So, in short im looking at either a scholz power soak adam had this but expressed dissatisfaction in the loss of high end sparkle, thd hotplate matthew had these, but its hard to tell exactly whats going on at a club, or a weber 100 watt mass which ive never seen or. Tom scholz power soak attenuator telecaster guitar forum. We have the vintage 1980s tom scholz power soak power attenuator in stock in our collection. The mittrained engineer with a passion for music, problemsolving and inventions, would watch his band become a musical force in the 70s when more than a feeling became a celebrated rock anthem. Like bill putnam, scholz recognised the need to acknowledge a market, not just solve a studio challenge. Or more importantly, because the latter is impossible to know, was the rockman unit the first on the market. Tom has said in interviews, that he will do anything in the studio to get a particular sound or groove. The engineers who changed recording sound on sound. Buy 1982 rockman power soak ii model 3586 black blue. According to boston founder tom scholz, it went down something like this. Early examples of attenuators was the tom scholz power soak and the marshall power break.
Find great deals on for power soak in guitar amplifier parts and accessories. It uses the same basic circuit design for the scholz power soak. They will not go down as classics, like the 1st album will. Much, much better than my first which was a tom sholtz power soak i bought in the 70s. This will look great in your home, office or studio. Since i could talk a little engineering with him, i came to find he is the transistor champion of the world. The first boston album is a 1972 marshall super lead 100 model 1959 into his power soak, into a 4x12 cab, into an sm57, into a furman eq. This plus a simple master mod to a 6550based jmp mk. Power soak 50swpwd8688 soak sink, portable power soak pss168 dishtable, power wash power soak pss168a dishtable, power wash power soak pss168b dishtable, power.
I kinda feel bad, because when people first asked me how i used it, i told people i turned it up, when i really turned it down. I know there are several version of these units, so please check out the pics. Did not like digital and was trying to surpass tubes with transistors. The reason people blow their amps are usually they dont know the difference between a speaker cable and an instrument cable, their amp is not in perfect running order in the first place and also not all amps can be run flat out for extended periods of. As you easily click through the seven steps to design your power soak unit, the configurator will create customized autocad drawings which can be downloaded and saved as a pdf or a. For greater savings check out our used tom scholz 1980s power soak power attenuator and get a great deal today.
Observations made during the soak test are used to improve the characteristics of the subject under further tests. But, by todays standards it is not a great sounding attenuator. I have to validate a prototype before building something clean, so i will test the two solutions. It was a passive attenuatora big box of resistors with a knob to determine how many of them were in. I had a scholz sustainer and still have a power soak. Experience with attenuators and nonmaster volume amps. I would be mostly playing it in my living room, so thats a potential issue. This device, a little box that allows your amp to achieve great sound at low volumes, quickly became a hit. So, theoretically, you just need an lpad so the amp sees the right load and the speaker gets less signal. Removes body oils, lotion residues, dirt and grime. Powersoak was only rated at 120 watts, but as long as i only used it in the first or second level of resistance not very much, but enough to get sound men off my back, it would last a couple years before melting down. Jul 21, 2018 i had a power soak way back, when it was one of the only attenuators you could get maybe even the only one.
But it allowed more control over the boston tone than we may realize. This is a one owner piece, still in the original packing. Electric guitars, acoustic guitars, guitar amps, effects pedals, guitar amp speaker cabinets, guitar amp attenuators, and more. The power soak is therefore tom scholz s power soak. Tom designed his own prototype load box, using a heat sink from an old theatrical light. As the years wore on, things became quiet on the power soak.
Rockman tom scholz power soak attenuator 1980s reverb. I ran into a guy in another forum that owned a bunch of tom scholz designed gear. Combo amps free delivery possible on eligible purchases. A 1982 resistance method to run your guitar amp for optimum crunchiness. Its now a shopping center with a starbucks coffee, food market, clothing store marshalls, etc. Unlike household cleaners, will never cause spa water foaming. Rockman tom scholz power soak power attenuation in very good condition. On the head id jumper the inputs, crank both channel volumes plus the mids, treble and presence and cut the lows. I purchased this several years ago to use with my 100watt marshall but now i have a low watt tube amp so i dont need it any more. Plexi 1 head fed into a prototype of his own design power soak attenuator and stacked layering. Soak testing, nonfunctional testing involves examining the system if it can withstand a huge load for a longer period of time and there by measuring the systems reaction parameters. I looked on the internets and found some good starts, but no 100% success.
Ive been using a tom scholz power soak with my 1959slp. Prior to the recording of the first boston album, scholz stripped the gold finish from the original vintage goldtop this replica is modeled after, revealing the underlying natural maple. Jan 31, 2015 tom scholz used to work at polaroid at 1265 main st in waltham ma. Just wondering if anyone else has tried soaking their boogies to achieve the same tones at any volume. Tom scholtz power soak discussion in amps and cabs started by bstring, aug 5, 2009. Bostons distortion sound electric guitars harmony central. Not just the rockman but the power soak was a big advance in technology at the time. I have some earplugs that i can use also that reduce 12db too. May 25, 2017 gibson les paul r7 george l cable 1979 marshall jmp 2204 tom scholz power soak 4x12 marshall cab w greenbacks this is a quick iphone demonstration of the tom scholz power soak, its use, and its. As the years wore on, things became quiet on the power soak front. Long before the term project studio was coined, tom scholz founder of.
Boston tom scholz exclusive interview more than a feelin. It has an amp impedance selector for 4, 8 or 16 ohms, a solid state or tube amp selector. Tom scholz has recorded the two first albums of boston with these big, overpowered marshall stacks, cranked up at 11. I have the patent document and some old sustainor schematics. Ive heard good and bad and ugly regarding the power soak. But its not too terribly noticeable at high volume, in fact im not sure i. Though the power soak was not the first power attenuation device for guitar amps, it was the.
Most of all, it was the first to include a volume control. One of the most wellknown systems of the day, by the way, was the tom scholz power soak, developed by the guitarist of the wellknown band boston. In electronics, soak testing may involve testing a system up to or. Daves unit would get so hot, the vented casing pieces would warp and melt. Analoger lautsprechermikrofonierungssimulator spl transducer. See more ideas about tom scholz, boston band, boston. What id really like to find is a graph of a typical guitar speaker impedance vs frequency. Shop now and receve free shipping on your order today. Hi, i plan to use the attenuator on a marshall 1974x if i can find that kind of marshall. Dec, 2012 gibson les paul, marshall jcm 800, scholz power soak performance is very sloppy after about 12 beers, but thats not the point, the point is the righteous power tube break up im getting. Since hes a clever man and knew that his ears are precious for a musician, he designed the power soak as a volume control device, as defined by the us patents 4,143,245, d256,798, 4,363,934 and d270,153. You can still find a few tom scholz power soak devices floating around on ebay.
I think tom singlehandedly wrote a big chapter on guitar technology and that was better understood 30 years ago than now. At the moment im in the layaway process on a 97 marshall 100 watt super lead and i currently have an 80s tom scholz power soak id like to use with it but am hesitant. A few years back i pulled out my old power soak and altiar units and compared them both side by side to a new thd and the thd. Tom scholz power soak amp attenuator blues angel music. The reason for a power soak is generally to make the tube output stages drive to clipping while not driving the speaker with as much signal. This unit is in good working condition and has been service including switches cleaned and dusting out the inside of the unit. Tom scholz is from the band boston, known for making the distinct boston sound. God blessed me with a killer ear for music, but my playing ability doesnt match it and it doesnt seem to be able to allow me to. Sib hashian remembering the drummer that wasnt sweetwater. Vintage 1980s tom scholz power soak power attenuator. That thing worked but was a treble killer not transparent at all.
Load box einen rohrenverstarker sollte man nie ohne angeschlossene box betreiben. Eqp200 dual program equalizer and the dcl200 dual tube compressor. This gadget is inserted between the amp and the speakers. Tone and dynamics are about the same as the scholz power soak. For a long time we first encountered it in the early 80s, all was quiet on the power soak front. The code may not be broken entirely, but it is cracked. That mod prompted everyone from tom scholz to, you name itevery company on the planet to make some kind of speaker emulator, power soak. I started playing out in my first band with the 60watt univox bass head in my avatar photo, a borrowed scholz power soak attenuator and a fender 4 x 12. Recorded in his basement that he claims was about 10x12x7 room. He said it definitely allowed him to get the boston sound. Pretty much everything that goes into the music is as analog as i can make it, says tom scholz, chief sonic architect of the longtime rock powerhouse known as boston.
During the late 60s and early 70s, tom and two musicians, singer brad delp and drummer jim masdea, spent more than six years playing, editing, and replaying tracks to create a demo album. I do suspect that the old tom scholz power soaks would put a 8 ohm fixed load on the 16 ohm tap of an amp, and that may have been better than putting a 16ohm resistive load on a 16 ohm tap. I tried tons of options, attentor, pulling 2 of the power tubes, 1x12 cab, turning the bassresonance all the way down. This might be of interest to some of you for those of you familiar with tom scholz of boston, he often talked about his first invention that he developed in order to record and perform with his marshalls without annoying his neighbors or blowing everyone off the stage the power soak. The power soak configurator is a dynamic tool that allows you to create autogenerated drawings to your design specifications. The first device tom manufactured was the power soak. Jul 21, 2018 i mentioned tom s power attenuator power soak in an earlier post, and that imo it sounds better than some of the much more touted ones. Gibson les paul r7 george l cable 1979 marshall jmp 2204 tom scholz power soak 4x12 marshall cab w greenbacks this is a quick iphone demonstration of the tom scholz power soak, its use, and its. I understand that this sort of test pushes your hardware components and can reveal faults im running vista home premium 32 bit. There was the first, tom scholz s power soak issued at the end of 1980, the model ii, was issued at the end of 1981 and the model iii issued in 1992.
Ppt attenuator history powerpoint presentation free to. Creative ideas for starving artists brain juice that revives and. Once you had a sound dialed in that worked, you could then use the power soak to dial in the output level. I had a nonmaster volume marshall 100 watt head which was obviously unuseable at rehearsal or club gig. The power soak was an attenuator, that you would put inline between your amplifier and speakers. As the mastermind of the hardrocking band boston, whose first two albums have sold a combined 25 million copies in the u. I used a tom scholz power soak for years with my svt. I know it sounds incredibly dumb to be looking at a highgain 59watt tube head for a livingroom amp, but curcumstances seem to have conspired to make it a possible option, and like i said, its a greatsounding amp if i were to consider some type of attenuator, would there be a. I just picked up an old tom scholz power soak for practicing at home.
The namm tecnology hall of fame announces new 2020 inductees. The second album had a mix of that marshall set up and some solidstate precursors to the rockman. Tom scholz power soak attentuator my les paul forum. Though the power soak was not the first power attenuation device for guitar amps, it was the first to be 100% reliable, the first to respect the sound of the amp. Very cleaver design and this makes it smaller in size. There are some differences in the peak detector, but it shouldnt be an issue. The power soak was the first commercial product by tom scholz. Ron pownall, courtesy boston i was a fixer, a builder an inventor ever since i can remember, scholz once told writer larry lange in an interview. I have found that the 9db setting seems to be the sweet spot, ymmv. Soak testing also known as endurance testing is performed to determine if the application under test can sustain the continuous loads. Today, my bad cat unleash has become an indispensable piece of equipment for me. Amps with master volumes cuts the signal or volume before it reaches the power tubes. After further design enhancements, it became the power soak.
A power soak is something tom scholz came up with so he could crank his marshall and keep the actual volume down. I think it sounds pretty good if i dont turn it down past half way, then obvious tone sucking occurs. Soak tests are used primarily to check the reaction of a subject under test under a possible simulated environment for a given duration and for a given threshold. Gibson les paul r7 george l cable 1979 marshall jmp 2204 tom scholz power soak 4x12 marshall cab w greenbacks this is a quick. Feb 26, 2008 im pretty new to pc building and am aware of something called soak stress testing. Tom sawyer software to demonstrate at nist mbe summit 2020. Power soak leads in continuous motion ware washing, helping your kitchen keep utensils, dishes, and equipment clean and sanitized, while saving water and money. Ive been told these power soaks destroy guitar amps and they shouldnt be used. I know its not just a studio thing because ive seen and heard tom get that sound live. You just cant sacrifice cleanliness in the foodservice industry and power soak is a trusted source for machines that help kitchens keep their standards high and their labor costs low. I dont think tom was the first to design a power attenuator for a guitar amp, or was he.
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