volume box on ebay

[shawnshack]

Have you guys seen these? How do you feel about them? They are so cheap, it'd be nothing to buy one...but does it do any good? If you haven't seen them just go to ebay, type in volume box, and you should see some options for about $20.

 

[this1smyne]

technically all a volume pedal is is a pot and inputs.... so in theory the volume box is just fine.... you really need to weigh in the value of the pot inside, and i wouldn't trust the plastic enclosures.... just a personal thing.

 

[BillyJoeJimBob]

The one I saw quickly on there was called the Spongebox and was in a metal box. However, it didn't say what value pot was inside. Claimed it was intended for use in an effects loop so it might have a pot inside that's too low (in resistance value) to use as a guitar volume in front of the amp if you were so inclined. I'd ping the seller for more info.

 

[ibzmav]

haven't tried it yet but, super chili picoso is my volume/buffer box

 

[thetangmang]

I see you have a HRDx. Get a volume box. It helped me with taming the wild volume control on my HRDx and it was super cheap. I actually got mine on the emporium for even cheaper.

 

[shawnshack]

I see you have a HRDx. Get a volume box. It helped me with taming the wild volume control on my HRDx and it was super cheap. I actually got mine on the emporium for even cheaper.

what kind of pot did it have? do you think it really matters?

 

[Felixun1]

I bought one a couple years back. It did absolutely nothing. The guy agreed to let me return it, but never refunded my money.

 

[mobis8]

I use a volume box pedal called "the pot" by J. Evermann and I love it. I set my AC30 to dirty, and use the pedal to simulate rolling my guitar volume back to clean it up...

 

[Voodoo Blues]

Are you talking about the one from Carls Custom Guitars? I ordered one two weekends ago, hopefully it'll get here soon. If you can wait a day or two I'll let you know how it is, I use a HRDx too.

 

[PittJitsu]

I bought one of these after speaking with Jackaroo about using soakers in general with my vintage fenders. I didnt get why you would need to spend so much on one of those really high end attenuators some have here. I don't have the most subtle ear thanks to genetics and the 80's but not unlike hearing a pickup with and without a tone control wired in, there is something " not right" sounding about it. IMO. Nothing added, but something is missing. Sounds a very slight bit like the amp has a pillow stuck in the speaker if that makes sense.

 

[ptdesign]

HRDX user here too. I bought one a few years ago (carl's). Dosn't work as intended. The amp lost tone and definition. I believe it was a 100k pot (been a few years)

Sure, you can turn the preamp up but if you're starving the poweramp the objective is lost.

 

[Voodoo Blues]

The volume box was waiting for me when I got home from work and I gave it a spin. I've been playing through it for about an hour now and I like it. The only difference I notice in tone was that is was a little bit warmer and there was a little more distortion but I think those changes are because now that the volume on the amp is turned up there is more power going to the tubes. Think of it it this way, with the volume box the volume knob isn't controling the volume of the amp, it's controling the power going into the amp. More power into amp, more into the tubes.

The volume box still has a jump between quiet and loud but there is more of a range between. Now the jump is not as big so you do have more to work with.

Keep in mind I only used the clean channel and I definitely don't think the amp lost tone and definition. Maybe that was on the gain channels.

 

[walterw]

...now that the volume on the amp is turned up there is more power going to the tubes. Think of it it this way, with the volume box the volume knob isn't controling the volume of the amp, it's controling the power going into the amp. More power into amp, more into the tubes.

sorry, but that's not even remotely what is happening.

if it's in the effects loop, it's just acting like another master volume knob. that's it. if it's footswitchable, it can then act as a real big lead boost for solos.

The volume box still has a jump between quiet and loud but there is more of a range between. Now the jump is not as big so you do have more to work with.

that just means the pot in that box has a more even sweep than the master on those hot rods, which does indeed tend to jump up annoyingly.

 

[Voodoo Blues]

So turning up the volume doesn't send more signal to the tubes and make them work harder?

 

[walterw]

So turning up the volume doesn't send more signal to the tubes and make them work harder?

only if the amp is actually getting louder. turning up one master volume knob and turning down another won't change what the power tubes do.

now, turning up the preamp volume and turning down the master will work the preamp tubes harder, but again, the power tubes only work harder if the amp is actually louder.

 

[soulsonic]

So turning up the volume doesn't send more signal to the tubes and make them work harder?

It depends on what you're talking about. If the volume box is in the effects loop, it's going to do different things than if it's plugged in front of the amp. Totally different results.
If it's in front of the amp, it will turn down the signal before the preamp and affect how much drive it gets. If it's in the effects loop, the amount of preamp drive will remain the same regardless of how the box is set, but it would affect the signal going to the power tubes.
It totally depends on where you have the box in the signal path, and where the amp's volume is in the signal path. It can vary widely from amp to amp.


*sorry, I didn't see Walter had already posted pretty much the same thing...*

 

[Voodoo Blues]

now, turning up the preamp volume and turning down the master will work the preamp tubes harder, but again, the power tubes only work harder if the amp is actually louder.

That's what I said. Obviously since you're cutting the volume before the power tubes they're not getting the full signal but the preamp tubes are seeing what ever you dial in. Therefore the clean channel volume pot is acting more as a level than a volume.

 

[shawnshack]

I'm resurrecting an old thread I started...
I was looking at these again. I'm wanting to use it with a hot rod deluxe. Will it actually let me push the tubes harder and keep the volume down, or is it more of a gimmick? I should add that I'm not using the drive channel. I'm happy with my current tone, but can't run my amp louder than on 2 at my church. I noticed when I was playing an outdoor show a while back that my tone was much better (running the amp at about 4.5). Do you think I can achieve this with this box? Also, can I still run effects in my effects loop or does using this render my effects loop useless for anything else?

 

[shawnshack]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATTENUATOR-FOR-...in_0?hash=item2ea7996766&_trksid=p4999.c0.m14

here is the listing in case someone is unaware of what I'm talking about

 

[walterw]

I'm resurrecting an old thread I started...
I was looking at these again. I'm wanting to use it with a hot rod deluxe. Will it actually let me push the tubes harder and keep the volume down, or is it more of a gimmick? I should add that I'm not using the drive channel. I'm happy with my current tone, but can't run my amp louder than on 2 at my church. I noticed when I was playing an outdoor show a while back that my tone was much better (running the amp at about 4.5). Do you think I can achieve this with this box? Also, can I still run effects in my effects loop or does using this render my effects loop useless for anything else?

again, in the loop this box is just another master volume. that's all it does. if you want to drive your preamp tubes harder in the clean channel without getting louder, you can do that. otherwise, it does the same thing that the drive channel's master volume does.

it's no big deal to put other effects in-line with it in the loop. you probably want the thing after those effects, so it won't change the gain going into them.