100W Dummy Load and/or Power Reducer

[Kred]

I repaired a Carvin Legacy 100 (Steve Vai signature) tube amp for a friend this week. For large venues he runs bi-amped with a Roland Jazz Chorus from the Preamp Out, and a 4x12 cabinet from the 4xEL34 power tubes. For small venues he disconnects the 4x12 cabinet. It's not good for the power tubes and output transformer to operate without a speaker load, so I want to suggest either 1) plug in a dummy load when not using the 4x12, or 2) put a power reducer between the amp and 4x12 to reduce the volume for small venues. Any thoughts or suggestions on equipment to do 1), 2) or both?

 

[alantig]

Mesa/Boogie Cab Clone. Can also use the direct out as a feed to the PA.

 

[dmatthews]

I have a Rivera RockCrusher incoming. http://www.rivera.com/product-category/attenuators-cab-sims/
My use case is for silent recording so I opted for the Recording unit. The smaller units would likely fit your application. Other units I also considered are the Radial Headload units. http://radialeng.com/headload.php and http://radialeng.com/headloadprodigy.php
There many other devices to choose from, I just focused on these.

 

[Kred]

Thanks, I really appreciate your help!

 

[dmatthews]

No problem. I'm interested to see/hear how you solve the issue.

 

[elvis]

I prefer to have an actual amp on stage, so I would go with an attenuator like the Rock Crusher (which I own). Otherwise, I would go for a Torpedo Live. Those things are pretty great. Alternatives are Palmer PDI-03 and CabClone, both of which I own. They are nice because they are passive (no power cord required, just the speaker in and out). If you want a rackmount, the PDI is great, if you want a small unit that you can sit on top of the amp, the CabClone is perfect.

I have done some work recently with DI vs. mic on my amp for FOH, and I prefer the mic. I used the CC and also bought a Palmer PDI-09. They just didn't do it for me.