# Any way to use my tube amp for “silent rehearsal”?



## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Going to jam with some guys and they do headphone rehearsals. The other dude uses some sort of headphone amp, I have no idea what exactly.

My normal setup is a Vox AC10 with the gain set to about noon. The amp is a bit dirty but if I roll off the volume, I get a clean tone. I use an Xotic EP Booster for leads.

Because my clean/dirty levels are mostly dependent on how hard I “dig into” the tube amp, I’m a little hesitant about some sort of cheap headphone rig and I don’t want to shell out a ton of money on a modeller.

Here comes my Super-Dumb question...
Is there any sort of device where you can run from the speaker out so it’ll run silent, but act like a load box and then have a line out to go to the board?


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

A load box with a line-out? Probably the Suhr or Two-Notes with the IR built-in.

16 Ohms will limit you to the Two-Notes Captor X, or maybe the Weber Micro Mass and a Two-Notes CABm, Mooer Radar or another cab sim.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

@markxander you're up


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## markxander (Oct 24, 2009)

I recently bought a two notes captor X because I needed a new attenuator for a higher wattage amp than my old one could accommodate. 

In the end it sounded so good with IRs through headphones (it's built in with six presets accessible via a knob, or you can upload your own and add more) that I put both of my cabs in storage. There's no sense in me using cabs at home to practice if it sounds better with headphones. 

Both of the amps I use with it behave just like I expect them to vis-a-vis dynamics and gain stages... It's just all totally silent. If you can find one to try it's totally worth it. It's been a gamechanger for me.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

The Captor X is worth more than the AC10. Just sayin.

If it were me, I'd go looking for a POD HD500 floorboard for around $250 used. Comes with a gig bag, and there's no I/O situation you'll ever run into it can't handle.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

BlueRocker said:


> The Captor X is worth more than the AC10. Just sayin.
> 
> If it were me, I'd go looking for a POD HD500 floorboard for around $250 used. Comes with a gig bag, and there's no I/O situation you'll ever run into it can't handle.


Or an original pod 2.0 for $50...


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Hammerhands said:


> A load box with a line-out? Probably the Suhr or Two-Notes with the IR built-in.
> 
> 16 Ohms will limit you to the Two-Notes Captor X, or maybe the Weber Micro Mass and a Two-Notes CABm, Mooer Radar or another cab sim.


I prefer the idea of a load box to use my actual gig rig.
For half the price of the Captor X, what about this?








Two Notes - Torpedo Captor 8 ohm


Two Notes - Torpedo Captor 8 ohm




www.long-mcquade.com


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Keep in mind you’ll have to buy IR cause the stock two notes one sound like Grainy doo doo.

Pretty sure it’s on purpose so you’ll go to their store and buy the ones that sound good.

I just got back from my first amp-less rehearsal using a helix LT I picked up used for $700.

I set up 4 presets using their shiva, Uberschall, matchless c-30 and ac-30 model and 4 scenes for each preset to switch through on the songs I set them up for and it was fantastic.

They all- AC-30 included, sounded awesome and felt great under the fingers and my entire rig fit in a backpack and two guitars in a double sided reunion blues gig bag.

I’ll never go back now. 

To me that beat the alternative of adding more gear to my rehearsal rig by a wide mile.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

2manyGuitars said:


> I prefer the idea of a load box to use my actual gig rig.
> For half the price of the Captor X, what about this?
> 
> 
> ...


Is your amp 8ohm or 16ohm? Make sure you get the right one.

That has some type of cab sim built-in? You would have to try it and see how it sounds!


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Hammerhands said:


> Is your amp 8ohm or 16ohm? Make sure you get the right one.
> 
> That has some type of cab sim built-in? You would have to try it and see how it sounds!


I usually use an AC10 which is 16ohms but I might get the 8ohm and use my Supro Comet. I have a feeling the 8 is the better choice as more amps seem to have an 8ohm output.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Is there not something that has an ohm switch built in? For that kind of money I'd want to be able to use it with 4, 8 and 16 ohm amps. At least 8 and 16 ohms.

What about the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander? It is switchable between 4, 8 and 16 ohms, headphones out.








BOSS - WAZA Tube Amp Expander | Tube Amp Expander


WAZA Tube Amp Expander: Tube Amp Expander - Modernize the Tube Amp Experience




www.boss.info





*Modernize the Tube Amp Experience*

Bringing together a diverse range of professional tone tools for the very first time, the Waza Tube Amp Expander elevates the tube amp experience to a new level of versatility for stage performing and studio recording. This amazing device does it all—it’s a variable reactive load box, active analog power stage, mic’d cab simulator, IR loader, and recording interface, all in one integrated unit that’s road-ready and easy to use.


Backed by our advanced Tube Logic approach, you’re able to crank your amp to its sweet spot and play at any volume while faithfully retaining the core tone and feel you love. And with extensive connectivity, built-in BOSS effects, 10 fully customizable rig setups, and deep real-time control, you have unparalleled creative command for any scenario. Packed to the max with breakthrough BOSS innovations, the Waza Tube Amp Expander is an essential companion for every tube amp player.



































Boss - WAZA Tube Amp Expander


Boss - WAZA Tube Amp Expander




www.long-mcquade.com


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

I've recorded my tube amp direct using the original Captor going into a Digitech CabDryver. It sounds great. But since I bought the Digitech I think there are better value IR loader pedals out there.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

player99 said:


> Is there not something that has an ohm switch built in? For that kind of money I'd want to be able to use it with 4, 8 and 16 ohm amps. At least 8 and 16 ohms.
> 
> What about the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander? It is switchable between 4, 8 and 16 ohms, headphones out.


No way I’m spending 1800 bucks.

The Captor 8 is under $400 and while it doesn’t have two dozen different cab sims, it’ll let me use my actual tube amps but with no speaker.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I’d go with a Suhr Reactive load and a cheap IR loader like the Sonicake Sonic IR (cheap, works perfectly, has balanced and unbalanced outs). The Suhr load is the best I’ve heard and I’ve gone through a lot. 
TG


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

traynor_garnet said:


> I’d go with a Suhr Reactive load and a cheap IR loader like the Sonicake Sonic IR (cheap, works perfectly, has balanced and unbalanced outs). The Suhr load is the best I’ve heard and I’ve gone through a lot.
> TG


How would the Suhr ($506) compare to the Captor 8 ($379)? They’re both only good for one impedance and the Captor has a few more features.

There’s also the Radial Engineering Headload for $479. Even more features and Canadian made...









Headload Prodigy - Radial Engineering


The Headload Prodigy™ is a combination load box and DI that lets you drive your guitar amp at a higher output in order to maximize the tone, yet produce a lower stage volume when needed.




www.radialeng.com


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

2manyGuitars said:


> How would the Suhr ($506) compare to the Captor 8 ($379)? They’re both only good for one impedance and the Captor has a few more features.
> 
> There’s also the Radial Engineering Headload for $479. Even more features and Canadian made...
> 
> ...


It is all about finding a load that doesn’t change the way your amp sounds. In other words, you don’t want the load to sound like anything; you don’t want to know it exists. The captor and radial will do the job for sure, but they have a sonic imprint that the Suhr doesn’t have. If the load is going to detract from your tube amp’s sound, you may as well go to a modelling system and take full advantage of all that it offers.


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## Analogman (Oct 3, 2012)

If you’re going 8ohm I’d get the Suhr reactive load IR. You can find them used for $650/$700, if you get the regular captor or Suhr reactive load (non IR version) you’ll still need an IR loader like a Cab M. I had an original captor a few years ago and the built in IR and attenuator settings are not very good. Captor X would be a good choice too.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Why not buy another amp? If you get a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister (either the 5 or 18 watt) on the used market it will cost less than $500 and gives you a line out and an option to turn speaker off completely. There are also the newer Tubemeister Deluxes that should be available used as well.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

colchar said:


> Why not buy another amp? If you get a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister (either the 5 or 18 watt) on the used market it will cost less than $500 and gives you a line out and an option to turn speaker off completely. There are also the newer Tubemeister Deluxes that should be available used as well.


I currently have both of these amps. The 5 with a reverb pedal would work well.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

colchar said:


> Why not buy another amp? If you get a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister (either the 5 or 18 watt) on the used market it will cost less than $500 and gives you a line out and an option to turn speaker off completely. There are also the newer Tubemeister Deluxes that should be available used as well.


Just what I need, another amp. 😆

I’d rather have a load box because for 400 bucks, I can use my Supro, my Vox, my Silvertone, Fender, Dr. Z, etc. Part of rehearsing is dialing in your tone and figuring out which settings and pedals you’ll need live. I’m not buying another amp just for rehearsing, then going with a completely different setup on the day of a gig.


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

2manyGuitars said:


> Part of rehearsing is dialing in your tone and figuring out which settings and pedals you’ll need live. I’m not buying another amp just for rehearsing, then going with a completely different setup on the day of a gig.


I think you're right, and I also think you may be over complicating things. Is this just for rehearsing or also for gigging? 

I ask because, in your situation, if I were playing a gig in the middle of a Canadian winter, in front of a handful of people in the midst of a global pandemic, I wouldn't arrive with such a complicated setup. I'd go the Pod route or something similar. To each their own of course, but if you're necessarily playing through earbuds anyway, I'd simplify things a lot. 

At the end of the day, you're spending X amount of money and time trying to dial in your perfect tone, and then it all still depends on the quality of the earbuds and PA/speakers (for gigs). And even if you get kick-ass earbuds, will your bandmates have the same ones? If not, they'll be hearing something different... Let the rabbit-hole continue.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

isoneedacoffee said:


> I think you're right, and I also think you may be over complicating things. Is this just for rehearsing or also for gigging?
> 
> I ask because, in your situation, if I were playing a gig in the middle of a Canadian winter, in front of a handful of people in the midst of a global pandemic, I wouldn't arrive with such a complicated setup. I'd go the Pod route or something similar. To each their own of course, but if you're necessarily playing through earbuds anyway, I'd simplify things a lot.
> 
> At the end of the day, you're spending X amount of money and time trying to dial in your perfect tone, and then it all still depends on the quality of the earbuds and PA/speakers (for gigs). And even if you get kick-ass earbuds, will your bandmates have the same ones? If not, they'll be hearing something different... Let the rabbit-hole continue.


My rig is pretty uncomplicated. A small, 10 to 15 watt tube amp set to slightly dirty is my tone 90% of the time, I roll the volume off for clean and have a boost for leads. I also have an overdrive if I need a dirtier rhythm tone but don’t need it often. Pretty much guitar into amp.

With this box, I can run this rig silently at rehearsal and the only difference for a gig is that I reconnect the speaker.
Buying a second amp just for the direct out, then using a different rig live would be making it complicated. Buying something like a Line 6 Pod? Nah...


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## isoneedacoffee (Oct 31, 2014)

Have you thought of a Boss Katana? You'd get line-out with cab emulation to PA for headphone monitoring + the exact same amp for gigs. 

If you go for the 100W head version, you would also get a more compact/portable package, with an onboard speaker for noodling around the house, and the ability to connect to your cabinet of choice.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Love my existing amps, like my current tone and setup. Not looking to reinvent the wheel.

Was just looking to see if there was a cost effective way to take a tube amp I’m already quite happy with and plug it into a mixer with no sound. A bit of a hit on tone isn’t a big deal because this box will likely never be used for anything other than rehearsal. When it’s gig time, I will grab that same tube combo, my couple of pedals, and go with the same setup I’ve been rehearsing with but with no load box.

That’s why even the more expensive load boxes are probably more than I’m looking for. I think the other guitar player uses an app on his phone for rehearsal and his tube amp live. I’m looking for a simple solution somewhere between iPhone and $2000 sim unit and lets me use pretty much my current setup.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

2manyGuitars said:


> A small, 10 to 15 watt tube amp set to slightly dirty is my tone 90% of the time





2manyGuitars said:


> A bit of a hit on tone isn’t a big deal because this box will likely never be used for anything other than rehearsal.
> ...
> looking for a simple solution somewhere between iPhone and $2000 sim unit and lets me use pretty much my current setup.


I think weber minimass50 with headphone out option should tick all your boxes.





MiniMASS 50w Attenuator – Weber Speakers







www.tedweber.com


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

jb welder said:


> I think weber minimass50 with headphone out option should tick all your boxes.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Someone offered me a Weber MM 25 for $100 but the website recommends the attenuator be rated for double the wattage of the amp. I’d be worried about using it with my Maz18. Plus, it doesn’t have any speaker emulation.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

2manyGuitars said:


> Someone offered me a Weber MM 25 for $100 but the website recommends the attenuator be rated for double the wattage of the amp. I’d be worried about using it with my Maz18. Plus, it doesn’t have any speaker emulation.


Do you mean MM15 ? The double rating thing I think is if you like pushing the amp real hard. I got the impression you run just around break-up? But the 15 says 10W or less anyway, and does not have a headphone out option. Which is why I suggested the 50W, and it gives you room to use with a higher power amp if that happens.
The 'speaker motor' is actual speaker guts and the 15 has that as far as I know. So that is as emulation as you can get.
If the 25 is an older unit they don't have info on, ignore what I said about the 15.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

If the label maker is to be believed, it’s 25.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

2manyGuitars said:


> If the label maker is to be believed, it’s 25.


I have one of those, so excuse my ignorance but can you operate it without a speaker load?


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

I agree with jb, the speaker motor is the closest emulation to a true speaker. Here's a chassis view showing the speaker motor:


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

BlueRocker said:


> I have one of those, so excuse my ignorance but can you operate it without a speaker load?


I’d like to know that too because that’s why I didn’t buy it. I wanted to look into that first. I’ve seen people online saying you _should_ be able to but no definitive answer from anyone in-the-know.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Looking at the schematic for the unit, the speaker should be connected because it is part of the total load to the amp. For an 8Ω output from the amp, the amp wants to see 8Ω. The total impedance will be more than 8Ω, if the speaker is not connected because the speaker is in parallel with the MiniMass. There does not appear to be a switch feature that allows for Attenuator only loading.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

The Weber Mass sounds like garbage; don't waste your money.

Again, go with a Suhr Reactive load (you can find used ones now and then) and pair it with a Sonicake Sonic IR loader ($59!). You could also run the Suhr into a cheaper modeller like the NUX MG300 so that you could run your amp signal into both IRs and any post amp mods, delays, and reverbs you want (just turn off the amp models). It sounds fantastic.

Having owned the Boss TAE, Power Station,and a gazillion other high and low end attenuators, the Suhr is a world class load and the non IR version is not too expensive even if you buy it new.

TG


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Paul Running said:


> Looking at the schematic for the unit, the speaker should be connected because it is part of the total load to the amp. For an 8Ω output from the amp, the amp wants to see 8Ω. The total impedance will be more than 8Ω, if the speaker is not connected because the speaker is in parallel with the MiniMass. There does not appear to be a switch feature that allows for Attenuator only loading.


See. This ^^^ is the kind of quality content I come here for. 😆 
Glad that most of you here are smarter than me.

There is a switch on it to select 4, 8, or 16 ohms. You say using just the attenuator with no speaker would be a greater load. Could you plug the 8 ohm amp into the Weber set to 4 ohms and the higher impedance from not having a speaker will bring it back closer to 8 ohms?
Out of curiosity, then what would happen if I hooked that Weber up to a 16 ohm amp with no speaker?


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

So I know the answer I’ll get from @traynor_garnet but I can get a Captor 8 for $379 or a new Suhr (non IR) for $506. The Captor has a couple extra features like phase switch and ground lift, an attenuated speaker through. I’m not using this for recording, I’ll likely never use it live, it’s simply for headphone rehearsal but wanting to use my tube amp silently.

Is the Suhr worth the extra money?


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

2manyGuitars said:


> using just the attenuator with no speaker would be a greater load.


It would be less load or higher impedance in ohms. It can be calculated, by analysing the schematic. Looking at the schematic, you select the switch positions and then you can calculate the DCR. The AC analysis is more involved however, if a standard frequency is used it will be more accurate. The first schematic is complete; the schematic below, shows the unit in-circuit (non-bypass mode)...the bypass circuitry has been erased for clarity, as it is not in-circuit.
So, what you can do now is toggle the switches and then calculate what the impedance will be without a speaker connected (output of the MM is open-circuit).


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

The circuit may be further simplified by toggling the treble off (that eliminates the top part) and you are left with this for analysis:











2manyGuitars said:


> Is the Suhr worth the extra money?


I will need to look at the schematic of the Suhr to get an idea of how it may perform. Of course, not everything on a schematic or layout will determine it's performance.
The gut shot of the MM, indicates typical quality commercial electronics.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Paul Running said:


> I will need to look at the schematic of the Suhr to get an idea of how it may perform. Of course, not everything on a schematic or layout will determine it's performance.
> The gut shot of the MM, indicates typical quality commercial electronics.


To clarify, I’m currently looking at the Two Notes Captor 8 vs the Suhr.









Torpedo Captor - The analog 100 W reactive load box - Two notes


Because it's so efficient the Torpedo Captor has become the synonym for reactive load box for thousands of home studios and quiet stages.




www.two-notes.com










Suhr Reactive Load | Suhr.com







www.suhr.com


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

If you toggle the MM switch to 8Ω and turn the volume dial to min., the circuit looks like:








Ignoring the 14K7Ω at the front, the total impedance, without a speaker load will be 6.9Ω...close enough to 8Ω.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

By adjusting the volume dial, you can establish an 8Ω point...total will vary from 6.9 to 12Ω.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

2manyGuitars said:


> So I know the answer I’ll get from @traynor_garnet but I can get a Captor 8 for $379 or a new Suhr (non IR) for $506. Is the Suhr worth the extra money?


Captor 8 all they way! LOL 

Sorry, I wasn't trying to position myself as _the _authority on the matter. I wasn't sure you even saw my first post (it was kind of sandwiched between a bunch of others).

I haven't tried the captor but I'm sure it will work for you; many others like it. That said, everything I have read from those who have used both products indicates that the Suhr is audibly better. If it's a $126 better is , of course, up to you. The Captor does have built in cab sims but they are not IRs; you wouldn't _need _to by an IR loader with the Captor, but I am not sure how good the onboard cabs sound (IRs are now pretty much the gold standard).

Good luck. I wish all life's problems were this fun! 

TG


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

traynor_garnet said:


> Captor 8 all they way! LOL
> 
> Sorry, I wasn't trying to position myself as _the _authority on the matter. I wasn't sure you even saw my first post (it was kind of sandwiched between a bunch of others).
> 
> ...


The Captor X for $799 has a bunch of built in cabs. The 8 I believe is a simulated 4x12 if used stand-alone but includes their “Wall of Sound” plug-in with 16 Dyna-IR cab sims.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

If the captor lets you load IR's you're all set.


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## Analogman (Oct 3, 2012)

2manyGuitars said:


> To clarify, I’m currently looking at the Two Notes Captor 8 vs the Suhr.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Personally, I’d go with the Suhr but you will need an IR loader unless you get the IR version. Their impedance curve of the reactive load is supposedly the most realistic to a speaker. I recently picked up the IR version and it’s the most natural sounding of the few load boxes I’ve owned. I started off with a regular captor a few years ago and had a bad experience with it, pretty sure it was defective but a little over a week in it blew the fuse in my Morris and was making awful grinding noises. I ended up returning it and it scared me off from loadboxe until a year or so later bought an Ox which was great but the Tube amp expander was just coming out which had more features for the same price so ended up exchanging the Ox for the TAE.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

BlueRocker said:


> I have one of those, so excuse my ignorance but can you operate it without a speaker load?





2manyGuitars said:


> I’d like to know that too because that’s why I didn’t buy it. I wanted to look into that first.


From the website: "By turning the speaker control to minimum (maximum attenuation), the unit may be used as a dummy load for testing or for DI use"



traynor_garnet said:


> The Weber Mass sounds like garbage; don't waste your money.


I'm not in the habit of suggesting garbage or wasting people's money, so I don't quite know what to make of this. You're one of the last people I'd expect to hear a rude comment like that from so a little surprised here.
You may even be right but in principle a silent coneless speaker has to be a pretty good emulator. Maybe a little computer with IR's running will get excellent sounds, but I don't know that it will emulate the 'feel' of real speaker response. I'm not going to call it garbage or anything though.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

jb welder said:


> From the website: "By turning the speaker control to minimum (maximum attenuation), the unit may be used as a dummy load for testing or for DI use"
> 
> 
> I'm not in the habit of suggesting garbage or wasting people's money, so I don't quite know what to make of this. You're one of the last people I'd expect to hear a rude comment like that from so a little surprised here.
> You may even be right but in principle a silent coneless speaker has to be a pretty good emulator. Maybe a little computer with IR's running will get excellent sounds, but I don't know that it will emulate the 'feel' of real speaker response. I'm not going to call it garbage or anything though.


I have one I use on my Bruno Underground 30's and it sounds great. I'm using it to run the amp clean with pedals at room volume. The UG30's are brutally loud, and it works great at saving my hearing and keeping the amp tone. There may or may not be slight shifts but the amp has some eq knobs and so does the Weber, the pedals and my guitar.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I also have a Suhr reactive load that I bought for recording. It didn't give me what I was looking for when I was recording and using ir's in my daw with it. I am going to try it again soon...


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

jb welder said:


> I'm not in the habit of suggesting garbage or wasting people's money, so I don't quite know what to make of this. You're one of the last people I'd expect to hear a rude comment like that from so a little surprised here.
> You may even be right but in principle a silent coneless speaker has to be a pretty good emulator.


You are right, I usually don’t participate in ‘hot take’ language. In this case, however, the Weber mini mass and mass I owned were some of the worst tone sucking attenuators I have ever used. The mini mass was so bad I thought it was broken and posted a question about it in the Weber forum. The unit killed ALL the top end on my amp. All I received was a rude and curt message from Weber with the schematic for a treble boost mod.

I wasn’t trying to be uncivil but understand I came off as rude. Sorry about that.

There are a gazillion options out there and the OP will find something. It it were me, however, and I were going to go through all this hassle instead of using a modeller, I would want to make sure my amp’s tone and touch sensitivity were retained.

TG


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

traynor_garnet said:


> There are a gazillion options out there and the OP will find something. It it were me, however, and I were going to go through all this hassle instead of using a modeller, I would want to make sure my amp’s tone and touch sensitivity were retained.
> 
> TG


I'd just use a modeler. They're a dime a dozen these days. Why go to such lengths to insert a square peg into a round hole? Just get a round peg. You don't need a $1500 ~$2000 modeler for this application.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Milkman said:


> I'd just use a modeler. They're a dime a dozen these days. Why go to such lengths to insert a square peg into a round hole? Just get a round peg. You don't need a $1500 ~$2000 modeler for this application.


Used HX stomp and go.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

2manyGuitars said:


> Is there any sort of device where you can run from the speaker out so it’ll run silent, but act like a load box and then have a line out to go to the board?


An anechoic chamber that will absorb virtually all sound energy, with a built-in line-out.
You place your speaker cab in this unit, connect to an adapter that provides an input from the output of the amp, close it up and power-up...anything that you plug in between the output of your amp and the speaker will distort the signal, including fancy load boxes... it may be a small change but it is still distorted from the input signal.


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## topboost (Nov 18, 2010)

Could you not just go with some sort of pream/distortion pedal and reverb or delay pedal aftee that to give the tone a little breath? I have the Joyo series of tech 21 clones and really, they are good enough to record, rehearse or gig with. And they are cheap, like $30 cheap. Or use whatever pedals you already have.


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## Xevyn (Jul 14, 2021)

I've had a Captor X 16 for almost a year now and have been really happy with it. One of the best gear purchases I have made in the past couple of years. I've also been impressed with Two Notes support...when I first got the Captor X I had some issues with the mobile app disconnecting from it and when I contacted them they had a beta firmware for me to test within a week and then it went official shortly after that. Since then I haven't really had to contact them for anything else. I've mainly been using the wall of sound cab sims but started getting into other IR's recently and may start to build up a library of Ownhammer, Celestion Plus, etc.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Ordered a Captor 8 on amazon last night, said delivery between Thursday and Monday. Well, UPS tried delivering it this morning while I was out. Gotta go pick it up tomorrow.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

And all these suggestions of modellers, pedals, etc. running into the board...

No. I have an amp (or two) that I _REALLY_ like. Playing is my hobby and I’ve bought a nice little collection of gear that I like using. Rehearsing and gigging is when I actually get to enjoy it.

My rig is quite simple. Guitar into (my current fave) a slightly dirty Supro Comet with a boost for leads and an overdrive for extra dirt. The amp has foot-switchable reverb and tremolo. This IS what I will gig with so it’s what I want to rehearse with. I know I can get a used Pod for cheap, or just use a couple pedals into the board but I like my amps. Yeah, a load box will run me a bit more than a cheap modeller but I didn’t buy an $1800 amp (that I love) so it can sit in my basement while I gig with a shitty stompbox.

The initial point of the thread was “I like my amp and want to know if I can use It silently”, not “what’s a cheap way to gig without an amp?”.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Find a band that practices like they intend to play.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Here’s the amp I‘m using. The demo song in the first minute and a half is ALL guitar straight into amp and shows a bunch of different tones with different types of guitars.






That’s why I want to use my rig.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

JBFairthorne said:


> Find a band that practices like they intend to play.


Yeah, first audition was “normal”, the call back is the silent rehearsal. I’ll see how it goes.
They say that the rehearsal (or two) before a gig is a regular setup.

If it sucks, I might be out.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

You might wanna figure out where you stand BEFORE dropping a bunch of loot on something you don’t really need.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

JBFairthorne said:


> You might wanna figure out where you stand BEFORE dropping a bunch of loot on something you don’t really need.


The thing with the load box is, I was looking for an attenuator anyway so I can play more of my amps at home.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

You should tell your band to grow the F up and rehearse somewhere you can turn it up. They sound like pussies.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

BlueRocker said:


> You should tell your band to grow the F up and rehearse somewhere you can turn it up. They sound like pussies.


I hear ya’
They’re not “my” band yet. First time was to see if *I* made the cut. Now, we’ll see how _they_ do. I’ve never tried this silent rehearsal thing and not sure if I’m too thrilled about it. But I’ll at least give it a shot.

They’re good musicians, seem to have their shit together, and live 5 minutes away. My last band, the drummer was really _*fuckin’*_ loud so who knows, maybe I’ll like it.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

traynor_garnet said:


> the Weber mini mass and mass I owned were some of the worst tone sucking attenuators I have ever used. The mini mass was so bad I thought it was broken and posted a question about it in the Weber forum. The unit killed ALL the top end on my amp. All I received was a rude and curt message from Weber with the schematic for a treble boost mod.


Thanks for the clarification. I have no argument with first hand experience. 
Sorry about mis-reading the phrase 'sounds like' in your previous post. I thought you meant what the product info sounded like but you meant what the unit literally sounded like, lol.


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