Has anyone ever used the Omnisonic Volume Control Box

[Denny]

How does it sound? Pros and cons?

Denny

[Blue Strat]

Got a link?

[HipKitty]

Sounds like an attenuator....

[Denny]

I did a google search and the only thing I can find are the actual auctions for them:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Omnisonic-Tube-Amp-VOLUME-BOX-for-PEAVEY-Classic-30-50_W0QQitemZ130141516658QQihZ003QQcategoryZ43375QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

They seem pretty good based on the HC reviews.

D.

[Blue Strat]

I've seen similar items before. It's probably a pot in a box with 1/4" jacks and acts like a master volume control. Installs in the effects loop of your amp.

Cottage industry (likely sans income taxes, business license, etc.) at it's best!

[HipKitty]

From the size, I certainly can't imagine it being a reactive unit.

[Blue Strat]

From the size, I certainly can't imagine it being a reactive unit.

You mean like an attenuator? From the text, it goes in the effects loop and is therefore not an attenuator.

[Denny]

So basically, If I just jumpered my FX loop, and turned down either the send or receive it would be about the same thing?

D.

[phsyconoodler]

i built one of those for a friend's Hot Rod Deluxe.It is a box with a 100k pot and two jacks.It goes in the effects loop and it allows you to get a better handle on the volume problems with the HRD.they are either on or off with the pot on the amp as is.It is simple and it works.

[Blue Strat]

So basically, If I just jumpered my FX loop, and turned down either the send or receive it would be about the same thing?

D.


Most likely if the send/receive pots do what I think they do and they're engaged with nothing in the loop. You might possibly have to put a jumper cable in the loop. Crank your channel volume and turn down either of those pots and see what happens. If they act as a volume control, the effect should be the same as that box.

[Denny]

That's what I was thinking. should be interesting. I'll try that tonight with my Concert. Thanks

D.

[HipKitty]

You mean like an attenuator? From the text, it goes in the effects loop and is therefore not an attenuator.

Doh! Thanks for catching that Mike, I didn't read all the way through the promo. I saw the pic and could tell that it would be limited to jacks, wire and a pot.....and maybe an additional resistor to alter the pot's range.

It is amazing what some folks will think of as a "solution" to a perceived amp problem. I had a client bring me a SF Bassman head that kept blowing fuses. Turn out he was using a "homemade" attenuator he bought off of ebay...was told by a respected road guitar tech that these things were as good as a Hotplate or Airbrake. Under suspicion , I tested the amp under normal, unattenuated operation and everything was dead on, just needed to replace a couple of bubbling filter caps, but that was going to happen anyway. I put the "new best thing" inline and never could get the voltages from fluctuating wildly...even after the filter cap replacement. Take it offline and perfectly good. The client decided to lose the attenuator and requested a PPIMV installed instead.

[ajbstrat]

I don't see what all the confusion is about with this device. In a nutshell, it's an inexpensive Volume pot for an amp's pre-amp....that's ALL. Since the majority of guitar amp's do not include a Volume pot for the output of the pre-amp stage, such a control CAN prove useful, in the same way that any OTHER control has its use in an amp's design. Personally, i find having an additional volume control at this stage of the signal path to be very useful. Keep in mind that most of an amp's tone-shaping occurs in the pre-amp, NOT the power section. This fact, together with the fact that most players shape their tone further with several stomp's that feed the pre-amp, can result in some very useful additional sound-shaping capability when you introduce a pre-amp-out Volume pot. (For example, try driving the output of one or two of your favorite OD stomp's harder than you've ever dared to before into your amp's input, and you'll begin to see some possibilities. OR, connect a compatible device into your FX SEND, THEN feed that output into the Omnisonic box....) If you look at it this way, introducing an additional control in the signal path makes perfect sense.

[phillygtr]

Scott Henderson uses a volume pot in his fx loop. Check out the pink box in the middle of his board:

http://www.scotthenderson.net/geartxt.htm