Nothing better sounding then an amp cranked...

[bigdaddy]

FedEx made a delivery today and in it was a Webervst Mini mass. It has no volume control just two tone controls. They work well and it has cut down the volume to the level of a TV with a 6V6 champ.

But sorry to say there is no better sound then a simple preamp driving power tubes hard into a speaker, period, even if it's 2 watts. Anything else just looses so many of the little nuances of playing. You just don't get all those little techniques with your pick and fingers both left and right hands.

So the thing is OK to practice with but does not in anyway supersede the need for an unobstructed sound. To me these things are tone sucks and obstructions that mask what the amp does in it's full glory.

I tested it at the lowest volume, like a TV set. The guy upstairs still has no carpeting as per orders from the landlord and proceeded to stomp around his apartment in retaliation. It seems anytime he hears me play even if it's the faintest of sounds(and it was) he's going to do that. This is what you have to deal with when you have people like that. He doesn't seem to care that every time he's home I can hear every foot step, no that's OK to hear that all day and night, clump clump, clump of his feet. I spend like $500+ on stuff to make the sound almost unheard because I am a responsible adult, not including rebuilding some amps. On the other hand he's a typical screw you it's all about me 20 something. I pity the good people living the future of our society, I only see things getting worse especially in the cities.

[TIMBO]

Hi bigdaddy,Hope your amp gets you to the place you want to be!!!! I think the disease is here in australia too. Good luck. Timbo

[7string]

You could also try a slave amp setup with the mass.

Plug straight into a good sounding loud amp --> speaker out to Mass (verify dummy load w/ meter) --> Mass line out into low watt amp.

This kind of thing is popular with the guys chasing the Van Halen 1 sound. It still may not be your cup of tea but it is worth a try.

[LooseChange]

That's why I build those Desktop Champs!

[bigdaddy]

That's why I built my Champs but they are LOUD as hell!!!!!!!!!!!! man they crank...I got some awesome Marshall sounds using an EF86 driver. With a 12AY7 triode then TS, EF86 and EL-34. Wow I mean hooked up to a 10" greenback it had that sound, I know that sound.

But it's loud as hell.

I need something low as heck.... .....1 watt but it's all about driving the output section and getting the gain right. The Killer Ant is all preamp saturation and doesn't drive the output section at all. I guess it's for tube life issues. There's 100K resistor from the CF fixed tone stack to the power triode. That triode is NOT getting driven at all. If I turn it past half way it gets to sound like a fuzz box, total square wave, you can even start to hear the cutoff.

[7string]

Hey bigdaddy, did you try it yet?

Turn both volume (tone) knobs all the way down for a dummy load.

[bigdaddy]

Not yet, I'm not really able to do all that much at any one time because of my spinal issues. But it was in my mind to try that from when I got it. It kind is a little complex to start hooking up every time I just want to play for a few minutes. But just for the heck of it, it's something to try.