Bitmo 10-Uator Review

Bitmo are famous around the world for their low wattage amplifier mod kits. A simple search on ebay usually brings up a range of mod kits for Epiphone Valve Juniors and Blackheart amps, among others. Bitmos mod kits range from reverb kits to full blown tone shaping modifications. My foray into the world of Bitmo came in the form of their 10-Uator. It's a 10 watt attenuator clone. The small amplifier market is booming at the moment, from the original Orange Tiny Terror to the Fender Blues Junior, Vox AC4TV and even the Marshall 1 Watt 50th anniversary series. All these lower wattage amplifiers are obviously much more tamed than their 50-100 watt brethren , but can still be a little overbearing in a 'bedroom' setting, especially if you have to crank them up to get their optimum tone.

There are many ways to tame the volume of an amplifier; powerscaling, variable voltage and volume boxes. Other options include slaving and isocabs, but the least invasive and often most cost effect way is with attenuation. Traditionally an attenuator is going to go between the amplifier and the speaker and as with most things guitar related, there are a few options out there; Marshall Powerbreak, THD Hotplate, Weber, Ultimate Attenuator. The things these units have in common is that they're all arguably too highly priced for a small low powered amp. Some attenuators cost more than whole amplifiers! This is where the Bitmo 10-uator comes in....

The Bitmo 10-Uator is a 10 watt attenuator, therefore suitable for amplifiers such as the aforementioned AC4TV, Epiphone Valve Junior and 1 watt Marshalls, along with other amps like the Blackheart Killer Ant, Fender Greta and in my case the Marshall Class 5.

Bitmos attenuator is cheaper than the competition because it comes in kit form and you have to build it yourself. This kit form might turn away a few people from the get-go, but I don't mind getting my hands dirty to find out what it's made of - and there's no hiding that in a kit! The 10-uator is a simple L-pad attenuator and it gives off heat from a brick shaped resistor.

Now onto the reviewing. The kit itself is relatively simple to build for anyone with any soldering experience, the only complication that might occur is soldering the wires in the confines of the enclosure. Unfortunately the enclosure itself is made of plastic which isn't optimal when dealing with components that heat up, from both a melting risk aspect and a heat dissipation aspect. The plastic also wouldn't be up to much hammer if you did take it around with you - it has no back plate so as to help with heat dissipation, but this also means that all the components are open to the elements and unprotected, not a worry if you plan to only use this at home, but still important to note. The faceplate / label is a sticker, but a paper sticker so I doubt its longevity.

Regardless of its enclosure quality the important thing is, how does it sound?! I've used it between my Marshall Class 5 and my 4x12 cabinet. It recommends an 8 ohm load but a 16 should also be fine. I have a video reviewing the sound here:

So you've got the gory aural details there. From in the room I can say that the Bitmo definitely takes the volume edge off. The control doesn't work in a linear fashion and you will find most of the attenuation in the last quarter of the turn and it definitely gets a bit mushy if you try and wind it all the way down. BUT all in all it's a reasonably effective unit, tone loss isn't massively noticeable and it can be really useful if you just need to bring the volume down from deafening to LOUD. Don't expect miracles, but for the price I think the sound quality is more than acceptable. Unfortunately the enclosure quality isn't. This unit is actually a housed version of the attenuator Bitmo puts inside their modded Epiphone Valve juniors and I'm sure it works much better in that capacity because you don't have the cheap plastic housing. After extended use the resistor does get very hot, I'm not sure how much heat is expectable but it is worth noting. A heatsink would be a great cheap modification.

For my money, on a second time around I would buy the Bitmo if it were only for home use or if I planned on housing inside an amplifier or inside a custom enclosure. If I were gigging with an attenuator, I would save and go for the Weber Mini Mass.