The ESP Guitar Company

The different color Hotplates are for different impedance. You need to buy the correct one for your amp and cab, whether you're using 4, 8, or 16 ohms. In that sense, they are limited. I've heard good things about Weber attenuators, but I have not used any myself.

My personal experience is that in general, attenuators are good for taming loud amps to loud yet reasonable volumes, for example, if you're overpowering the others in your band. If you're trying to get a dimed Marshall sound at apartment levels, you will probably be disappointed...

Awesome, thanks man! I'm using mine at 8 ohms so I'll look into that.

I picked one up for my Rectoverb a first. Not sure they serve a purpose if your amp has master and output. It didnt for me.

I'm considering looking into getting one so I can get a good cranked-up sound within reasonably low volumes.

From what I've heard none of them do that. The Hot Plates, etc. really only work at getting, for example, power-tube saturation in a 100W NMV Marshall at a volume that only causes mild-to-moderate ear hemorrhaging as opposed to permanent hearing loss. The fabled "cranked sound at a low volume" doesn't exist because of two factors which attenuators can't control: hearing perception and speaker distortion, both of which rely on the sound ACTUALLY BEING LOUD.

Ahh I see. Guess I've had a bit of a misconception about these things.

FWIW I have a 45W VHT Pittbull that I was hoping to get a more saturated sound out of without all the volume.

Is this for the purpose of recording or playing live?

Not so much playing live, but maybe recording stuff with a roommate or jamming out every now and then.