an attenuator controls the flow of power from the poweramp section to the speakers. 2 very different animals. Grammar and spelling omitted as an exercise for the reader. Putting a volume pedal in your effects loop is only going to act like a master volume, it won’t have the same effect as using an attenuator.
Herein, are attenuators bad for your amp?
Electrically speaking, it would make no real sense for an attenuator to damage an amplifier considering these devices come after the amp in the signal chain. Problems do arise when players implement attenuators, but more often than not it is a result of having the amp pushed to its limits for hours at a time.
Simply so, can I use a volume pedal in the effects loop? IN YOUR EFFECTS LOOP
Placing your pedal in the effect loop of your amp means it no longer functions like a foot-controlled guitar volume. With gain in play on your pedalboard, the volume pedal now acts as a level control. You’ll have the same amount of gain no matter how you set the level with the volume pedal.
Besides, do attenuators degrade sound quality?
No, no difference at all. A passive volume control IS an attenuator, just a variable one. The issue might be that the volume control may not be the first thing the signal hits, there could be a buffer before the volume control.
Do attenuators get hot?
It’s not optional. If there is a mismatch, the attenuator can get too hot. If there is a mismatch, the amp can also overload (or blow).
Do attenuators reduce headroom?
The point of attenuation is basically to reduce headroom. Max headroom == max sound pressure level when amp is clean. When the amp distorts, you’re out of headroom. The point of attenuators is to get overdrive at reduced level, thus reducing headroom.
How do you make a passive volume pedal?
What is a volume attenuator?
Volume Control Attenuator
An attenuator is an volume control device that reduces the power of an amplified signal without distorting its waveform. These are designed for 70V paging and commercial sound systems.
What is an attenuator pedal?
An attenuator allows you to crank the amp up without blasting your ears because it bleeds off some of the wattage being sent to the speaker. The speaker then reproduces the tone of a cranked amp at a reduced volume. How do they work? Attenuators are placed between the output of the amp and the speaker.
What is the difference between passive and active volume pedals?
If you have active pickups you’ll need a passive volume pedal in the 25K – 50K range. If you mix these up, you’ll likely suffer some tone loss from the impedance mismatch. If you are using an active volume pedal you don’t need to worry about the value of the potentiometer.
What is the purpose of attenuator?
Attenuators are electrical components designed to reduce the amplitude of a signal passing through the component, without significantly degrading the integrity of that signal. They are used in RF and optical applications.
Where do you put the attenuator?
To use an attenuator, connect a speaker cable from one of your amp’s speaker outputs to the attenuator’s input, and then connect another speaker cable from the attenuator’s output or through jack to the speaker cabinet’s input jack.