Post Musical Equipment Here....

[quadz]

Which brings me to the question at hand. Quadz, I know you said you had some sort of all tube 212 Blackstar combo.  What's your assessment of it and Blackstar amps in general?

It's been just over 2 years, and I'm still enjoying the amp.

Looked up this vid (which I'd viewed just prior to purchase) and it's kinda fun to see now, because I remember at the time noting the various gain & EQ settings he was demoing were fairly meaningless to me. (Whereas now, I can relate to where he's pushing the preamp with those settings.)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkpUGSwptns
<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OkpUGSwptns/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OkpUGSwptns"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/OkpUGSwptns" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/OkpUGSwptns</a>

The amp can approximate some fairly Fender-like bell-tone clean channel fun; (or with an alternate voicing crunch it up a bit.)

The two distortion channels each have their own characteristics.

(aside: Though come to think of it, they [the two distorted channels] probably electronically mirror the differences between the two clean voices: one being more squashed/compressed than the other. (…Maybe some of the same circuitry is used between CLEAN1/2 and OD1/2?))

In the above video, the guy starts with OD2 cranked in its preamp gain, and has bass/treble maxxed in the EQ.

On the OD1 channel with EQ a little more flat, I find a nice AC/DC Hells Bells kind of vibe.

Currently I'm using OD1 with gain backed way off, boosted by a "Horizon Devices Precision Drive" pedal, using the boost from the pedal to push OD1 into clipping when I apply dynamics, as opposed to OD2 which tends to squash everything more equally.

(I'm still experimenting, but it's fun.)

[N.B. as mentioned in a prior post, the stock Celestion 70-80's are swapped out with Vintage 30's.]

[M0us3]

You guys know anything about repairing these things? I've had this blue voodoo for 20+ years. Its got a bit of random snap crackle and popping when it's cold but still works ok. I'm pretty sure it's just the pots, can I just go to town on this with some electronics cleaner? I don't play much these days, too many broken bones limiting my range of motion but I still try to dabble here and there. 

[|iR|Focalor]

I'm gonna post a dick pic...
















































Ah, good ole shitty Crate. I have an old Crate GT-80dsp somewhere around here sitting in a closet. Bought it new in 1995 I think. It died on me twice while it was still under warranty, each time about a year apart. The third time it died, it was out of warranty maybe a year and I had showed up to my new bands very first rehearsal with it. We got set up and about 5 minutes into things, the channels started switching on their own and then when I slapped the top of the box, it went silent. So that was the end of that band.

That was about 18 years ago. I'm afraid to spend the money to get it fixed if the amp is just gonna keep dying every couple of months. And if I go to hock it broke down like it is, they'll probably only give me 10 bucks for it. Even broke, the sentimental value of it is worth more to me than 10 bucks.

I dunno though, this particular Crate amp might become semi-collectible one day. They seem to be one of the rarest of the Crate amps. I absolutely NEVER see these things listed anywhere for sale.

But yeah, Crate amps were total shit. The only exception was the Blue Voodoo series of all tube amps. Crate amps are HATED these days (and probably rightly so) and go for dirt cheap. Even the 120w Blue Voodoo heads sell for sometimes under 350. Thing is, those Blue Voodoo's actually sounded pretty good, comparable to the JCM900's at the time. But... it does say "Crate" on it, and that kinda implies inferior quality and unreliability.

But it seems like people are starting to pick up on the fact that those old Blue VaDooDoo amps weren't so DooDoo after all. They can be had relatively cheap and they're starting to get harder and harder to find. There's a few cheapnz-but-goodnz like that. The Peavey ValveKing is an amp plenty of people like to shit on, but it actually doesn't sound too bad for what it is. Peavey also used to make a semi-copy of a Marshall in the Peavey Windsor, which is a little like the ValveKing. Both can be had for under 400, but honestly, the Crate Voodoo sounds better than both of the Peaveys.

The problem you describe... it depends on what you HAVEN'T described. If it's popping and cracking when you turn knobs, then obviously yeah, there's shit in the pots and some electrical contact cleaner should remedy that. But if it's popping and cracking while you're playing and not touching any knobs, then it's obviously not dirty pots, it's some components like caps or diodes that are wearing out. You mentioned "when it's cold", so maybe it goes away after 5 minutes or so when the tubes get good and hot. So it could be a bad tube getting ready to fail, but then again, it could still just be something non-tube like I said before. Other components CAN behave that way too, with the problem seeming to go away once the amp gets good and hot. Probably best to let a licensed rock and roll medical professional diagnose and treat the ailment.

DON'T take it to some "boutique" or vintage guitar store and let them recommend some high dollar yo-yo to take it to. Yeah, their recommendation/friend might be good at that shit, but he'll likely overcharge you too. Some place from your local yellow pages that repairs a high volume of all kinds of audio gear (stereos, church PA systems, etc) would be your best bet at getting the lowest fairest price.

[|iR|Focalor]

It's been just over 2 years, and I'm still enjoying the amp.

2 years and no hiccups to report. That's a good sign I guess.

In the above video, the guy starts with OD2 cranked in its preamp gain, and has bass/treble maxxed in the EQ.

Yeah, I also noticed - because it was impossible NOT to - the fact that in addition to having the bass and treble maxed for "maximum face melt metal" (or whatever the kids are calling it these days), he's also got the resonance and presence pegged at 10 also. Now I know those stock Seventy-80 speakers are known for being kinda shrill and harsh, but COME ON, that's just redickerous.

I guess they discontinued the HT Metal series. They have an HT Venue series. The only HT Metal amps Guitar Center has at the moment are a couple of HT Metal 100 heads that both look like they've been in a fight with a chainsaw.

If I do the head thing, I think I've got Peavey scratched off the list. I've decided that whatever I get MUST have some kind of line out or direct out or headphone out on it so I can run it through my Digitech 2101 still for home recording purposes. The Peavey 6505+ doesn't have any option like that. I know Marshall is re-releasing updated DSL100 heads with direct recording outs on the back, but for the price of one of those, I can just get a used JCM900 like I've always wanted. I've got two bookmarked at the moment. One's a 10 knob dual reverb head, and the other is an 8 knob "hi gain master volume" head. From what I remember, the JCM900s I always used to see said "hi gain dual reverb", so perhaps the 8-knob reverb-less one is an earlier model.

Also been eyeing some of the Mesa heads. I've found a Dual Rectifier 100w head for 899, a Single Rectifier 50w head for as low as 750, and a Nomad 50w head for 640. All of which have that handy dandy little "slave out" jack on the back. I dunno though. Mesa amps are fucking great sounding, and the Rectifiers are particularly excellent for metal, but the metal really ain't my thing anymore. As much as I've always drooled over those diamondplate Mesa rectifier solo heads, I'd probably be better served by a Nomad.

[M0us3]

The problem you describe... it depends on what you HAVEN'T described. If it's popping and cracking when you turn knobs, then obviously yeah, there's shit in the pots and some electrical contact cleaner should remedy that. But if it's popping and cracking while you're playing and not touching any knobs, then it's obviously not dirty pots, it's some components like caps or diodes that are wearing out. You mentioned "when it's cold", so maybe it goes away after 5 minutes or so when the tubes get good and hot. So it could be a bad tube getting ready to fail, but then again, it could still just be something non-tube like I said before. Other components CAN behave that way too, with the problem seeming to go away once the amp gets good and hot. Probably best to let a licensed rock and roll medical professional diagnose and treat the ailment.

DON'T take it to some "boutique" or vintage guitar store and let them recommend some high dollar yo-yo to take it to. Yeah, their recommendation/friend might be good at that shit, but he'll likely overcharge you too. Some place from your local yellow pages that repairs a high volume of all kinds of audio gear (stereos, church PA systems, etc) would be your best bet at getting the lowest fairest price.

Did a little poking, it's the channel switch. I tried to clean it but no dice, too much corrosion.( probably because I never use the clean channel?  ) I sourced a replacement online, it'll be an easy swaparoo. I think a lot of the Crate hate stemmed from when they moved production overseas? I'm not a snob or anything but I think this little guy sounds pretty darn good. This one has survived this long with me so i'll keep it for the long haul. These combos gotta be near unicorn status at this point.

[|iR|Focalor]

Nah, Blue Voodoo combos aren't all that rare. What's rare is the 120w Blue Voodoo head in "excellent" condition. The resale value on them dropped so drastically so fast that people really never took good care of them. They gigged them, drug them in and out of clubs knocking them into door jams and shit, tearing the tolex skin, breaking and losing the main center logo badge, losing knobs, etc.

I think they had about 3 different versions of the Blue Voodoos. The early ones had the blue and white splatter "Blue Voodoo" logos, and gold block letter Crate badges.



The second version ones had the same knob layout, but the "Blue Voodoo" logo on the faceplate was different and just said "BV-120"



The third/last versions had a staggered knob layout and what looked like a handwritten sharpie font for all the knob text and channel divider lines. They also changed the logo design for the badges on all Crate amps at this time. I remember those cheap little solid state Crate PowerBloc amps had the same logo on the front. The tolex covered went black too, I guess they were probably trying to cut costs and use the same covering on all their amps rather than anything special. Made them look shittier and less unique in my opinon, a bad sales move if you ask me.



So far I haven't seen any web pages chronicling the timeline of Blue Voodoo amps or Crate amps. So I suppose you could call these the mk I, mk II, and mk III versions of the amp. It doesn't seem like anyone prefers one style over another though. The all black 3rd versions sometimes have a higher price tag, but they also come in 150w and 300w versions, so that extra power explains the higher price.

I would let a qualified amp repair guy do that if I were you. It takes the proper size soldering iron and solder pump to correctly do that stuff without damaging the board it's connected to. And those boards were done by robots, not something an inexperienced unsteady hand should be messing with.

And aside rant: If amp makers really gave a shit about quality over quantity, they'd connect jacks and buttons and pots to the boards differently to where they'd be easier to replace without putting as much stress on the board. But alas ever since hand-wiring was replaced in favor of PC boards, they connect jack ports directly to the board and their only anchor points are soldered signal connections, so every time you plug and unplug shit, it puts stress on the connection points and they eventually break and your shit goes dead.

[|iR|Focalor]

...Crate GT-80dsp...

I dunno though, this particular Crate amp might become semi-collectible one day. They seem to be one of the rarest of the Crate amps. I absolutely NEVER see these things listed anywhere for sale.

Sure enough, as soon as I get those words outta my mouth, I finally see one listed at Guitar Center for the first time ever. I remember I worked a summer job making 5 bucks an hour when I was 15, and it took forever to save up enough for my first electric guitar and amp. I think I paid around 375 for that 1x12 Crate GT-80DSP combo. And right now, some 20 years later, they have one listed for 109. Even with inflation, it's still fucking worthless, hahah! The only way this piece of shit is gonna be worth close to what I paid for it in 1995 is if Eddie Van Halen gets Alzheimers and starts unintentionally using one on his next album. There's better chance of Slayer releasing an unplugged album than this amp being worth more than a paper bag full of poodle shit.

[|iR|Focalor]

Speaking of Crate, all this talk about Crate's had me looking up Guitar Centers inventory on them yesterday and I spotted a dirt cheap little Crate Turbo Valve 60 head (basically a mini head sized head), probably from the mid to late 90's. They wanted like 170 for it, and I wasn't interested in buying it, but I was curious to see what they sound like, so I tried to find a demo video somewhere. Regular everyday dudes and dorks and douchebags love to become reviewers and feel important, so amp demo videos are always plentiful. And THANK GOD FOR THIS GUY.

The only guy on the internet who actually made a Crate Turbo Valve review video. You must watch this. You must. I can tell from his voice, he's a total fucking creep. Imagine this guy talking like this trying to pick up a woman at a bar, haha! But wait! It gets better! You gotta hear his playing! He knows like 1 or 2 chords that he moves to about 4 positions, and then he solos randomly like if a really really drunk Kerry King became partially paralyzed from a stroke in the middle of a jazz fusion jam. The guitar is so out of tune the entire time. He's so terrible and so very completely serious at the same time, it's hilarious. I looked up his other videos after this piece of gold and found even more wonderful shit.

"Hey what's up everybody, this is mark, I'm here doing my review slajjj demo..." (Remember Slajjj from Guns N Roses? Wasn't he great?)
<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AbChSSV6aVk/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AbChSSV6aVk"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/AbChSSV6aVk" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/AbChSSV6aVk</a>

This guy can play flamenco too!

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yM0PUBJJtT0/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yM0PUBJJtT0"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/yM0PUBJJtT0" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/yM0PUBJJtT0</a>

He really cranks it now. I think this one is called "Dime on Dime". If I was his neighbor... I'd have a dead neighbor.

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B6oXabV4Ss8/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B6oXabV4Ss8"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/B6oXabV4Ss8" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/B6oXabV4Ss8</a>

Check his high school drama club video too. Jesus. What a freak.

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wIX0Q-bmRAg/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wIX0Q-bmRAg"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/wIX0Q-bmRAg" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/wIX0Q-bmRAg</a>

[M0us3]

So far I haven't seen any web pages chronicling the timeline of Blue Voodoo amps or Crate amps. So I suppose you could call these the mk I, mk II, and mk III versions of the amp. It doesn't seem like anyone prefers one style over another though. The all black 3rd versions sometimes have a higher price tag, but they also come in 150w and 300w versions, so that extra power explains the higher price.

Makes sense, my buddy has the "mk3"

I would let a qualified amp repair guy do that if I were you. It takes the proper size soldering iron and solder pump to correctly do that stuff without damaging the board it's connected to. And those boards were done by robots, not something an inexperienced unsteady hand should be messing with.

Alright headed over to good ol Radio Shack! Nah, no EE here just a ME but I oversee a cutting edge manufacturing facility with machines averaging around 500k a pop. I've soldered PCBs once or twice a million in times my days, I got dis. 

[M0us3]

And THANK GOD FOR THIS GUY.

You stuck the bottom of youtube there, time to go outside. Or watch this, kid is pretty entertaining.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa30fWRLOUE

[|iR|Focalor]

Alright headed over to good ol Radio Shack! Nah, no EE here just a ME but I oversee a cutting edge manufacturing facility with machines averaging around 500k a pop. I've soldered PCBs once or twice a million in times my days, I got dis. 

Screwing up the board is just one problem. Voltage caps and different components can still hold a lethal charge even when the unit isn't plugged in. Touch the wrong thing the wrong way and you could wake up in the back of ambulance or not at all. Proceed with caution.

I wish there was more in depth info on the web about those Blue Voodoo amps though. I've recently been digging into what makes the Marshall JCM900's tick, and apparently it was during the JCM900 period that Marshall began adding diode bridge rectifiers to their amps directly after the first gain stage to achieve more gain and distortion. There's also an op amp chip in the preamp at the final stage after the tone stack. So it's basically like ripping part of the guts out of an Ibanez Tube Screamer and wiring it into the amp at the end of the preamp section. It makes sense now though. When you count how many preamp tubes are in any given amp relative to the power output, a mere 4 preamp tubes in a Marshall JCM900 seems like too few when you consider that other amps of about the same wattage use 5 and 6 to achieve that same level of overdrive.

And I think most of the 100watter BV's had either 5 or 6 12AX7's in the preamp. So I'm wondering if Crate BV's did NOT use diodes or op amps or anything else in the preamp to ramp up the gain artificially like the Marshall's did. If that's true... just another reason why Blue Voodoos deserve more respect than they typically get.

edit: From looking at the pics above, it appears as though there's only 4 12ax7's in it. 3 are grouped together on the right side, and 1 is alone on the left side. If I had to guess, the 3 together are the preamp tubes and maybe the one by itself drives the effects loop. So, yeah, it would appear as though Crate Blue Voodoos were one of the many amps in the 90's that began utilizing diodes and IC chips in the preamp to increase gain without tubes.

So now I know why those old Laney GH100 Tony Iommi heads sound so screaming and blistering hot compared to these Marshall DSL100 heads they're currently making. It sounds SO much better when you've got all the gain stages cooking up by way of tubes rather than artificial non-tube means.

[|iR|Focalor]

STILL on the hunt for an amp.

When I first brought home that Carvin Legacy cab, it got me curious about the Carvin Legacy Steve Vai signature amps, so I hunted through Guitar Centers nationwide inventory and found 2 or 3 heads ($600) as well as 1 rackmount all-metal chasis head (the more expensive later version - $1000). By the time I checked out a few videos online about them and got really interested in them, all of the heads were fuckin' SOLD and no more have shown up. Shit luck for me, as usual. Would've been nice to have a head to match the cab which was actually WORTH having, cuz they do sound really good.

I've mentioned them tons of times, I've wanted one since the first time I heard one in the mid 90's: A Marshall JCM900 100w dual reverb MkII. About the time I started seriously looking for them, Guitar Center had 4 or 5 across the country. But I've been taking my time, exploring all the options. And now... most of them are gone. All of them were gone, but one popped back up again... makes me wonder if someone bought it and returned it because of a hidden problem with it. So I'm gonna pass on that one.

Never played a Soldano head before. I've always heard they are amazing sounding amps, but never played one myself. Finally got a chance to play through a Soldano SLO 100w. The famous mackdaddy of all Soldano amps, the one you always hear people talk about. Eh... I dunno what the fuss is about. It's decent. Nothing mind blowing. Not worth the $2500 price tag it had on it.

Also played a Mesa Boogie Mark 5. Jesus Christ. The front panel looks like the cockpit of a jumbo jet. So many fuckin knobs and switches. It's a 3 channel EVERYTHING amp. Sounds pretty fucking good in every channel with any setting. It does it all. Clean country and jazz to the gnarliest black metal. Expensive as fuck though. Pretty sure it was new, still had the signed quality inspection tag on the handle. They were asking something over 2000 for it. Not really my kinda sound anymore though. I used to be a 6L6 tube kinda guy, but my tastes have gone more to the very pronounced midrange of british-made EL34 amps now like Marshall, Laney, and Orange. Vox... not really, because none of their tube heads get dirty enough with the distortion. You can't really do metal on a Vox AC30.

Tried out a few different Orange amps too. Not entirely fond of Orange's aesthetic style, and in fact it'd be closer to the truth to say I FUCKING HATE the way Orange amps look. They're butt ugly. The orange covering is so ewwww. And rather than labels that just say "bass, mid, treble, etc", they have these stupid pictogram icons on everything. Many of their amps don't have bass/mid/treble controls, just a single "shape" control that boosts or cuts the mids.



Tried a TH100. Sounded pretty good. But as you can see, it's OVER simplified. It's 2 channels, but the clean only has bass and treble for EQ, while the overdrive channel just has a fucking "shape" knob for the EQ. Meh, I can't do shit with that. GTFO.



Also tried out a Rockerverb 50 mk3. Liked the sound of it much much more. Plus it had 3 band EQ in the dirty channel. I can probably live with 2band EQ on clean. I could use an EQ pedal out front of it if I absolutely had to, but probably wouldn't need to. However, in the dirty side, I MUST have control over all 3 bands. I don't like scooped out distortion from a tube amp anymore, I gotta have that midrange blaring. Plus, it's got onboard spring reverb, as well as an "attenuation" knob, which I guess is basically "master volume" because it already has "full/half" power modes accessible from the standby 3-way toggle switch. As much I wanna fuckin' hate Orange amps, this one actually makes it to #2 or #3 of my list of "maybe's".

One I hadn't considered until now was the new Marshall JVM amps. I've tried the current DLS100's and they're all so very... average. They get the job done, but they don't sound "great" like Marshall's always used to. The DSL's are made in fucking Vietnam now, not England. But the JVM's are still made in England. And HOLY FUCK. This kid at the Atlanta Guitar Center was playing on a 50w JVM205 head and it sounded like someone playing through Joe Satriani's rig, just dead on the money Satch sound. I didn't think Marshall made noteworthy amps anymore, but I guess I was wrong. These JVM's jump to the top 3 of the list too.

Anybody know of any other amps I should take a look at before deciding on something? Keep in mind I'd ideally like an amp with EL34's. I am aware that Peavey makes an EL34 version of the 6505+ called the "6534", but I've looked all over Georgia and no one has one in stock for me to try out in person. I also haven't tried out any Hughes and Kettner amps or Engl amps yet. Also keep in mind that I'm looking for something with 50 to 100 watts. I want LOUD AS FUCK on tap even though I'll mostly be playing it at less-than-loud-as-fuck levels.

[M0us3]

Alright headed over to good ol Radio Shack! Nah, no EE here just a ME but I oversee a cutting edge manufacturing facility with machines averaging around 500k a pop. I've soldered PCBs once or twice a million in times my days, I got dis. 

Screwing up the board is just one problem. Voltage caps and different components can still hold a lethal charge even when the unit isn't plugged in. Touch the wrong thing the wrong way and you could wake up in the back of ambulance or not at all. Proceed with caution.

Got it taken care of, it was actually pretty damn easy. Next issue, I have this shitty volume box(omnisonic) that i'm pretty sure came with the amp. With it on there the tone sounds like hot garbage. Got any tricks to attenuate so I can crank this thing but maintain a reasonable volume without slaughtering the tone?

[|iR|Focalor]

I'm not familiar with that particular box. From Googling,  I see on Reverb.com a little 1-in/1-out single chickenhead knob stomp box sized box that I guess is a simple attenuator. Looks like a black plastic box with a sticker decal for the label. Looks cheap as fuck and shitty honestly. The description says you're supposed to put it in the amps loop. So if you're using it between the guitar and the amp... don't do that.

Maybe it's just a shitty attenuator. One of these Mesa Boogie 5 band EQ&#039;s
Mesa Boogie 5 band EQ's might work. I think these are mainly used to go in the loop of amps. Several Mesa amps feature a 3band EQ in the preamp but also have a secondary 5 band slider EQ section after the preamp, the Mark 5, Mark 5 John Petrucci, and Nomad amps for example. I forget exactly why people like to add EQ's in the loops of old Marshall's and such, but I think it's something to do with the way overdrive itself can sometimes shift the EQ with harmonics and placing an EQ after all the preamp overdrive lets you more accurately shape the EQ better to your liking. And with in and out level knobs, you could probably use it as a 2-in-1 EQ and attenuator.

An "attenuator" may not work on your amp as desired though. Usually you want an amp with pre and post gain knobs in both channels and no master volumes. From what I see on Google, Blue Voodoo's have a single master volume control in channel 2 and a gain control in channels 1 and 2 (no master vol in ch.1). That's maybe a problem. Usually you blast the pregain for more distortion and then the post gain knob acts as a "volume" knob... and with an attenuator in place you'd crank both the pre and post gains and then control the volume by rolling the attenuator off. So I dunno if that "master volume" knob works on both channel 1 and 2. It's not gonna be a HUGE difference anyway, even if it IS working properly. You'll notice a tad more fuzz, it can be very subtle on some amps more than others. It honestly sounds better to crank an amp WITHOUT an attenuator. Part of what makes it sound better is that thunderous rumble in the floorboards that you feel and that sound pressure hitting you in the gut as you stand in front of the amp with it blaring at a zillion db's.

[M0us3]

I'm not familiar with that particular box. From Googling,  I see on Reverb.com a little 1-in/1-out single chickenhead knob stomp box sized box that I guess is a simple attenuator. Looks like a black plastic box with a sticker decal for the label. Looks cheap as fuck and shitty honestly. The description says you're supposed to put it in the amps loop. So if you're using it between the guitar and the amp... don't do that.

goes on the FX loop, it's not very effective and only 1 to 2 of 11 are really usable before blasting out the neighbors. It also mutes the treble a bit, guessing from loss of signal due to the potentiometer or resistor in there?

Maybe it's just a shitty attenuator. One of these Mesa Boogie 5 band EQ&#039;s
Mesa Boogie 5 band EQ's might work. I think these are mainly used to go in the loop of amps. Several Mesa amps feature a 3band EQ in the preamp but also have a secondary 5 band slider EQ section after the preamp, the Mark 5, Mark 5 John Petrucci, and Nomad amps for example. I forget exactly why people like to add EQ's in the loops of old Marshall's and such, but I think it's something to do with the way overdrive itself can sometimes shift the EQ with harmonics and placing an EQ after all the preamp overdrive lets you more accurately shape the EQ better to your liking. And with in and out level knobs, you could probably use it as a 2-in-1 EQ and attenuator.

That boogie unit looks more legit, i'll add this to my christmas list. 

An "attenuator" may not work on your amp as desired though. Usually you want an amp with pre and post gain knobs in both channels and no master volumes. From what I see on Google, Blue Voodoo's have a single master volume control in channel 2 and a gain control in channels 1 and 2 (no master vol in ch.1). That's maybe a problem. Usually you blast the pregain for more distortion and then the post gain knob acts as a "volume" knob... and with an attenuator in place you'd crank both the pre and post gains and then control the volume by rolling the attenuator off. So I dunno if that "master volume" knob works on both channel 1 and 2. It's not gonna be a HUGE difference anyway, even if it IS working properly. You'll notice a tad more fuzz, it can be very subtle on some amps more than others. It honestly sounds better to crank an amp WITHOUT an attenuator. Part of what makes it sound better is that thunderous rumble in the floorboards that you feel and that sound pressure hitting you in the gut as you stand in front of the amp with it blaring at a zillion db's.

Channel 1 (clean) only works with volume knob. Works as you world expect.
Channel 2 (distortion) Has gain which is pre-amp( plus boost button for even more filth ), and the master knob to raise the overall volume.

My main issue is that the sensitivity of both the volume, and master knobs goes from zero to rock star before the first hash mark is even reached.