real or scam?

[Ge_Whiz]

You'd be surprised at some of the crap that the US patent office lets through these days, just from he software industry.  They're massively overloaded.

Not only that, but they're paid by the number of patents they process - a sure-fire recipe for quality. But I digress.

I guess it's possible that the idea that is being patented is the use of this 'device' in an effects loop, as opposed to anywhere else in the signal chain. That might be considered a new idea.

[vanhansen]

I guess it's possible that the idea that is being patented is the use of this 'device' in an effects loop, as opposed to anywhere else in the signal chain. That might be considered a new idea.

You can't use this anywhere other than the effects loop.  If you put it in the normal signal chain, you're affecting the amount of signal going in to the amp.  I highly doubt this is a new idea.

[Mark Hammer]

Oh, jeez, not again....

About 3 years ago, maybe more, Justin Everman put out a similar product - a pot in a box with a switch.  People got irritated about it because, after all, they knew it was "just" a pot in a box with a switch.  Justin noted that he was marketing this because a number of (nashville, I believe) musicians had specifically asked him for JUST SUCH A PRODUCT.  They neded something that would permit them to switch betwen two specific volume levels, without involving boost or requiring anyone to wiggle a volume pedal with their foot to get it "just right".  Justin was asking something like ninety bucks for it, maybe less, and folks got hot under the collar because they knew they could make one themselves for a fraction of that. (Kind of reminds me of the cost-conscious grandmother on that wonderful Indo-British comedy show "Goodness Gracious Me" who used to always say "Bah!  I could make it myself at home for nothing.  All I need is a small aubergine...").

Whether one possesses the soldering skills and parts inventory or time...or not, and whether one feels that the asking price is steep, justified, or not, the fact remains that a preset volume pot WAS, IS, and REMAINS, a simple-but-useful thing to have in a variety of contexts.  One of the interesting and counterintuitive uses of amplifier effects loops is that they are not JUST for inserting effects, but can also be used to switch between preset levsl, should the amp itself not possess such a capability.  You *COULD* simply install a hardwired pot on the amp itself, but a little outboard adaptor box permits the feature to be inserted anywhere in the loop path itself, and also permits the amp to remain in original condition should that be a necessary condition of sale.

Sometimes, boneheaded is the right thing to do.  Of course, last time I looked, I'm not so sure that boneheaded met the requirements for patent protection.

[scottosan]

should be $1.50 in parts...

They're not charging _that_ much for it...

The guy on eBay is charging $19.99.  I think the total for the parts that I got from Radio Shack was somewhere between $6 - $8.  I can't remember because I bought some clips too and a breadboard jumper kit.

Not to mention it's cranked power tube distortion that is desireable, not cranked preamp :roll: This does nothing to push the power tubes.

[vanhansen]

Not to mention it's cranked power tube distortion that is desireable, not cranked preamp :roll: This does nothing to push the power tubes.

Exactly.  I had thought that it would push the power tubes more at first (that's my lack of amp knowledge I guess).  I then thought about where the effects loop is, between the pre and power.  The whole purpose of it is really to help with those amps that have touchy master volumes.

[d95err]

is it just a volume pot? or u think it has a circuit?, for the price and the looks its in pplastic box. mmmmmmmm

The product in itself is useful for some amps and if it only costs $20 it's a good deal for non DIY-ers. I've considerd making a similar box for myself. However, I was planning on adding a relay to be able to switch between two different volume levels, e.g for soloing (should be as simple as switching in or out a resistor in series with connection from the pot to ground).

The advertising is a scam though. The cranked tube amp sound comes just as much from pushing the poweramp tubes as the preamp.

In addition, you should never trust someone that for no particular reason writes everything with really huge letters in a strange color with completely UNMOTIVATED CAPITALIZATION and exclamation marks!!!!!!!.  :roll:

[O]

The whole purpose of it is really to help with those amps that have touchy master volumes.

Like the Fender Hot Rod DeVille, or the Blues DeVille...

[Peter Snowberg]

Let's also keep in mind here that in order to commercially sell and be successful at non-mass production quantities, you need to sell wholesale at 3 times the cost of the production expense.

Let's see.... if I were selling the same device in a 1590B with a good quality pot and switchcraft jacks..... well.... $20 has already been spent in construction.

[aron]

Well, the problem is that when you lower the signal input to the output section, you are also getting less "power amp" distortion, so it's a bit misleading.

This is very similar to a master volume.

[d95err]

The Swedish amp guru Tommy Folkesson who specializes in tube amp mods has a solution to getting the cranked amp sound without using an attenuator. He inserts an extra mini-poweramp of about 0.5-1W between the pre- and poweramp. This enables the amp to get that poweramp compression and distortion and still run at low volume.

The exact details of his mod is apparently a well-kept trade secret, but I'm sure the DIY tube-amp community should be able to come up with something similar.

[object88]

Power-amp distortion is not always what people are after.  Some of the newer metal acts are looking for massive, but low-volume, preamp distortion on one channel, and a loud clean sound on a second channel, for roughly the same apparent volume when switching between channels.  Can't do that with power-amp distortion.

[aron]

Yep, but I think the ebay item IS talking about power amp distortion:

"This is a VERY cool item, everyone knows that all tube amps sound AMAZING when cranked WAY up so that the tubes are really being pushed, but thats much too loud right?"

I don't think he's talking about preamp distortion. In any case, his box doesn't act much different than a master volume. Most amps that can produce massive distortion in the preamp stage will already have a master volume before the power amp.

[object88]

I don't think he's talking about preamp distortion. In any case, his box doesn't act much different than a master volume. Most amps that can produce massive distortion in the preamp stage will already have a master volume before the power amp.

Ah!  I kinda just ignored the ebay text.   :oops: