THD Hotplate Attenuator (8 Ohm)

Very Easy to use....just connect the speaker output on the amplifier to the input on the Hot Plate using a speaker cable and then connect speaker output 1 or 2 of the Hot Plate to the speaker cabinet using another speaker cable.

I am using this with a Marshall DSL 50 watt head into a 2x12 Marshall 1936 cab.
The unit does not create any additional unwanted "noise".
The Hotplate does exactly what it's supposed to do. I use the 8 and 12 db settings the most and they allow me to get the tone that normally would require me to turn my amp volume up to 6 or higher which is just too loud for normal use.
The Bright and Deep switches work well and I use them both. The more you attenuate the more useful they are.
One note - when you use the 16 db setting, the sound quality suffers a bit but may be a reasonable trade-off if you are in an apartment or for late night playing/recording.

I just got it but it seems to be built solidly.

I called them with several questions before I purchased it and they were always available and answered my questions.

I play Rock, Metal and Blues and this is a great practical addition to my equipment. I would recommend the Hotplate to anyone who has a tube amp. Fact: In order for tube amps to sound their best, especially Marshalls, they need to be cranked with the volume turned up. Again, the Hotplate allows you to that "cranked" tone at reasonable levels.

I bought a brand new THD 8 ohm hot plate to see if it would have any positive effects for using with my Almost new and fully checked out Ashdown Fallen Angel Amplifier running in to my 8 ohm Mesa rectifier 4x12 cab with Celestion vintage 30's

It did not come with any instructions or manual of any kind.

The amp and cab settings where 8 ohms and the units are not switchable so it would be impossible for me to set it to an incorrect ohm setting.

So while it should have been very straight forward and simple to use it turned out not to be.

I had plugged this unit in to my amp and was playing through it, as it turned out the sound was diminished in volume but with no improvement in sound. The master volume built in to the amp is all that is needed to use it with the gain and volumes of the channels cranked as high as one likes and the sound is not noticeably different then when playing it with the master volume up louder. It simply is louder, with the THD hotplate it cut the volume but had no other effect. It was worthless.
That is not the bad part though. I had been watching the VU meter of the amp to see how much power I was running through the unit while I was trying it out, however I did not notice during the 5 minutes I was using this unit that the tubes in my amp were overheating to the point where they were glowing orange and starting to smoke. I shut down the amp immediately and now the amp does not work at all. I will need to have it diagnosed and retubed at what cost I do not know yet.

In retrospect the amps master volume works perfectly and there is no advantage or need for any attenuator. It seemed to be a reasonable thing to try out the THD to see if it would make playing at lower volumes to have any advantage, as it turns out it did not sound better and damage my amp.

The thing was brand new and took 5 minutes to severely damage a new and expensive amplifier. I would never try this again.

I was obviously quite upset that this had happened to my amp. THD is located in the area I live in (Seattle) I sent them an email immediately after this had happened asking them what they would like me to do as far as taking the THD unit and my amp to find out what went wrong. I left all sorts of contact information and sent them my issue through their tech support method. THEY DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO REPLY TO MY ISSUE! I GOT NO RESPONSE WHATSOEVER! THEY COULD OBVIOUSLY CARE LESS THAT THEIR PRODUCT HAD DAMAGED A VERY EXPENSIVE HALF STACK, I HAVE NEVER HAD A WORSE EXPERIENCE INCLUDING NOT HEARING ANY REPLY FROM THE COMPANY AFTER THIS HAPPENED. IN MY OPINION THIS COMPANY HAS ZERO INTEGRITY AND I WOULD NEVER SUGGEST ANYONE EVER BUY ANY PRODUCT MADE BY THIS COMPANY. THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN HAVING A COMPANIES PRODUCT MALFUNCTION AND THEN IGNORE THE SITUATION THAT THEIR PRODUCT HAD PUT THEIR CUSTOMER IN TO. NO REPLY OF ANY SORT. I DONT KNOW HOW MUCH WORSE IT CAN GET THAN HAVING A CUSTOMERS EQUIPMENT DAMAGED BY YOUR PRODUCT AND THEN SIMPLY IGNORING THEM LIKE THD DID TO ME. BOTH THE PRODUCT AND THE COMPANY THAT MADE IT HAVE LEFT ME WITH A DAMAGED EXPENSIVE AMPLIFIER AND COULD OBVIOUSLY CARE LESS. I DONT KNOW YET HOW MUCH IT IS GOING TO COST ME TO REPAIR MY EQUIPMENT BY USING A THD PRODUCT, BUT THEY CERTAINLY DONT CARE. I GOT MY MONEY BACK FROM GUITAR CENTER WHERE I PURCHASE THE THD HOTPLATE BUT I AM LEFT WITH HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE THD HOTPLATE AND THEIR LACK OF DESIRE TO INVESTIGATE THIS AT ALL.

Obviously I could not recommend any THD product to anyone, it is one thing to have a product malfunction, it is another for the company to ignore this when it happens. I was upset that my expensive nice amp rig was damaged but was outraged when THD refused to reply to my contacts asking them where they would like me to take the amp and THD product to have them diagnosed to find out what happened.

I have had issues with product I have purchased before and almost all of the companies have promptly addressed the problems and had me take them to service centers to investigate and decide what the issue was, even when I have not had the company consider the issue covered under warranty at least they acted quickly and made the effort.

It is inexcusable to ignore a customer that has purchased a brand new product from their company, had a major malfunction and then totally ignore the customer as THD has.

Every other company I have dealt with have either been outstanding or at the worst acceptable...except for THD.

very easy to use - straight forward,but brief user manual. -16 db setting is a bit anemic, but has a place for quieter practice sessions.

using this with fender amer. strat fitted with texas specials and gibson les paul. No more noise than without unit. Hot rod deluxe amp. nice way to get the overdriven amp sound without the ear spltting volume. A real must for anyone playing at home with a need to light up the tubes without killing the neighbors. I can finally get the sound I want without trying to muffle my amp.

very simple, rugged design. I am not a gigging musician, but can't imagine why you would need a backup in any gigging environment, there doesn't seem to be anything "fragile" about the unit. The only thing that might cause damage would be misuse(amp that is not compatible?)

no experience

I have had opps. to play through different models of thd hotplate and found them all to work for their intended purpose. Unit is a bit price prohibitive, it took me awhile to part with the money for it, but for the sound quality that it enables at lower volumes its worth saving for. I play blues and classic rock and a warm overdriven tube amp sound is essential, no effect pedal can make up for it - only enhance it. I highly reccomend this to anyone trying to get that tube sound without sustaining hearing loss!! Buy this before the distortion and over drive pedals, then decide what will really help your sound beyond real classic tube breakup and distortion.

The hotplate is real easy to use just follow the instructions,and you're ready to go.

I use the hotplate with a 1980 Hiwatt bulldog, these amps are not like other Hiwatt amps. Yes, you can get clean shimmering tones by turning down the guitar volume,but the bulldog is made to distort and get super mean.... and ungodly loud for 50 watts. The Hotplate saves my ears, by backing off 2 clicks on it the Hiwatt is tamed enough for practice, and playing any guitar with p90 pickups,well the combo is unbeatable.When you back off another click or 2 on the HP the sound does become more compressed and thus suffers a bit, but like I said,this amp is made to kill, not sit in a bedroom.

I had a power soak back in the 80's that I used with a Hiwatt stack, I believe it fried the amp. As was the end result of many amps that used these early model attenuators. But with tech advancements the hotplate has been working well for over a year. In fact my friend just bought a 16 om version for his marshall superlead 100, after testing mine out. Over all these things are built to last.

I have never had to deal with THD but I know they have a solid rep.

I have been playing over 30 years, mostly hard rock / punk rock and some heavy blues. I have always played Hiwatts but do own a Vox ac50 cph, and a fender princeton 65. Neither need the HP due to the fact that both have a master volume control. But if the HP were stolen, I would get another one, although they are expensive... I bought mine for $300.00 a year ago, and my friend just recently paid $348.00 for his. I am giving it an overall rating of 8 soley because of the price.

This unit is pretty strait forward, in terms of use. the only thing worth going over is that you MUST use speaker cables, not instument cables.

From my experience with this product (1.5 years) it does what it is suppose to although, if you are planning on using it with you 70's 100 watt Marshall you may be disappointed. I use the HP with a Gibson SG Standard, and a Epiphone Les Paul into a Peavey VK212 100 watt, and an Epiphone VJ Half Stack with great results. With this i'm able to get closer to the sound of many of my idols, such as Angus Young, JImmy Page EVH,Andrew Stockdale, and Robin Trower because there sound is the effect of power tube saturation. The highest i can get on the VK before the sound gets mushy is about 1:00. After that point the sound is as i said mushy and many notes become undefined. But with the VJ i can go all of the way up without a bad sound. I feel that the tone switches do there job, especially the one that adjustes the higher freq. I have used the line out with good results also.

For about 15 gigs and a year and a half of abuse it stands up really well. I use it without backup constantly.

never had to deal with them

I really like this product for all it does. the only bad tones come out when you go to -16db and below (the load setting works well on quiet stages). the only thing i wish it had is an impedance switch (like the bad cat leash, check it out).

Not a whole lot to it. you run it between your amp and the speakers, and basically adjust the DB you want reduced. the reason I rate it a 7 is because some people believe that you will be able to crank an amp and get perfectly good tones at bedroom levels with no coloration of tone, and that is simply not the case. This product will let you drive the heck out of your power amp, but a good part of sound is the air being pushed, and if you are actually reducing the volume, not as much air gets pushed. Control wise, not a whole lot to it basically one knob, unless you use -16 Db, then you have a fine tune knob.

I play Epiphone Les Pauls with EMG 81-89, and an ESP MH series, into a Mesa Single Rectifier Solo Head and Mesa 4x12 straight Cab. Mesas are known for their brutal distortion, but many people go wrong believing that this sound is achieved in the pramp. Mesas need to have the power amp cranked and the gain backed off of to get a nice tight metal sound (metallica ish if you will) So the Hotplate allowed me to crank the power amp to 2:00 when normally i could not get past 9:00 without having everyone at practice complain. There is a small bit of coloration in the tone, but anything you run anywhere will color the signal. Has a bright and deep switch, found them useful if you are going to try it at lower than practice volumes, helps compensate for tonal coloration. At higher volumes I think the bright switch alone sounds very good through my amp.

Haven't had it for too long, but it seems to be built pretty solid, no power issues I can think of, because it does not plug into anything. I would probably be able to go without having a back up because I don't see how that thing could fail.

never dealt with them.

I play a lot of Metallica, BLS, Ozzy, Megadeth, Pantera style music, although I rarely play any of their songs, their style influences me, so naturally your music sounds a little bit like them. I am able to finally acheive the tone (for now) I have been trying to get out of this rectifier for a year now. Its worth the tubes that you will go through. I bought this because I heard it was the common way to go and for once joining the bandwagon worked out pretty good. Definately worth the price I paid.

Couldn't be much simpler really. Amp>hotplate>speaker. Set the attenuation level, decide if you want to switch either of the pre-set EQ functions in, set your amp up to sound good.

I use this primarily with a MIA strat, Maton JB6 (SG type of guitar)and I have played loads of other guitars through it from pointy headed deliverers of death metal to jazzers. I have principaly used it to control a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55 (with EL34's), a 45 year old Jansen Bassman 75 (NZ version of the Fender Bassman 75, complete with 7027A valves)and, most recently, a Epiphone valve Junior head (EL84). It works with everything, if the sound of your gear is good the hotplate won't interfere with it. I think it does a brilliant job of helping control the volume of your rig while letting you get those power valve/s crunching. Without it, my 2 big amps (55 and 75W) can be too much in smaller venues with the 75 delivering some seriously bone crushing volume to get those 7027's breaking up. The hotplate gives you better control. On my little 5W non-master Epi amp it means I can drive the EL84 hard at reasonable volumes at home without drawing serious hate from the neighbours, family and pets.
I think the 2 EQ switches work really well and help tweak the tone as you switch in more attenuation.
What it won't let you do is run big rigs at bedroom volumes. Once you are setting it higher than 8db you are starting to seriously lose the speaker dynamics out of the sound - things still sound good/ok but not magic.
I've never used the line out function so I don't know how good or bad it is.
All in all this device does a really great job.

Very reliable. Don't think there is much to break to be honest.

Never had to deal with them. The info on their site is really helpful though.

Damn fine bit of gear. Just be aware of its limitations and you won't be disappointed. Works for all styles of music. If it were stolen I would track down the offender, beat them to death with the hotplate, wipe off the blood and gore, and start using it again. Or maybe I would just buy another.

The unit its self is pretty straight forward. Just plug your head's speaker output into the input of the hot plate, and plug the speaker output of the hotplate into the speaker cabinet. Getting a good sound may take a little time though. When the power tubes are pushed into saturation or overdrive, they respond very differently than they do clean. This will require some tweaking of the EQ, gain, or presence settings on the amp. All in all, not a very difficult or time consuming task.

Sound quality is great. with a little time, i was able to find a sweet distortion sound. I am running a gibson les paul studio with a duncan JB pickup into a Carvin 100 watt MTS tube head loaded with groove tubes E34L's, with the matching 4 x 12 cabinet. I rarely use effects, but I sometimes use a boss chorus, or occaisonally when more effects are needed, I will use an old alesis quadraverb. Lately I have been running straight into the head. The sounds I can achieve using the hot plate are great. I have the lead channel volume at 10, and I adjust the gain from anywhere at 2 for a good crunch to 7-10 for intense metal distortion. All the time, the output tubes are running at 100%, and that's what makes all the difference in the world. I haven't heard any of the "fuzzy" sounds, or the hissing and popping that some other reviewers are reporting. Even with the unit at -16 db, my tone is coming through nicely. The product really does what it claims to do. It allows you to run your amp full bore and tame the volume. I'm not gonna claim that the tone is prefect, speaker distortion is important too, but it's light years better than running the amp at low volume, or resorting to solid state modeling amps.

Seems pretty sturdy, not too much to go wrong. I would definitely gig without a backup. Worst comes to worst, just us the amps volume.

Never had to deal with them, but I've heard good things.

I play various styles, from classic rock (beatles, stones, floyd, neil young), punk (social distortion...), to metal. I've been playing bass, and guitar for about 15 years, and I've gigged with a lot of bands. I am a total tone junky, and I'm not easy to please. I also play a 72 fender strat, and an ovation acoustic/electric. I also use a silverface fender champ. This product has really impressed me. I've heard other attenuators, like the marshall power break, and this one is by far the best I've heard. It is a little pricey, but definitely worth it. If it were lost or stolen, I'd replace it immediately.

Easy to use- but I still managed to screw up once (doh!). Plugged the thing in backwards (Doh!) and it still kind of worked, didn't damage my amp or the unit.

IF you plug it in correctly, it's easy: one knob to set level of attenuation, an extra knob for the extreme attenuation (you probably won't use much), two switches for bright and deep boost.

No power cable (gets its power from the amp signal)

There is a simple 1-page manual available at THD's website. You hardly need it.

This is not an effect per say, but an attenuator designed to reduce your volume while retaining the glorious tone of your tube amp turned up loud. It does that very well. At anything from -4dB to -12dB it sounds really great. At -16dB and beyond, the tonal quality suffers noticeably, but given the physics of sound and the physiology of our ears it is probably not physically possible to achieve perfect tone with that much volume cut. If you need that much attenuation, you should just buy a smaller amp, or get one with a headphone jack

It does its job very well. I can hardly ever turn my 60W Fender Supersonic amp up full bore, and if I do I'm damaging my hearing and peeling the paint off the walls. This device allows me to turn up into the upper half of the dial on my gain and volume knobs where the tubes really wake up and sing, while still operating at a volume that won't hurt anyone or summon the police to shut down my jam.

I play a '79 Stratocaster (Kinman pups) > a few effects> Fender SuperSonic 60W 1-12" combo amp with the Hotplate between the speaker output and the speaker.

I bought mine several years used and I've had it 4 months. The case seems bullet proof. I dropped it hard on a linoleum floor from a height of about 4 feet and it was undamaged (but it scuffed the floor).

I would use without a backup. if it failed, I could always just turn down my amp, use the attenuation from my amp's effects loop volume knobs, and make it through the gig.

As mentioned above, I did a bonehead thing and operated it for a while when it was plugged in backwards (doh!). It actually sort of works like that, but not so well. I remembered that time I dropped it and thought I'd broken it. I e-mailed tech support on a weekday morning and got a helpful response within an hour. Later I called them at 4:50pm on a Friday. left a message, and had a call back by 9:30am Monday morning. I got on the phone with Ed of tech support, and he was very helpful, very patient, and politely refrained from calling me a dummy for doing such a clueless thing as to plug in my unit backwards (said he gets 3 calls a day for that).

That rates a 10 in my book.

I play surf guitar, rockabilly, and 60s-90s rock. Against all odds I now find myself playing in a church band. I've been playing guitar on and off for 40 years. Electric guitar on and off for 25 years (I'm just back to my Strat and my rock n roll roots this year after a 20-year detour into purely acoustic guitar on Planet Bluegrass).

This device brings more tone out of my amp, and makes everything else I do sound better. It has no bad interactions with any device I own (Crybaby wah, Ibanez TS-9, Ibanez FL-7, Digitech delay). I find that with this device, and my hot pickups, and my modern tube amp, I have less need for an overdrive pedal.

It won't fit in a rack, nor on a pedalboard, so it perches on top of my amp. It kind of needs to stay near the amp, but I'm trying to think of a way to mount this thing somewhere so it won't fall on any more hard floors. Maybe I can build some kind of bracket or cradle for it.

It is a glorious and very fetching purple color. It has a light bulb on the front that glows brightly when I hit loud power chords. It gets warm, but not really hot with my equpiment. It's rated for bigger amps and might get pretty hot handling a Marshall stack turned up to 11.

If it were lost, I would not hesitate to buy another one. Or maybe I would try some other THD product. I'm curious about the Yellowjackets, and their amps (spendy though they are).

I sometimes wonder if I'd be better off using a smaller tube amp (say a 15W Fender of some sort), instead of a 60W that needs attenuation to use in most cases. Maybe I just need to hook up with a louder drummer.

Get your tone in order. Then hook this beaut up and don't go below -12dB. Job done.

I use a Burns Bison or Fender Jag (Quarter pounders installed). These go into a modded Crybaby, Boss OC-2, Boss OD-3, ProCo Dirty Rat, Russian Big Muff Pi (Modded and no sounds like actual sex). This leads into a Marshall Bluesbreaker. Before the Hotplate I was running the amp volume at 2, and compensated with a Wasabi OD to drive it. It sounded pretty good, but after loading the amp with Philips 6L6s, Sovtek GZ34, JJ ECC83, and some EHX 12AX7's I spat my dummy out.

NOW I run the main channel at 10 and the secondary channel (via crosspatch) at 6/7, with the Hotplate at -8dB.

Game Over. It is as close to dammit the tone I have been searching for. I can gig safe in the knowledge that the sound engineer will not throw a massive hissy fit, and still retaim the SexTone.

Deep and Bright Switches - I use them, as I'm in a duo with guitar and drums,a nd it helps fill out the sound very well. Some may not like them but hey, that's life.

Some ProDads may reckon it colours your tone a tad. I say bollocks to that.

IT HAS NO BATTERY. IT DOES NOT RUN OFF MAINS.
Jebus, it is powered by the amp signal; when you don't play it isn't on.

I baby it a tad, but only because it is that important. I echo an earlier review that if it were not for the Hotplate I would have sold my amp.

Dependable.

DONT USE THIS FOR 'BEDROOM' PLAYING. IT IS A STUDIO AND LIVE TOOL. I CANNOT REITERATE THIS FACT ENOUGH.

Not used.

Playing for ten years now. Fits beautifully for my egotistical Glam/Punk duo approach. No bass. No other guitar. Just me. And with the THD it still sounds like there's more than one. Great product.

If it were stolen I would hunt the culprit down and break their legs. Then I'd liberally chuck playing darts at them whilst they writhed about.

For the price I paid and the mint condition. A bargain.

I don't think it came with a manual...wasn't paying attention when I unpacked it. But it's simple enough. Make sure the impedence is right, plug it in right, and play with the switches until it sounds good....it's that simple.

The sound is both awesome and disconcerting.

I run a 5w Class A Tube amp wide open (using guitar volume to control breakup) into a Vox Cab with no other effects. Without the attenuator, this is my favorite guitar sound by far (better with marshall, black kat, /13, etc.). With either humbuckers (SG) or single coils (G&L Legacy) the breakup of the amp is amazing, but...as we all (should) know, wattage implies nothing about sound levels...and it's really loud.

The attenuator takes the edge off with the first few settings so it won't kill your ears, and it doesn't really color the sound while it's doing it.

On the adjustable setting, which I use a lot...the sound is just not the same...simply because it's not a full-on amp running behind you. Someone below described it as going from a full-on amp sound to a good recording of a full-on amp sound and I couldn't agree more. It's not the best thing in the world, and I avoid using it any time i can...but to be able to get something resembling that tone at an apartment-frienly volume, it's certainly worth it.

One other use I'm toying with is using it to give my amp a line-out and basically using it like a distortion box going into other effects and a shimering clean amp...but as I only have one amp right now, I haven't gotten the chance.

So, it works as intended and the sound is acceptable for my uses...but don't expect it to make you able to play a full stack in your bedroom. That just won't happen.

It's entirely passive and in a big metal box...can't imagine it breaking.

As long as you're not expecting miracles, it works well...and certainly better than a $200 practice amp.

Very easy to use. The only difficulty I had was that my combo amplifier had a very short speaker cable so I had to find an extension cable.

I am using this on a 20 watt combo amp similar to a Fender Deluxe. I have the attenuation set at -16dbm, the bright switch on and the bulbs on. Initially I ran the amplifier volume at full to get the maximum tube overdrive. This gave a nice smooth distortion and sounded very similar to the amp cranked just much less volume. For me where this unit really shined was when I ran my amplifier at about half volume. At this level and -16dbm it was a very jam friendly volume. The difference now was that the sound was clean but on the edge of breakup with plenty of glorious sustain and harmonic richness that you would expect from a tube amp. I can't put my guitar dowm!

Don't know yet but the unit seems very rugged.

I think this is a great accessory for getting hot tube tone at lower volume without sacrificing sound quality. For those looking for mega-distortion get a pedal, for those who love the tone of their tube amps but need lower volume for jamming or recording this is it!

EASY

This is the Truth and told to me by a tech at THD it was designed for many different purposes and one of them being playing your high powered amp at low levels while maintaining a fully driven load from the pre and driven tubes. the attenuator absorbs the power and converts it changing its in essence signal level and correcting equalization to match the power setting at the high volume....... to all those who say this item doesn't work well i have no clue what you might be doing wrong.. i have a three charvel custom shop under fender i run them through a custom Mesa Triple i bridge it between my 8 ohm. speaker out to speaker 1 out to the 8 ohm cab in. at -16 it sounds amazing i can run it through my fx loop because it is getting all the power and then after out of the amp it is converted to the speakers.... if you have a bad or poor sounding cab THD put some switches on there for you deep and then a high end boost is what it sounds like to me or a balanced and bland unity but it seems alittle more tailored eq wise to clearing a very dry high end boost. regardless i do not personally like to use them there is no point. i am running this ingenious Plate through a custom mesa oversized, baffle and back insulated to my specific sound... when i am at home i like to play and to make a long story short i can get an amp that will sound the same as mine so i stumbled across this and i love it. there are many other amazing features... this is a must have for anyone who loves your tone. i have tried substitutes and someone even mentioned its not for low volume use..... what ? also he suggested buying another amp like a practice amp i believe and played for 40 years.... uhm nice thorough review but not practical if you have an amp that sounds like no other and you have found your tone this is an amazing tool. its good for much more with a load option but -16 sounds better than it would with it at low volumes and with out being able to drive the tubes successfully. the speakers most will notice since they are not at there peaking point or the desired point will not sound as great as at full volume but you will notice it will sound fairly similar but when you open this up it will separate more.... meaning more definition and tonality but much better than opting for a POD or other digital modeling unit cause i tried it all and this is honestly the best so far...

yeah i suppose so toured with it to give it a test and it was awesome for warming up back stage.

have not dealt with them but i need to ask them a question so i will see i am sure they will be great most are. especially boutique manufactures.

i trained musician. professional back to have been active musician for a while.. i record and produce bands. i play whatever i decide i would like to, not genre specific.

Plug it in and turn turn the knobs. It takes a little time to figure out the Deep and Bright buttons and how they interact with the different levels, though.

Unlike most owners below, I don't use it to tame a monster Plexi, Recto, or 5150 head. I use a Traynor YCV40WR, mostly clean, with a Tele and a 335-style. What the Hot Plate does is let me turn the amp up to the 3-5 range, where the power tubes open up and the sound gets really fat and dynamic, without hurting anybody. Normally these levels would provide a volume that you can barely shout over from across the room; with the attenuator, the levels are perfect for a basement jam environment, and even work for un-miced vocals. And to my ears, at least, the sound quality is very good down to -12db. (16 gets a little murky, but still sounds pleasing.)

I've dropped it on concrete, and it's still ticking. Solid.

Quick email response; I bought it used and they still seemed interested in helping me out with questions.

If you want raging power-tube distortion without waking the baby, get a Pod. But if your goal is to bring a 40 or 100-watt amp down to about the volume level of a Champ so you can open up the throttle, this will do it. It's awesome at what it does.

After reading other reviews, I'm not sure what other purchasers were expecting. It functions as promised and does exactly what it's supposed to do. It's laid out nicely and has straight forward controls. The manual provides adequate instruction for use and is to the point.

I currently use a Peavey 120 Ultra head and a 4x12 cab with Celestion speakers. Gibson Les Paul 58 re-issue and a PRS Custom 24. So far the Hot Plate is operating as promised. You really need to be at the -16db setting to play quietly enough not to wake the family, but I've found the sound to be very acceptable with minimal tonal coloring. It's a nice addition to my current rig.

I haven't had it for that long, but it's construction is first rate. So far it's very dependable.

I had a question about the impedence for my cab(s) and the tech that answered the phone was more than helpful. He went through everything very thoroughly along with pro's and con's to my anticipated set up. I would caution anyone to call first before buying to make sure you get the right unit prior to purchasing. If you have two 8 ohm cabs, you need a 4 ohm hot plate. Two 16 ohm cabs, 8 ohm hot plate etc...

I play rock and blues. I've been at it long enough to know my limitations and long enough to continually push them. I have more gear than I care to list here. If it were stolen, I'd buy another one. It works like it's supposed to. I like that it's straight forward and easy to operate. The bright and deep switches are a nice touch when playing at the -16db setting. I hate the price. $300 is a little pricey for most. I looked at he Marshall Powerbrake and the Ultimate powerbrake. This was the best value for the money. I can't stress enough how great the customer service is. Call them with your amp first and they'll make the proper recomendation. Then go buy it on ebay....ha.

This unit does EXACTLY what it is supposed to do, and MUCH more. I am really getting tired of hearing these other guys complaining that it doesn't lower the volume low enough for their bedroom when they use it in an apartment...............so ignorant if you really think about it.

If you own a Marshall master volume model for example.........why even use the hot plate in your bedroom at all? Simply turn the pre gain volume up and the master volume down..........what more do you want?? This unit was made for using in a live Club or even larger venue situation, and to run time based effects cleanly via a second amp (or a couple of other ways)and control your over all saturated volumes to a usable volume.

Now, If you own a non-master volume amp, you will need to use the 16 db setting and volume control pot and just deal with the sound, which is pretty good if you use the two EQ adjustments on the Hot Plate itself and maybe some pre or post EQing via an "MXR 8 or 10 Band EQ" or something similar.

There is another use for this unit that FAR outweighs the volume attenuation that these guys are not even paying attention to.............and that is the ability to solve an age old problem with "time based effects" being in the chain BEFORE the preamp section (via the guitar input jack) or before the power tube section (via the effects loops) causing terrible distorted and muddy effects sounds that completely destroy the original beautiful saturated power tube sound that we all love so much. This has been a HUGE problem overlooked by the majority of guitarists who obviously don't do their homework when it comes to great sound and the inherent problems that are caused by pre-distortion (Pre amp OR Power tube)followed by time based effects.


With the THD Hot Plate and TWO similar amps, you can solve this problem VERY nicely, and you can now get that incredible 70's Hard Rock distortion sound AND great time based effects as well without killing the original signal. You do this by running your guitar through the input of your best sounding ALL TUBE AMP (Amp #1) and running the preamp sections at a low setting (preventing that fizzy preamp distortion), and running the power tubes between 7 and 10, getting that beautiful FULL power tube saturation that we all love. Then you run the head #1 through the Hot Plate and then to your one or two 4 x 12 cabs for an undisturbed, unaltered saturated sound. THEN...........you run a speaker cord from the THD Hot Plate's adjustable LINE OUT JACK located on the back of the unit to your EFFECTS PROCESSOR (mine is a Digitech RP20) OR to your effects pedal chain, and THEN run that into the INPUT of AMP #2.

You want to run Amp #2 as CLEAN as possible in order to "reproduce" all your heavily used time based effects (Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb, etc.) cleanly and fully for the rich sound that they can produce, and mix the "clean" and the "wet" amps signals to your desired effects level for your overall sound.

This is the ONLY way (besides going even further and using dummy loads, and isolation cabs) to get that great time based effects' sounds WITHOUT having to run the effects through the MIXING BOARD's Effects loop allowing the sound man to control your effects and being able to mess them up!! I don't know about you, but I want complete control of my sound from A to Z.

I gave this a "9" for sound quality because there is always room to improve this type of unit. I am currently using TWO Peavey 5150's (a 5150 signature and a 5150II signature model) and a Digitech RP 20 effects processor along with a separate floor pedal set up: A "Script MXR Phase 90, an original MXR Script Flanger, MXR 10 Band GEQ, and a EH Holier Grail, EH Memory Man, EH Del Electric Mistress, and a new Echo Plex made by Fulltone (incredible unit),and have been pulling my hair out trying to get the sound I wanted out of them like I heard when I heard Van Halen live. And I have been searching for a way to have POST preamp/effects loop/power tube/speaker/mic time based effects too, which is the BIGGEST problem I wanted to solve.

I can now get all the sounds of my favorite artists like I have wanted for years. I can even put my EQ based effects (like Wah Wah, Compressor, Distortion box, phaser , etc) in the PREAMP section (Guitar input) via separating the time based effects from the EQ based effects using the Left and Right channels of my RP 20 to rout the effects in two different directions........VERY nice to have that ability.

So, for all those here who say that this unit doesn't do what it is supposed to do........TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AND READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS!

This thing is built like a tank, what more can I say? I have only had it for 3 months, but it looks like it will last a lifetime.

I have been in communication with these guys several times while I was trying to figure out how to solve the problems I talked about earlier, and they were GREAT about taking the time to help me, unlike most places that don't care about helping their customers post purchase since they already have your money.

I have been playing guitar for over 40 years and I play mostly 80's style Hard Rock. This is perfect for that genre, as well as any other genre I can think of. You already know what gear I use, except for the fact that I actually have FOUR 5150's and eight 4 x 12 cabs that I usually run in stereo in larger venues. I even use four 4 x 12 cabs in small rooms for the stereo effect, and the fullness and punch that they pack.......PLUS I have to have the 8 ohm impedance for my THD Hot Plates.

If this unit were to be stolen, I would immediately replace it (them) with brand new ones just like this one. It is the very best unit that I have ever used and I have used just about ALL of them. This is MORE than just a volume attenuator, it is a miracle device for me and anyone else who wants great time based effect sounds.

I love the way this thing sounds even when you cut the volume db by more than 8 db. It maintains pretty much ALL of it's tonal characteristics at least to that point.......AND you have the two built in EQ settings that work good enough at these db level drops. The noise reduction system in this unit is great too. It is in NO WAY to be used as a substitute for a full on noise gate, but it certainly is great for that FINAL overall tweek. I use ISP Decimators (4 of them).......... one in each of my effects loops of my 5150 heads, the best noise gates I have EVER heard........simply amazing and easy to operate.

I have compared this Hot Plate to literally every attenuator out there , both new AND used and NOS.........there's no comparison, the Hot Plate is by far the best. There is, However, still room for improvement......such as maybe a way to go from the Hot Plate to FOUR amp cabs? Older Marshalls had the ability to use 4 cabs, instead of 2, and I loved that. And if they can ever make a board that completely keeps the original tone no matter how much you attenuate the volume, that would be nice, but definitely NOT neccessary.

I don't hate anything about this unit, and I love everything about it.....enough said. This unit helped me to make music because I just can't get enough of the fantastic sound I can now get from power tube saturation AND extremely clean time based effects, all in stereo!!!

I would like to share one more thing to all the younger musicians out there. Just because at first glance something doesn't sound great, or you don't take the time to experiment and get great sounds, doesn't mean that the unit is bad, or overpriced. It is up to YOU to experiment and to try different things.........after all........the glory is in the adventure, it's "in the ride", NOT the end.

The hotplate is very simple to use I like the fact that when I have my amp on the bench to bias tubes or check voltages it has a built in Dummy load.

I have a 100 watt handwired Plexi that I built, that I use through the Hotplate, I have mixed emotions about this attenuator, at 12db of attenuation my amp tone is acceptable and is very dynamic and is very touch sensitive. At 16db of attenuation the hotplate has a varible volume control, cool feature but your dynamics and sensitivity dissappear, your basic tone is present with the addition of a fizzy sound at the end of your notes. The fizz does become less evident with less attenuation(louder volume) this is where I will complain, THD could have cleaned up the 16db setting and gotten rid of the fizz. I would love to play my Plexi in my condo but Face it, Attenuators were made to tame 100 watt non master volume amps to play at stage levels not to play in your bedroom........

I would say that the unit is built very well

N/A

Attenuators are a necessary evil for Plexi's I have a love hate relationship with my Hotplate, I will keep it for the Dummy load function alone for when I need to Bias or am building amps. Keeping in mind that it is impractical to play a 100 watt non master volume amp in a condo or at bedroom levels you are missing the magic when you do this. you might as well play your master volume amp at low volume.... Plexi's are amazing cranked up but your ears cannot take the sheer volume of this amplifier, you value your hearing you will use an attenuator. IMO the Hotplate is a good solution but is far from being the ultimate solution. I will be looking for a better sounding attenuator in the future,

Easy . . . pick the ohmage you want. Buy it. Plug it in. Manual explains stuff, but there's not too much to say. Pick your attenuation, and decide on the deep and bright switches (and the noise-reduction bulbs). Use proper speaker cables though!

JCM 800 2203 w/ various guitars into 8 ohm 4x12 cab. Does pretty much what it's supposed to do. I don't know how much of a noise difference the bulbs make, but they look neat anyways.

I was really irked by some of the earlier reviews claiming poor sound quality. I just have to make it clear that this is not the fault of the attenuator. As someone said before, speakers don't move the same at low volumes, especially in high-wattage cabs found on the sort of amps that need a hot plate!

This is NOT a tool for cranked 100w Marshall in your living room. The Hot Plate is for taking an amp that's so loud you can't play small-medium clubs, and taking it down to those levels . . . which are still quite loud!

I usually use 8db attenuation with the master around 7. Sometimes I'll go to 12. I'd say that you can hear a bit of the frequency-shifts that come from attenuating from 12--->on. The deep and bright switches are neat, but I never use them; they're really not need that much on -8db.

Anyway, the thing sounds great for taming an amp that would scare off audience members and bar owners. That's what it's for!

It's never given me a problem . . . but here's the thing about gigging without a backup: My amp has.

Nothing major, just seems to blow fuses more often than it should . . . but I don't know if the Hot Plate is connected.

Other people say they've had no trouble. I don't get the master above 7 anyway, and I'm not using really heavy attenuation. My speaker cable is all up to spec too. I have no reference point for blown fuses, as I never got the master about 4 for any period of time before I got the Hot Plate. When I opened the amp, the blown fuses were actually slow-blows someone had put where fast-blow fuses should be (I purchases the amp used a few years ago).

Anyway, the point is I don't know. Either way, nothing in the amp has ever been damaged, I just seem to fry 3 of my fuses about once every couple months.

The thing sounds great. It'll give you a nice volume cut to let you use your big amp in venues smaller than a stadium.

I'm giving it a 7 because if my bi-monthly fuse chewing is the fault of hte attenuator, I'd give it a 5, and if it's not, I'd give it a 9.

My setup - Fender custom shop strat, Brownface & Blackface Fender amps.

Of course it will affect the tone of the amp in some way... What I don't get is people who are upset about the fact that it changes the tone, as if this is some kind of failure to be the "perfect" attenuator. Just turn down the volume on your radio and the tone changes along with the volume. Any reduction in level especially by a reactive load process and especially when applied heavily will change the tone. It is a scientific fact that the human ear is very sensitive to these changes and no design will ever change that.

I actually think the sound is improved by the hotplate because in my opinion, any "great" tone at a level that can damage the hearing or feels uncomfortably loud is a bad tone. For those who think there is no substitute to an unattenuated amp cranked to 11, grow up and stop p****ing people off..... you're too damned loud!

In recording applications, even in a soundproofed studio a maxed out amp with no attenuation can overcook the microphone, which can have negative impacts on the recorded sound (mic diaphragm distortion etc...), so I think the hotplate is an essential tool, not just a handy thing to have.

On anything but a huge stage it is mandatory to use this device if you don't want the soundman and the rest of the band to resent you and still be able to crank your amp. I recorded an entire album with my hotplate running at 12db attenuation and I have had nothing but great praise for the guitar tone and people asking me how I was able to acheive such recorded tones. A good speaker does help and I use tonetubby hempcones which are in a league of their own.

As a tool, the hotplate is the best attenuator I have used. Others I have used had damaged the amp I was using, but the hotplate has never caused any damage in the years I have used them. Of course you will wear out your power tubes quicker.

Never given up on me and never damaged my amp, but remember when using this, you are running your amp harder more consistantly, so the various parts on the amp can wear out more quickly, mainly tubes.

Never had to deal with them

I play original music. Some may call it softrock, some may call it melodic rock, some may say AOR. I don't really know what it is. It's just what I do. See for yourself if you like...

http:www.thelostangels.net

I've only had it a week.

I e-mailed, They e-mailed back.

I'm only writing this review to let people know that this thing doesn't really do what it says it does. If you live in an apartment or row home or if you want to play in your room and not bother anyone this thing will not bring the volume of your amp down. It has 5 settings not counting the load setting. -16dbs, -12dbs -8dbs -4dbs and 0 which is basically a bypass.

The only setting that you can control the volume to were you don't kill small animals is the -16dbs and you can read other reviews on here at -16dbs it doesn't sound all that good. Once you switch to any of the other settings -12dbs or lower the right knob which they call the potentiometer is inactive. The only time this is active is when you set the Hot Plate to -16dbs, any other setting and this knob does nothing. which means the only way you can control the volume is by turning down the amp which in my opinion defeats the purpose of the Hot Plate. I have the JCM 2000 DSL 100watt head which is a master volume amp, the Hot Plate manual says to set the volume on master volume amps at full output. Unless you enjoy people hunting you down and blood coming from your ears "DON'T DO THIS" The Hot Plate only subtlety effects the volume at -12dbs or lower so your amp will be as loud as it normally would be without the Hot Plate.

I bought my Hot Plate off EBay and when I hooked it up and could only get it to do what it's supposed to do on one setting I thought it was broke. I didn't want to accuse the seller of selling me a broken Hot Plate until I was sure I knew what I was talking about. So I e-mail THD and told them what it was doing. ED DeGenaro e-mailed me back and told me that it was working fine.

So if your like me and thought that you would have all this cranked amp power without the volume and you could do your best Angus Young in the living room while the wife and the baby took a nap upstairs forget it. Like I said you can bring the volume down on that one setting but it doesn't sound all that good. This review isn't a negative against how the Hot Plate will make your amp sound, I'm just trying to let people that don't know like I didn't that you don't have very much control over the volume. I read lots of reviews before I bought mine and no one mentioned that. I'm going to take it to practice with me where I can really test it out to see what kind of sounds I can get with it before I decide to resell it. It may turn out to be what the doctor ordered but it's not all what it's made out to be.

I used the hotplate with a JCM900 2100 and some marshall 4 x 12. Using a Ibanez SZ320 with stock pickups.

I had the volume on 6 with the pre-amp gain on 6 and the mids etc around 2 o clock.

Using this hotplate really helped catch the power and balls of the JCM900. I play in a metal band so my sound has to have clarity and power amoung the amount of distortion i use. It shook the whole room and it sounded better than i thought it would.

Using the hotplate on -16 setting sounds ok, if i was to play the amp a low volume without the hotplate it would sound bad, but the hotplate makes it sound alot better. But not as good as if it was played loud, mainly due to the speakers not being driven hard enough.

The same as all the other Hotplates, just 8 ohms.

Only had it a week and is doing fine right now

n/a

Overall i would recommend this to any guitarist who uses a valve amp. It really brings your amp to life without damaging your ears. I couldn't ask for anything else on the hotplate as it has everything i need to get my tone. Could do with being a bit cheaper, but you can't sacrifice tone for a cheaper power attenuator if you want to sound great at lower volumes.

Playing a Gibson Les Paul Std and PRS Custom 24 through a Mesa Rect-o-verb head with a 2 x 12 Recto closed back cabinet. With the amp cranked at about 50% the Hot Plate absolutely shines. I play it at mostly -12db and get some really great sounds from the amp & cabinet. At -16db you're gonna loose some tone but the amp still sounds decent. (Also remember, the speaker isn't vibrating like it should at -16db) Your expectations HAVE TO BE REALISTIC. Sounds great with the clean or overdrive channels. I could not use this setup at home without the Hot Plate. Just way too much power for the house. I was gonna trade in my amp for something smaller. NOT NOW, NO WAY, EVERYTHING STAYS, all because of this small purple box.

Purchased Nov.2004
5 ranges of attenuation with one variable at -16db
Has low and high boost switches and noise reduction
Used at home (keeps the wife and neighbors happy)

Going on 7 months no problems, don't foresee any. The unit is built ultra heavy duty, solid as a rock. Looks like it's made for the "long haul".

I did have a situation where I thought the small light, that shows the noise reduction is active, wasn't working. This turned out to be due to my own stupidity.(The light was working the whole time) Anyway, I e-mailed THD and got a response back, the same day, from Andy Marshall, the main-man, the presisent & CEO. He responed back to me twice, really fast. These guys really care about their products and their customers. NO BULL. I can't say enough about how great they are. They helped me really fast, and who am I, just some unknown guy who set up a small room in his house, so he could play his guitars.
They treated me like I was starring on MTV.

Playing for 35 years on and off. (you know the story, job, wife, kids) I've bought and sold more stuff than I care to remember. But, the stuff I have now goes to the grave with me. Not alot, but real quality, all made in the USA. If anything ever happened to the Hot Plate I would replace it in a heart beat. Like I said, I can't use my amp at home without it. The only thing that I wish this unit had was the abiltiy to switch to different ohm ratings. If I ever change speakers and they're not 8 ohm, I have to buy another Hot Plate made to match the new speakers. That could get expensive. However, I don't see that happening. But, that's why it got a 9.

No serious problems here. Pretty common sense stuff, mostly. instructions are rather vague though.

I'd say this is a matter of tast. I play a prs cust24 through an un-moded Soldano slo-100. I use the hot plate with only the "deep" switch on. This gives the amp a much needed boost on the bottom end which I much enjoy. Saved me a rather large sum of money on sending it back to CA to get it moded. I could see, however, how the coloration of the tone might upset some. Try it before you buy it.

Only had it for a short while. No problems yet.

Great piece of equipment. Glad to have it around. I live in a dorm room and would risk a fine if I turned my amp up even above 2 let alone up to 11. I don't mind what it does to the sound of the amp at all. Again, try it before you buy it.

pretty easy to use, when you know how, the instructions are minimal, they allow you to use the unit without blowing up yer amp, that's about it, if you need info on how to use the line out, for useing it as a dummy load, wet-dry set up, forget the instructions, minimal!!

i use this with a les paul into a plexi marshall or a 78 master volume jmp 50 watt head,( play 70's, 80'srock)i strictly play in my home's basement jamming along to records and ocationally with my band.these amps without some kind of attenuation and/or overdrive box to me are useless, as i play at pretty low volumes. for the master vol. head its cool but you can get a similar vibe going with an overdrive box (ts9 or similar)at a cheaper price, there is something cool about the way the hotplate with the cranked head sounds though, but you will have to spend a lot of money on the hot plate and power tubes!(they won't last very long with the amp at full throttle)all and all, you can get a very similar sound by just useing a ts-9 or similar, i'm really not sure if it's worth the money for this type of setup. However, for the plexi, it's absolutely the only way to fly!! a plexi cranked in yer basement will hurt you, never mind if it sounds good or not, at those volumes, you will not be able to tell!! just waaaay too loud, with the hot plate, it will scream, nice low end plenty overdrive, sustain for ever, real nice, will put smile on yo face right away, you do loose a little bit of tone at higher attenuation levels but minimal, it sounds really good. i am not sure, knowing how the hot plate sounds now, if i would buy one for the master vol. marshall, but i would not hesitate to but it for the plexi head, if i couldn't attenuate the plexi, i would sell the amp, the hot plate is that good.

so far so good, seems solid, time will tell.

i e-mailed the company asking them to provide more info on how to use the unit as a dummy load, or for a wet-dry setup hoping also for cableing diagrams (different cables must be used as far as instrument vs. speaker cable)didn't get cableing diagrams but they answered me back the next day, pretty quickly!nice to know someone is there.

for a master vol. head it's nice, my only beef here is the price,you can get a similar sound with an overdrive box, it will be just as nice and a lot cheaper and your output tubes will last longer, how ever for a non master amp such as plexis, its the only way to go, a must have piece of gear. no overdrive box in front of a plexi will give you this sound.

VERY EASY TO USE. MUCH DISTINCTION BETWEEN EACH SETTING. I MOSTLY USE THE -16db SETTING. THE MANUAL IT COMES WITH THOUGH IS VERY BASIC. GOT MORE APPROPRIATE INFO FROM THE WEB SITE. WEB SITE IS GREAT. YOU CAN DEMO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ATTENUATION ON LINE, IMPRESSIVE FEATURE. WISH THE MANUAL WAS AS GOOD.

MY MAIN GUITAR IS A CUSTOM SHOP CLASSIC STRATOCASTER WITH TEXAS SPECIAL SINGLE COILS.I USE A CRY BABY WAH,AND BOSS SD-1 I'VE OWNED SEVERAL TUBE AMPS TRYING TO FIND THAT PERFECT SOUND AT LOW VOLUMES. SOME WERE TOO LOUD FOR HOME OTHERS NOT LOUD ENOUGH WITH A BAND. I HATE TRANSISTOR AMPS SO WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? SPENT ALOT OF MONEY TRYING TO FIGURE THIS OUT. I'VE BEEN USING A SUBWAY BLUES FOR THE PAST YEAR FOR ITS LOW LEVELS BUT WOULD GET DROWNED BY THE DRUMMER. SOLUTION THD HOT PLATE. I'VE DISCOVERED A WHOLE NEW SIDE OF SUBWAY BLUES AND NOW I CAN GET ANY MODEL OR WATTAGE AMP. I LIKE THIS HOT PLATE SO MUCH I HAVE NOW PURCHASED A 67 BASSMAN WITH 2X12 CAB AND CAN'T WAIT TO CRANK IT UP. IT IS BY THE WAY THE HOLY GRAIL OF ALL AMPS.

SEEMS REALLY GOOD, ONLY BEEN USING IT FOR ONE MONTH. I OPENED IT UP AND EVERYTHING SEEMS VERY STURDY.

NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM.

BEEN PLAYING FOR 8 YEARS. LOVE BUDDY GUY, CLAPTON, SRV, COLIN JAMES JONAS, AND CLASSIC ROCK. THD OFFERS GREAT SOUND VERSATILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISING NATURAL SOUND OF EQUIPMENT AND PLAYER. IF STOLEN I WOULD GET ANOTHER.
ONE LAST NOTE: "I READ ALOT OF REVIEWS, GREAT WEBSITE HC, ONE THING THAT STRIKES ME IS THAT PEOPLE WITH SHIT EQUIPMENT ARE ALWAYS COMPLAINING AND NEGATIVE ABOUT EVERYTHING. DON'T EXPECT AMPS, ATTENUATORS, EFFECTS, WAHS AND OTHER ADDITIONS TO MAKE YOUR CARDBOARD OR MADE IN TAIWAN GUITARS SOUND GREAT. GREAT PLAYERS AND EQUIPMENT MAKE FOR GREAT SOUND.