Amp isolation for recording/practice/silent stage

JoeyBones

Apparently my practice sessions are not appreciated much by my neighbors, so I need to isolate my amp or reduce my volume (Not gonna happen). We're looking to isolate the amps at church as well. We replaced our old Marshall MG 100s with Fender Hot Rods (Way louder than we thought they would be).

For reference, this was tonight's practice room :

Was hoping my bedroom would be quieter than my lounge.

Does anyone know where I can get something like this locally at a decent price ? I don't really care for the perspex. Just want to reduce my volume at home and silence the amp at church.

=

deefstes

I'd imagine that would affect the character of the sound received from the mic tremendously?

But yes, for practice purposes that looks like a great idea.

AlanRatcliffe

Perspex enclosures like that aren't really isolation, they merely change the direction of the sound away from other mics, preventing leakage. Over a distance, sound has a way of getting round simple barriers and as far as a neighbour is concerned, the screens don't change the volume much at all.

True isolation is sealed and uses a lot of damping material (you'll have seen the big iso boxes some of the bigger churches use). Thick heavy MDF and lots of high density fibreglass or rockwool are the ticket. For valve amps, don't forget airflow too...

Cheaper and easier to get a Tech 21 Character series pedal and use the PA at low volumes or with headphones.

JoeyBones

I want to sell my combo, buy a head an cab and make an iso box for church. That way I can use my amp in it's sweet spot without worrying about volume.

I need to go try these tech21 pedals out. A couple of guys have mentioned them.

TomCat

One easy way to control amp volumes at church is to place the amp off stage in a small room at the back of the stage if such a room is available. Unfortunately, if you have more than one amp, you need more than one room.... :-\ :-\. another place is under the stage if the stage is hollow.

Only thing to bear in mind is the long cable runs that could suck tone......so preferably use a buffer at the end of pedals before sending off to the amp...or you could get some of these...

Bob-Dubery

Wouldn't one of those power soak thingies do the trick? Those devices that act as a big load between the amp and the speaker and soak up most of the signal (dispersing it as heat) and allowing only a small amount through to the speakers. With one of those you can have your amp cranked right up to patent pending but make relatively little noise.

JoeyBones

TomCat wrote: One easy way to control amp volumes at church is to place the amp off stage in a small room at the back of the stage if such a room is available. Unfortunately, if you have more than one amp, you need more than one room.... :-\ :-\. another place is under the stage if the stage is hollow.

We considered this, but budget is a constraint, so we're looking for the best compromise. This is on the cards for sometime in the future, but not right now.

Only thing to bear in mind is the long cable runs that could suck tone......so preferably use a buffer at the end of pedals before sending off to the amp...or you could get some of these...

We've got nice spot under our stage directly below the spot we stand, but because of the chambered nature of the space, the signal was bleeding very heavily from one amp into the others mic. Maybe it was something we did wrong. We just need to buffer the amps so they don't bleed from one into the other and we should be sorted.

JoeyBones

X-rated Bob wrote: Wouldn't one of those power soak thingies do the trick? Those devices that act as a big load between the amp and the speaker and soak up most of the signal (dispersing it as heat) and allowing only a small amount through to the speakers. With one of those you can have your amp cranked right up to patent pending but make relatively little noise.

They are an option, but they cost a fair bit and if I remember correctly they tend to reduce the lifespan of your tubes. I haven't used one, so I can't vouch for this.

TomCat

How big is the space under the stage (Approx W x L x H)..?

JoeyBones

TomCat wrote: How big is the space under the stage (Approx W x L x H)..?

About 2m x 5m x 1.5m, give or take. Our old stage was made out of brick, so instead of breaking it down and rebuilding from scratch, they built the new one over it.

roskib

One option is to consider a power soak/attenuator.

Basically goes between your amp and the speaker (valve amps must have a load!) - turn amp/tubes up, turn speaker output down (or all the way off if you so desire).

THD & Scholz and several other small companies make some good products, although I struggled to get one for my Fender Hot Rod which needed to be pushed way too loud for comfortable/safe playing in order to get that great tone. Plan was to tap a line out of my H&K red box off the power soak, into the desk.

I almost shipped one in from the US but baulked at the shipping costs coz the darn things are so heavy.

Ended up cashing out the HotRod for a tidy profit and getting a master volume JSX combo, problem solved.

TomCat

JoeyBones wrote:
TomCat wrote: How big is the space under the stage (Approx W x L x H)..?
About 2m x 5m x 1.5m, give or take. Our old stage was made out of brick, so instead of breaking it down and rebuilding from scratch, they built the new one over it.

If it is possible, divide the space into two spaces with some dry walling and line the innser surfaces of the two "Rooms" with Fibreglass material such as Cineplex Tiles or similar. This will give you an isolated space for each amplifier, each being big enough to not have overheating problems, with minimal bleed from one amp to the other. Then you can crank away for that tone......

Bob-Dubery

roskib wrote: One option is to consider a power soak/attenuator.

Basically goes between your amp and the speaker (valve amps must have a load!) - turn amp/tubes up, turn speaker output down (or all the way off if you so desire).

THD & Scholz and several other small companies make some good products, although I struggled to get one for my Fender Hot Rod which needed to be pushed way too loud for comfortable/safe playing in order to get that great tone. Plan was to tap a line out of my H&K red box off the power soak, into the desk.

I almost shipped one in from the US but baulked at the shipping costs coz the darn things are so heavy.

Ended up cashing out the HotRod for a tidy profit and getting a master volume JSX combo, problem solved.

There's a locally manufactured device available - though the maker is a member and respectful of the forum rules and thus does not blow his own (or his product's) trumpet here.

I'm scratching my head and trying to remember the name.

AlanRatcliffe

X-rated Bob wrote: I'm scratching my head and trying to remember the name.

Tube Tamer - I've got one I use on my Twin. www.tubetamer.co.za - Graeme Parfitt and I think Manfred is also involved there now. Attenuators don't wear out your valves quicker, but if you are driving your amp hard and attenuating down, then the valves are working harder than when you simply turn your amp down.

Tokai-SA

Joey

IMO you need a digital modeller, something like a Pod XT, or Pod HD300/400/500, or a Vox Tonelab, or a Fender Mustang, etc, etc.

You'll waste money using an attenuator on your amp, you'll still be too loud, and your amp will lose half it's tone.

Tokai-SA

X-rated Bob wrote:
roskib wrote: One option is to consider a power soak/attenuator.

Basically goes between your amp and the speaker (valve amps must have a load!) - turn amp/tubes up, turn speaker output down (or all the way off if you so desire).

THD & Scholz and several other small companies make some good products, although I struggled to get one for my Fender Hot Rod which needed to be pushed way too loud for comfortable/safe playing in order to get that great tone. Plan was to tap a line out of my H&K red box off the power soak, into the desk.

I almost shipped one in from the US but baulked at the shipping costs coz the darn things are so heavy.

Ended up cashing out the HotRod for a tidy profit and getting a master volume JSX combo, problem solved.
There's a locally manufactured device available - though the maker is a member and respectful of the forum rules and thus does not blow his own (or his product's) trumpet here.

Ya, Bob, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more.

Have a Happy New Year.

JoeyBones

Lots of good ideas here.

Thanks guys ?

Norman86

Is Graeme still making the tube tamer??