Which Loadbox + Attenuator is the cheapest?

[BoomTexan]

I'm in high school, don't have a job, make my money by reselling weird and niche guitars/amps that pop up on Craigslist. I have a budget of ~200 dollars, because I need $1000 constantly in guitar investments to make any meaningful money. (made the mistake of buying a Firebird for myself too early and it took me 3 months to claw my way back to $1000)

I have a couple tube amps and they get relatively loud. My parents are continually getting mad at me because I can't help turning the volume up to the sweet spot. I've started practicing when they're out of the house, but it's only like half an hour a day, so not enough time to do any meaningful practice. I don't have a basement, so I can't cart the amps down there.

The only real solution at this point is to get a loadbox and attenuator so I can silent practice with my amps. I'm going to need one in college anyways because there are sound limits there, and while the one I'm thinking of attending has soundproofed rooms below the library for music, I can't cart a 50lb tube amp and 2x15 cab across campus every time I want to practice. What is the cheapest (still functional) loadbox and attenuator that I could use for silent practice? Not talking about the best value, I'm talking about the absolute rock bottom.

 

[unixfish]

Why not a headphone amp? The Mustang Micro is $120 and sounds pretty good. You could play in your dorm / apartment all day long with that and not bother anyone, then have your tube amp when you can make some noise. With the MM, you can even walk down the hall while playing.

That is just an idea.

 

[no doz]

not sure what the rest of the market looks like, but i bought my torpedo captor 8 for $200 i believe

-20db of speaker attenuation and a line out to play / record silently inside of a DAW. might be an option for you to consider

 

[hnryclay]

Dont go cheap woth something that could break your amp. Used reputable brand is the way to go. Also as someone said above a good headphone system makes more sense for your situation, especially in college. No way do you have space for a tube amp in a dorm room.

 

[Chud]

I have a Jet City attenuator that is nice and simple, does the job cheaply. I think it’s discontinued but the Bugera version is pretty much the same box.

If you want to go a little more high tech, you can go the Two Notes Captor route as someone else mentioned. I have the Captor X version and love it. You can find a demo or used Captor within your budget, or new just outside.

 

[VintageSG]

Blackstar Fly 3 stereo pack :-
Pretty good little amp for close quarters playing
Really good TV/computer speakers
Good headphone sound
Small

Yamaha THR10 :-
All the above goodness minus the TV/computer speakers
Different amp models
Small
Cute

Other small, capable amps are available. Keep the valves for fundays.

The Behringer PS1 is pretty good, but no headphone facility. It can be used as a load box ( but I'd belt and braces with a 50/100W resistor into the speaker out of it to be sure ) and the line-out or DI can go to a mixer or interface.

 

[Cyberi4n]

I’d look at the Bugera one first, gets good reviews for the money.

 

[bgmacaw]

I have a Jet City attenuator that is nice and simple, does the job cheaply. I think it’s discontinued but the Bugera version is pretty much the same box.

I have the Bugera and it works for me as a way to send a line out signal to an IR Cab and mixer. However, my amps are low powered and the OP didn't say what amps they were using.

I also agree with the idea of using a lightweight, headphone capable, portable modeling amp for college use.

 

[Dostradamas]

Probably the Carls Custom Speaker soak $50

I got one for my champ clone and dont use it because it adds a weird fizz.

I would go headphone amp.

I try and try to tame the volume but the headphones are the only way for me to get the sound I want and be quiet.

Laney Lionheart mini works great with my pedals and is cheap, small, and AA powered (or pedal power plug)

PM me and I will give you a deal on a 4 ohm Carls Custom Speaker Soak.

I won't need it

 

[Chud]

I have the Bugera and it works for me as a way to send a line out signal to an IR Cab and mixer. However, my amps are low powered and the OP didn't say what amps they were using.

I also agree with the idea of using a lightweight, headphone capable, portable modeling amp for college use.

The Jet City and the Bugera are both rated up to 100w, so should cover anything the OP uses unless he's already playing stadiums in his off time from HS classes. Lol. I use the Jet City specifically on my Supro Saturn 15w and it does what it's supposed to do.

 

[loopfinding]

I bought my Weber 50W for 100 dollars, and sold it about the same. It is a reactive load, so that’s better than a lot of them out there for the same money that are resistive. When I lived in a house (instead of apartment), I would just dial it back to about 1/4 power, it didn’t sound amazing there (they’re really meant to knock the amp down for distortion at mic’ed stage/studio level, not practice volume), but it sounded OK for practice.

IIRC, the Webers don’t all have line out, but many do. It is a little hotter than standard line level, but you can always get a pot and two jacks for a few bucks and solder it up as a voltage divider to attenuate the output (haha) for true line level.

But for home practice just get an amp simulator. I use an iridium but you can get a mooer radar cab sim that has a headphone out for around 100 bucks, and then buy an amp-in-a-box pedal (e.g. catalinbread, tech21 character with the speaker sim defeat switch) for not much more to pair with it. Keeping the front end analog has the benefit of being able to goose it/feel like a real amp. Also, analog speaker sims don’t sound right (too crystalline).

Personally I would eventually like to have an amp, load box (that I’ll probably build myself, you can even get kits for reactive ones for about 100-150) and cab sim for recording, but it’s kind of overkill for practice.

 

[Euphonica]

“Power soak + attenuator?” They make both in one box?

 

[schmee]

.... and a blanket

 

[BoomTexan]

Dont go cheap woth something that could break your amp. Used reputable brand is the way to go. Also as someone said above a good headphone system makes more sense for your situation, especially in college. No way do you have space for a tube amp in a dorm room.

You say that, but my Carvin X100B + Fender Studio Bass 1x15 cab fit in my closet, along with a lot of other stuff.

 

[northernguitar]

Loadbox isn’t enough for silent playing. You need something to simulate the speaker. I think you could do it with a used Two Notes Captor and a Mooer Radar.

 

[BoomTexan]

Why not a headphone amp? The Mustang Micro is $120 and sounds pretty good. You could play in your dorm / apartment all day long with that and not bother anyone, then have your tube amp when you can make some noise. With the MM, you can even walk down the hall while playing.

That is just an idea.

I really don't want to get a headphone amp. I don't even use those when I go out of the house, I bring a little 5-watt Kona practice amp. I'd rather have a real amp and run it into headphones, which is why I was asking for attenuator. Thanks for the advice, though!

 

[johnDH]

I really don't want to get a headphone amp. I don't even use those when I go out of the house, I bring a little 5-watt Kona practice amp. I'd rather have a real amp and run it into headphones, which is why I was asking for attenuator. Thanks for the advice, though!

I think the issue there is that to do all that and go from a tube amp, to a load, to a line-out, then a cab sim or IR box (so it doesn't sound dreadful), then to headphones you are well out of the range of what you might hope for as a cheap solution.

 

[northernguitar]

I think the issue there is that to do all that and go from a tube amp, to a load, to a line-out, then a cab sim or IR box (so it doesn't sound dreadful), then to headphones you are well out of the range of what you might hope for as a cheap solution.

I think it can be done with used gear. As mentioned, a used Two Notes Captor and Mooer Radar can be done for around USD$300.

 

[johnDH]

I think it can be done with used gear. As mentioned, a used Two Notes Captor and Mooer Radar can be done for around USD$300.

Yes that'd work, if the $ are affordable. Can the Radar drive headphones? Id hope it can.

 

[northernguitar]

Yes that'd work, if the $ are affordable. Can the Radar drive headphones? Id hope it can.

Yessir. It has a 1/8 headphone jack. I do patch mine into a small mixer or an audio interface in to a MacBook.