Slave Amp Q

[ijustwannastrat]

Alrighty. Hypothetical question, effects what I'm going to be doing rig-wise.

I currently own a Fender Twin-Amp, the 100w pig that was recently discontinued. I love the clean channel, which is basically a classic fender preamp. The distortion channel, not so much.

I have been looking at the Egnater Tweaker, a 15w head. The reason is because I've found that 100w is a bit too loud for some drummers.

Here's where the question comes into play. I know that I can set the Tweaker to 4ohm out and plug it into the Twin-Amp's cabinet. However, if I find myself needing more power on down the line, would I be able to use the Tweaker's pre-amp as a "Master" amp, use the Tweaker's effect's loop send to go to the Twin-Amp's power-amp in, so the Twin-Amp is the slave, and only need the one cabinet? Or will the Tweaker require a load for the power-amp section, even though I am not sending a signal to it?


If my description is incoherent, just tell me and I will draw it on paper, then put the image up here.

[thetragichero]

more than likely will need a load for the tweaker...
does the preamp->fx loop out work in standby mode on the tweaker? (does it even have a standby switch?)
if it works while in standby, then no load should be needed on the power amp (although let the real techs here agree with this before you try it)

[JFrankParnell]

Jan 27, 2012 17:16:56 GMT -5 ijustwannastrat said:

I've found that 100w is a bit too loud for some drummers.

This statement makes no sense to me. Are you sure those words fit together in that order?

[reTrEaD]

JFrankParnell, I think I understand the problem. With 100w the drummer might actually hear the guitar and get confused.

Jan 27, 2012 17:16:56 GMT -5 ijustwannastrat said:

would I be able to use the Tweaker's pre-amp as a "Master" amp, use the Tweaker's effect's loop send to go to the Twin-Amp's power-amp in, so the Twin-Amp is the slave, and only need the one cabinet? Or will the Tweaker require a load for the power-amp section, even though I am not sending a signal to it?

If you can be ABSOLUTELY certain you won't send a signal to the Tweaker's power amp, you won't need a load. Else, you risk damage to the output tubes, tube sockets, and output transformer. Since the damage will be caused by arcing, it will be sudden and without warning.

But I don't know how successful this will be even without the risk of damage. It depends on where the effects-out on the Tweaker is, in relation to the tone-shaping circuits. If all of them are before the effects-out, you're in good shape. If any of them are after the effects-return, you won't have them in the signal chain.

The other problem you'll have is with the Twin. There is no volume control after the power amp-in jack. You might be better off to use the effects return jack on the Twin, so the effects return control can be used as a volume control.

[ijustwannastrat]

Alright. So is there a way to put a non-speaker load on one amp? Something that won't go *pfft* as soon as I crank it....



Also, the way I understand it, the slave amp's power section has to feed the speakers.

[ashcatlt]

A toaster? A fan? A light bulb. All of these have been used as power soak type things, and would likely be cheaper than a 30W resistor. Maybe not go with the bulb, actually, since they're too fragile for gigging. When (not if) it blows, it'll leave you without a load.

A shorted plug inserted into the loop return on the little amp should guarantee that nothing gets to the power amp section, but I can see the desire to be absolutely sure.