How low can we go? LOL

[jnew]

First variac on 65VDC. Second variac all the way down to 70 on the knob. Overall, really quiet. Less than rehearsal volume, barely loud for bedroom. FUCKING AWSOME for practice

This time, the PU is an original Super 70. Between the cleaner PU and the 65VAC on the head, I had to use old blue MXR 6 to help thump things up a bit.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13244910

[mightymike]

Bad ass tone bro.

[guitar007]

Fantastic!

[JimiJames]

Bad ass tone bro.

[jnew]

A worship wave?
That's pretty cool. Thanks for the words guys. This setup is just wicked to play on. I think the Super 70 was the PU for a lot of WACF. Assuming The Destroyer he borrowed from Chris Holmes was stock of course.

[jape88]

Excellent.

Just to get a feel on how much the two variacs work in volume reduction, what the volume set at on the amp?

Out of curiosity has anyone just tried using a variac between the amp and cab only, interested to hear how much is wiped off in volume and if there's any audible tone change?

[jnew]

Good point jape88. I have not tried the half stack with just one variac between head and cab. Could be interesting but my guess is that it would still be loud but could probably be manageable by rolling back the variac knob. But I do think the first variac is a vital part. Lots of evidence from all the clips around here.

Amp settings were all the same, which with my amp, is everything on 10 except VOL I. That's on 5. VOL II was on 5 as well for this one but even though the channels are not jumped, it has a tiny little effect. Most of the time, I have VOL II on 0.

[rgorke]

My guess, because I heard it somewhere before, that going through some sort of transformer, e.g. varic, would reduce 3-6db. Which, as we know isn't a great deal but could be noticeable in terms of taking the edge off of speakers. I would like to hear some A/B clips without knowing which one is 2 variac and which is 1. I find that my ears get very biased when I know what I am listening to and for. Kind of like the backward masking from the '80s... "Yeah, I hear "I love Sa*an" or was it "your sister is hot"?

[jnew]

Well, I can definitely tell you that with the 2nd variac's knob on the 70 mark, it's definitely taking off some dB's. At 90, it was very very close to a straight cable but, it still has the effect on tone.

[Mr.Farva]

Well, I can definitely tell you that with the 2nd variac's knob on the 70 mark, it's definitely taking off some dB's. At 90, it was very very close to a straight cable but, it still has the effect on tone.

Does the tone change when turning the 2nd variac down? Also what variac are you using for the 2nd one?

[jnew]

The tone changes by using it between the head and cab for sure. When turning the knob down, it does attenuate some but no loss in dynamics and harmonics. It has sheen and complexity. Like a kick ass sort scratchy frazzle to it. It makes a distortion smear that's just heavenly.

[rgalpin]

SNAKES ALIVE! man that just sounds cool. Where did I read that some person of note happened by the studio during the recording of VH I and said that what they saw was ridiculous. This 2 variac thing at bedroom level sooooo fits the bill. That's all. I know I've told that story 142 times but - i wish I could remember where I read it...

[jnew]

I hope it comes to you Rob. I'd love to hunt down that story. But in a sense, it is ridiculous, yet pretty simple too.

[Tazin]

First variac on 65VDC. Second variac all the way down to 70 on the knob. Overall, really quiet. Less than rehearsal volume, barely loud for bedroom. FUCKING AWSOME for practice

This time, the PU is an original Super 70. Between the cleaner PU and the 65VAC on the head, I had to use old blue MXR 6 to help thump things up a bit.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13244910

That does sound really good. I like the way the pick articulation and nuances come through. Is this a resultant of using two variacs or does your amp naturally have this quality?

[jnew]

That comes through with the 2nd variac in play. Which brings up a good point. I should go back and try re-doing RWTD with this setup, too see how those little slides transpire.