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Post subject: Beam Blocking
Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:04 pm
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Hi,

I have a couple Fender Deville 2x12's. They have that sweet Fender clean sound but I have found them to be very beamy. I know I am not the only one to experience this problem and this is not the only amp that does it. I have a few ideas related to dealing with it and am interested in your opinions and ideas.

I bought a cheap speaker cabinet to experiment with.

To start I thought part of the problem might be the way the two speakers are mounted in the cabinet. They are sort of kitty cornered. I believe that is to reduce the amps foot print. I was thinking the sound waves might compress in an odd orientation due to this configuration. The new speaker cabinet has the speakers mounted on the same plane and separated by a few inches which will be a good test but it's a sealed cabinet and I'm wondering if the speakers that are in the Deville are specifically designed to be in an open cabinet.

Secondly I was planning on trying a home made beam blocker. This is basically suspeding a rocket nose shaped object in front of the speaker cone to deflect and disperse the high frequencies.

Thirdly I was going to try using a doughnut. The douhgnut operates on the premis that it's the on axis wave that is the problem. You take a chunk of foam, cut a three inch hole in it and suspend it over the speaker. This will make the center sound like the outer waves. It will limit tremble response all the way around which you need to deal with via the tone controls but the effect is supposed to be a balanced sound all around.

I was wondering if anybody else here in Fender land has tried similar things and what did you do or discover?

Thanks


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 5:29 pm
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I have always liked the sound of my guitar better if I'm off to one side. And I knew that the poor devil seated in the audience directly in front of my amp was going to go home with his ears ringing for days. So I did a little research and found the same info on the net that you did. I first tried the beam blocker type mod using home made poly foam cones (hand carved out of packing material) mounted in front of the speaker fastened to the grill cloth, with really good sonic results, and no loss of output (volume). I was then able to come up with some foam to make the donut type pieces. They also work pretty well but with a slight loss of output level. Hope this helps.


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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:38 pm
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Interesting, I have Weber Beam blockers in a 2X10 Bassman conversion amp. I guess they work OK. But yeah, I don't like being straight in front of this amp for long. Can you guys elaborate on these doughnuts, you spoke of ? Art

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 4:56 am
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Hi Art, go to "THE GEAR PAGE" (www.gearpage.net) and select "speaker directivity modifier". That's where I found out about the donuts . When I made mine the problem was finding the foam. Seemed like everything was too thick or too thin when I was looking for it. Finally I just got some one inch thick stuff and used it on a cab that the grill cloth was about an inch away from the front of the speaker baffle board. That way the foam doesn't come in contact with the speaker surround. :)


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:31 am
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I think the Beam Blockers work to a degree. A friend of mine has them on his Bassman too. Like Art said, I don't like standing in front of his amp anyway. Way before Beam Blockers, some of us would use a towel draped in front of the speakers. LOL

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:23 pm
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.......towels, coats, amp covers, floor mats from the truck, turn the amp around backwards,and several other things. That ice pick in the ears has been there for a long time.


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Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 3:59 pm
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I tried the fizzy lifters sold on e-bay for my super-sonic to ease the pain from the vintage 30.
Couldn't tell the difference and the stupid thing fell off so many times I threw them away.

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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:16 pm
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Used the duct tape on the grillcloth years back.
Looked "ratty" but not for a blues amp.

For $20. The Weber Beam Blocker works great,
and I've got 2 large single 12" cabinets.
One with The Blocker, one without.
I like The Weber especially for smaller, lower volume, rooms.


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Post subject: Re: Beam Blocking
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:45 am
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http://www.amplounge.com/egnater-tone-bra

I have used these [Tone Bras] with great results. I have one in my HRDx w/V30, one in my HRDx 112 extension cabinet, and 2 in my Marshall 1936 [1] Weber Blue Dog & [1] Weber Silver Bell.

I ended up calling Frank LaMara and stopping by his shop in Farmington, MI to pick these up. Great product. Highly recommended. :D


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Post subject: Re: Beam Blocking
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:57 am
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@tah,
That's a nice looking unit.
I didn't look at the details but is it phenolic or metal & how much?

My Weber is working fine but the build of that Bra is pretty cool.


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Post subject: Re: Beam Blocking
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:28 am
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I'm not sure what the frames are made of. It is very sturdy but flexibe. The thing I like best about it is that it seals all the way around the speaker. I beleive they were $25 dollars each but I bought several so Frank gave me a discount.


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