Power soak or Iso box for guitar?

armanbohn · Post by **armanbohn** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:19 am

I'm recording some electric guitar for my CD and I just can't seem to get a good tone without cranking the *&^#*! out of my amps. I don't want to disturb the next door neighbor so:

What are the pros and cons of building an iso box vs getting a power soak for my amp?

I figure a good power soak will be close to $300 and an iso box will cost about $50-$100.

Any user experiences? Am I kidding myself by thinking an iso box will kill enough sound?

I'm using a Classic 20 - 20 watt tube amp and a Delta 210 30 watt tube amp.

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:43 am

best results I've gotten is to use both the Iso box and an attenuator.
The Randal ISO cab is pretty darn cheap for everything you need. Even comes with a speaker.

I use the ISO cab with a DR Z Airbrake attenuator. When you lower the volume of the speaker it isn't driving the box so hard and doesn't yeild a 'boxy' sound.

armanbohn wrote:I'm recording some electric guitar for my CD and I just can't seem to get a good tone without cranking the *&^#*! out of my amps. I don't want to disturb the next door neighbor so:

What are the pros and cons of building an iso box vs getting a power soak for my amp?

I figure a good power soak will be close to $300 and an iso box will cost about $50-$100.

Any user experiences? Am I kidding myself by thinking an iso box will kill enough sound?

I'm using a Classic 20 - 20 watt tube amp and a Delta 210 30 watt tube amp.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:44 am

First, let me say to disregard anything I say that contradicts roscoenyc, as he is one of my favorite producers (and a damn good writer/guitarist, too).

Enough fanboy shite!

For what it is worth, I have a Scholz power soak, that I think I paid US$50 for, used. While I wouldn't like to use it all of the time live, for recording it really is useful, allowing you to get the power tubes cooking at a reasonable level.

I also use an Anvil roadcase as a cheap iso box, putting a combo in to drive it's speaker from another amp outside the case (remember, don't turn on the amp in the case as heat is an issue!), with a 57 on the speaker and the wires coming out a 1" hole I punched in the plywood. When that isn't quiet enough, it's easy to just throw a quilt on top.

Two other things that might help are if your can reduce the output of the amp by pulling tubes (on a Fender, say a Bassman, with 4 6L6's you can pull one pair - typically the two outside tubes as I recall - check that re your amps), and there are adaptors that can allow you to change tubes from, say, a 6L6 to an EL84, although that might change the amp's sound pretty significantly. (I don't know anything about your amps, but I suspect they probably are EL34's or 6V6's already so that may not help...)

Finally, and for what it's worth, I find that these types of compromises can be made to work, but as compromises they are a little different in that you aren't getting the speaker distortion, the air movement, and even maybe the room and guitar interaction with the amp that "dimeing" it gives. Not to mention the sheer joy of playing loud!

armanbohn · Post by **armanbohn** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:06 am

Thanks guys.

I am looking at something called an axetrack right now. It's the same price as the Randall but is actually almost silent.

Anyone use one of these?

thecheat · Post by **thecheat** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:24 am

My Soloution to this same problem was building an Isolation Box

Bought one sheet of 3/4" MDF and some wheels, hardware and insulation and built a case big enough to hold a 2x12 amp or speaker cab.

I put two gooseneck mic holders in there, and ran cables to the outside of the box where there are jacks for 1/4" speaker, and two XLRs for mic, the thing works great. had to eventually stuff some fiberglass in there to soak up some sound and its a little on the bassy side but all in all the things works great and it cost me under 50 bucks.

Theres more info and a picture of it if you follow the "Ark Of The Covenant" link on the Gear page of my website.

Good luck!

Chris

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:41 pm

i used to have a sholtz powersoak here and used it successfully on lots of guitar tracks. its owner reclaimed it last year and now i just run the amps full out and annoy the neighbors.

armanbohn · Post by **armanbohn** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:57 pm

Hmmm... maybe one of these?

http://www.grendelsound.com/deadroom.htm

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:02 pm

armanbohn wrote:Hmmm... maybe one of these?

http://www.grendelsound.com/deadroom.htm

nicer version of the Randall!
two mic mounts and a good speaker..
pretty cool.

oh, and thanks VVV

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:04 pm

0xeneye · Post by **0xeneye** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:34 pm

I use a THD hotplate as an attenuator. It can power a cab of course but also has a line out for re-amping, pre-amping, chaining, etc.

Knight79 · Post by **Knight79** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:51 am

Just built an iso box and love it. I record with a little fender, 10 inch tube amp and can crank it up to 7-8. You will still hear it but its remarkable to hear how much the iso box dampens the sound just by lifting open the lid while your playing.

Couple of things. I would use at least 1 inch MDS (I found 1 and 1/8 inch from a cabinet maker which costs me about $80 for all of the pieces and for him to cut it).

Also make sure its on wheels because MDS is really heavy and you want it mounted so the bass doesn't go right through your walls and into your neighbors! All in all it was a pretty fun project and well worth it, I'm loving the signal I'm getting.

VelvetoneStudios · Post by **VelvetoneStudios** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:49 am

I've tried pretty much every attenuator out there and I've found the Weber "High Power Load Dump" to be the very best. They're not too pricy, and if you're only pushing 20 watts you may be able to use the lower power version. Anyone else tried the Weber?? (I actually own the first 2 made!)
I think the site is webervst.com
Yo!~

jwnc · Post by **jwnc** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:39 pm

Or you can buy this that I am selling

I have had this less then 2 months and its been rack mounted in my small home studio since day 1. Its in mint condition. Check out below for more information about the unit.

http://www.spl-usa.com/transducer/2601_kurz_E.html

Retail 1495

I will let it go for 975.00 plus shipping.

Its a killer unit for direct recording with your amps.
Any questions feel free to email me.

USA ONLY, sorry.
Jason

armanbohn · Post by **armanbohn** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:29 pm

thanks - but you might try posting it in the "For Sale" forum.

I'm giving the axetrak a shot. The Dead Room is back ordered for a while longer.

keeping fingers crossed

linus · Post by **linus** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:25 am

The only attenuator I can speak of is an original Sholtz Power Soak. It was fine for knocking down the sound so I could play late at night but it completely SQUASHED the dynamic range. It just seemed to squeeze all sense of life out of the sound. It didn't just make it quieter, the amp reacted differently than when it was just seeing the speaker. I didn't like it and couldn't imagine wanting to record that sound.

Maybe some other attenuator will be better.

How about just getting a little amp that will be way quieter? An Epi Valve Jr or something in that power range. I have one and it is really manageable.

The other option is to get a REAMP box and when it's too late to make noise just record your direct guitar signal. Then another time when you can actually make noise just reamp your recorded direct signal through your amp of choice.

Message Board

Power soak or Iso box for guitar?

Power soak or Iso box for guitar?

Re: Power soak or Iso box for guitar?

Who is online