say, your mileage may vary...

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badash
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Joined: Aug 18, 2006
Posts: 1732
Link Posted on Jun 06 2007 12:14 PM

I just put it up for people like me. You know, morons who are likely to kill themselves if they plug in anything they built themselves for $50... Plug and play has been bery bery gud to me! Embarassed

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ajarvez
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Joined: Apr 03, 2007
Posts: 33
Winter Park, FLA
Link Posted on Jun 06 2007 12:28 PM

And I'd REALLY recommend NOT building your own attenuator if you don't have any prior experience with this sorta thing! While there isn't much in the way of danger to yourself, there's an ENORMOUS risk to your amp if you have something goofed up. One screwy solder joint, and your whole output section can go poof! And believe me, there are few things as haunting as the smell of a frying output transformer -- a gnarly, sweetish "burning human flesh" stench that will be your last memory of that amp till you do some costly repairs...

ANYWAY, the Power Soak sale on MF looks like a great buy, and I'd love to hear from folks who've tried it. I'm sure it sounds immeasurably better than the rudimentary home-builds, and if I had a coupla clams to spare, I'd probably snag one myself...

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estreet
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Joined: Mar 17, 2007
Posts: 839
United Kingdom
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Link Posted on Jun 06 2007 02:03 PM

ajarvez
The fan runs on the juice from the speaker output. Remember, the signal going from the amp to the speaker is still a voltage, and can still power a small lamp or motor, albeit with very few volts available.

Yes it is a voltage but it's a very erratic AC and unless you're slamming away at constant power chords or there's some sort of power storage going on I cant see it doing a lot of good. It goes without saying you shouldn't try and build one if you haven't good soldering skills, but many here have. Also, would have thought the extra switches were easy to emulate if you knew what they were doing. Probably just a capacitor or two to shape the tone response of the output.

—

http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns

Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery.

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