The Watering Hole

Put the stuff in this morning, of course getting the amp out of a HRD is a nightmare, which is double putting it back in. Anyways I did not put in the new tubes because on Justin Holton's site http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/ it said to break in the speakers first for about 48 hours because they may do some shit  Quote Holtons site "I'd avoid using your most expensive NOS tubes while breaking in the speaker. I'm pretty sure my new Weber AlNiCo Blue Dog turned a semi-expensive NOS 12AX7 micro phonic ".  Anyways I did what he said because I have about $85 wrapped up in the new tubes so I can wait. I think the old tubes are still good anyways.

Anyways I plugged the guitar into the amp and I could not believe the difference. I don't know what the Tonespotter does by itself because it is a 1 hour job taking out the amp and putting it back in, so I put the beam blocker in on the first try.

Now I have never found a speaker that meets my taste like a EVM12L, I have been using them for years beyond count, but today I found the combo I like even better, Eminence Tonespotter, and Weber Beam Blocker. Amazing Now I can use the amp with no pedal board, the on board distortion channel now rocks the house with excellent tone. Even the EVM12L could not do that with amp alone. Money well spent.

The more I play it the stranger it sounds to me, but it is still a big improvement over the standard speaker. I always play the HRD through my extension cabs but now I don't have to. I think I still like the EVM12L's just a bit better. Now I don't have to lug an extension cab out to jams etc. The Tonespotter and BB have done what I wanted them to do, eliminate the need for an extension cabinet when playing out.

I will break in the new speaker for about 4 to 6 weeks and then a/b them with the EVM12L. The reason being, I can not use mid to high volumes in the house at this time so the break in time is a lot longer, after April first, the Snow Birds fly back north, then I can turn'er up.

the longer you play it the stranger it sounds???    :-?

DreamTheaterRules — Feb 08, 2009the longer you play it the stranger it sounds???    :-?

I've been told that happens with my playing as well.  ::) ;)

DreamTheaterRules — Feb 08, 2009the longer you play it the stranger it sounds???    :-?

Yeah stranger!!! The beam blocker does mute the trebles and fattens up the sound in a different way than I have heard before, it is not a bad sound, just different, (and maybe it is the Tonespotter's tone), plus the speaker is not broken in. I can not give a final judgment until the speaker is broken in and I put in the new tubes some months from now.

DreamTheaterRules — Feb 08, 2009the longer you play it the stranger it sounds?

After a few days playing the Tonespotter/beam blocker, I am sure I like the EVM12L's better, but for jams, it is just the HRD and no pedal board or extension cabs. The addition brought the thing into line with my tonal preferences. Now I can use the on board reverb and overdrive channels on the HRD without hating the sound with the on board speaker.

In fact at band levels I even liked the old speaker, but at lower volumes the thing sucked all by itself on the overdrive channels. Now it sounds like a pro amp even at whisper volumes.