CaptainBeyond

I was mulling over the possibility of incorporating a power brake with my VM 2466. I have read that these devices take a toll on the tubes. My question is, are they hard on the output tubes or the pre-amp tubes? How much tube life loss can be expected with occasional use. Exactly what is the effect of the brake on the tone and volume settings. Thanx!

Jesstaa

A good brake will just lower your volume, turning the excess volume into heat. They shouldn't take any toll on your tubes or your tone, and just put through all your tone and some power tube distortion (If your amp is up loud) at a lower volume.

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CaptainBeyond

Thanks Jesstaa from down under!

Jesstaa

Oi.

*Throws Kangaroo's at CaptainBeyond*

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RobS

Cpt!
A powerbrake allows you to run your amp at full power, or close to it. So yes, your tubes will wear out quicker than if you only run your Vol at say 2 or 3 where it's mainly pre amp distortion.
I recently got one for my 900 100watt head and love it. I do not crank it to 10 though, only to about 6 and then brake it back. The trick is finding the sweet spot and what I have discovered is that if your master vol is over 6 then do not brake it too much as you will suffer tone loss. The marketing thing of 'run your amp flat out and reduce to bedroom levels ' is not that true.
They are a good thing.

steelhorse

Used to have a hotplate, took it offline, sold it, don't have one anymore.

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LesPaulopolis

Volume pedal is a nice 'poor mans' solution as well. Crank the amp, bring it down a bit w/the pedal. You need to have it in the FX loop for this to work.

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RiverRatt

+1. I used a hotplate for a couple of months and I could never make my amp sound as good with it as it did with the master turned down and a decent pedal driving the preamp hard. YMMV.

ToneZone100

There are tons of threads on here where people have blown their amps to hell using these devices. You have to bear in mind that you will be running all the components in the amp at near their peak operating performance including the valves and circuitry. This means everything gets pretty hot and unless your amp is in tip top condition internally you may well land yourself an expensive repair bill.
Putting a powerbrake on a valve amp is a bit like driving a a Ferrari everywhere in first gear. It will sound great and the speed (read sound for amp) will be easily manageable but the engine and gearbox will probably go bang in quite a short space of time.

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Procter2812

Try this.... sounds good

Turn the pre amp volumes down.... crank the master.... then boost the amp with a pedal.


Sweet tone at a low volume!!!!

MonstersOfTheMidway

Opinion: not to brake
Work on your settings to find the "sweet spot" as a previous reply stated.

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American Viking

Master Volume was invented so you don't have to have an attenuator. Trying to get the holy grail of tones isn't going to happen if you can't turn it up. No device will ever be able to fix that.

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rockinr0ll

Don't do it my friend, invest in something else!

MARSHALLDUDE

i agree, thas the way i do it works for me!

CaptainBeyond

Horse ... you are an FN beast! I guess this is another "door stop" huh? The majority consensus seems to point to "not to brake". Aw F. I was all primed to get the output tube massage without having the fuzz come down with their weapons drawn, telling me to come out with my hands up. You guys need to be quicker on the draw or I need to be more patient. Everywhere, I read these things were great. Jesstaa came in with a blistering positive review and the rest has been a total thumbs down. I did my homework too. Thanks guys, as usual you're the BEST! Sorry for the delay. Day job fog.