I ran that version PowerSoak with my Blue Voodoo and people loved it. There was a sweet spot at 8 on the amp’s volume and the middle of the soak. I ran through the Sovtek 6L6’s with our schedule. I retuned the power section four times in three years. The secret is to make sure there is enough power reaching the speakers to still move them. I used the stock speakers in the Blue Voodoo cab, American Vintage I think?
That’s crazy I’ve been using a Tom Scholz power soak since they came out I also have a Marshall power brake too, These are the original Attenuators.Its the best way to really drive a tube amp to the sweet spot.
While Def Leppard were recording in the 80's at the top of their game, with access to all the best of the best gear, they said that they still would good go back to using the Rockmans for the best sound
Dang 250 dollars I’ve gotta keep my eyes open for one of those it looks like a bunch of those ceramic heat soak capacitors or whatever they are in the guts of it , but I know there’s more to it but I’ve seen people build their own attenuators with those block looking things in it . That old scholtz stuff was so ahead of its time, crazy some of the best guitar tones put to tape came out of rockman amps pretty much analog amp modeling before it was a thing. Probably my favorite tone I’ve heard on your channel but it’s all subjective though but with the cranked amp and the attenuator it sounded less compressed than what you normally get. Now put an SD1 between the guitar and the amp and you’re all set! When it makes you giggle after playing it it’s doing a thing.
I had one of those once upon a time. One of the very early ones. I ran a HIWATT Custom 50 through a 4x12 cab. A PEAVEY I think. It's great if your playing balls to the wall rock. Kinda makes it a one trick pony but it is a great sound.
I had a Power soak hooked up to a Randall RG 80 back in the late 90's, and used a few modulations subtly in the background. The sound I got through the Randall was very much like The Violin like sustain and tone that Brian May gets from his AC30. I wish I had NEVER parted with that device ..or amp .. they were both phenomenal.
Those old 80s RGs are amazing. I have the combo version too with the original G12-80 speaker and I will never get rid of it. Also scored one of the RG80-PH heads for chump change. They'll be buried with me, haha.
@@low_e_music Nice! Yeah hang on to it man, mine got stolen/sold out from under me by my ex wife and a so called friend or ex friend along with an extremely rare Candy Blue Kramer Pacer Imperial that had a maple fretboard.
@@low_e_music Yeah that was a really bad day not gonna lie there was violence, I'm good now though gear wise but still wish I could get that Kramer back she was "The One"
A while back I asked you about speakers and the difference between guitar and bass. You answered it’s not the speakers but the electronics and that you play guitar through a bass amp but you don’t want to play bass through a guitar amp because you risk damage to electronics. I fully believe that and am certainly not going to gamble. But, how do all these guys get away with down tuning, baritone etc? Are they just taking the risk?
And the Marshal Pedal was born agian....Not music related: But I had a Scholz Recotron, it was for decoding the stereo signal from TVs back in the day, when it wasn't available or feasible....Tom is a smart guy and a great musician.
I have a Marshall DSL40C and to my ears it can kinda get into JCM800 territory but it sounds boxy without at least a 2x12 cab which I don't have at the moment, but this makes me want a Scholtz powersoak now so I can drive the amp I'm definitely going to build a 2x12 cab for myself asap seems to be a good starting point. Thanks for the video it was very helpful.
I used to use a power soak,but it’s a resistive load,so I never liked the sound and feel…fast forward to today,there are much better choices in reactive loads now…I use mine in the shop for biasing and what not..I do still have my rock modules from back then that I use a lot…definitely the sound of an era for sure..
Cool video, yes He is an amazing engineer, for sure one of the best ever for guitar related items. Thx for sharing your findings, if you allow me i have to say those nasty comment of some people regarding ''tuning'' is pure trolling. In today's world someone wrote such comment for God knows what reason and other trolls pick it up. IMHO you are in some places when i listened you are in tune, when you play A chord, D chord after 10'th minute it sound OK etc. If someone can't pick up that He or She don't hear well or they don't play guitar long enough to learn how distorted guitar sounds. Some places that you just slightly off IMHO is due to it is such guitar, there is no guitar that is perfectly tuned, that is why people in studios often use some ''tricks'' to tune it for chords or even solo parts on difrent part of the fretboard. There is a middle ground to make some sacrifice for live playing and for me that is tune. I guess that trolls today are usually part of a net, IMHO you dealing well with them, wish i have such good nerves and tackt as you do but i don't ☺, that is why i don't have YT chanel to be honest 😐. The Only video i've made is about design rip of, when one big brand ripped off my design for a guitar toll but i haven't shared it yet ☺ becouse i'm not sure is it allowed to mention the name of that company etc as i did in video. So i have to make a new one..I wish to say that making videos is a hard task.... For me the acnet of your video is about that cool Power Soak Attenuator and what sound can you get , and i like it, you did a GREAT JOB. I don't know about other people but i like the real sound of guitar like that, without to much post recording ''make up'', due the only way for me to hear well is like that. Honestly i like more a simple Iphone recording then some super HQ production becouse it will cover everything. I Wish you all the best in future work, for now i've saw a several cool videos on your chanel and i honestly liked them all, topics are good. So rock on and best regards from Europe.
Seems like whenever I tune into your channel your guitars are out of tune. Good grief dude, If you do tune them up before your videos and they still sound out of tune then you are probably pushing the strings down too hard. I don't know what to say, but it's almost impossible to listen to you because you are out of tune.
Yep yur outta tune big boy. some people too lazy to tuner' up or they get their sausage digits in the way 😂😆😂 Nothing respectable about being outta tune
Hey @kellectra blablhano He is not out of tune, but your br a in is out of tune 100%. I've listened and chords sound OK, so what are you talking about kid, or are some older qock suqer looking for a skore on YT?
@@MacPro8CoreMan I've never seen any evidence to support that claim. The only musician I've never known to have (later in his career) demonstrated that EQ strategy was Lemmy.
I have mine as well. It was the first commercially available unit - Pre-dating the Sholz. The problem with the Altair was that when it got really hot it would start screwing with the impedance coming in which is why it wasn't around for very long.
I have that very same power soak. I used it on an 80s JCM 800 and 1960 cab with no need for anything else. But when I plugged in my Ross distortion, DOD delay and dyna comp it was a clone of the Boston tone. Then I got an mxr chorus. I got married for a few years and sold or traded off that rig but kept the power soak somehow.
That's awesome! You managed to get a sound that is nothing like Sholtz's sound in any way at all. The way you use an out of tune guitar is genius! Lol, Good God Robert...
@@RobertWJackson How easily you gravitate towards dick. You are a bitter old ex salesmen who can't play even after 30 plus years of attempting to, and who can't hear tone at all, and you are comedy gold Robert).
@@RobertWJacksonIt seems pretty clear that they're simply telling you to tune or intonate your guitar buttercup. You're either too lazy or you don't know how. There's no shortage of Gibson players that know how to tune their guitars moron
I’ve got a simple device called a “hot box” that I bought a few months ago for like $30. It goes in the effects loop. You can dime the amp and dial in lower volumes. You should check it out! It doesn’t even require batteries. Great video as always!
Nah. That’s a myth. There may be a few exceptions, but their job is to simply absorb energy being sent from the amp to the speaker, thereby reducing the volume. They’ve become so advanced in recent years with brands like Two Notes, Suhr, Fryette, Boss, and Universal Audio all coming out with killer units. If attenuation put any additional wear and tear on amps, I have a hard time believing that any of those brands would be coming out with any of these devices, let alone that they would all be so popular.
The people in the sound cone in front of your amp hear nothing but guitar, everyone else hears almost no guitar at all because the fader's down to zero at FOH 😁
I like how you need to make your dick feel bigger by pointing out that you’re not aware that Gibsons are nearly impossible to tune perfectly. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏻♂️
@@RobertWJackson Try. All you do is throw around your profanity, your family is proud. The rest of us who have Les Paul's know how to tune them, quit being lazy and figure it out like the rest of us 😂😆
@Bohdibowen Hey dipshit, I didn’t play a Les Paul in this video, I played an SG. Also, 4-letter words don’t scare me. If they scare you, that’s your problem, not mine. But maybe you should post a video teaching us how to properly tune a guitar, since you’re so high and mighty about it? Oh yeah, YOU DON’T HAVE ANY CONTENT. That just makes you a typical internet troll likely living in his mom’s basement who’s never even seen a vagina in person. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@RobertWJackson look at you greasy fingers splitting hairs the only thing you're influencing is your cholesterol and diabetes vector 😂 Guess what Einstein, an SG was originally called a Les Paul SG 😂 and regardless of whatever you're playing, learn how to tune it everybody that actually cares about the craft and the skill of the instrument knows how to tune their instruments. Your family and the community is proud of you 😂😆😂 🤘🏼
@@RobertWJackson hahah.... The SG was originally called the Les Paul SG Einstein. guitarists who respect their craft and the skill involved learn and know how to tune their instruments regardless of what instrument they're playing. Your family and the community is proud of you 😂😆😂🤘🏼
That’s not true attenuation. That’s just a volume control in your effects loop. It certainly works great in certain situations, but cranking a 100-watt tube head for a live gig isn’t one of them.
Yep yur out of tune and everybody is disgusted with it but you're moronic sausage digit thick skull thinks it's cute lol If you can't tune your guitar then quit
I ran that version PowerSoak with my Blue Voodoo and people loved it. There was a sweet spot at 8 on the amp’s volume and the middle of the soak. I ran through the Sovtek 6L6’s with our schedule. I retuned the power section four times in three years. The secret is to make sure there is enough power reaching the speakers to still move them. I used the stock speakers in the Blue Voodoo cab, American Vintage I think?
That’s crazy I’ve been using a Tom Scholz power soak since they came out I also have a Marshall power brake too, These are the original Attenuators.Its the best way to really drive a tube amp to the sweet spot.
While Def Leppard were recording in the 80's at the top of their game, with access to all the best of the best gear, they said that they still would good go back to using the Rockmans for the best sound
Had that one in the eighties. My 1972 Marshall Head survived six years with it.
Dang 250 dollars I’ve gotta keep my eyes open for one of those it looks like a bunch of those ceramic heat soak capacitors or whatever they are in the guts of it , but I know there’s more to it but I’ve seen people build their own attenuators with those block looking things in it . That old scholtz stuff was so ahead of its time, crazy some of the best guitar tones put to tape came out of rockman amps pretty much analog amp modeling before it was a thing.
Probably my favorite tone I’ve heard on your channel but it’s all subjective though but with the cranked amp and the attenuator it sounded less compressed than what you normally get. Now put an SD1 between the guitar and the amp and you’re all set! When it makes you giggle after playing it it’s doing a thing.
I had one of those once upon a time. One of the very early ones. I ran a HIWATT Custom 50 through a 4x12 cab. A PEAVEY I think. It's great if your playing balls to the wall rock. Kinda makes it a one trick pony but it is a great sound.
I had a Power soak hooked up to a Randall RG 80 back in the late 90's, and used a few modulations subtly in the background. The sound I got through the Randall was very much like The Violin like sustain and tone that Brian May gets from his AC30. I wish I had NEVER parted with that device ..or amp .. they were both phenomenal.
Man I miss my Randall RG 80 Combo little amp used to kick ass.
Those old 80s RGs are amazing. I have the combo version too with the original G12-80 speaker and I will never get rid of it. Also scored one of the RG80-PH heads for chump change. They'll be buried with me, haha.
@@low_e_music Nice! Yeah hang on to it man, mine got stolen/sold out from under me by my ex wife and a so called friend or ex friend along with an extremely rare Candy Blue Kramer Pacer Imperial that had a maple fretboard.
@@RayC234 Damn man, that sucks. You can still find the combos for pretty fair prices with a little patience. Good luck.
@@low_e_music Yeah that was a really bad day not gonna lie there was violence, I'm good now though gear wise but still wish I could get that Kramer back she was "The One"
Sounds great! BTW what pickups are on that SG? I can see the bridge pup is a Duncan. What model?
Nope, no Duncans. Gibson Dirty Fingers in the bridge and a Gibson Burstbucker Pro in the neck.
A while back I asked you about speakers and the difference between guitar and bass. You answered it’s not the speakers but the electronics and that you play guitar through a bass amp but you don’t want to play bass through a guitar amp because you risk damage to electronics. I fully believe that and am certainly not going to gamble. But, how do all these guys get away with down tuning, baritone etc? Are they just taking the risk?
He had them taped to the back of the cabinet? Damn man did he not have a long enough cable to stick those on top of the amp lol
He didn’t want them there. He wanted them hidden, which is why he gaff taped them to the back of the cab where nobody would see them.
That's Rock n Roll ❤
Congratulations that was officially the worst thing I ever heard in my life
k
I have an attenuator on my ampeq VL-1002. It's a really handy tool to have. I use the shit out of it.
I have a VL-502 and it's the best amp. I've owned a Lee Jackson XLA-1000, a Lee modded JCM800 and the Ampeg sounded better.
And the Marshal Pedal was born agian....Not music related: But I had a Scholz Recotron, it was for decoding the stereo signal from TVs back in the day, when it wasn't available or feasible....Tom is a smart guy and a great musician.
I have a Marshall DSL40C and to my ears it can kinda get into JCM800 territory but it sounds boxy without at least a 2x12 cab which I don't have at the moment, but this makes me want a Scholtz powersoak now so I can drive the amp I'm definitely going to build a 2x12 cab for myself asap seems to be a good starting point. Thanks for the video it was very helpful.
I used to use a power soak,but it’s a resistive load,so I never liked the sound and feel…fast forward to today,there are much better choices in reactive loads now…I use mine in the shop for biasing and what not..I do still have my rock modules from back then that I use a lot…definitely the sound of an era for sure..
Have one but never used it yet, going to check it out soon, don't have any big amps anymore, might try it with my ampeg reverborocket
I own 2 that version and the og version, still using them
I have that same
Power Soak!! Bought cheap too...$94
i had a power soak in the early 80's .loaned it, never saw it again
Power soak, hard to come by, used have one & wish I still had it !
Cool video, yes He is an amazing engineer, for sure one of the best ever for guitar related items. Thx for sharing your findings, if you allow me i have to say those nasty comment of some people regarding ''tuning'' is pure trolling. In today's world someone wrote such comment for God knows what reason and other trolls pick it up. IMHO you are in some places when i listened you are in tune, when you play A chord, D chord after 10'th minute it sound OK etc. If someone can't pick up that He or She don't hear well or they don't play guitar long enough to learn how distorted guitar sounds. Some places that you just slightly off IMHO is due to it is such guitar, there is no guitar that is perfectly tuned, that is why people in studios often use some ''tricks'' to tune it for chords or even solo parts on difrent part of the fretboard. There is a middle ground to make some sacrifice for live playing and for me that is tune.
I guess that trolls today are usually part of a net, IMHO you dealing well with them, wish i have such good nerves and tackt as you do but i don't ☺, that is why i don't have YT chanel to be honest 😐.
The Only video i've made is about design rip of, when one big brand ripped off my design for a guitar toll but i haven't shared it yet ☺ becouse i'm not sure is it allowed to mention the name of that company etc as i did in video. So i have to make a new one..I wish to say that making videos is a hard task....
For me the acnet of your video is about that cool Power Soak Attenuator and what sound can you get , and i like it, you did a GREAT JOB. I don't know about other people but i like the real sound of guitar like that, without to much post recording ''make up'', due the only way for me to hear well is like that. Honestly i like more a simple Iphone recording then some super HQ production becouse it will cover everything.
I Wish you all the best in future work, for now i've saw a several cool videos on your chanel and i honestly liked them all, topics are good. So rock on and best regards from Europe.
Seems like whenever I tune into your channel your guitars are out of tune. Good grief dude, If you do tune them up before your videos and they still sound out of tune then you are probably pushing the strings down too hard.
I don't know what to say, but it's almost impossible to listen to you because you are out of tune.
Moist.
It are go good with pizza! 🤣 #butthurt and moist.
Yep yur outta tune big boy. some people too lazy to tuner' up or they get their sausage digits in the way 😂😆😂
Nothing respectable about being outta tune
You just don't get it! 🤣
Hey @kellectra blablhano He is not out of tune, but your br a in is out of tune 100%. I've listened and chords sound OK, so what are you talking about kid, or are some older qock suqer looking for a skore on YT?
One does not simply dime all the EQ knobs on a guitar or bass head.
One simply does on an old Marshall.
@@nathanbouton6700 I mean yeah, it can be done, but it's usually recommended against. Volume and gain are another story :)
Clearly you've never owned a JTM45, a Plexi, or JCM 800. You dime everything.
I Appreciate your sense of caution but that how you get "the Sound"
Edward Van Halen did…
@@MacPro8CoreMan I've never seen any evidence to support that claim. The only musician I've never known to have (later in his career) demonstrated that EQ strategy was Lemmy.
I really like hearing stories like this.
Tombiscan electronics wizard. I remember buying an original Rockman when they came out. expensive but worth every penny.
i have an original sholz power soak; major ear saver with older tube amps without a master volume! LOL
Still have my old Altair Pw- 5 but rarely use it
I have mine as well. It was the first commercially available unit - Pre-dating the Sholz. The problem with the Altair was that when it got really hot it would start screwing with the impedance coming in which is why it wasn't around for very long.
I have that very same power soak. I used it on an 80s JCM 800 and 1960 cab with no need for anything else. But when I plugged in my Ross distortion, DOD delay and dyna comp it was a clone of the Boston tone. Then I got an mxr chorus. I got married for a few years and sold or traded off that rig but kept the power soak somehow.
I remember the Ross Distortion. Great pedal
That Cinderella riff is giving me Wayne's World flashbacks
Reminds me of my old 1990s DigiTech pedal.
That's awesome! You managed to get a sound that is nothing like Sholtz's sound in any way at all. The way you use an out of tune guitar is genius! Lol, Good God Robert...
Yep, but it sure has triggered the SHIT out of a bunch of butthurt guitar players who are desperate to make their dicks feel bigger. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 #TRIGGERED
@@RobertWJackson How easily you gravitate towards dick. You are a bitter old ex salesmen who can't play even after 30 plus years of attempting to, and who can't hear tone at all, and you are comedy gold Robert).
@@RobertWJackson You deleted my reply. Lol. Proving all I said. Good God, you sure gravitate to dick.
@@RobertWJackson Lol, you wimp. Wow, just keep deleting, and stop gravitating to dick.
I didn’t delete anything. TH-cam probably blocked your comment because it went against their community standards, dipshit. 🤦🏻♂️
I thought you were going to say, "it was the speaker cabinet tone wood".
Man .. tune that guitar please
Nah, watching people get triggered in the comments section because apparently don’t understand how unstable tuning is on a Gibson is WAY more fun. 🤣🤣🤣
@@RobertWJacksonIt seems pretty clear that they're simply telling you to tune or intonate your guitar buttercup. You're either too lazy or you don't know how. There's no shortage of Gibson players that know how to tune their guitars moron
@@RobertWJackson EXACTLY!
@kellecetraro4807 I bet your dick feels a lot bigger now, doesn’t it? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yea..as a guitar player out of tune guitars hurt my ears
I’ve got a simple device called a “hot box” that I bought a few months ago for like $30. It goes in the effects loop. You can dime the amp and dial in lower volumes. You should check it out! It doesn’t even require batteries. Great video as always!
Aren't attenuators pretty hard the amp?
Nah. That’s a myth. There may be a few exceptions, but their job is to simply absorb energy being sent from the amp to the speaker, thereby reducing the volume. They’ve become so advanced in recent years with brands like Two Notes, Suhr, Fryette, Boss, and Universal Audio all coming out with killer units. If attenuation put any additional wear and tear on amps, I have a hard time believing that any of those brands would be coming out with any of these devices, let alone that they would all be so popular.
Beautiful big fat tone out of the gate. We can always tune her later
👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼 This guy gets it.
the fact that you could stand in the same room with a marshall at full blast should have given you the answer immediately lol
This is basically what Eddie Van Halen was doing with the Variac.
Had one. Blow my Hiwatt power transformer. Robert love your channel.
The Power Soak is a POS. It’s just a resistive load. Sounds ok at a few dbs. But gets fuzzy and compressed if you take anymore signal out.
SWEET!!!
NICE!!!
I do the same thing with my VTM120 but I don't use an attenuator because fuck FOH.
The people in the sound cone in front of your amp hear nothing but guitar, everyone else hears almost no guitar at all because the fader's down to zero at FOH 😁
Learn how to tune your guitar, or quit. You said you don't have any guitar endorsements 😂 perhaps you can start with a tuner endorsement 😂
I like how you need to make your dick feel bigger by pointing out that you’re not aware that Gibsons are nearly impossible to tune perfectly. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏻♂️
@@RobertWJackson Try. All you do is throw around your profanity, your family is proud. The rest of us who have Les Paul's know how to tune them, quit being lazy and figure it out like the rest of us 😂😆
@Bohdibowen Hey dipshit, I didn’t play a Les Paul in this video, I played an SG. Also, 4-letter words don’t scare me. If they scare you, that’s your problem, not mine.
But maybe you should post a video teaching us how to properly tune a guitar, since you’re so high and mighty about it? Oh yeah, YOU DON’T HAVE ANY CONTENT. That just makes you a typical internet troll likely living in his mom’s basement who’s never even seen a vagina in person. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@RobertWJackson look at you greasy fingers splitting hairs the only thing you're influencing is your cholesterol and diabetes vector 😂 Guess what Einstein, an SG was originally called a Les Paul SG 😂 and regardless of whatever you're playing, learn how to tune it everybody that actually cares about the craft and the skill of the instrument knows how to tune their instruments. Your family and the community is proud of you 😂😆😂 🤘🏼
@@RobertWJackson hahah.... The SG was originally called the Les Paul SG Einstein. guitarists who respect their craft and the skill involved learn and know how to tune their instruments regardless of what instrument they're playing. Your family and the community is proud of you 😂😆😂🤘🏼
Cool, sounds great!
Excellent Robert Jackson!!!!
I just stick a pot between preamp out/in
That’s not true attenuation. That’s just a volume control in your effects loop. It certainly works great in certain situations, but cranking a 100-watt tube head for a live gig isn’t one of them.
For the love of God tune that damn thing!!!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Do you notice the “ elephant in the room is how out of tune your guitar is! Holy crap. What are you doing . That’s more important than your tone.
That's a very astute observation 😂 moron. He does this on purpose to annoy dumbasses like you. #butthurt.
k
I only notice that you’re so concerned with making your dick feel bigger that you completely forgot your second set of quotations. 🤦🏻♂️
This will make a comment vid for sure! #butthurt 🤣
Yep yur out of tune and everybody is disgusted with it but you're moronic sausage digit thick skull thinks it's cute lol If you can't tune your guitar then quit
Love the "spinal tap" reference
Daaammmm ! Brother rip it up ❤🎉 dude u are awesome!!!!
Thas the first time I ever saw you get hard on-screen! LOL.
Varac!
I don't care what they say, tubes just give off a ring, feedback that digital just cannot reproduce.
Horrible.
Moist.
I can get a pretty similar sound out of my Helix with way less having to "work" for it. Just sayin