Weber MASS - the MOST TRANSPARENT attenuator on the market? - Bryan Does Gear 7

[@mattg082]

One thing I noticed with bypass off and on with the Mass 100, is that even wide open it does change the tone a little. So it must be doing something even wide open here. I compared it to a cheap Bugera that has less features. The thing is with the Bugera it’s always on, so you get use to the tone. The Mass 100 do the gutsy move of having a bypass. So some may bypass it and feel they don’t like it. But both do the same…but the Mass 100 has more features with the DI and treble boost. My two things I didn’t like was the Mass 100 effected tone even all the way open. This is mostly in the bass area I notice. I’d think wide open it wouldn’t change tone much. Second the Mass 100 can get very low! Like tube break up at bedroom volumes if you want it. But the end of the dial I found not as smooth as the cheap Bugera. You kind of have this wobble barely touch at the bottom…that can be the difference of blasting your head off and quiet. For me I think bypass with volume 1-1.5 on most amps, will work for most at bedroom levels. But if you want to get practice bedroom levels past say 1-1.5 on a tube amp. That’s where this come in! If I want to dial up to 3-7, I need to use the Mass and I do a +3 boost. It seems to fare well on my Fender 68 Custom Pro Reverb. But completely clean I don’t know about that. As I mentioned even with it all the way open with volumes match on amp, it’s doing something to the tone. At that point I just turn it off if using volume 1 on my amp. Still more to go…but I’ll say this. The cheap Bugera will do the job if you want lower volume. What it won’t do is give you a good DI Out with many features. And it won’t have a bypass mode. Both knobs are stiff, and I find the Mass at full attenuation times be finicky when doing full attenuation. Just a tap can make it whisper quiet to loud…so it’s not fine tune. $300 or so for this, can’t say it’s bad at all. If you want to simply turn down a cheap one is fine. If you want more features, a better DI the Mass 100 is the ticket.

[@qddk9545]

Thumps up a very thorough walk trough. To me the Mesa sounded better, but I think the treble switch on the Weber is turned around. It seemed that it led more treble trough in the 3 dB position. I have just bought an older Weber with at variable tone control, but I haven´t tested it yet. I thought I would use together with the TC IR loader, and maybe the Two Notes app.

[@mattw36]

Side by side the Mesa definitely maintains more of the overall tone while the Weber sounds a bit muffled. The treble boost certainly helped that and the boost in conjunction with a EQ could prly get you to the same place. The real kicker here tho is the Mesa is double the price. Ive found attenuators seem to really shine with low wattage amps around 5-10 watts. I have a Supro Super Reissue that's 5 watts and I use a Weber MiniMass and I really don't notice much of a tone difference because I can dime the amp without having to attenuate a ton. Attenuating high wattage amps is always gonna suck some tone unless you put in the extra work and money to use an EQ pedal or tweak other settings.

[@strangebrutoo]

This is a great demo. Why? Because you played the exact same repetitive thing at all attenuations. This is the most important thing in a demo that few people do !! Thanks. I think you needed the +3db at 12:00.

[@illbeinyourband]

Thanks much!! I tried very hard for consistency here. Boring video unless you’re really interested lmao

[@AustinHillJD]

I think one of the biggest takeaways for me, here, is that they all sound really good--whether it's the weber, the mesa, or the weber's lineout into an IR. There are some variations, but it sounds like the tone remains pretty faithful to the original. I agree that the Mesa seemed to fare a little better in the side by side comparison, and that the Weber really does need some of that treble re-introduced from the treble boost switch. Great review!

[@illbeinyourband]

I totally agree, and thank you for watching!!

[@familiarpurrson8744]

In most of the samples, listening with my M-audio studio monitors, I detected little difference save when you added the treble boost. Sometimes the 3 gave the tone something it needed, but the 6 was always a little over the top. That being said, I agree with Christopher Voos that an easy solution is a decent equalizer pedal either before the amp or in the effects loop, if the amp has one. Anyway, I just got a Weber Mass 100, and your video convinced me a made a good choice.. Now the problem is hooking it up, since my combo amp seems to be hardwired to the speaker, something I wasn't expecting. Thanks, Peavey! Lol I had to order a different wiring harness, and here's hoping that's just a clip I see, and it's not soldered.

[@illbeinyourband]

Thanks for checking it out! I think it’s a great device. Ideally you don’t use attenuators to the extremes I did in the video, anyway. I wouldn’t hesitate to get one again! I sold this just because I found myself that CabClone which serves multiple purposes

[@yobaby14]

You can fine tune the treble and the tone overall if you run the guitar through an equalizer. If +3 on the Mass gives you too much treble, just bump it down on the EQ.

[@illbeinyourband]

Awesome idea

[@fbaraky660]

the big problem here is that the backing track drums are kept at the same level so we cant really perceive the attenuatin on the guitar.

[@AndyK.23]

Great demo! I'm hearing the highs killed as soon as the Mass is activated, and the 3db high boost adds way more highs than when it's bypassed. It would be better if the Weber had an adjustable highs knob, rather than 3 or 6 db only.

[@TheAndyCzech]

HI. Thank you for posting this. I am interested in purchasing the Weber headphone Tap or the one you have. Which 1/4 inch output jack did you use on your amp? My amp has a 1x8 OHM output jack and a 1 x16 OHM jack that the internal speakers are connected to. I'm assuming I'd plug the headphone tap into the 1 x 8 OHM jack??? The only other input on the back of my amp is for a footswitch.....

[@strongbow11]

Is the mini mass still available for sale

[@pz1792]

have you compare it to Fryette Power Station?

[@illbeinyourband]

I have not! These are the only two attenuators I have experience with. I hear good things tho.

[@bobc.5698]

The tone stack doesn't work on the speaker line out?

[@Mike_HuntizWet]

No

[@jajsound]

Would this work for a 6505 - 120 WATT ?

[@qddk9545]

Probably not - I think the 100w is really rated for around 60w continuous power.