Conference napalm::guitar

    How about another idea; instead of encasing all or most of the amp,
    do it just to an external speaker, say a 12".  The box totally encloses
    the speaker and a microphone, just the wires or jacks running out.  This
    is a studio trick I've heard and read about; I think the term is "speaker
    coffins" (cause the speaker is buried alive?).  This has the added
    advantage of you can run pretty much any amp you want through it, not
    just the Twin; also avoids the heat considerations you mentioned.

    Didn't GP or some similar magazine have a DIY article for building one
    of these?

    /rick
    

    Have you ever considered one of the so-called "power soakers"
    that are on the market? (Marshall and Rockman both make one.)

    They reduce the overall volume output of the cabinet while
    (supposedly) not effecting the tone to any appreciable degree.

    I assume that if you are thinking about putting the amplifier
    in a box, you are considering micing the speakers. You won't
    be able to build a big enough box to do any sort of ambient
    micing, so you'll be limited to close micing; which, in theory,
    gets you back to the emulated speaker outputs.

    What I would suggest you do is get yourself a good graphic
    Equalizer and run the uncompensated speaker outputs from your
    preamp through it. Experiment with the settings. Most speaker
    emulators are nothing more than fixed EQs, and if you can't
    find one to fit your taste, then using a graphic EQ and
    creating your own settings may be more to your taste.

    There was an article in one issue of the ADA company mag about
    good EQ settings for speaker emulation. I will dig it out...

    -b

	Re. Rick: that sounds like a really good idea! If you anyone
	know more about building such a box, I'd like to know! I guess
	I'll have to buy a speaker type for closed cabinet...? And
	then what would be the best speaker for the twin..? 

	Poul

    
    re. 3: more ideas! But I think one of the elements of the singing tone
    of the twin is how much 'drive' the speaker get from the amp...but
    there's room for a lot of experimentation here...
    
    Poul
    

	
    	I know what you mean about preamps. Most speaker-emulator outputs 
        tend to sound bland. The only one I've ever heard really good 
        reviews on is made by Groove Tubes. It has a 25 watt tube power 
        amp coupled with a patented speaker emulator circuit which uses 
        "Inductive Loading" to simulate a speaker. I believe Groove tubes 
        now sells the speaker emulator as a separate rack-mount unit. These 
        are not cheap products by any means. The preamp is about $1k and 
        the speaker emulator is about $500. The preamp can be used to
    	drive a speaker in stead of the built-in speaker emulator. I've 
        heard rave reviews about this rig, but I've never actually tried 
        one. NYC amplifier guru Harry Colbe also offers a speaker emulator
    	that works in much the same way as the Groove tubes unit. Again
    	not a cheap option.
    
        Besides building an isolation box, you should also consider the 
    	following:
    
    	1. "The Twin" can be run with only 2 power tubes in stead of 4.
    	   Check your owner's manual. I believe the 2 middle tubes are
    	   removed and the outer 2 tubes remain. You also have to change
    	   the setting on the impedance switch. The manual will explain
    	   the correct method. If you run the amp in the 25 watt mode 
    	   with the 2 tubes removed, the amp will only produce about 15w.
    
    	2. Place the amp inside of a closet. Insulate the inside of the
    	   closet with heavy carpeting, or rubber padding, including the
    	   floor under the amp. You can stick a mic inside the closet. 
    	   This gives the amp a little more room to breath than a small
    	   box. 
    
        3. A lot of people swear by the little "Red Box" speaker emulator
    	   made by Hughes and Kettner. These will accept a line level input
    	   or they can be used in series with the speakers in your amp. 
       
        4. "The Twin" actually has 2 preamp outputs. One is the balanced 
    	   Canon connector on the back of the amp. The other is the
    	   effect send jack. The efx send on "The Twin" has 3 differant
    	   levels controlled by a switch. Experiment with differant
    	   switch settings for best results.
    	
        I believe there is a note in here somewhere about the Groove
    	Tubes preamp. I'll post a pointer if I can find it.
    	
    	   Mark
    
    
    

    
    	This month's GP has a review of new power soaks (all from the
    	same company).  They had switches for 1/4 power, 1/2, 3/4, etc...
    
    	Seemed like a good review.  Somewhere in the $350 range.
    
    	Tom
    
    	

   >Power soaks are known to wreck amps and void warranties...

    I don't know why this would be. Essentially, a power soak is
    a voice coil (an inductor) without a radiating device (a
    cone). Electrically, it's a speaker as far as the amp is
    concerned.

    -b

    The original "Power Soak" designed by Tom Sholz did have a reputation
    for destroying amps. These units were essentially a decade resistor.
    The knob on the front selected from various power-resistors built
    into the unit. These were made to use with a speaker. I think the 
    problem with these units is that the load presented to the amp was 
    not what the amp needed to see. Also, people were cranking their
    amps much higher than they normally would (ie: running the amp on
    10 continuously).
     
    Mark
    

    Fwiw,I just swapped me soak for a Boss Turbo Over Drive pedal.I can 
    *with out a doubt* say that the soak *does* effect the tone of your
    amp.To make a long story short,i run a silver face Fender Bassman with
    no master volume.I figured the soak would be ideal.What i found was
    that the only time i liked the sound coming from it was when it was
    wound to eleven (cranked to full power).I figured i might as well not
    be running it at all.Must be something to do with letting those 4-10's
    "breathe."
    
    -kev

	Thanks for all the input. I think I like the idea of a modifying
	my amp to 15 W and build a small box for 1X12 speaker. Imagine
	something like this:


			------| |----------| |------
			|                          |
			|	   ______	   |
			|	   /	\  	   |
			|---| |---/      \---| |---|
                        |         speaker          |
			|---====== 	  	   |
			|      mike		   |
			|			   |
			------| |----------| |------


	I could then experiment with covering the holes to get an optimum
	of sound quality/insulation. I think I'll buy myself a Celestion
	30W vintage speaker for this setup. How do you like this idea?

	Poul

    Re .10
    
    	   If that's the case, could'nt you just use an old speaker with
    the paper cone cut off it ?  I wonder if it would make any sound at
    all? Could be interesting....I might try it tonight, I've got a speaker
    from an old Vox amp that I've never liked the colour of, kinda muddy
    blue 8-) 8*)
    
    			Jim.
    
    

    the de-coned speaker trick is commonly used by amp repair techs as a
    dummy load, when they want to run some realistic signal levels through
    an amp on the bench.