Marshall Power Brake info at Blame
Power Brake PB-100 -- list $379, Guitar Center price $279
Power Brake PB-100 WSP (white) -- list $385, Guitar Center price $299 (not in stock at this store)
Cooling fan.
Does not have a cab-sim filter.
Has no Line Out jack.
12-position rotary knob. 3dB increments. Postion 12 is speaker muted, making a load box. 2 speaker outs. If the attenuation is at -33 you could probably use that as a line out. The 12th step on the knob is the "dummy load" position, permitting use without a guitar speaker.
There is a direct, straight-thru position with no attenuation on the Hot Plate and Power Brake, allowing easy A/B-ing of the tone with and without attenuation.
Randall Aiken wrote: "I am sorry to say that I haven't taken the time to dissect the Power Brake (I use it for gigging on the weekends, but as soon as the THD comes I suspect it will get taken apart), so I don't know what is in it, but I believe the cooling fan doubles as the inductive load. It actually turns faster the louder you play."
Legends of Guitar: The Quest for Ultimate Tone. Best of Guitar Player. Sonic secrets -- Hendrix, Clapton, Van Halen, Stevie Ray, Slash, & more. Distortion tips. Eq- craig anderton. Decoding distortion. R. Aspen Pittman. Eric Johnson. Tone factors in solidbody guitars. 1995. Has a review of soaks, which appeared in Guitar Player Aug 1993. Covered:
Reviewed page 60 Guitar Shop Feb 1995. Doesn't even mention the tone sacrifice at high or total attenuation. ______________
>I wanted to know what you've heard about the Marshall Power Brake. So far, I've lost 4 output transformers with the device. In one year of gigging I burned up two original output transformers in separate 1971 Marshall Super Lead amps. My problems have continued. Marshall claims they have never seen this problem with the Power Brake. However, Marshall gave me two new transformers, rather than checking the Power Brake. I've talk to people that like the Power Brake, but have they really used it for a gig schedule? Unfortunately, I've had a lot of trouble with the device. My speaker cables have been replaced several times and all the impedence settings match. Any suggestions?
Hendrix went through amps and cabinets like popcorn. Running your gear hot is likely to fry it. I have not heard anything about wear-and-tear on power tubes and output transformers, caused by the Marshall Power Brake.
The Power Brake sounds like one of the most authentic, useful approaches.
But does the speaker cabinet really sound any good at very low volumes?
Isn't speaker overdrive a major part of cranked amp tone? I suspect that a
genuine speaker cabinet is important, but we know that power tube saturation
is important too, because a solid-state amp driving a good cabinet does not
allow power-tube saturation, and thus sounds flat.
>The A/B capability is what convinced me
of the transparency of the THD device, at least to -12 dB. I think
too many things have to change to really get that same cranked tone
at very low levels. I live on a large property, so my main concern
was for preventing ear damage while making minimal to no sacrifices
in the area of overdrive tones. Once you throw out the speakers working
hard and the acoustic feedback to the guitar, you've removed some
important tonal contributors.
-- D.R.
official product page - "The Master Volume control on your valve amp makes it sound good at low volume, but ALL valve amps sound better cranked. This is a scientific fact of life. There are other attenuators or load boxes available, but they don't provide the right type of inductive load that makes your amp think it's connected to a speaker. At best, these other devices cause your amp to sound thin and feeble. At worst, they can blow your valves output transformer -an expensive proposition. The Marshall Power Brake is the only widely available power attenuator that delivers great sound - Safely. Marshall PB100 - Lets your amp cook, without frying."
from http://www.fbk.eur.nl/BIT/ALGEMEEN/MEMBERS/MHM/gear/marshall_powerbrake.jpg
from http://home.interlink.or.jp/~eiko-go/studio/MYEQUIPMENT.html
Above and the white pictures are from BLAME Power Brake page at MarshallArts
Click these custom links to find the latest information and discussion about this product.
Article at Harmony Central (pending)
user reviews for PB-100 at Harmony Central (effects)
user reviews for PB-1 at Harmony Central (amps)
user reviews for PB-100 at Harmony Central (amps)
search newsgroup postings at Deja.com
search newsgroup threads at Remarq.com
Here are some hits::
Messages 1-100 of about 300 matches for search "Power Brake":
Date Scr Subject Newsgroup Author
1. 98/10/17 052 WTB Marshall Power Brake alt.guitar Eric Refsdal
2. 98/10/17 044 Re: Question for Marshall Ex alt.guitar simon70
3. 98/10/17 044 Ampeg B-15 (reissue) alt.guitar.amps Andrew P. Mullh
4. 98/08/26 042 WNTD: schematic to build Pow alt.guitar.amps Mark Fuglestad
5. 98/05/05 042 Re: Power brake alt.guitar Anonymous
6. 98/05/01 042 Power brake alt.guitar Bri Hall
7. 98/04/15 042 WANTED: Marshall Power Brake alt.guitar.amps agk97
8. 98/10/14 041 Re: Why is it bad to run an alt.guitar.amps Chris Mohrbache
9. 98/10/14 040 Re: Why is it bad to run an alt.guitar.amps Lord Valve
10. 98/08/26 040 Marshall Power Brake alt.guitar.amps Mark Fuglestad
11. 98/06/17 040 Re: Tone freaks I have a spe alt.guitar.amps Tonefactor
12. 98/05/27 040 WTB: Marshall PB-1 (Power Br alt.guitar.amps Constantin Roma
13. 98/05/01 040 Re: Power brake alt.guitar Kamchak Tuchuk
14. 98/04/03 040 Marshall Power Brake Schemat alt.guitar.amps Whammy
15. 98/10/07 039 Re: Marshall Sucks alt.guitar.amps Gary Hendershot
16. 98/10/07 039 Re: Marshall Sucks alt.guitar.amps NoOne
17. 98/06/28 039 Resistive VS inductive power alt.guitar.amps RSmith
18. 98/06/20 039 Re: Tone freaks I have a#2/2 alt.guitar.amps Fulton
19. 98/05/02 039 Re: Any good mods for a Mars alt.guitar.amps Tonefactor
20. 98/05/01 039 Re: Any good mods for a Mars alt.guitar.amps Donnie
21. 98/08/12 037 Re: Amp 'brakes' - opinions? alt.guitar Charles Thomas
22. 98/06/15 037 Re: Power Attenuator? alt.guitar.amps Paul Brannon
23. 98/05/02 037 Any good mods for a Marshall alt.guitar.amps Constantin Roma
24. 98/05/01 037 Re: Any good mods for a Mars alt.guitar.amps Jonathan Krogh
25. 98/01/14 037 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar.amps Carlginger
26. 98/09/18 036 Re: JCM2000 DSL vs vintage p alt.guitar.amps simon70
27. 98/09/13 036 Re: Volume pedals don't redu alt.guitar Thorny
28. 98/07/21 036 Re: Q: Using Power Brake w/s alt.guitar.amps fginder
29. 98/06/17 036 Tone freaks I have a speaker alt.guitar.amps Delux 66
30. 98/06/17 036 Re: Tone freaks I have a spe alt.guitar.amps Steven Levine
31. 98/02/26 036 Re: Hot Plate-PowerBrake-Pow alt.guitar.amps Strat1995
32. 98/01/16 036 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar.amps Ron Cook
33. 98/01/15 036 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar.amps Strat1995
34. 98/01/15 036 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar.amps Alex Tobias
35. 97/12/31 036 Re: Power Soaks alt.guitar.amps Kjpallotta
36. 97/11/01 036 Re: 1/2 power mod alt.guitar.amps Strat1995
37. 97/04/25 036 Re: Marshall thoughts, power alt.guitar.amps Steve
38. 97/04/25 036 Re: Marshall thoughts, power alt.guitar.amps Greg Siegel
39. 98/07/21 035 Re: Q: Using Power Brake w/s alt.guitar.amps Randall Aiken
40. 98/07/20 035 Re: Q: Using Power Brake w/s alt.guitar.amps buckinm
41. 98/07/06 035 Re: BOSS CS-3 volume drop an alt.guitar Oded Gottesman
42. 98/07/05 035 Re: Pro Reverb Questions.... alt.guitar.amps Sandore's
43. 98/06/18 035 Re: Tone freaks I have a spe alt.guitar.amps pja105
44. 98/05/08 035 Re: Anyway to make amp quiet alt.guitar.amps michael p mccul
45. 98/04/28 035 Re: Distortion --> Help me o alt.guitar Merpet
46. 98/04/04 035 Re: thd hot plate... #3/4 alt.guitar.amps Steve
47. 98/02/26 035 Re: Hot Plate-PowerBrake-Pow alt.guitar.amps Ted Matsumura
48. 98/01/14 035 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar Michael Fuller
49. 98/01/14 035 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar Ericb
50. 98/01/13 035 THD Hot Plate or Marshall Po alt.guitar Brian Emmett
51. 98/09/08 034 Re: Getting Your Ultimate Am alt.guitar.amps nobody
52. 98/09/04 034 Re: Mesa Blue Angel and Dist rec.music.makers.guit Randy Neifer
53. 98/07/28 034 Re: Q: Using Power Brake w/s alt.guitar.amps fginder
54. 98/06/28 034 Re: I have a speaker questio alt.guitar.amps Rick Torres
55. 98/06/26 034 Re: JMP MKIIB 50W COMBO 4PRO alt.guitar.amps William Chapman
56. 98/04/04 034 Re: thd hot plate... #1/4 alt.guitar.amps Steve
57. 98/03/11 034 Re: FS: Marshall Limited Whi alt.guitar.amps Curious
58. 98/02/27 034 Re: Modifying Tube Amps alt.guitar Norm1a
59. 98/01/17 034 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar R. Brown
60. 98/01/14 034 TRAINWRECK AIR BRAKE II alt.guitar.amps THOMAS W. WYSKI
61. 98/01/14 034 Re: TRAINWRECK AIR BRAKE II alt.guitar.amps THOMAS W. WYSKI
62. 98/01/14 034 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar George Brickner
63. 97/11/21 034 Re: using tube amp head for alt.guitar dfox1
64. 97/09/16 034 Opinions wanted: Power atten alt.guitar.amps Brian McElrath
65. 97/07/22 034 FS Marshall mint Power Brake alt.guitar.amps mgoodnex
66. 97/06/21 034 FS:marshall power brake rec.music.makers.mark rgp
67. 97/05/22 034 Re: Power breaker? alt.guitar.amps M. Mattson
68. 97/03/28 034 Is Marshall Power Brake any alt.guitar.amps Jim Kay
69. 98/09/08 033 Re: Mesa Blue Angel and Dist rec.music.makers.guit Nick Koutsoukis
70. 98/04/04 033 Re: thd hot plate... #2/4 alt.guitar.amps Steve
71. 98/02/24 033 Re: Modifying Tube Amps alt.guitar Patrick f. cole
72. 98/02/23 033 Re: Marshall JCM2000 & Mesa alt.guitar Danny Russell
73. 98/02/21 033 Re: Marshall JCM2000 & Mesa alt.guitar Henry P Klobuko
74. 98/02/05 033 Re: Marshall 2000 Head #2/3 alt.guitar Steve
75. 98/01/18 033 Re: THD Hot Plate or Marshal alt.guitar Peter
76. 98/01/13 033 Re: THD Hot Plate or Mar#1/3 alt.guitar Steve
77. 98/01/13 033 Re: THD Hot Plate or Mar#2/3 alt.guitar Steve
78. 97/12/07 033 Re: Power Attenuators ..#2/3 alt.guitar.amps Steve
79. 97/11/06 033 Re: Question on making a loa alt.guitar.amps Skip May
80. 97/08/17 033 Re: Cranked Amps! alt.guitar TQ Hot
81. 97/06/18 033 Re: Power Soak alt.guitar RutledgeTW
82. 97/05/29 033 Re: Power breaker? alt.guitar.amps C. F. Cohen
83. 97/04/25 033 Re: Marshall thoughts, power alt.guitar.amps Danny Russell
84. 97/04/25 033 Marshall thoughts, power bra alt.guitar.amps Skip
85. 97/04/09 033 Re: Power Brake alt.guitar.amps Randall Aiken
86. 97/04/05 033 Hot Rod Deluxe Mod - Lower V alt.guitar.amps Strings123
87. 97/03/28 033 Re: Is Marshall Power Brake alt.guitar.amps C. F. Cohen
88. 97/03/25 033 Re: Trainwreck Air Brake ? alt.guitar.amps John Kelley Bro
89. 97/03/25 033 Re: Trainwreck Air Brake ? alt.guitar.amps Greg Siegel
90. 97/03/24 033 Re: Trainwreck Air Brake ? alt.guitar.amps Greg Siegel
91. 97/03/23 033 Re: Trainwreck Air Brake ? alt.guitar.amps Fly on! free bi
92. 97/03/16 033 trainwreck products alt.guitar.amps Fly on! free bi
93. 97/01/21 033 Re: Power soak question alt.guitar.amps Doug
94. 98/09/04 032 Mesa Blue Angel and Distorti rec.music.makers.guit michael p mccul
95. 98/05/24 032 Re: Quieting a Hot Rod Delux alt.guitar.amps WaldoP
96. 98/03/03 032 Re: Lightbulb as PowerBrake? alt.guitar.amps Skip May
97. 98/02/28 032 Re: Hot Plate-PowerBrake-Pow rec.music.makers.guit Mic Cullen
98. 98/02/28 032 Re: Blue Angel Enhancements alt.guitar.amps michael p mccul
99. 98/02/26 032 Re: Hot Plate-PowerBrake-Pow rec.music.makers.guit michael p mccul
100. 98/02/24 032 Re: Fender Hotrod Deluxe + L alt.guitar.amps Jeff Vineburg
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