Scholz Power Soak

The Scholz Power Soak is a power attenuator invented by Tom Scholz of Boston in the mid-1970s, originally built as a custom device for his basement studio in Watertown, Massachusetts. It allows a tube amplifier head to be run at full power — where the tubes naturally distort and compress — while reducing the volume reaching the speaker cabinet to manageable levels. This lets players capture the harmonic richness of a driven tube amp without the volume required to achieve that tone naturally. The Power Soak was a key ingredient in the guitar sound on Boston's debut album and was subsequently commercialized by Scholz Research and Development, making it one of the first power attenuators available to the public.