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Topic: Little Walter Line out |
Bruce Bouton
From:
Nash. Tn USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2011 8:33 pm |
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After reading brother Tyack's comments about running a line out to a power amp, to get more volume , I called Phil to get his opinion. Dan may have mentioned it but his is important to know to maintain a load on the speaker output while using the line out.
If this elicits a "duh' from some people , my apologies. I'm just a steel player. |
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Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2011 9:16 pm
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You are right Bruce, I should have mentioned that. The Little Walter amp will not be happy with no load. I do have THD amps that are happy with no load, but they have built in attenuators.
It's really amazing how good amplifying the signal from a tube amp with a good line out sounds. It almost doesn't matter how crappy the second amp is, because the tonal essence comes from the tube amp. |
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T. C. Furlong
From:
Lake County, Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Feb 2011 7:14 am
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I'll testify to Dan's superb tone using a THD head and taking the post-speaker output direct out into a self-powered speaker. Big, rich and warm with just the right amount of edge - perfect for Dan's style. With a Little Walter you'd just need to include a decent load like a hot plate or something like that.
Dan, let me know if you need a SPLIT in Dallas.
TC |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 26 Feb 2011 8:56 am
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It seems that having a high power (80 watt or so) power resistor would be handy. If the speaker is 8-ohm, then an 8-ohm resistor, if it's a 4-ohm speaker, then a 4-ohm resistor. Then you could safely keep the power amp loaded and driving without any speaker sound, just the line out. But as everyone is confirming here, a tube power amp must have a properly matched impedance load on it, and since the resistor will turn all that power into heat, it's gotta be power rated safely above the power rating of the amp.
Here: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=019-020
or
Here: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=019-015
These things will get warm, so let them breathe.
Brad |
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Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
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Posted 26 Feb 2011 9:49 am
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Hey Brad,
I personally would really go with one of the commercial attenuators to go speakerless. The THD hotplate has been around for over a decade, and as far as I know hasn't blown up an amp or set anything on fire.
However, with the Little Walter, I would really only use the line out if I needed extra volume, so I would still plug in the head to a cab.
Thanks for the offer, T.C. In the previous thread, I should have mentioned the Furlong Split as a another alternative for adding volume in the other (closed) thread. One of these Little Walter amps into a cab plus a Furlong would give you enough clean headroom to play anywhere with any band. The Furlong is sweet because it doesn't add coloration to the sound, it sounded great at Scotty's this year even when I went 'speakerless'. |
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