I just had to post this. I have a Jcm 900 SL-X 50 watt head and a Rivera Rockcrusher. The other day, not sure how long exactly, I played my Sl-X and my family came home, so I covered it as usual, blah blah, long story short I went down today to discover that the head was still ON, I forgot to shut it off, it was off off Standby for at least 2 days no speaker cab hooked up either!!!!!! What an effing dumb ass. Luckily it was hooked up to my Rivera rockcrusher, and was on attenuate but not in studio mode! The head was hot as hell but I decided to see if it was dead and ran it anyway and sounds as good as ever!!!!! I can't believe it it's not dead. So if anyone has a question of reliability or performance of the Rivera rockcrusher. It is top notch, not to mention the reliability of the sl-x too. Without the rockcrusher my sl-x would be deader than a door nail. I'm am still sketched out about this. I must have disconnected and moved the cab not noticing the head was still on, because it was covered. There must be a protection load in the rockcrusher for idiots like me. I am one lucky bastard. Cheers!
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Attenuator Amp Reliability, OMG!!!!!!!
- Thread starter dennyps4
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David Corrales
Well-Known Member
Good stuff 
I'm planning to get a RockCrusher very soon and this is great to hear.
I'm planning to get a RockCrusher very soon and this is great to hear.The Rivera Rockcrusher excels at everything it does. The reason for the massive size is due to the 3 Ohmite resistors than span the whole width of the chassis. You could not build one for what they are selling them for. The resistors alone are like $30.00 a piece. To add to the story the Rockcrusher was as cold as ice after all that, it didn't even break a sweat. This thing is probably better for your amp than a speaker. No joke. It sounds killer with cab impulses too, Ownhammer and Fredman are what I'm using right now, no boxy or digital sound at all. This thing is worth every penny.
David Corrales
Well-Known Member
I'm planning to use Recabinet 3 with it to record directly. This way I can crank when I want and always record with good quality as well.
You will definitely love it, Recabinet is a great choice. I researched attenuators for months and the Rivera came out on top and glad I went with it. I have a Dsl-100 in addition to the Sl-x and they both sound great through it, no loss of tone, even totally silent. Unless your a super anal audiophile, you know who you are. lol You will have nothing to complain about aside from the fact there is no speaker emulation, but that's what ir's are for. Best bang for the buck, better than Palmer pdi, and just as good as all the others, for less. IMHO of course.
David Corrales
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info man, can't wait now 'till I get it and record some stuff 
David Corrales
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that's why I want it. I can also get power tube distortion if I want and when I get a damn Plexi or JTM45 I'll be running those as well
plexilespaul
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although the Rivera Rockcrusher is the best of the crop in my opinion i am not sure what went down??? did you forget the amp while on ready to play (stanby off) cause thats a big deal...or the amp off(standby on)...then even without the rockcrusher you are safe.
Lowlife
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure it would have died anyway...to my understanding your amp can be on, and unattached to a cab as long as you don't play it. And Marshall of that era are built to last.
However considering how you can burn your amp by playing without any cab, it's just a very good rule of thumb always to have it hooked up, so as to not forget.
However considering how you can burn your amp by playing without any cab, it's just a very good rule of thumb always to have it hooked up, so as to not forget.
A couple things here; most attenuators have some sort of load in parallel with the speaker load if any attenuation is selected. In the case of most tube amps, any load on the output is better than none at all.
If your tube amp is on standby in most cases, the B+ is removed from the output tubes, and even without a load it is impossible to hurt the power amp while it is in standby. Several Marshalls have preamps that can be used while the amp is in standby, the standby mode will disable the power amp but allow the preamp to still work (for silent recording or practice purposes).
Along with it being safe to not have a speaker load on the amp while it is in standby, the amp will dissipate less heat as the tubes will not be fully operating. Only the heaters will be generating heat, so it will not get as hot as it would in regular operation.
From your description, even without a load in standby and with a cover on the amp, I am not at all surprised there was no damage. In fact I would be surprised if there was any sort of damage.
The Ozzk
Well-Known Member
No, The amp was full on, standby off. I see I had a special moment in the original post. That's why I posted this, the amp would have been dead without the Rivera, trust me. I cover my amps and it was covered and on FULL, and I know I disconnected the cab at some point after that with the amp ON. Recipe for disaster for sure. I am no newbie here, I have had and maintained/repaired Marshall's for 20 some odd years. Again standby was off and ready to rock. I always check everything too, totally not like me to do something like this, hence the story.
FYI, Even though Rivera will not say so. I bet you could run a Marshall Major on this thing. The Sl-x doesn't even make it warm. My 100 watt DSL either. If you get a chance compare the resistors in the Rivera, to any other attenuator on the market and you will get the point I'm trying to make here. There are 3 HUGE Ohmite resistors in the chassis. Paul make things to last forever.
kamran
Well-Known Member
Yeah, having an amp powered on while not connected to a load isn't good by any means, but it definitely won't automatically cause damage. The damage usually occurs because people don't realize its not hooked up, so when they expect sound and get none the first thing they do is crank the volume knob. THAT is how you mess your amp up.
Other than suffering from the heat caused by being switched on under a cover for an extended period of time your amp won't suffer from not having a load connected as long as you don't put a signal through it.
It's usually the output transformer that will throw in the towel if anything and as long as you don't put a signal through the amp the transformer doesn't do much work and therefor don't need any load.
It's usually the output transformer that will throw in the towel if anything and as long as you don't put a signal through the amp the transformer doesn't do much work and therefor don't need any load.
Analogman88
Member
Hello Marshall friends,
Sorry to bring up an old thread but I found this thread by googling many hours trying to find out if any attenuator is 100% safe. A Marshall tech told me that I shouldn't use any attenuator at all with my 100 watt 1959HW. Since this post, what have you guys experienced with the Rock Crushers or other reactive attenuators? Any major malfunctions due to attenuators?
Sorry to bring up an old thread but I found this thread by googling many hours trying to find out if any attenuator is 100% safe. A Marshall tech told me that I shouldn't use any attenuator at all with my 100 watt 1959HW. Since this post, what have you guys experienced with the Rock Crushers or other reactive attenuators? Any major malfunctions due to attenuators?
Analogman88
Member
Two Notes Torpedo? I'll look that one up. I had a Plexi that kept having major issues. output tube blew, HT fuses blew, OPT shorted because filter cap slipped through the mount, then after they sent it back to me after the output transformer shorted, it would blow an HT fuse after 30-40 minutes, every time I played. Many of these instances occurred without the Hot Plate, so I think it had nothing to do with it, and the amp was a lemon, but I'm not sure.
So far, I have not used the Hot Plate with my new replacement Marshall sent me . What do you guys think? should I use the Hot Plate or shell out the dough for a Rock Crusher? Or is it dangerous too?
So far, I have not used the Hot Plate with my new replacement Marshall sent me . What do you guys think? should I use the Hot Plate or shell out the dough for a Rock Crusher? Or is it dangerous too?
