JeanRock

That's it...What do you guys think about using an attinuator or the Yellow Jacket tube adaptors.
I'm trying to find out if the Yellow Jacket is worth trying on a tube amp. And do they fit In my plexy .

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iron broadsword

Just looked them up for the first time because of this post. Interesting! Gonna keep my eyes on this thread.

JeanRock

Yeah a guy at this shop talked to me about it. Since attinuators and power soaks a know to shit up your tone...it makes pretty much sence to me that just by loweriing the tube power it wouldn't affect your tone as much and for the fraction of the price!

JeanRock

Just can,T get my hands on a paire of these in Canada QC...Hard to find

iron broadsword

That sucks. I'm in Canada too, NB. Ebay is probably the way to go... yep!
THD Yellow Jacket Set with Tubes | eBay

Nice, even comes with 2x JJ EL84's. Hmm, I was thinking about building an attenuator soon, but now I'm gonna have to think about doing this instead.

BrentD

I think it depends on how much volume you need to cut. Through the same speakers and tranny you probably won't lose a lot of volume with EL84s. The tone characteristics of the amp might change slightly, too, with more of a focus on midrange.

20 watts isn't all that lower in volume than 100 watts. An attenuator will give you the ability to shave off that much volume plus a lot more (and sure, you will lose some tone).

I still like the idea though because I like EL84s.

Blueslicks

Nothing wrong with a "good" attenuator that "suits" your amp. IE: not all attenuators suit all amps, some sound good with marshalls some don't.

You will not achieve bedroom levels with any amp using any attenuator without loss of an integral part of your tone which is speaker breakup. Depending on the overall efficiency and power handling of the speaker, this breakup (amongst other things like compression and harmonics) is lost the moment you have ceased pushing the speaker with adequate volume. At this point all you hear with an attenuator is the power section of the amp as the speaker itself is no longer adding color to the tone.

Attenuators are fine for simply taming a loud amp in a gig or rehearsal situation. So many people bark out how "if you need to attenuate, you are using the wrong amp". Only an ignorant fool would say this as they have no understanding that a plexi or similarly powered variant might sound life ending loud in a small rehearsal room then appear underpowered at a gig. IT DEPENDS ON THE ROOM. So are you going to arm yourself with a thousand amps to accomodate every room? No, you will find a suitable amp or two (you need a spare anyway) that provides ample headroom and the tone you like. With an attenuator you are now able to play any room with your tone always consistant.

That being said, another alternative to investigate is the Eminence Reignmaker. It uses FDM (flux density modulation) which allows you to turn a dial on the back of the speaker and attenuate up to -9db. There is a British voiced version with the Reignmaker model (kinda greenbackish) and an American voiced version in the Maverick model. The downside to those speakers is that you need access to the back of them so a partial open back cab is required to effectively use the FDM feature. It also won't do bedroom volume with a 50 watter but it will cut about half the percievable volume at full attenuation.

Another alternative I like to have available is to have one "Loud" cab and one "Louder" cab. Load one with efficient speakers and one with inefficient speakers. A 2x12 with 100db speakers sounds much louder than a 2x12 loaded with 96db speakers and can really make a difference in a room.

As for yellow jackets, you will have a much different tone switching to el84 in what is initially an el34 voiced amp. That amp was wired for bigger bottles, it ain't the same as when an amp is specifically designed and voiced to smaller tubes. I won't say you won't like it, but it will be way different than the el34 tubes being pushed by that plexi's power section.

willscott182

So these take a 100 watt amp down to about 20 watts right? If so, that's only gonna be around a 5dB decrease in volume maybe?

BrentD

This is what I'm thinking. PLUS you get the different-tube-different-tone problem that I mentioned (but that Blueslicks described in greater detail).

With an attenuator you CAN pull down a lot more volume. Sure, you lose cone breakup and the tone changes (sometimes a lot), but you'd get a tone change with a different tube anyway.

I think the Yellow Jackets are more useful for people who like their whatever preamp (Marshall, Fender, etc.) but want EL84 tube breakup in the power stage. It's a particular type of tube and it makes a particular type of sound.

diesect20022000

Divo, not the band.

Roadburn

Going from 100W to 20W will also decrease the headroom.
So if you normally don't play with a fully saturated sound the difference will very likely be more then 5dB.


B.t.w. there is a thread on this forum about Yellowjackets which concludes that they are not 100% safe.
They could even cause a catastophic failure to your amp.

THD Yellow Jackets... Serious potential for fun.

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diesect20022000

diesect20022000

don't mind that it's Orange it can be installed on most any amp.

diesect20022000

it has wattage variation too.

dismalswamp

Although the yellow jackets do get the volume down and help you get earlier power tube saturation, they completely change the signature tone of the amp. You'll lose what you love about the EL34s or 6550s that attracted you to the plexi sound in the first place.
I much prefer something like a HotPlate to the YJ's

JeanRock

No it take a 100w down to 40w and 50w to 20...But thats just a on a spicifique model...YJSD

willscott182

So you're probably looking somewhere between a 3dB and 5dB volume decrease with them then.

Strateuphoria

Mike up the drummer. problem solved.

johnfv

I bought a pair of Yellowjackets, they are sitting on the shelf.
- they don't reduce volume that much, even an 18 watt Marshall is still pretty loud
- too tall to fit in many situations, I can't even try them in my Fender Showman
- Mostly a way to get EL84 tone in other amps
- Can be cool mixed with the original tubes in a quad. My plexi sounded cool with 2 x EL34 and 2 x EL 84 (yellowjackets)
- If I recall someone here melted them... ymmv

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