[banzaiFLEA]

ok so here is my problem...

bought a microtubes 500 and dg410c from darkglass electronics and i have been shredding
some sick licks. my neighbours do not appreciate the volume though...

was looking at the rivera rockcrusher to keep my tubes and tone
where they are but get the cab volume down.

only the rockcrusher says its for 8 or 16 ohm.
micro and dg are at 4 ohm.

i dont really want to buy it if im just going to do damage to my gear.
is there a way to use this in my current setup or is there another product
that i can use to bridge the gap somewhere in the chain?

maybe the weber z-matcher?

 

[Player99]

Dude you have a 500 watt amp into a 1000 watt cab.

I would get a small practice amp instead of trying to tame that kind of wattage.

 

[cboutilier]

ok so here is my problem...

bought a microtubes 500 and dg410c from darkglass electronics and i have been shredding
some sick licks. my neighbours do not appreciate the volume though...

was looking at the rivera rockcrusher to keep my tubes and tone
where they are but get the cab volume down.

only the rockcrusher says its for 8 or 16 ohm.
micro and dg are at 4 ohm.

i dont really want to buy it if im just going to do damage to my gear.
is there a way to use this in my current setup or is there another product
that i can use to bridge the gap somewhere in the chain?

maybe the weber z-matcher?

Z Matchers work excellent, but are only rated for 100W. You'd have to email Weber and see if you can have a higher powered one made.

 

[mhammer]

The DG500 rear panel indicates "min 4 ohm", and the received wisdom is that solid-state amps are more tolerant of variation in loads. Not immune, just more tolerant.

Bass amps usually provide more power to be able to handle big transients. Average output, however, is going to be much lower. Many attenuator boxes are really aimed at guitarists, who need to be able to push the power tubes in their amps to get the tone they want. While YMMV, bassists generally require a cleaner tone that doesn't get lost in the mix (hence the use of high-powered amps to keep things clean).

Seems to me that, instead of wondering about power ratings, maybe you should invest in a peak limiter of some sort to make sure your general level and tone is maintained, but the sudden peaks that sound like a mac truck going by are reined in.

Or just turn down.

 

[keto]

Yeah, a smaller practice rig might be what you're after. I forget, does the DarkGlass have a headphone out? I'm a bass player too, my Mesa D-800 has a great headphone out as well as an aux in. Yay, silent practice. I've never done it once lol.

It's hard with bass, cause it shakes and rattles things even at relatively low volume.

 

[High/Deaf]

You don't really have a tube amp, you have hybrid amp with a SS Class D power amp. Any 'tube sound' you hear is generated by the pre-amp and can be replicated at any level, loud or quiet. All you need to do is turn the master down. It never sounds as impressive, but that ain't the amp's fault, blame Fletcher and Munson.

As for a Class D amp into a reamper or active load, I would be very cautious. Many Class D amps have a floating ground and if you ground one leg of the output (into an active box with the same ground potential as the amp i.e. through the house's ground), you can destroy the amp. This is the case with my Kemper, which is similar in concept to your amp (all the tone comes from the pre-amp, the power amp just increases the level transparently and adds no tonal artifacts to the output).

You will be safe with passive load box like the Weber (one that doesn't have a power cable to the wall) but again, pointless, because the outcome will be exactly the same as just turning the master down. Fletcher and Munson will not be denied.