Sweet Power Attenuator - Dr. Z Airbrake November 20
Like a lot of players, I thought power attenuators were a bad thing because of the color they added to an amplifier’s natural sound. My opinion changed when I sat down with a AirBrake power attenuator built by Dr. Z. Although Dr. Z builds this unit,the technology is actually licensed from Ken Fischer of Trainwreck fame. I bought this unit in the summer of 2003 for use in my home studio so I could crank up a number of amps that sound their best when pushed hard. I’ve owned and tried a number of other amp attentuators over the years (including the Marshall Powerbrake and the excellent THD Hot Plate), but this unit is certainly one of the best.
The Dr. Z AirBrake is a dream for using tube amps in project recording studios or smaller live venues where pushing the volume to “11″ may not be an option. This unit gives you virtually all the sonic characteristics of the power tubes pushed to the brink, but at any volume you want.
Although the Air Brake is great for typical rock amps like Marshalls and Mesas, I’ve gotten some fantastic tones out of Fender amps like the Deluxe Reverb and the Super Reverb with this unit. Most of the recording I did with this unit was with a THD UniValve and a Dr. Z Mazerati head (see my other auction) with great results. Surprisingly, even though the UniValve is a low-wattage amp, running it full out with an EL34 power tube is REALLY loud into 4×12 cab - the Air Brake worked just like a master volume to get that amazing tone at any volume. Note: Yes, the UniValve does have a built-in attenuator, but it really colors the tone, IMHO. The Dr.Z Air Brake is clearly superior.
For amps under 100 watts, you can attenuate the output all the way down to 1 watt. It’s very simple to use too - just use a speaker cable from the amp and another to the speaker cab. The main Attenuator dial does the major volume reduction and the Bedroom Level dial lets you fine tune the output. In summary, easy to use - sounds great! What more could you ask!