Why Guitarists NEED Attenuators (Load Boxes)

21 Sep 2018

So why do guitarists need attenuators (load boxes)?

Attenuators (load boxes) are another great tool for the recording guitarist. In essence, they subdue the speaker load to the speaker, enabling the amp to be driven hot while keeping the volume down. The permutations of live and recording uses are numerous and exciting:

For the live gig, this can enable the guitarist to crank an amp to its optimal tube saturation while not punishing other musicians and listeners with extreme volumes.

Imagine being able to run your guitar into your favorite tube amp, inserting an attenuator before the speaker to lower the overall volume on the pushed tube amp for bedroom micing and recording. THEN, being able to run from the attenuator directly to your audio interface.

Here you can use an impulse response loader to simulate a speaker cabinet and microphone setup. Some even have built in impulse responses.

Here are a few of my favorites:
Two notes- Torpedo Studio
Two notes- Torpedo C.A.B.
Radial Headload