Bugera PS1 Passive 100-watt Power Attenuator Reviews

I will try to keep this short and sweet. I took a chance on this product even though I wasn't entirely sure it would work with my setup. This is more for a typical head —> cabinet situation. My rig is currently a Vox AC10 going into an EVH 5150 2x12. It has an external speaker out on the back that basically turns it into a very large head. I wasn't sure it would work with this, but it has been PERFECT. The tones I get at acceptable home volumes is incredible. It gave me EXACTLY what I was looking for in my tone being able to crank the volume and really push my AC10 without my ears bleeding. I know 10 watts doesn't seem like a lot, but I couldn't turn my volume up past 2-2.5 without it being uncomfortable. While the box does get warm, that is actually what it is supposed to do, and it hasn't ever gotten what I would call "hot". Nothing much above electronics generated heat in a game system or computer or something. I can't believe this is sold for the price it is at. It's the cheapest option on the market, but does its job perfectly. I can't ever be without one now that I've experienced tone heaven.

Some amps--even those with master volumes--are hard to dial-in because they need club-venue levels of volume to really get going tone-wise. Well here's an inexpensive, but GREAT solution. Mine came in today and I went right to work on my Dual Rectifier multi-watt head. The PS-1 exceeded expectations in keeping the tone of the amp intact as well as giving me a generous amount of attenuation available while I experimented with shaping my amp and seeing what sounds best, all without annihilating everyone in a 50 yard radius. Yes, it takes your 100 watt amp and makes it whisper quiet

And therein lies why you should get this before you get a Two Notes Captor/X....the PS-1 has variable attenuation level. The knob isn't detented either, so you get smooth control of the volume all the way up or down, wherever you like. From there, you can run the line out on the back into your interface to whatever IR software you use.

This thing is great! I can get the power tube tune and sustain at a manageable volume and best of all now I have an overall volume control for the amp and can set channels 1 and 2 and there solo switches and just use the Bugera to adjust the levels.
Sooo easy to go from 3am practice sessions to afternoon practice with the kids with just one volume to adjust.

I was worried, because I got the demo I assumed it was broken in, it was not. It sounded really muddy for about the first hour or so. After that hour it just kind of smartened up. The tone I get from EVH now is amazing, I had a rock crusher for a while and it is better, but not $ better. So this is hands down worth it! I'd get another one if this one broke.

I was searching for a way to experience the sound of a Princeton Reverb reissue 6V6 tubes pushed to breakup. I came upon many positive reviews for the Bugera PS1 attenuator, including several on the Sweetwater site. I tried getting access to one in Canada, and was informed from our local shops that it would take up to 6 months to receive one. I decided to order from Sweetwater. I was contacted through email and through phone by an associate assigned to my order by the name of Nick Reedy, who provided me with invaluable information on my purchase. A great service indeed, as I received my order in Canada as promised within 4 days. Fantastic! Immediately I hooked up the Bugera and was in overdrive bliss on the first chord that I played. The attenuation level is perfect for my use, a little adjustment here and there on the treble and bass knobs depending on the volume, exactly what you need to do with any attenuation others mentioned about tone loss. All in all, extremely satisfied with my purchase and the service provided by Sweetwater. Thanks to all!

Just purchased this about a week ago and have enjoyed it. Well built and has a road worthy metal box. No cheap plastic. I have a Fender tube amp which is just too loud for the close quarters I am playing in to get the driving tube distortion. The Bugera PS1 power attenuator does the job. I can really push the tubes hard on the Fender now and not destroy my ears! Also, I like the idea no more microphone needed I can use the xlr line out to the board when needed which has a separate line out volume control. This is a passive unit no batteries or external power source required. If you need to tame the volume down on a tube amp without sacrificing the tube distortion produced by pushing them hard this is the answer. Get yours today.

I expected the amp sound completely muffled but at least a bit lower in volume.

I am using this with my 40 Watt Line 6 mkII spider valve 2x12. The built in speaker cable in combo cabinet was too short and I had my local tech make a proper cable for me. Once all connected this is surprisingly good for the price. Works great with a 40 Watt amp. Turning the giant rheostatic styled control knob I can cut out all the sound actually. Turning clockwise I get the louder sound. The instructions don't really explain correctly. All the way clockwise at 100%, I believe this is the max setting which according to the instructions still reduces the signal. There is some difference in feel, but nothing significant. My amps have been sitting doing nothing for years. I only power them up once a year to see that they are working and unable to use regularly be these are still too loud. I was pleasantly surprised that I might not need to buy a new guitar amplifier. This attenuator basically has saved me a few hundred dollars, first, not buying another solid state or low powered tube amp and second, also not having to buy an expensive power attenuator. There is a difference in the feel, the pop, and snap of the sound because it is attenuated, but the tone is fine. I cannot tell if an expensive Rivera or Fryette would make a huge difference for a non professional. I've been playing guitar for 30 years now. Now I will have another cable built for my Fender hotrod deluxe 2003 made in USA amp.

I bought this on sale to use with my little Orange Micro Dark (20 watts.) It allows me to crank up the gain and get that awesome tube crunch sound out of this little amp! Work very well, is easy to use, and is a great price!

I am very impressed with this unit. It does exactly what I need it to do and it doesn't cause any extra noise in my signal chain. The knobs feel very smooth and the case is very sturdy. I fits perfectly on my amp and looks good too. I like the way it tames my 50 watt Marshall combo and gives me the tone Iv'e been searching for. I wish I would have got this years ago.

Works well, no tone loss that I can perceive. Recommended.

I was about to sell my Marshall DSL40C after years of trying to get what I wanted from it. Even at half power it is too loud to get it to useable levels without waking the house. This was on sale and I figured I would try one last attempt at keeping the amp. I am so glad I did. This attenuator allows me to crank the amp while playing at a very low volume so I get all the tube power, and breakup at bedroom levels. It sounds amazing now. This is a must have for any tube amp bedroom shredder.

I got this at a great price and can now use my tube amp to practice at a reasonable volume. The only thing I would have liked is a speaker cable in the package for a one stop purchase. Otherwise, it's a great product!

The unit works good. I let a friend use it who moved and never returned it so I was stoked when Sweetwater had them on sale. It works just as good as much more expensive models and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get good tone of a cranked amp at bedroom levels. Even at the retail price it is a bargain! Get one today it will serve you well!

I was apprehensive about trying this, but the price was right, so I bought 2. I'm running 2 Marshall heads or Fender and Marshall and volume becomes an issue more often than not. I've used a couple of higher priced attenuators in the past and was never really satisfied with the sound, except for being able to practice really quiet when needed. Well, for being passive attenuation, these babies really do their job well. As others have mentioned, the PS1 actually cuts the volume down just by plugging into it, so at this point you can experiment with your levels while leaving the the Big Knob at 100% and then turning it down once you've achieved the sound you're looking for!!!!! It's amazing!!! It actually brings the good's from both types of amps (combo vs head) and it's glorious! If you are using a pedalboard you will have to experiment with the settings because you are now getting a fuller sound from your power amp. I've reduced gain and increased volume and tone on a few drives and let fuzz pedals run wild (fat and woolly to say the least)! One key for a good overall tone, is to let your speakers still do some work. If you're running line out or miking the cab, it's a whole different animal, which I haven't done yet with the PS1. I'm still enjoying the (light) thump from my Mesa vertical 2x12s. Long story short; I'm glad I purchased these 2 devices and would do it again if the need ever arises. Very satisfied!!!! Thanks SWEETWATER!!!!!! Merry Christmas One and All!!!!!

After using the Bugera for a couple days I went back to my Weber mass. Although the Bugera is a good value and works well ,it doesn't do what the Weber does. The Weber is fuller and Rob's less tone and drive.Again,the Bugera does the job.

Works great. Does what it is supposed to do. I can crank up my tube amps and stay married.

Paired this up with a Fender Pro Jr III. I can finally hear the natural overdrive of this amp at a reasonable volume level for playing at home. Happy with the purchase so far.

This unit is straight forward, easy to use.
Gives a wide range to work with to get the tone of driven tubes even in the smallest of rooms.
Get one. You'll be glad you did.

I BOUGHT IT TO PUSH THE VOL / TONE OF MY VINTAGE DELUXE BROWN-FACE FENDER AMP. IT'S TOO POWERFUL TO RAISE THE VOLUME TO THE EDGE OF DISTORTION BUT, THIS SOLVES THAT PROBLEM! I PLAY A GIBSON SG STANDARD I BOUGHT IN 1968! THE HUMBUCKERS ON 10, THE AMP ON 8, AND IT'S AL JUST AMAZING!!! THANK YOU ZAC FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND PATIENCE, RON

Very easy to use, must have if you have a larger tube amp and want to get that cranked tone at a usable level. Would totally recommend to a friend and in fact already have.

I needed something to use on a amplifier my Husband uses, it is loud, but he likes the sound he gets when it is cranked uo. Plus his amp will have some noise due to many factors, cables, the wiring in the home, you never know what all can cause it. But the Bugera PS1 solved it all. And it does not need to be plugged into a power source.if you are looking for quality and results, this is it.

Also buy this from Sweetwater. You will get a deal and they know what gear you would need, so contact a sale rep and find out what they have just for you.

Customer service is the best, I even had my sales rep call and ask how everything is going. Recently purchased a guitar for my Husband and a really nice case. How can you go wrong? I have everything covered if I had to return anything, but everything is perfect. Well what are you waiting for? Contact them ask for Rob and see what he can do for you! Thank you Sweetwater!

Works well with my deluxe reverb clone. No smoke.No smell . No degraded tone.

The Bugera works great. Doesn't change the tone of the amp. I've owned two other more expensive name brand attenuator's. This one is every bit as good,maybe better.

Does the trick. Get all the cranked tube saturation tone at any volume!!

I couldn't resist. I have a harley Benton power soak which I was using on my marshall jcm 900 but then I started using it on my marshall dsl20hr amp which has a 20 watt or 10 watt option but I'm trying to crank my amps and only way to do that in my home is with a power soak. Must have for any high gain tube amp. Now I have my HB power soak on my jcm 900 and this burgera power soak on my dsl20hr it's perfect set up fo for me.

This is seriously one of the best guitar purchases I've ever made! I use a Marshall DSL40C, and it is way too loud for bedroom volumes. This attenuator lets me actually use the preamp gain/volume controls without destroying my eardrums and he tone is significantly better, way more than I could ever put into words! I bought this on sale but now that I've used it and know how much it helps, I would gladly pay full price for it again.

One thing worth noting is that you NEED to use a speaker cable (not a patch cable, there is a difference) with it and ensure you're using the correct impedance jack for your speaker impedance. I think that's probably the main cause of failure with these attenuators, and why it has such mixed reviews.

I had bought a little black box 6 months ago but was not happy with how it changed the tone. This is a much better solution. It does not seem to change the tone of the amp as much and lets you run a tube amp to 30+ watts in a bedroom. With the black friday price it is by far the best option for turning down the output on an amp.

I used to huddle down with my all tubes, early 90s, Fender Blues Deville amp. Beautiful tweed, amazing tube sound, but I could never get the full tone out of her in any "Live" situation and certainly NOT, when the neighbors were home! Don't get me wrong! I still have that amp and occasionally dial her up to "12"!!!....But, alas,those of you who love these tube amps know that getting that "sweet, gritty, just breaking, tube tone" is nearly impossible without disturbing the peace or getting thrown out of the gig, or the house!...hehehe

Anyhow....Those days are done! I had pondered the Bugera PS1 Power Soak for quite some time, read the reviews and finally, clicked the "BUY" button, here at Sweetwater!
I ordered on Thursday, the FedEx guy delivered on Saturday! That was FAST! I didn't get a chance to change strings, and, it was here in my hands! Exactly as described in the literature, online information, web sites.

Hefty (weighs about 3 pounds), passive (NO external power required! NO batteries, no wall warts...nothing!)...Instruction booklet, very nicely packaged. Looks very nice sitting on top of my little, all tube, 15 Loud tube watt, Super Champ!

So, essentially, I can dial those tubes up to 7 or 8, and using the PS1, inserted between the speaker output jack and the speaker, itself...(basically all connected at the rear of my amp, mine are 1/4 inch mono jack on the amp and 1/4 inch mono plug hard-wired to my amp speaker)...I can dial down the output going from Amp output to the speaker using the PS1 attenuator/external volume knob! All of this takes place AFTER your amp's internal workings...SO...you keep all of that great overdriven tone and crunch and loud clean tones, with no change in tone coming out of your speaker or speaker cabinet! The volume is adjusted down to where you like it and not disturbing others, who don't understand or share your heart and soul-felt need to heat up some vacuum tubes! hehehe

Very neat design...There is an Output jack for DI (XLR-Balanced) to use with external mixer, powered speakers,recording equipment, etc..., Output jacks (one each) for Line and Speaker (Both of these are 1/4 inch, Unbalanced)...so you can apply this attenuated signal to a variety of external equipment. The "Speaker" jack will be used to connect to your speaker/ external speaker cabinet...4,8 or 16 ohm speaker load.

There are three, separate Amp Input jacks...each of these are 1/4 inch, Mono...This is where you will connect/plug in your Amplifier's Output/speaker signal. One each...4 ohm, 8 ohm and 16 ohm...100 Watts Maximum. You will use speaker wire to connect your Amp output jack/connection to the appropriate plug on the PS1

There are two dials on the Front. One is the Attenuator control. This is used to control the volume of your speaker..."0" on the attenuator is Silent!...However, Extra Bonus...There is a "Line volume" Dial...the "Line" out on my amp and on the PS1 are independent of the PS1 "Soak/Volume" control! So, even though my speaker is Silent, I still have access to the Line Output volume and tone, through the PS1 Line Output jack to be used with my mixer, recording, headphone setup. I still get the dialed in tone, via the Line Output, to use for recording or just playing. without bothering anybody else! And...THAT is the fun part, for me! I can get those tubes to hum and break that clean tone and get some mighty fine grit and natural overdrive! NO pedals required!....all quiet as a mouse!

i have another review of this same item, i´m using it on a marshall DSL Head and had to get another one for use with this head, i have a 4x12 in a x pattern so i can have more control and to better manage the power, and also to use it on a super rev, i also have the jettenuater (PS1 is based on the Jett afaik), there is some tone loss but a little eq takes you home on the tone (for me).

Would buy it again when in need of another one to have a fixed setup for my tube amps, on the marshall DSLH, vox ac30H, bassbreaker 15 and ´74 SR works wonders

The burnt smell is makes goes away with a few uses, is not a unit defect, is the conformal coating vapors smell, that will be there on most electronic equipment that handles "lots" of power and temperature

I already had one, but it worked so well for me that I was happy to get a 2nd one. I use them on a Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Carbon Nomad. Just a basic attenuated that does the job. I like how it halves the volume from the start, and you can go from there. The DI function is an added bonus. Highly recommended if you need a basic but rugged attenuator!

Other attenuators are more costly. This thing works perfectly. You can go from inaudible to full band volume with plenty of volume to spare while the amp is absolutely cranked. My only grievance is that the knob feels grainy, which is a petty complaint when it's doing exactly what it should. I might buy another one for my co-guitarist.

I have had a Blues Junior for a while, but have struggled to get the tones I was looking for due to the volume. Even though the Blues Junior is only a 15 watt amp, it can be extremely loud. The Bugera PS1 passive attenuator does exactly what I hoped it would do, which is allow me to drive the tubes in the BJ without such high volume. I considered purchasing a 1 to 5 watt tube amp and found the PS1 while searching. I am extremely happy with this purchase!
The Blues Jr has an output jack that sends signal to the speaker. This cable is soldered to the speaker but there is an additional set of terminals. I purchased a three foot cable with 1/4 TS x 1/4 TS jacks to connect the amp to the attenuator. I bought another cable with 1/4 TS x pin plugs and crimped spade connectors to attach to the speakers. The output of the attenuator is 1/4 TS.
For now I have left the original speaker cable soldered to the speaker. I don't seem to be getting any noise or other issues having this cable still attached to the speaker.

Tames the 100 watt heads to a manageable level. Haven't noticed any sound difference, never got hot after 2 hours pushing it. Can't speak for its longevity, but wish I bought it sooner.

Does exactly what is says it does! Its amazing playing my 100watt tube heads at bedroom volume!
only drawback is it gets really hot. Not worth giving it a 4* review

I've never tried one of the expensive attenuators, but this one allows me to dial in the sweet spot on my 60 watt tube amp and not wake up the neighbors.

It does exactly what I needed it to do. I have not been able to run my tube amp (Orange Rocker Terror 15) to it's full potential because I have not been able to crank it. Now I can crank it at bedroom volumes and it also acts as a load box/DI, which is good because I plan to gig with it. Some things you need to know is that it is not reactive, but given the price it is great.

Very happy with my Attenuator. Just what the doctor ordered..

I needed a way to make my 50w amps more usable in my home studio and enjoy them without rattling the windows. I wanted to mic my Hot Rod Deluxe and a Mesa 50w combo without losing the tone I bought them for. Particularly helpful with my HRD x12". The added line out and "mic" out could be handy but, I never intended to utilize those and don't care for the sound. Personal choice. I prefer mic-ing my amps over line-in to fx or modeling. I could see line out being handy in some live situations and some venues but for my needs the ability to control the volume without losing tone is Paramount. There are more $ options but it's overkill for my needs. For the $ it works great and exactly what I require.

Using on a Fender 68 Custom. Does the job. I have two. May alter tone on some amp. EQ, before, and or after, this takes care of the problem in my case. Recommended for those who run dirty pedals on a clean platform. Get the tone/sound, you being hearing in your head, quickly! Thanks Euge V and Mr. Sanchez. SW Engineer.

Hello i got this Bugera to compliment a Jettenuator (i understand the Bugera is a clon of the jettenuator) for a DSL1000H one on each 16ohm "cab", i have a single 4x12 with 8 ohm speakes in a cross pattern making 16 ohm pairs, i do not use the line out or the mic emulator, just the power soak and then mic the cab, so far so good, i do get a bit of tone loss, but it can be compensated with the amp eq (increase a bit the mids, highs and presence), for me it works as i need.

there are some comments on the internet about the smell that it produces, on my jettenuator i had the same behavior, it went away after a "burn in" period, same thing happened with other HiFi equipment i have, brand new creates the smell, after some time it does not produce the smell, i hope the Bugera behaves the same way (i do not supect will behave differently and so far since i`m using it with less power i have not gotten much smell).

what it has given me, is the ability to have each pair of speakers with more volume control (mix the way they compliment each other) and then choose what pair i want to record and a bit more volume oppened up; the DSL is pre based for gain/dist, but with more volume it behaves much better

i also have used on a vox ac30H and it provides also a better sound by opening the volume more, eq is needed to compensate some tone loss, also has been used on a fender `74 silverface super reverb and it sounds real nice, no tone eq needed for me on this amp

Hope this helps

I like this unit so much I bought a second one. I use them with a Vox AC30 and a Marshall Model 1987 50 watt. The unit allows me to turn the amps up to get a great tone. I can use the amps anywhere and not worry about being too loud. These units are compact and very simple to use. The line out feature is also very useful for recording and live feed to sound system. The price is an excellent value! I highly recommend this product!

The Bugera PS1 has been amazing. I have a 25 yr old 5150 2x12 combo, all tube 60W that is screaming loud. I hadn't been able to really enjoy the wonderful tones the amp has due to the volume needed....until I picked this up. The attenuation needed is pretty heavy on the tube monster, but the tone sounds great when running preamp and power tubes at 5-6. Plus its much cheaper than many of the other alternatives. A few less bells and whistles, but it is sturdy and worth every penny!

Nice attenuator, works well. Pro tip, if you see "smoke"…not a burning type but more of a chemical smell…have no fear. Apparently when these are brand new they have a coating on the internals that will "burn off" if you have your volume dime'd. I thought I was going to fry my brand new '68 Custom Pro Reverb..,but a quick call to Sweetwater set my mind at ease. It's a known "issue" and once you let it burn off. All is well. Save your ears. And get yourself a Bugera PS1!!

p.s. I was kinda hoping that smoke was my lightning fast guitar solos…but alas just a manufacturer's spray lol

I have a Marshall DSL20H I run at 105 volts, with the volume set at 7 and gain at 5. The PS1 at max volume is just enough to work the speakers in a Marshall SC212 cab.

This device is absolutely miraculous. Sound quality is superb. For whatever reason – in addition to allowing me to turn up amp volume while lowering speaker volume – the amp (an older Rivera) just sounds better. I'm thinking of getting second on for my Fender amp.

This works great on my Fender Hotrod Deluxe. I own a Hotrod Deluxe IV and the older style Deluxe from the 1990s the older one needs this unit to control the crazy volume even at low level. Took me a long time to find something that worked this well now I have 2 very nice Amps

The Bugera PS1 has helped me get the tone I have been looking for from my Marshall mhz40c. I could never turn it up at home at all. But now I can get the power tubes going at a low volume that doesn't disturb everyone in the house. Also my fuzz pedals sound even better to me now that I can get a cranked sound at a low volume

Having previouslt been satisfied with a guitar I ordered several years ago I decided to do some more online purchases from Sweetwater.
The Bugera PS-1 Attenuator I jumped on when it went on sale.
Anyways I ordered one and it was lost in the mail.
After giving the post office a extended time time I contacted Sweetwater and they saw I had a replacement at my door in 2 days!
The Bugera machine works and sounds beautifully and does exactly for what it is designed for.
I have no complaints what so ever.
This store must have the best customer and most friendly service for musicians in the world!
I would gladly shop online at Sweetwater anytime!

This is a passive attenuator. It acts like a Master Volume, but as described in the specifications,the attenuation, at least for my Princeton reverb, all takes place between 0 and 5% on the dial. You will need speaker cables as described in the specs.

A GREAT feature is that the Bugera works with amp output of multiple ohms.

Awesome piece of gear. I bought this to tame my EVH 5150 50 watt combo and it works. One thing is it gets warm so I put a little fan in it. I would definitely buy again no hesitation

This affordable, old school attenuator tames beastly amps. Crank your amp to get the sound you want, then dial back the volume to a reasonable level. Using this, I'm able to use amps that were too loud to use.

The Bugera PS1 performs exactly as described. It brings my Marshall head's volume down to the point where my wife can watch television in the other room with the door open and hear every bit of dialogue without needing to turn up her volume. We can also easily hold an ordinary conversation in the "music room" while I am simultaneously strumming chords. The sound quality is very slightly diminished at these extremely low levels, with a little of the bottom end lost, but the difference is very slight. Given the incredibly low price and the fact that this is "only" a passive attenuator, the Bugera is an exceptionally good deal. Absolutely a "five-star" performance!

Very nice works great recommend to others

Never used an attenuator before. Make sure to pick up 2 "speaker cables" ... not regular instrument/guitar cables. They can't be used bc they are different. I don't think they made it really clear in description or I just missed that. This is important. On my amps the speaker leads are all male so I just used a female/female connector (only a few $$). A speaker cable w/ female end is not easy to find. Also make sure to use the correct ohm setting. Check w/ amp info. if your'e not absolutely sure.
The PS1 is great. I've never had any of my amps past 3 ... maybe 4 on stage. I don't play metal/hard rock but older music so my tone is pretty clean. The unit lets me get to sweet spot at edge of breakup. I don't think for my type tone that really cranking amp up @ 8-10 gives a quality tone (w/ my Twin esp.) but 4 - 6 sounds right esp. for old R&R,R&B,soul, and Motown. Granted a Twin Reverb is pretty hard to get to breakup, if at all. The unit DOES color/change tone a bit ... esp. w/ distortion/ODs etc. but it's small without them. I just use it with any other type efx (time based etc.) bc the dirt boxes wind up getting really jacked. I guess that's mostly pre-amp reaction and expected. I imagine this would be fine for metal/hard rock etc. though. The PS1 does warm up circuit a nice amount esp. on my 50 watt single speaker combos. Now I don't have to use any ODs etc. with them. The main knob is a rheostat and it's very exponential, NOT linear ... 5 and up is way different than 1-5. I found it very easy to use and @ sale price it was no-brainer.

Hooked it up to my 20W Marshall JCM800 and cranked the master up to 8. Normally, this would be much louder than some might expect. But with the Bugera hooked up, it reduces the volume quite a bit, even if you set it at 100%. Dialing it down from there, it's a smooth transition and it still sounds great, like it does with the amp cranked, but at a manageable volume.

The large knob feels a little bit scratchy, there are tiny little "clicks" as you turn it. I'm sure that's the wiper rubbing on the coil of the rheostat. Not an issue, but it's noticeable.

I tried both the line out and the emulated out straight into my TASCAM DP-32SD, and also recorded directly from a Celestion V30 with an SM-57, and compared the recordings. There are differences, but they all sounded great, to me. Even just the line out without an Impulse Response. YMMV.

I did a bunch of research. I have a Magnatone Panoramic Stereo amp and twin 10" cab, so I needed two of these. I am completely happy with my purchase. The transaction was smooth, follow up amazing and shipping on point - and I'm in Canada too.

Everything came in great shape, fast shipping definitely will be shopping with sweet water a lot more ! Oh and service was great as well !

Discounts I love and especially from Sweetwater! Serves my purpose to keep those 100 watt Marshall heads to a more enjoyable level to my boomer ears! I love it!

I've got a Mesa DC3 amp. Really loud, but it sounds amazing. But really loud. Master volume has about a millimeter between "too loud" and "too quiet". Tried a different device that goes in the effects loop, but it also produced the same "hair width thickness result: very challenging to get just right, and any bump gets it way out of range again. This Bugera actually got the amp under control, and it functions really well as a direct out for recording, too. I am REALLY happy with it.

ibeen looking to buy something like this for years now and to be honest for the price doent get any better perfect for those bedroom guitarists that love real tube amps and cant even turn them on because of the volume i can put my high gain amps at the volume sweet spot now and have complete control over my levels i love it by far best purchase in a long time

I purchased the Bugera PS1 after checking multiple revies about it as well as reviews about other Power Soaks ..Power Attenuators and I am extremely satisfied with the Bugera PS1, it has allowed me to use my 100W Marshal at low volume wile still getting the awesome tube tone. Save your ears and enjoy great tone at lower tolerable volume level. I bought another one for another amp I own and even bought one for a good friend! They have yet to have had any issues and even playing at somewhat higher volumes the attenuator doesn't even get warm, seems to handle the load very well!

Best $ I've spent on gear. I can play my 25 watt amp cranked at bedroom volume. Tone is great, never seems to get hot or even warm. Haven't tried the direct out yet.

I'm not sure who appreciates this more; my husband or me. He loves that he can open his amp up for better sound quality, and I live that he can turn it down so I don't have to hear the same 10 seconds of a song 100x in a row while he perfects it. A win-win in this house!

So I have been using a Z airbrake on my Diezel VH4. If you don't know already a VH4 is insanely loud. Even with the master at 3. I should really say I barely using it because as you click down in DB's and go to bedroom volumes it sounds HORRIBLE. Soooo compressed and squishy. So Sweetwater had this knocked down on sale... Was blown away at how good it sounds at low low TV volumes. Not very squishy or too compressed at all. When it get real low... yes you hear it but for TV volume it's killer.

Sucks that right away as soon as you plug it in and it's at 100% it still is knocking out the power down 50%. BUT simply plug it in, set to 100%...dial in your sound and raise whatever you need tone wise and you are set. You can now lower it to TV volumes or whatever volume and it still sounds really good.

Not high tech, not meant to be. does what it's supposed to do for an awesome price. I don't know why I have never had one of these up til now. Allows me to get a great tone and not kill my ears.

Tried it with a 20/50 watt head and cab, sounded pretty decent. Silent recording with the emulated mic output, sounded surprisingly good. Looking back, I didn't expect an attenuator at this price point to perform like it did. Well worth a try, will recommend it to friends.

If you're having level issues like I was, this is the solution. almost sold my amp over volume level, this item made the problem g away

I really wanted the hot tube sound of a blues jr. with gain cranked and my Strat plugged in WITH the added constraint of being in my small bedroom/studio. This is just not possible (for me) given the wall cracking sonic flood that ensues with gain up and master on 2. Bring in this little device. Put the amp on all of the settings that you love the most and then turn the attenuator down until the wife is happy. I love it and highly recommend it.

Works as described. My ears finally can have a break!

The attenuator works very smoothly and evenly through the range of the Soak knob. At "0" no signal passes through and at "100" about 50% volume is achieved. I set may amp at the sweet spot--around 5, then use the Bulgera Soak knob to get the right volume. I play with a band without a drummer, mostly acoustic and vocal music, so our stage volume is low. Then I use a mic from the speaker cabinet to the house. Therefore, changing the Soak volume changes my volume on stage and through the house. The cabinet simulation sounds pretty good, but I do not use it.

The only negative I have found is that the slim line on the Soak knob is not visible from the front of the unit. So I drilled a 1/8" small mark on the front of the Soak knob so I could see the setting from the front. The knob is silver metal painted black, so the small drilled circle appears clearly (see photo).

I tried two other attenuators--one for $ that did not work well, and one for $ that had a fixed -20db cut with no viablility. This on works perfectly for my needs and is great for the price.

I was about to pick up a Tone King Ironman Mini, and saw this, with it's great reviews and decided to try it. I'm glad I did!
It allows me to run my 20watt tube amp down to very friendly volumes, without much effect on the tone. Very impressive compared to the Dr Z I had years ago.
I like how smoothly the Soak dial changes the volume level, vs the TK's click jumps, and the Line control is great for controlling effect levels to another amp.
I highly recommend it!

This is by far the best attenuator you can buy for the price. It is very basic and doesn't have all the bells and whistles found on high-end attenuators that cost several times more than the PS1, but if you're just looking for an inexpensive option to allow you to practice your playing without blowing out your brains and annoying your neighbor's, the PS1 is the perfect solution. With the PS1, I can crank the master on my Marshall Origin 50W head to get that nice, saturated power tube Marshall crunch without bringing the house down with melt-your-face-off volume and without ruining the tone. If you're just looking for an inexpensive option to tame the volume and don't need $500-$1200 worth of attenuation bells and whistles, the PS1 will serve you well.

I had heard of attenuators for a while, but never purchased one. After a couple of years of playing a 2 x 12 cabinet and very low volumes, I decided to give this one a shot based on it's price. It really does make a huge difference! The tone is much warmer and dynamic without the need of cranking the amp and turning down your guitar, which leads to some sort of diluted tone in my opinion. The attenuator doesn't dilute the tone at all becuase you can still have the volume on your guitar close to full level.

I'm running this through a cab with two Celestian G12's and an Orange Micro Dark.

Thought I'd give this attenuator a shot since it's a great price point and the reviews seemed decent for a Bugera product. Seems well constructed and takes up very little space on top of my 2X12 cab. Great to be able to light up the power tubes while the family is sleeping upstairs and still get some rich, thick tone! I'd highly recommend the PS1.

I have a Joe Bonamassa 70W '59 Fender Twin replica that absolutely cannot be played at home. Even at 1 it's way too loud. This allows me to get the tubes going at break up (around 6) without breaking my eardrums. I had been looking for an affordable attenuator literally for years. Finally found this one. For the price, it cannot be beat.

Easy to use, sounds great, and allows me to drive my power amp tubes to get a great sound at bedroom levels.

The form factor is a bit strange for a half stack as it looks like a wart on top of the amp head, but it would fit perfectly on a desk for a studio setup.

I bought this last Christmas and just hooked it up yesterday (08/21/2021) to use with my 67 Fender super reverb. This thing works great. Better than anticipated. anyone who had any issues were probably not using speaker cables? Anyways I have had no issues at all. Take the 40 watt monster and get the tone you want at any volume.

I use this attenuator on my Trainwreck inspired build. It allows me to drive the power tubes the way Ken Fischer intended without driving my wife or neighbors crazy. I've played for hours and it hasn't even been warm - I can comfortably place my hand on it. I'm happy with it and I'm glad i didn't spend big bucks on boutique attenuator.

Works exactly as described allowing me to get the exact sound from my amp with lower volumes!! Extremely easy to set up.

This is a wonderful little box. I have my Marshall Plexi at 10 and the volume is perfect. The sound intro my Zoom is also way better than the artificial sounds that are typically supplied with Garage Band and Zoom Guitar Lab. Buy one NOW!!!

I've had a Fender Blues JR for a few years, and it's been "okay," but not in a mind blowing way, and not in a way that I would expect in a tube amp. Small, boxy, a bit repressed. Meh.I'd tried pedals, booster, fussing with the settings, but just couldn't get it to really come alive. I discovered that driving the power amps up helped, but then I had to have the pre-amp way down (suuuuuper clean, or getting gain only from a peday) or the guitar way down (noisy, fussy, still mediocre). And then I picked up this thing: now I can run the power tubes and pre-amp tubes, get warm, responsive tube tone, control my effects subtly ahead of the amp, and play at a volume that allows me to be in the same room with the thing. Nothing else I've tried has helped my amp tone as much as being able to run the tubes hotter. Even if I were taking this on stage--or using the Hot Rod DeVille I used to play through--I would still put this in front of it. Do some of the pricier models sound better? I couldn't say (and likewise couldn't say if they would sound 5 or 10 times better)--but I can say without a doubt that this definitely makes my amp sound better.

This attenuator was affordable and works exactly as advertised. I use it with a Deluxe Reverb Reissue. Lowers the volume with minimal, if any, impact on tone. Does exactly what i wanted it to do.

Long, Honest Detailed Review!

I live in an apartment/condo and own close to 20 amps that I wasn't able to utilize due to them being to loud for home playing and that includes some 5 Watt amps and less as well. 5 tube watts is alot louder than many expect.

I bought this as a reduced price, demo unit without much expectation and ready to return if it was junk or sucked all my tone.

Man did it make a difference in my life.

Pedals are all good and fine and I enjoy and own many of them and I have several pedalboard setups. But there is nothing that compares to plugging straight in a tube amp with the tubes cooking and getting that tone and feel that even the best of pedals can't truly recreate accurately.

Most of my big boy amps already had the speaker input/outputs so I was able to hook this baby right up and play my 100 Watt tube amps cranked but at a less than TV volume and with superb tone and no nerd for my distortion and fuzz pedals.

Also keep in mind that many of the guitarists that we idolize and look up to and buy the gear they are known for using were using fuzzs and distortion pedals through amps that were already dimed and this causes the pedals to react different then when you have an amp you're using as a clean platform with clean headroom.

The Bugera did not color the tone enough to complain about and I was still able to get SUPERB tone out of the 10 amps I tried it on.

I have not used the Bugera Ps1 live or the XLR output so I won't pretend to know how it will perform in those aspects.

But, for home or studio use it is excellent and I highly recommend it.

Some of my larger amps I've used it on include my Fender Supersonic Twin 100, Marshall Plexi & a Vox AC30.

But, I also have some older amps and smaller amps that were still a bit to loud to get them to breakup levels and I was having to use them for a pedal platform at home.

A few of the smaller amps I tried the Bugera on are a Silvertone 1482,Kay 703, Harmony H410, Silvertone Twin & a Silvertone 1481, Fender Princeton Reverb, Vox AC4 and a Vox AC15.

Many of these amps have no speaker output jack and I have no real electronics skills yet after watching some YouTube videos and reading a few forums I was able to easily wire up a little speaker output box that I can easily connect to my amps and I didn't even have to use a solder for any of it.

The Bugera brought those amps to life and allow me to get natural distortion at any volume I desire without bothering my family or neighbors and made me realize that pedals are great but they just can't do what a real amp can do.

I played for hours at a time over a week and the Bugera did not get hot and it had no issues with performance.

I would say don't get another pedal or a smaller amp if you're trying to have a amp you can crank at home. Just get an attenuator.

For some reason attenuators are rarely mentioned amongst guitarists yet they are game changers if you care about quality tone and feel at a realistic volume.

Even when I would gig my big boy amps were much to loud and I could have benefited from an attenuator instead of having to turn the amps down to lower volumes and lose the tone from a amp that's cranked.

If you aren't cranking a tube amp whne you use it then you are missing out on the real tone of your amps. Domed tube amps is where you get "the tone" that you're after.

Hope this helps some! Rock On!!!

I was skeptical at first, given that this [Bugera] is cost affordable (cheaper) given other options for an attenuator. To turn the amp wide open, heat the tubes to that warm clipping sound, and not peel my ears off or have the neighbors calling the cops is an much desired ability when playing/practicing. Plus, when recording able to adjust the volume and not lose the tone is an added benefit. The Bugera attenuator does everything as advertised! (And IT'S AFFORDABLE!!)

Recently purchased the Marshall Origin 20 head which i run through a 4x12 marshall cab. As several people noted that this amp is too loud for bedroom recordings but it is a good pedal platform which it also is. My neighbor suggested this Bulgera power soak so i ordered it. It sounds amazing!! Now i can get the cranked tube sound at a bedroom studio volume and it sounds Amazing! and with the price you can't go wrong! Thanks again Sweetwater for these awesome products and deals!! Now lets ROCK!!!

Hey folks... if you're like me and have an old pure or combo tube amp that is stingy with good drive unless you turn it up until your ears bleed, then this IS the tool for you! Wow! I have an older Fender Blues Deville 212 that will knock a house off its foundation if your ears (and soundman!) can take it, but this thing NEVER sounded so sweet until I used it with the Bugera PS1... and now, I can get just about any level of the sweetest growling drive I want, and do it at ANY volume, even LOW volume. With this Bugera attenuator, I am falling in love again and more than ever with my 1997 Fender Blues DeVille 212. I haven't even used the other features yet, and I can't wait to run it through the board using the "mic simulator" output. Just go get one!

Having this Bugera attenuator reduce your amp head 50% out of the box. Then take that big dial and turn left or dial it back for even more less wattage that helps that volume output...
Before attenuator all my numbers were less than adequate while trying to accomplish guitar practices ...
Now my numbers are at or near what I need for my amp to speak to me at lower wattage/volume levels to get my music up to par practicing.
I'm buying my 2nd Bugera Attenuator when I order my 4th amp head ( dls20hr) soon & that's how good Bugera equipment is ..

The price point was great and the performance far exceeded the price point. I rate this a five star because it did everything the much higher priced units do at a fraction the cut. Plus the expertise and professionalism of David Mikautadze was excellent.

Works great ! Used it for hours Though a Marshall DSL40 and it didn't even get warm at all. Now I can play day or night without disturbing anyone

the reasons are, its amazing, does exactly what you want it to do perfectly, and its well build such that you wont be needing to buy another one or a different attenuator. doesnt change the tone. just lets you lasso the wild horse that is your tube amp. and works beautifully. 150% worth the list price. i havent used the DI out but ive heard that anything that can be nitpicked about its DI can be changed in your DAW or other software solutions. if youre hesitating, dont. you wont regret it.

in the very, very slim chance that something does break in the PS1 any electronics repairmen would be able to fix it, its very simple.

I bought this so that I could play my Mesa Boogie DC5 in my apartment without having the neighbors pass around a petition to have me kicked out of the building. It does the job very well. The amp doesn't really start sounding good until the master volume is turned up to at least 3, which is WAY too loud for apartment life. Now I can play at an acceptable volume and still have the great tone of my amp turned up. I'm very pleased with this thing. On a different note, Sweetwater's customer service is top notch all the way. I will definitely purchase from them again in the future.

I practice in a really small space. Turning my Fender Super Champ X2 up to 3 was way too loud. Can't really get the tubes cookin' at that volume. With the Bugera, I cranked the amp volume up to 8. The Bugera was only a few clicks from zero and the sound was plenty loud. I could finally feel the heat coming off the tubes!

I bought this to use on my Tweed 5E3 amp. This style amp sounds the best at the edge of breakup and while it's only about 15 watts, it's still to loud at bedroom levels. The Bugera PS1 did the trick. I could crank the amp's volume to that great tube driven breakup sound and still keep the volume at manageable levels. I'm planning on using it for a Supro Dual Tone amp. I'd recommend this for any non master volume amp or any amp that has more watts then you want to hear at a tube distorted level. Your neighbors and family will thanks you.

Recently just got back my Fender Supersonic 60w head. The problem is that I live up on the top floor of an old house with windy staircases. My bulky 4x10 cab is in storage in the basement, but I do have a very popular FRFR cab with speaker modelling which is much more portable in my bedroom. The problem is that the FRFR cab only accepts line ins or XLR ins and is aimed to be used with modelling devices, not my amp head. Purchasing this Bugera PS1 unit solved all my issues. I can run my head into the power soak, and output line level from the PS1 into my FRFR cab. The added bonus is that this is a power soak and I can control the loudness easily for bedroom practice while cranking up the tube saturation of my amp. This is really cool because my FRFR cab has various speaker emulations and it's neat to try my SuperSonic head through all of these different tonal options. Much easier than purchasing and swapping out the actual speakers in an actual guitar cab.. Overall this is cheaper than the competition, has all of the I/O's most people would really need, and has separate volume knobs for both the soak and the line output. What more could you ask for?

NOTE - if you're trying to run your amp head into a FRFR speaker like my application, be sure to use a power soak like this. If your nice expensive tube amp does NOT have a speaker output attached (whether you're actually hooking up to a speaker cab or to a power soak like this product) it can do massive irreversible damage to your amp. Some people might recommend a workaround by running a cable from your FX loop send into your FRFR input. This kind of works but truth be told it sounds kind of like crap AND it's doing irreversible damage to your amp because there is no speaker out connected, therefore all that power the amp normally outputs to the speakers is just sitting in your amp, festering, and waiting to fry the circuits. That's bad. Avoid this by purchasing the PS1 instead.

I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amplifier that gets its best tube tone when turned up too loud for normal home use. I was considering buying a low watt tube amp to replace, but instead... bought this attenuator. With it, I can get great creamy tone from my amp at low volume. Looking forward to using it in my Church band where I mike my amp.

Way better than expected

It works like it should. I haven’t tried recording but it makes my EVH 5153 EL34 50 watt manageable with a new baby in the house

It makes it so you can play at bedroom levels but it does get hot from soaking up the power.

Bugera PS1 made my studio! This attenuator works perfect for my boutique amps in dropping the volume for recording to the level needed plus it has a line out which is perfect to effects or studio board. Good job on product and price Bugera!

Does it"s job for me. I have a Marshall Origin 50 watt head I run into a Marshall 1960b 4 x 12" cabinet. Putting this Bugera unit in between amp and speaker has allowed me to get the cranked tone that makes the Origin special (In my opinion, the Origin is pretty dull and lifeless at any volume level under about 5).

With the power soak, I can get the Origin into power amp distortion (Master on 7 or 8) and any setting of the gain knob between 4 and 7 sounds really good. A great mid seventies Zeppelin tone. The attenuator doesn"t seem to color the tone much. Very transparent to my ears.

The Bugera PS1 lets me enjoy the classic rock tones at low volumes so my neighbors and family won"t hate me.

A great value.

I'm a home player and studio guy. My pedalboard runs into a Fender Tweed Deluxe (5E3) Clone by Cox Amps. A bit of hand wired goodness with all the characteristics of the original...as you turn it up, there's almost no volume, then wham...lots of volume, and it sounds best from a little over 2 to just about 4. With an OCD or a TS9 to give my Strat some boost, it's way to loud for home use. Now, the Bugera PS1 resides on top of the amp, and it's attenuator knob has become my final volume knob. Set amp to a little over 3, dial in the overdrive boost, and make it manageable with the Bugera. And it sounds TERRIFIC. Does it change the tone? I dunno. Maybe, or maybe it's just that the speaker isn't getting pushed as hard. I'd call it transparent. It feels like a really high quality piece of gear. I'm impressed with this thing, and it's a permanent and essential part of my rig. P.S....I'll probably never use the line out function, and haven't even tried it.

I haven't tried to record with it yet. I might start recording with is just to see what it can do. It does exactly what I bought it for. Seems well made. My 20 watt Marshall doesn't really need it. If you have a 50 watt or more amp I would buy one. Especially if you have trouble adjusting the volume because of too much gain too quickly.

You can experiment with it by pushing your output tubes at different levels to get different types of sounds. So far I mainly use it with an old 100watt Carvin X amp. Both on the clean and dirty channels. I just push it a little to get a good tone because I don't want to over do it and destroy my tubes. I can play at any volume level I want with it cranked.

I have tried the potentiometer effects loop method and this works much better to get more types of sounds. If your going to spend any money at all I would get this. As far as I can tell this works as good as anything and it costs much less.

I have owned several amps since the 70's that were in the era of "bigger is better". So with my collection of 100w tube amps comes a grumpy spouse, and I'm surprised I hadn't purchased a soak years ago. After some research and reviews of the Bugera I decided to try one. I am so pleased to comment that the Bugera PS1 is exactly what I expected it to be, and my spouse thanks "Cliff at Sweetwater" for giving her back her sanity. I now have controllable volume with the pure saturated tube tones and all the grinding overdrive that I want. This unit is rated up to 100w and I'm using it on my Fender Twin Reverb. I suggest ordering speaker patch cables along with the PS1 so you are ready to plug and play as soon as you get it. If you're not a gear freak that just wants controllable volume without bells and whistles, I suggest you give this sweet passive soak a try. It's a keeper for me.

With so many attenuator's out there, I have two Marshall PB100 attenuator's their old and they are heavy to carry around, when I saw the review on Sweetwater site the Bugera seemed like the right choice, every review. I saw was better than the last, As the price is fantastic I am super happy with the product, depending on my mood I have an Mesa Boogie Mark two c plus two, a Marshall DSL100 and a JCM800 50watt that I bought when I made full time at work back in 83, I use a 1960A Marshall cab, the Bugera is simple to use has a line out which is very cool, It's such a great feeling to be able to crank my gear up and lower the volume and still keep that tone,, It's a win win with the Bugera attenuator,,Thanks to this little unit my playing is changed forever and I love it,, thank you Sweetwater for the tutorial on this product, and thank you Bugera for a product the is priced right and does what it was design to do.

Bought this for my 1970 bandmaster so it wouldn"t shake the house down and it does it"s job well of lowering the volume and keeping the tone.

Wow. Could not believe how well it works! Now able to use all of my 100w heads in my bedroom with the tone it could only make in a large venue. Wife is happy, she can watch her TV and hear it instead of me lol. I will probably buy another to run two heads stereo and two for Christmas presents.

I just added a Master Volume to my '68 Deluxe Reverb! No tone loss that I can hear.

As stated by another, a little boost from the mid knob and turn of the presence and the original tone comes back. I'm using mine for EVH LBXII and Egnater Rebel 30 MKII and love it. I no longer have to be choosy with which amp to use when playing early AM or late PM.

All the other reviews are spot on, but one item I haven't noticed being stated in the reviews. The build quality, the build right down to the type of metal they used for the case is top notch. The wire wound power resistors are top shelf with an aluminum casing that is required to transfer the heat to the case. I don't know what type of metal the manufacturers used for the case but it likes the cold and dissipates the heat as fast as possible. When it"s not in use you will believe the PS1 is setting in your refrigerator. This was my biggest worry about the PS1 because for a true attenuation (the reduction of the force, effect, or value of something.) to work it has to generate friction or heat. The cheap one"s are nothing but volume knobs. Though the PS1 has a volume knob it does much more. Now I can cut the DB in half and still have all the nuances of a fully loaded power tube power amp.

I have an early 90s Marshall JCM 900 dual reverb 50 watt combo...originally with EL34s, now with KT77s, that always sounded better with the master volume up some but then the overall volume was too loud for most situations, With the PS1, I can run the preamp and master volumes past 12 o"clock and dial down the output to bedroom volumes if needed while retaining the sound and more importantly, the feel/ dynamics of the amp. The unit seems well built and does not get overly hot with use. Great value too!

I use a 50 watt Rockitt Retro Marshall 1987 JMP clone and Marshall 1960AX cab for live shows.
This is a very loud amplifier.
I've played it wide open and it sounds glorious but it's far too loud to use this way onstage.
It has a post phase inverter master volume which has worked pretty well for me but it does add gain as you bring the master into the circuit.
I wanted to see if there was a difference in tone with an attenuator without making a major investment.
First, this unit is well built and sturdy. The knobs are a little thin perhaps but I pack my gear carefully so it should't be an issue. It had something rattling around inside that concerned me so I opened it up to have a look. It was simply a small piece of loose glue.
This little box works very well. The tone shines right through. Really lets the amp breath.
After using it for a couple band rehearsals I used it for our last gig and I was very pleased.
My tone was awesome. Very vintage Marshall without the extra distortion the master volume brings on.
I was concerned about heat as I'd heard these devices get quite hot but it was not a problem.
We play 3 hours of music on a normal night and this unit worked great throughout.
I can not speak for reliability yet as I've only had it a couple weeks and I haven't used the line out or xlr
out ports so I can't comment on those.
I may give the xlr port to the mixer a try and see if I can eliminate a microphone and stand from the stage.
For purely controlling stage volume I am quite pleased with this unit so far.
Sweetwater gives a free 2 year warranty on these.

Does exactly what its meant to. Well made and great price.

...you DO need the correct SPEAKER cable with the proper speaker terminals for your amp- but this WONDROUS BOX has totally allowed me to FINALLY get the FULL SPECTRA / RANGE of TONE out of both my Fuch"s and my Hot Rod so I..

CAN"T RAVE ENOUGH!!! How WONDERFUL this Attenuator is.. And how about that Awesome Price!!

For the tone you"re hunting? You probably don"t need at least 3 of your common tone shaping pedals as your tube amp comes to life!

KILLS IT!
OUT OF THE PARK!!!

I've been buying pedals for so long, all just to compensate for playing my amps set at 0.001 on the Volume knob and they always sound like I need something else. Duh- OBVIOUSLY!!!
There's very little reason to buy another pedal- just buy the BooooGuerrrra!!!
Kills.

I use the Bugera PS1 Passive 100-watt Power Attenuator with a Marshall JCM 900 100 watt amp when I want that classic overdriven crunch without the ear-splitting volume. Surprisingly, it also works to get a warm tube sound on the clean channel with a Jazz guitar too .

My primary use for the attenuator is as a power soak, and I am completely satisfied. I have not tried the line out or xlr out, so my review is only about the power attenuation of this device.

I play through two Peavey Valveking 112 amps in a stereo configuration. The main difficulty I have had with these amps is that I have to keep the master volume control right on the edge between almost no sound coming from the amp and roaring waves of overdrive, i.e., the volume knob has to be between 0 and 1. Now that I have a Bugera Power Attenuator for each of my Valvekings, I am able to get a usable dynamic range from my amp while playing at apartment levels--keeping my neighbors happy. I really have not noticed any loss in tone, even when I have the soak turned down to 15. I am really digging the sound. It's not as satisfying as when the amp is cranked up loud and pushing a lot of air, but the power tunes are finally getting saturated, which makes the tone quite a bit more rich and full bodied.

The manual states that when the soak is turned up all the way to 100, the amp's volume is still reduced by 50%. Thus, with the attenuator hooked up, you can go from 50% volume to 0% volume by turning the soak from 100 to 0.

I would definitely recommend this product. By the way, if you're like me and you didn't check your amp to see how your speaker is hooked up, you might wanna do that. I really thought that my speaker was connected via a cable that plugged into a 1/4 jack. Nope. It was connected to a wire that goes right into the circuit board. Luckily, the Valveking has a jack for an external speaker cab. By plugging a cable into that jack, the speaker cable that comes from the circuit board is disabled. Then, I had to make a cable with a 1/4 connector to speaker terminal connector (otherwise known as a quick disconnect). It wasn't hard to do, but I had to scramble and find the parts while my brand new Bugera Attenuators were just sitting there looking pretty.

Works just like I wanted it to. I can now use my Mesa Boogie in very quiet venues and have finer control over the overall volume than I get trying to use the master volume. You can go from no sound to about half of your amp's unattenuated volume. I've gigged with it twice and gotten positive comments on my tone both times.

I had been looking for an attenuator capable of handling up to 100 watts, that didn't cost as much as my amp, for a good while now. I found this guy and bought it right up.

I'm using it with a Bugera 1960 infinium, I pulled two of the tubes to drop the power down to 75 watts, pushing a single eminence redcoat governor speaker and it is fantastic. I cranked that plexi up to about 7 and it sounds so amazing, and its quiet. Perfect for my band's small jam space. Haven't used the xlr out yet so not sure how that sounds, but for the price this thing is a must have for anyone looking to get the most out of their tube amp.

I have used it twice and it works just as it should. I have used it with a Marshall JVM410H and Marshall JMD-1 100. I only take the edge off about 6db, because I use it live and at band practice. when you crush the volume too almost nothing, it will color your tone, so buy a smaller amp or an ISO cab. For keeping the sound man and me happy it works like a champ. The build quality seems good... Is there better out there yes, but spend the money. For what I use it for, it works.

I just received my Bugera PS1 Power Soak. I couldn"t be more happy with it. I"m playing an SG copy with very hot pickups into a 1963 Bassman head and an 8 ohm Bassman Cabinet. I think the amp is rated at 35 watts and without the Power Soak it is unbearably loud when just starting to distort. With the Power Soak I can get any amount of distortion I want at any volume level I want, and can turn volume down to virtually nothing. I played for a half hour and it barely got warm. I could smell the good old tube amp aroma! Best $ one could spend on an electric guitar rig. Don't be worried about the manual statement of reducing volume by only 50%.

I used this gear for my 100 watt tube amp and couldn't be happier. Now I can use my amp at home for practice and no longer have worry about sound consistency as the amp volumes are set at 11 o'clock. Before I hooked up the atenuator the volumes to practice at home had to be almost to nothing and the slightest movement would blow your ears off not to mention the nasty shill undefined sound from the amp at low volumes. Now I have good consistent tone and volume control.

I've been using the Jettenuator for a bit now and it works just fine. Needed another so I figured I'd give this one a shot for only $100. Wow! Impressed!! Works every bit as good as the Jettenuator and compared side by side this Bugera is beefier and heavier duty. Looks and feels better built. Works great. Dual Rectifier on the 100 watt mode cranked up pretty well I can drop my actual volume down to almost nothing. I'm a big tone snob and I didn't notice any loss. Can't go wrong. Every tube amp owner needs to own this thing

Works well ,50 watt plexi 4 x 12" sound full and rich with out killing me.

Utilized on a Marshall DSL 20C . . .
No heat issues on 20 watt.
Easly hooked up by untethering the stock speaker cable from the inside of the cab and using a short speaker "jumper" from the amps output jack to the 16ohm input.
Some manipulation of EQ necessary with changes in attenuation levels . . . but I do this venue specific anyway.
Worthwhile investment for my use.

These are clones of the Soldano-designed Jettenuator from the 90's... just a simple attenuator and load box for taming a tube amp for recording and when you're playing somewhere smaller than Madison Square Garden. Yes, it's perfectly fine to run a tube head into one of these WITHOUT hooking up a speaker cabinet in order to use the line out to feed a DAW (for silent recording), IR pedal, or whatever else.
There is a little wonkiness with the interplay of the big attenuation knob and the little line out knob... where you set the attenuation will affect the output of the line out. I've found the best sound quality for recording to be found with the attenuation knob all the way up (no speaker attached, so the amp doesn't blow one's head off), I always keep the line level knob all the way up (even cranked, the level it spits out isn't very hot).
FYI/FWIW, it does feel a little "stiff" to play and will roll off some treble (just add a little more back in at the amp EQ to even things out). Be advised: all attenuators work pretty much the same way no matter what you spend, some will allow you to add the lost treble back in at the attenuator vs the amp or use active circuitry to change the feel and maybe make it feel a little less "stiff", but the difference between a PS1 and a UA Ox box or Rivera Rockcrusher is very small if one knows what they're doing and how to use them.
I actually prefer the bare-bones simplicity of a passive attenuator like the PS1 over the active circuitry EQ/voodoo of the more expensive options. Any box labeled a "reactive load" means it uses some sort of circuitry voodoo to make up for some of the shortcomings of using attenuation, but each reactive load box has its own sound too, and many times they add so much that they alter and change the pure sound of the tube amp you're attenuating... some sound better than others, and some not so good. The PS1 mostly sounds like nothing, which IMHO is better and more predictable.

If you have an old tube amp with NO master volume controls but love the sound of it cranked up (even a little) then this product will gut it done for you. It has allowed me to enjoy my old Marshall again at home without getting complaints from the neighbors, killing stray animals in the yard & shaking the windows. Seriously this power soak works well & has several other features which will prove useful. Nice piece, way nice piece for the bucks. Love it so much I bought another when they were on sale few weeks ago.

I have a collection of vintage style amplifiers, many with only ONE volume knob. Even though they only range from 15 to 25 Watts, they are still really loud for home use and the breakup is only controlled by the main volume of the amp. That's where this attenuator comes in. It does a really good job of allowing the amp to be at a higher volume to get the breakup without disturbing the neighbors. I can't speak for the quality of the line out. I did use it with my 100 Watt JVM for a bit, and it did warm up a little but it was not too hot to touch and it did not smoke as mentioned in some other reviews. I did not crank the 100 Watt up very high though, because I didn't feel the need to since it has multiple layers of gain and volume.

Anyone who owns a tube amp knows how loud even a one-watt tube amp can be. My Marshall DSL-1 is loud even at the 1/10 of one watt setting. I can barely get by late at night in my apartment with neighbors just beyond the walls or waking the wife/kids. With a 5watt or 15watt, just forget about it. This handy dandy tool solves that problem and more. Now I can use those amps indoors with some glorious tube saturation at very modest decibel levels. Or you can tame that 50watt/100watt amp at gigs without tamping down its natural overdrive/harmonics and what it's capable of doing without putting a leash around its neck and let the pitbull out a bit. It's a passive design that needs no power of its own. It has 4,8, and 16ohm outs to match your speaker cab[s]. It has a balanced and emulated direct out as well as an unbalanced non-emulated out. The balanced out works OK when run to a board but needs some EQ and trim matching in my opinion so it could be a bit better. I don't use the unbalanced line out so I won't comment. Because of that, and the fact it gets pretty hot when used with higher wattage amps {because it's after all a passive resistance design} I took off half a star. At $ it's a deal. BTW: This is a copy of the Soldano Jet City "Jettenuator" Design.

I can now play through my Deluxe Reverb with volume at 5. Good value. For recording I still recommend using a mic.

I live in an apartment and own a Blues Jr Tweed. Neighbors always complain, no matter how I try to dial it in it seems to be so loud for them. I was to the point I was going to have to sell my amp. I called my Sales Rep, Ben Stokes, and told him my situation, and that I didn't want to spend a lot of money for this issue. He pointed me to this Bugera. At last, I can play my tube amp without hearing people banging on the ceiling or floor. I can watch those tubes glow and rank it up, without cranking it up. Thanks, Ben! As always, you've found me the solution!

So far I'm using this to bring my Vox AC15C1 down from 'Entirely Too Loud' to just 'kinda loud' for recording purposes. Over that range of attenuation, I don't get any impact on the overall tone, and I don't put my hearing at risk or piss off my neighbors. I haven't tried the built-in cab sim as I like the flexibility of using my own mics & mic placement.

As a side note, when the package initially arrived, a thieving jerk stole it off my front porch. Big Thanks to Zach Maurer and Sweetwater for sending out another, free of additional charge!

I'm using this with a 65 Princeton Reverb RI. Yes that amp is only 12 watts, but it's quite loud when you get it into the sweet spot. With the PS1, I'm able to get the nice warm tones at completely manageable volume levels. For the first time, I can dime the Princeton if I wanted to get the natural overdrive and compression, without blowing an eardrum in my practice space. I'm seriously considering ordering one for each of my amps. I can't say I notice any tone loss, but even when wide open it really cuts down on the volume vs without. I have not tried the direct out, as I'd prefer to mic my amps, but it's nice to have.

Using it on a dual rec and does exactly what you want it to. I wish it had some different features etc but again for the money it is a great attenuator.

This thing works! Don't believe any of the gear snob negative hearsay you see on FB or other gear forums. This thing works, and works well. People say it "sUcKs ToNe". Not in my opinion, not in the least. It brings your amp's full potential out at managable volumes. It stays cool, and still can get pretty loud if you really need it.
Only wish it had a bypass switch, but for $ on sale, can't complain.

I bought this attenuator based on the price. I figured if it didn't work good, I wasn't out all that much money,(About the same as a stomp box). Well it does work surprisingly good for the cost. I bought it to tame down a Peavey Delta Blues 115 amp so I could play it at bedroom levels. I did have to also buy a special speaker harness from Weber Speakers to hook it up. My older Delta Blues amp is wired directly to the speaker with no 1/4" speaker jack. The amp's clean channel sounds great when it's cranked to the max and with the Bugera PS1, I can now control the volume to a manageable level. Well worth the $...

Works well. I"m pleased with the purchase. Make sure to use speaker cable not instrument cable.

I purchased two PS1's, one for each amp that I run together, in tandem. The attenuation is perfect to push the 22 watt and 120 watt amps and save my ears at the same time, while maximizing tone. You will still need to mic your amps as the speaker simulation out and the line out do not adequately replicate the tone of the amps through the speakers, in my opinion. Otherwise, I would have given this five stars.

I've been using this for 1.5 years now, and it's been a wonderful tool for practice and live. I use it with a 50w Sovtek, which is a loud amp. I can dial in my overdrive with my amp volume knob and control the volume with this. My amp has a treble knob (lol) so I'm not too concerned about treble loss, adjust knob as your ears need. The direct out does sound like crap, though- but that's not why I bought this.

If you think you need a $700+ attenuator, you have plenty of options. If you just want to hear what your amp sounds like cranked, this might be your best value. To my ears, there's a bit of high frequency rolloff as you increase attenuation.

It does what it says it will do. It's pretty basic and effective. Great price. The direct-out tone wasn't good, though - the only reason I didn't give it a 5-star rating.

I was seeking an attenuator to use with my blackface Fender Twin Reverb, a really lovely amp, but very loud with the volume past 2. In the space that I have I wasn't able to get the amp "working" but with the Bugera PS1 I can. Note that you will need to purchase a proper speaker cable to use from the amp to the Bugera and very likely another speaker cable with a F-F ¼" adapter if you are using the unit with a combo.

My only disappointing fact is that as long as it is in the circuit it does cut the signal between the amp and the speaker by about 50% even when no attenuation is selected. This is not an issue in my particular scenario, but it might be for others and I wish that this had been more clearly documented or that I had read the manual before purchasing.

Was having problems with my Marshall power head. Which I run at lower settings in my home. Not to disturb neighbors to much. Kept have power/tone fluctuations. It was brought to my attention that I may need an attenuator to drive the tube a bit. Since they were not getting the proper drive achieved by opening up the amp.
Game changer. I can now get that amazing Marshall sound while keeping the volume at lower level. Have not had any more of the power/tone fluctuations since I installed the attenuator.
Only drawback, and don't get me wrong. It totally makes sence. The attenuator is only designed to run powered to 1 cabinet. I understand your trying to reduce volume, so why would you need 2 cabinets. I have a full stack. I want to use all my speakers.
Anyways thx to sweetwater, and Nickolas for always being helpful, understanding, insightful, and great people.

This lets my 50 watt amps breathe without blowing out the neighborhood. Good deal for the money. Sucks a bit of tone, but expected it. 4 out of 5

This budget 100 Watt "Power Soak" is very hard to beat for the $$$. Especially when it's on sale for $50. Yeah, you may sacrifice some tone, but I'm pushing 70 and can't really hear that much difference from my Rivera Rock Crusher at 6X the price. I say "Go for it, it's still a bargain at full price".

Picked this up on sale to use with my DSL15 and Origin20 heads. It does exactly what I wanted which is to allow really nice tube saturation without extreme home volume levels. It does take some of the high end out of the signal and changes the tone slightly which is why to four star review but nothing that can't be compensated for by simply using the amps EQ. I actually liked it so much and got such a great deal on it I went to buy another so I didn't have to switch it between amps but the price had already gone up again. Well worth the money.

For an inexpensive, passive attenuator device, the range of attenuation (knob) is pretty good. I can drive my tube amps (Mini rectifier 25, TH30) a bit harder to bring out the low end of my cabinet (Mesa 2x12, evh 1x12) tone. Amp/guitar tone in the higher attenuated range does diminish, but I found a happy medium. Im sure there are better quality (aka more expensive) options out there if you're picky, but I am satisfied.

For starters, I use this with a 15 watt orange rocker 15 terror into a crate 412 loaded with Celestion 7080s.

Pros:

-it does it's primary purpose: attenuates the loudness post power section. This is where a lot of that delicious tube power amp distortion comes in. Despite what naysayers say, 15 watts cranked is still too loud for my apartment complex without an Attenuator. With my power amp cranked to 1 o'clock, anywhere past 10 o'clock on the Attenuator is still too loud. This is also great for playing through a cab live as well so that the sound engineer will be happy.
- I have been told that it changes the tone a bit, but I haven't really noticed this issue. The tone is still great.
- having a variation of outputs is great. I use the XLR output for silent jam sessions as I also record my drummer (and don't want to get amp bleed). The line out is great for plugging into a cab sim or straight into the DAW. from my personal experience, you can have all three of the top row plugged in at once. Or just one of the top row. Or non at all technically... Which leads me to the next point.
- this may be a potential failsafe. Something that will protect your tube amp if, for one reason or another, the speaker fails. If the schematics on the jetcity jettenuator I saw online are correct, the loads should be hitting a resistor of the correct impedance then going to ground sometime before the soak knob. Regardless, it "should" protect your tube amp if the speaker connection disconnects and act as a load box. This has happened to me once. My crate 412 had a speaker malfunction and I am very sure if I didn't have my PS1 in the chain, it would've been fried. Still, do your due diligence and if you suspect your speaker has failed, TURN YOUR AMP OFF IMMEDIATELY.

Cons:
- even if I use the cab emulation on the XLR output, it sucks. There is additional high end fizz. In a situation where you are gigging live through PA, I'm gonna buy a cab sim pedal and use the line out.
- even with the soak knob maxxed, you are only getting half of the amps potential loudness. Still really loud, but any louder than that, you might as well not use the load box at all.
- the load box is rated for 100 watts, but honestly, judging by the resistor materials, I wouldn't use it with anything past 50 watts.

It's still an amazing buy and I use it constantly.

Hi, I don't have experience with attenuator but they are simple device.
It does what it's suppose to do and the tone stays pretty good.
Sometimes I have to increase the treble a little bit but that's all.
One thing I notice is a slight buzz coming from the attenuator and when I touch it it goes away.
I guess some grounding issue. But you have to be very close to the attenuator to hear it.
Maybe it's normal for all attenuator.

Thanks.

Running my marshall dsl20hr thru it. It works great for that all day long. When i use my DSL100H thru it, the thing gets hot fast. I know it is rated for 100 watts but I don't think it would hold up long term to that kind of power. Smaller watt amps it does great tho.

I received the Bugera PS-1 as a present (through Sweetwater). Therefore, I have no "verify of purchase" for this product in my order history. Nevertheless...

I classify the Bugera PS-1 as a resistance load attenuator, versus / not a load box. My need is load box, as I'm using this to feed line-level signal chain, but the Bugera is fulfilling my needs -- I have the big dial set low, while the smaller line-out dial is set to max.

I am playing through a vintage tube amp (circa 1964 Danelectro), rated 20 +/- watts (class A tube pre/power/tremolo/rectifier (all tube). The Bugera is barely warm, and I have no qualms touching/handling the unit even during operation (for approx. 20 watts tube power).

I am running a pedal board in front of the amp, and I am using both the balanced and unbalanced outputs in a dry/wet manner. I am tweaking / EQ'ing the output from the Bugera. As such, I am not obsessed over the sound of the Bugera. My key goal, of course, is to run my vintage tube amp, which is normally too loud for even a single family home environment, at bedroom ('er, "studio") decibel levels. Mission accomplished.

I am using the balanced XLR output as a "dry" pathway, into a set of mixers, all of which have EQ'ing features. There is a "hum" coming from the balanced XLR output (regardless of applying a guitar signal to the front of the amp). This "hum" is NOT apparent on the line-out unbalanced pathway.

I am using the unbalanced line-out as the "wet" pathway, running it into the instrument input jack of a Line-6 Pod XT-Live floorboard, in which I apply various digital ambience effects and EQ'ing. The line output of the Lin-6 Pod XT-Live floorboard runs stereo into a Behringer DR-600 reverb, into a mixer where the "dry" signal is mixed with the "wet" signal, applying a "room" effect and 5-band EQ.

Besides headphone practice, or running the final signal to a home solid state flat stereo receiver, the key output runs to a Zoom H1 field recorder. No general purpose computer is involved in any of my audio processing what so ever (thankfully, as general purpose computing is a nightmare).

All said, the Bugera is performing it's job. There do not appear to be any ill-effects on the vintage amp. The sound is acceptable (I did mention, above, the "hum" on the balanced XLR output -- not sure why that is, but it's there).

I'm not spending big bucks on a load box. The Bugera is providing some signal to my vintage amp speaker, but decibel levels are almost immeasurable. Mission accomplished.

Awesome bit of kit, I can now crank up my Vox AC15 head and enjoy all that valve goodness without disturbing anyone
The only disappointing aspect is the mic simulator output, it sounds very "raw" and nothing like the yummy tones from my Marshall cab when it's mic-ed up.

It does what it's supposed to do, that being to lower the volume while keeping a quality sound, however not lowered enough for someone reading down the hall. If the 'Soak' control is lowered below 15, it seems to lessen the sound quality. Nothing is perfect. I have it on a 15 Watt Fender Blues Junior in the living room, so I may be barking-up-the-wrong-tree anyway. I think what I'll be doing is shopping for a 5 Watt amp for the living room and the Blues Junior will fill the basement. I don't have much experience with amps, however I'm learning to work the volume with the master, reverb, etc. and the guitar tone and volume settings.

Bought the Bugera PS1 a few months ago to help with stage volume. I play through a 22w Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue As many of us know, it's difficult in certain rooms to drop your amp's volume without having to completely readjust any settings on the amp or any effects etc. I've used it on 3 gigs now, and I have to say that while the Bugera works well for getting break-up tone at bedroom or garage volume, it doesn't necessarily cut it onstage with a full band. The issue is that this particular attenuator allows a max of only 50% of the volume to come through. So, while I recommend the for recording or rehearsal, I'm going to need to upgrade to something with a little less soak for stage use.

Does what it supposed to do. It case does get pretty warm.

This does exactly what I wanted it to do and it sounds good. When you get down to quiet bedroom level it loses a bit of tone, but I think that is just because the speaker is not moving enough air at that point. More of an issue of the limitations of a speaker in a room than the PS1. The biggest flaw of the PS1 is that it is always on. From the moment you plug it in, it cuts the volume by about half. Admittedly, that's what you wanted. You can get a fully cranked amp at reasonable volumes and it sounds great. But sometimes you want super clean with volume. It would be nice if the 100% setting actually gave you 100%, but it doesn't. Even the addition of a bypass switch would do the trick, but there isn't one.

I was warned that this unit at it"s super low price point may colour the sound. It most likely does; however- you can still crank it in the basement and NOT wake the wife! I did the wife waking test and it passed. Even an Orange Micro Terror can wake up the wife when you crank it! I have not tried it with my modded Epiphone Valve Junior as of yet. One would ask with the Micro Terror "why not use headphones?", to which my answer is that you"re just cranking it in your ears! This unit will literally allow you to play a live amp as quietly as needed. It is amazing at its price point, even if the sound is coloured.

Received the unit a few days ago. I tried it on my carvin v3 amp and, as far controlling the output sound, it really lives up to the expectations. If you want to be really picky you will probably notice a bit of a sound coloration from the unit but, at this price range, i expected a lot worse. The only downside is the line level. You can only control the volume from the 1/4 jack output, not the XLR. And since the xlr output is the one with the speaker emulation, it's a bit of a let down not to be able to control the volume from this output. Other than that it does what it's supposed to do. At a very convenient price.

I got my Bugera PS1 and had the long weekend to try it out. It's an amazingly powerful attenuator. From absolute silence to 50% attenuation at full tilt. It works flawlessly. There is a bit of tone suck, but that is easily remedied with the eq section on your amp. Solid, sturdy, heavy, well built. I'm using it between an Engl Fireball 100w head and an oversize Mesa Rectifier 4x12. The PS1 didn't even get beyond room temperature. It's an unbelievable piece of gear for $99. If you have a tube amp and are frustrated with the "lack of tone", it's there. You just need to unleash it. This will get you there,i keep your family and neighbors happy and keep you out of jail. Lol.

Got this for my SV20H. It cuts volume by about half at the high setting, which is what I wanted.. it also squishes the higher frequencies as many people report. Have a nice active parametric eq handy to get even close to the original unattenuated goodness. Haven't tried the line out.
Probably would not use it in a gig, but I'd agree that it's useful for home or practice.

The Bugera amp attenuator is a great value. I have a 1962 Fender Concert Amp which is only 30 watts, but very loud when cranked to get beyond a clean tone. This inexpensive unit works very well to get bluesy/crunch tone at home studio low volume.
It has a XLR balanced output with speaker emulation, that I run into my mixer/recorder. (I am not getting any of the hum that one reviewer mentioned) The 1/4" unbalanced output does not have speaker emulation, but the level of the output is controllable with the front panel level knob. The speaker output can be disconnected if quiet recording is desired. There are separate 4, 8 and 16 ohm input jacks to match the impedance of your amp.
There may be some 'tone suck', but it is an acceptable tradeoff for the ability to crank the amp,especially considering the low price.

This unit does mess with the tone, so keep your expectations in check. The price is cheap, but the build quality is quite good. There's reviews here saying that it got too hot, smoked, etc. Factory problems are certainly a thing, but if you don't know what you're doing, those exact problems can occur. You can damage the unit and/or your amp. There's some due diligence on your part to learn the limits of the unit's power handling, impedance capabilities, etc. Also, a few people say the soak knob "scratches" on the inside when turned. That's completely normal for this type of device.

A few tips:
-I was able to make it usable with EQ in front to tame the low end, to raise the high end, and to enhance the guitar-appropriate upper mids.
-You can build a cheap dummy load instead of an actual speaker (unless you want the speaker, of course). This is required if you truly want silence when using, because the speaker will still produce some sound.
-Along with the EQ enhancement, send the signal into a quality cab simulation software (assuming your recording straight into a DAW). What's quality? Try a bunch a side-by-side, your ears will sort it out.

So bought two of these to go with my 2 - 50 watt origin heads....as they have no real power ac/dc kinda tone at low volume. First one I hooked up started smoking after about 5 minutes ok not really freaking out cuz I use to work in an electronics place and some times these heat sinks get glue or cleaning fluid on them and that will happen. So I let it sit and watched it. It took about 2-3 more usage for the burn in time and the smell to go away. Your amps are going to run hot and this thing does get hot. So be careful what you set it on. The second one worked great with no burn in. They work really well....I have found new tones out of my amps using these. I would have given them a 4.5 if there was not the burn in so that kinda tells me that it did not get tested. Typically you would test these before selling them and the burn in would happen then. But again it is kinda freaky to see it smoking :( .....I use them everyday and I have yet to take them on stag but again remember your amp and this is going to run hot. I run my amps at about 3/4 volume and 3/4 gain so they are pumping. Smell went a way after a while as I was also burning in my tubes as I have never run them this hot like this so the tubes are also burning in. This is a good product and worth $ I got two cuz they were on sale. So if you don't have $ to buy a name brand these will do the trick. I have not used them to record so can't comment on that have fun and never forget it's all about the tone!

This is my first unit, so I can't compare to any others. However, the unit came as advertised. It does exactly what it should and I have no complaints.

Running with a JMP 50W Super Lead Head, which I love but always found to be slightly "thin" on low volume. Low volume being much appreciated by my family and neighbours!

Out of the box, I plugged it in, cranked everything up to 11 (OK, 10 actually) and expected awesome tone, and got, well, fuzzing, mush I think it's fair to say. I was about to put it back in the packaging and request a refund but decided to mess about some more. By cranking the amp down a little (to around 7-8) it started to sound a lot better. I messed around with my tone controls, backed off pretty much everything and notched the pre-amp off just a tad, and it sounds great.

It doesn't sound like the amp on full. BUT it does sound reasonably close, to my ear at least and is fine for practice. Have yet to try recording but think it will work well and has a DI out which will be interesting to add to the mix.

So, pretty good Definitely a good spend for the money, but be prepared to work at it to get the tones you want.

Working great. First one I received was faulty. However. Sweet water quickly replaced it. Great service!! For a $ cant go wrong does what supposed to. 4 stars only because it get hot quickly. To avoid that you will spend $ and up dollar for dollar good buy

Well built and good design. Does what it is designed to do, but colors the signal. Very dark muddy tone when dialed down. Not transparent, at all.

It will lower your volume for sure to bedroom ability. I have a 40w tube amp, and it allows me to play on amp volume 1-2. With about 30db of reduction to get to taking level. At this level not too much tone suck. Driving the amp up to 4+ to get some natural harmonics, it's going to def flatten the highs and tone. An eq or treble boost of some kind would come in handy here. Others boxes do have this, but remember this is a basic box. It will lower to dead silent on any volume, but at a cost of tone and loss of highs the more you push it.

My main gripe are two things… one the main knob grinds against the casing. Two the DI out has no real control for silent recording into your DAW. It is actually controlled by the main, and giving this had no speaker load. Recording with your favorite IR cabs, will mean the amp will have to be playing out the main speaker. Then you'll have to use a high gain preamp to push the signal. At this point you be better sticking a mic in front the amp. As the DI level to get up is better recorded and less hassle. Also it's not really mentioned by plugging in the box it already cuts volume by 50% off the back. So even without turning it down it's already being done.

So there is some false advertising here with that. Maybe in a dual live setting, where the amp is up and you're running DI out to a mixer with IR cabs yes. Other boxes a bit more, will get you silent DI, as it allows to unplug the speaker. A lot of this isn't said in the specs on the DI, and I didn't like that.So for me unfortunately, I will likely return it and get a Weber 100.

However, I think if you simply want to lower your amp a few DB and that's all…like on a Hot Rod amp where 1-2 is insane. This is a great entry price! But if you want to do more than get past 1-3 on your amp , along with attenuation, and run a silent DI out. This is not it…you'll end up needing to eq the highs back in. It does one job, and does that well at low amp volumes. I felt a bit iffy pushing it too much honestly and staring it due to heat and load at higher levels over 1-3.

If you have a cheap amp, don't want to spend much and shave 20db-40db off, nothing much more… than get this!
If you want to shave off more, you'll end up eqing a lot more, or looking at other options. Just the pros and cons at this price. Low amp volume 1-3 with 20db-40db reduction on box, you'll get talking room level without it being squashed. Any more volume up on amp, and heavy attenuation with the Bugera and you'll get a squashed tone. 12 o'clock or less is the best area.

Technically it works. But my tone is definitely affected using this. After switching back and forth several times, i think my amp sounds slightly better without this item and my volume set low than it does cranking my amp and using this to lower the volume.

I have a 100w super lead with no master volume. Run it through a 4x12 cab. Hooked it all up and it worked for about 30 min then it got extremely hot and then all volume cut out. I tried it again later when everything cooled down and it did the exact same thing.

Yes, this thing works as designed, but when the unit's volume control is set at a low volume, say at 9 o'clock, it tends to break up. Kind of defeats the purpose of its purpose. I like a clean sound. When I have my '74 MusicMan 212-65 connected to this thing I want to hear a nice clean tone at a low volume indoors... doesn't happen. I have to set the unit's volume at at least midnight before it stops breaking up. I purchased one of these before to use indoors and returned it because of its issue. Currently, I need something to control an extension speaker's volume on stage and this seems to work fine since volumes are much louder. This is worth what you pay for, though. For my use, and NOT being into amp modeling, it just isn't worth paying $250+ for a hi-end attenuator/power soak.

It's a great device and it does exactly what it's supposed to do. Though, my sound was definitely affected by it; dryer, less treble (like a lot less), but thighter with more mids it seems. It's absolutely great if you have the patience to tweak your gear.

But, mine blew up after 1 month and a half; it didn't set on fire on anything, I just had a heart attack, because my signal just bypassed the thing and it stopped doing it's job. My neighboors weren't really happy but whatever.

It's not anybody's fault, I just had badluck.
If you get one that's working well, you're gonna have a lot of fun with it, but if it blows up, that's a different story.

basically, if you have a high powered amp that makes TONS of its own distortion, AND, you use this product, yes it will "soak" the output power down to a whisper, but if you use too much pre-gain on your amp, the second you stop playing, it will SCREAM and HOWL. So, it's important to "trim" the pre-gain down, while muting the strings, but with your guitar's volume turned all the way up, so you can hear the howling occur - then, slowly ease up on the pre-gain, until the howling stops. That's the only way I can get it to work right without the howling side effect. PS: I use a VERY high gain / high volume head (a Laney AOR 50 all tube head) so it was needed. Most amps don't have this intensity of built in pre-gain, so, that's a consideration.

So.... I'm only using this for attenuation on a 1996 Hot Rod DeVille 2x12.

Comes packaged nicely with a really straightforward little instruction book (which you shouldn't need). Hooked it up at started having a play. Immediately noticed a bit of tone suck, nothing terrible, but I was able to compensate with the EQ on the amp. A little boost in the mids and a notch or two up on the presence and it brightened right back up.

I've got my clean channel right at about 5, just on the edge of breakup and the PS1 at about 50-60. So far it sounds fine, nothing amazing, but absolutely usable for rehearsals and small gigs. Overall I'm happy with the purchase. Just don't expect miracles from this thing.

Knobs are solid, it dissipates heat very well, build quality feels real good.

The main reason for hitting it with the first star is that it is not clear in the marketing materials how much attenuation you actually get. The answer is 50% of max speaker volume, which was a slight letdown to discover upon unboxing.

The second star is due to the mic emulation. It colors/muddies your tone entirely too much to be really useful.

Long story short, if you just want to attenuate your speaker somewhat, this will work fairly well. If you want to use the balanced out to send to a mixer, you're better served with other options.

The PS1 Manual says this:
"NOTE: Even with the SOAK control turned up to 100 (full clockwise) the effective power at the speaker will be about half of the amplifier output power."

Seems that this is a poor design
Why wouldn't they give you full output at no soak

This was ok, sounded a little muddy in the dirty channel to me even when turning the gain down and the clean channel was just not clean sounding, also you still here the guitar with the soak dialed all the way down to 0.

It was fun to play and here my 100w Marshall in my bedroom without disturbing my roommates or neighbors.

But the PSI Power Soak could be better in my opinion.

Let's face it, for the price its not a bad attenuator, but its not exactly good either.

I bought this to be able to record my Blackheart Little Giant 5W tube head directly into my interface so as not to wake the neighbors (and kids) by having to mic my cab. And, for what its worth, it does what it says it does: attenuates the amplified output to a level that is usable by a line-level input. But there's some huge drawbacks, too.

- For lower-wattage amps you'll find that you can barely push the pre and power amp stages into saturation. I had my head turned all the way up and was only barely able to get it to break up, whereas when connected to my cab (ie, a "real" load), I can easily saturate my amp. I ended up having to greatly boost my input gain to get anywhere close to my "normal" gain levels, but this introduced a lot of noise as is to be expected. It might work better for higher wattage amplifiers, but I would not recommend it for low wattage amps.

- Amps that have "digital" or solid state poweramp stages may have problems using this as the power amp circuitry doesn't recognize the PS1 as a "real" load and will shut off the amp entirely. I purchased a JOYO Meteor 20w head, which has a class-D power section, and it refuses to work with the PS1, my guess being some kind of overload protection. While the Meteor has an FX send that I can use as a line out, not all amps will, especially lower-wattage "desktop" heads similar to the Meteor.

- The cabinet simulation sounds pretty bad, thankfully you can bypass it, but it would have been a nice option for live settings.

My suggestion would be to save up... and get a TwoNotes Torpedo Captor or something similar.

Works but really colors and darkens the tone. Takes a lot of the detail away. I'm convinced this is the case with any attenuator that is controlled with a pot.

It does what it's supposed to do, other than the fact that it really darkens your tone and seems to add a certain amount of compression. I actually bought this to tame the brightness of a Marshall amp, but it's just sounds too dark, lifeless, one dimensional. And I'm no stranger to attenuators. I've used a THD Hotplate for over 20 years.
Also very limited adjustability. If you're just trying to get your amp to be a little bit quieter, this won't work for you. The first notch cuts the volume in half.
Just save your money and buy a good attenuator.

Used it with my Marshall Jubilee Reissue and its was good for letting you open up the amp a little bit and not have your bandmates complain. But after a couple times of putting my amp around half volume on the 50w setting and using it for home levels the thing went up in smoke.

After testing this unit out with my 100 watt Marshall 1959HW and 2x12 i found that it sounds great for that dimed Marshall tone but only at moderate band volume or loud practice volume. Once i went below 30 on the SOAK knob it began to sound squashed and boxy. For smaller amps it may be more useful for a studio application. I struggled to get a desirable tone with the emulated out so i will be sticking to mics and overdrive pedals for studio use. they sound far better than this unit at studio volume. Maybe with a dual channel master volume style amp this would work better

The BIG CON is it makes your sounds muffled and muddy. Nothing I did with eq fixed it. It sounded like I rolled back on my guitars volume knob a little.
The volume knob feels almost gritty when you turn it too.

Pro's: Its small and has no power cord. It does attenuate the amp and obviously the price is great.

Sure it does its job but I guess you get what you pay for. For me it really muddied up the tone and it just didn't sound good at all. I would just save up your money.

Does its job, but it completely muddies the tone.

I would give this device one more try as I think mine was defective. Last a whole 5-10 mins on my EVH 5150 III 100watt head. Volume was 1/2 on all three channels, gain on both 2&3 were at 5 o"clock.
16ohm head to 16ohm input and speaker out to EVH 16ohm cabinet. PS1 was at 1/2 and brung down to 25ish. Started smelling a little bust since my amp has never been turned up past 2 figured it was the amp...then the loud squeal and woke up the neighboors with the 100 watt head screaming at full 1/2 volume on CH3!!! Thats all she wrote!!! Unit hot as hell and stinking. Hope unit was just defective. 5 mins and dead at 1/2 volume does not seem correct

The only thing that changed in my setup was the PS1. I used it three times and liked it. I noticed it got extremely hot but other than that I was able to turn up and hit the sweet spot for my tubes. The fourth time I plugged it in it simply fried my power amp. It blew a tube and there are visible burn marks on the PCB around the base of the tube. I now get to spend money to see if this is repairable or if I am just out an amp. Either way, not cool. Burgers has been extremely slow to offer any help with this. I do NOT recommend this unit! If you are still willing to grab one, do yourself a favor and get on some message boards. After this happened, lots of people told me about other stories just like mine.

This worked great for a day then it died. I am hoping to exchange it cause maybe I got a bad one.

Had it it for not even a hour and it overheated and started to smoke and had a bit of a burning smell. But when I used it, it did give my 100w Marshall a good sound when cranked up .

I smoked this thing with a MIG-50 which is only 50 watts.

I had this unit for 2 days. Took it to a gig, Hooked it up as designed to my JCM800. Power soak started smoking. Nope, not taking a chance with something this cheap on my vintage amplifier. Returned it the next day. Buyer beware of this. You get what you pay for. Spend the money on a good attenuator if your going to get one.

Plugged it into my amp (Mesa Roadster), turned the amp up 1/2 way, had attenuation on about 1/2 to start. Everything was plugged in correctly with high quality cables. Started playing and 5 minutes later I thought my amp was on fire. It wasn't, but the PS1 had smoke pouring out of the vents, and was hot to the touch. Didn't damage my amp (thankfully), but I'll never buy another one, and you shouldn't either. It's not worth risking a blown output transformer to save a couple of bucks. Get a better power attenuator if you really need one, and pass on this garbage.

Let me state that the PS1 does work and do what it's supposed to do regarding taming the volume of a tube amp, but it's diminished returns as the "tone" you gain from running the power tubes hot is negated by the attenuators tone-robbing character. No functional issues, but tested with my Marshall DSL100hr in a full stack sounded dreadful. First, only one cab can be used with the PS1. Second, the sound was much better just using the Marshalls master volume to manage the sound level. If your tube amp has a master volume, don't waste the $.

I was using an Orange Micro Terror 20w amp, Marshall 4x12 8ohm Celestion cab, and high-quality amp cables connected from both the amp to unit's input, and also to the 8 ohm output and cab. I kept the amp between 1/4 to 1/2 volume. The Bugera unit caused my amp's power supply to cut out at under 20% and over 80% soak (I could see the blue LED on the supply turn off as well as the amp's LED). I was not very pleased with the sound coming from my speakers, it seemed both clean and overdrive tones had harshness in the low and high end.

Dialing in a somewhat decent setting with volume and soak at 50%, the unit began to lightly smoke from the vents after playing for only about 10 minutes, and I immediately cut the power. It felt slightly warm to the touch, and it was adequately ventilated the entire time.

This is with a 20w amp head, so I can't imagine it working properly or safely with my 100w Marshall. I simply cannot have faith in these units.

With in 5 minutes of testing it…..my amp fuse blew!

I waited a month to get this thing, and after the long wait I ended up with a smoking, hot mess. Hooked it up to my 100w KSR Orthos MKII and within 3 minutes of playing I smelled that unmistakable burning electrical smell. Then smoke started pouring out of the top of the unit. Luckily, no damage to the amp. Very disappointed. Sweetwater made the return easy. Thanks Mike. I guess you get what you pay for.

I got this as as gift and ran it through an Orange Dual Terror and my Marshall DSL1 for a while and had no problems; however, after my fried plugged it to his JCM800 at full volume, it burned after just 15 minutes of playing. I've read a couple of comments of this happening, but thought they where faulty units.
I'm totally bummed as my buddy really wanted to use his stack without waking up the entire neighborhood.

Not sure if I simply got a dud or if this product is a dud. But it didn't work at all. Apparently Bugera doesn't test these before they go out.

With the attenuator in place, the sound from my amp would fluctuate back and forth from attenuated to not attenuated. And I couldn't even turn the attenuator much past 3-4 on its dial without the volume blowing me away. Given that the dial goes up to 100 and I can't get to 5 means it doesn't attenuate at all.

Most of the reviews are good, price is right, so I bought one. Not sure if I just had bad luck or not. Maybe Bugera is simply ok with replacement rather than tighter quality control. But I probably will just buy something else and not risk it or waste my time.

I hope Sweetwater tests this unit that I returned. If they really don't work I'd suggest that they stop selling them. But again, most reviews are positive.

The amp I want to attenuate is a fender blues DeVille 60 watt tube amp. It's loud, and can't be played past 1.5 on it's volume dial unless you are on stage at a club -lol

Easy to set up. Nice controls. Not bad sound. The sound was mildly compressed, as you should expect from most attenuaters. However, I only got to use it about 3 times before it died. Smells awful. Lost all volume. All you can hear is a faint shadow of the sound, but at least it didn't take the amp with it. The amp still works great. And loud.

Very disapointed in this attenuator. I had a THD Hotplate that sucked the tone out of the amp. Sold it a while back. People are claiming this doesn't suck the tone out. Got it yesterday plugged in my Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 50 and.........Sucked the tone right out of the amp. Hugely disapointed. Returning it this week.

Mine lasted for 2 months. Do not buy this junk

I tried it out but it wasn't what I had expected. It got really hot and started to smell like it was burning. No flames or smoke but also didn't give me the sound that I thought it would. I don't know if the heat and smell are normal, but I don't want to damage my amp so I'm putting it away or selling it if I can.