Beam Blockers

[fauxsuper]

Just got a couple of these. (the 4 inch versions) I've fitted them to two different cabs: a Lopo with a 12" Mojo Alnico in a closed back cab and a Lopo open back with a 12" Texas Heat. I mostly power them with a Frenzel 25 watt head running either EL-34's or 6L6's.

I put the Mojo in the closed back to shore up the bottom end. The only problem was it increased what was already a rather beam-y projection. There was a distict "hot zone" projecting out of the amp in a beam. The amp would sound dead quiet untill you walked directly in front of it and then you'd hear an exagerated amount of hum and buzz. You also had to be careful with tonal settings and overdrive tone could easily take on some icepick aspects. But you could move 2 feet and find most of the highs were now gone.

I often paired this speaker with the Emi Texas Heat in the open back cab. They complemented each other nicely, and the frequencies seemed to disperse somewhat more evenly around the room.

I decided to try the beam blockers. So far, I'm quite happy. The Mojo Alnico is now way smoother than before and placement of the cab is much less critical. I can stand right in front of it and hear pretty much the same frequency balance as I get standing off to the side. You hear only a small tembre change if you point it right at your head. In fact, it sounded a little muffled in comparison. A little tweak of the treble knob seemed to cure that. The cab is now much more usable by itself.

The effect on the Emi was less obvious, but the cabinet seemed virtually omnidirectional in it's response. In combination with the other cab, the combination works even better than it did previously.

I'm going to try the combination at rehearsal tomorrow, which should be the acid test. I'm thinking that the more even distribution of highs should be an aid to keeping volume levels in check and allow me to hear myself at a lower volume level. The current band I'm playing with usually has no problem with this anyway, but I know that sometimes at rehearsal the drummer sometimes asks me to turn up. (what a novelty) By the time he hears me clearly, I sound too loud to myself (amazing, no?): and I sometimes alter the location of one of the cabs so he can hear me a little better.

[tkingen]

I have beamblockers in both my 64 Deluxe with an Emi Red, White & Blues and a 1x12 open back cab with an old 70's Emi. People always comment on how my Tele sounds like a Tele without hurting their ears.
Those beamblockers are great!

[RomanS]

Yeah, they work for me, too (I don't have "real" ones, though, got some speaker dust caps that I glues to thin aluminium bars/strips - pretty much the same thing you get from Weber).

[Roe]

+ 1 on the beam blockers. I haven't got many complaints for bright tone or loud volume since I've started to use them

[Big Lug]

The beam blocker in front of my Weber California will be staying.

Not a night-and-day difference, but enough to keep the tele "in line"

[Rick J]

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is a beam blocker? Does it fit inside the cabinet or in front of it? Or is there a webisite with illustrations I could look at?
Rick J

[RomanS]

Look here:

http://www.webervst.com/blocker.html

[tele_jas]

I've got BB's in both my amps/cabs and wouldn't play without them now! We play several *short* stages where people are sitting, sometimes, right in front of me (far stage right) and I don't know how many times in the past people would ask me to "please turn my guitar down so we can hear the singer" (even though they were sitting under and behind the PA and would never hear the vocals). Now, I get no complaints from anyone sitting directly in front of my amp and my sound man even wants me to "turn up" a little since I'm not shooting my tone off the stage (which is good in my case).

Another major plus is that I can now move around on stage and still hear my amp, where before if I wasn't standing in front of it I couldn't hear it too well...... I've also noticed my mic'd tone sounds more like what I'm actually hearing from my amp.

Major Kudo's for Ted Weber and the Beam Blockers. They're not for everyone, but they are for me and if you don't like them it's an easy, reversable, 10 minute fix to revert back.

[Rick J]

~Thanks Roman for posting the link. These are very interesting, - I do sometimes find myself playing the same sort of gigs that Tele Jas is talking about, where there is a very diffuse scattering of people not that far from the stage. Must look more into these!

Is the overall volume reduced much - or at all?

Rick J

[fierce_carrot]

I run beam blockers in my 18watter pushing 2x12 celestion blues and they did a great job of dispersing that speaker "throw" that used to sterilize the first couple of rows of tables! They don't reduce the volume, just stop that straight ahead "beam" of sound and widen it out. I love em.

[trag-o-caster]

I'm still considering the old duct tape on the grill cloth idea. I haven't gotten around to it yet.

What I always did was set my amp up kinda sideways - aimed so that it's not shooting straight into the crowd, or at anyone in the band (unless that's what they want). I've also played many a gig with a cranked Fender turned around backwards ala Roy Buchanan. That'll tame that high end beam, and give you some extra lows that gush out of the back. You miss out on that when it's facing out.

[fauxsuper]

I used them at rehearsal yesterday and they performed as advertised. I can move all over the rehearsal space and hear a nice, balanced sound. If I like them as well after a month, I'll get some for my other cabs.

I even tried one cab flat on the floor, and I could hear it quite well with my back to it about two feet in front of it. I'd be curious to see if duct tape works as well. I wonder how much of the effect is from just blocking the treble blast, and how much actual dispersion there is from the hemispherical surface pf the blocker.

My Lopo cabs have front loading, so it made install a snap.

[Darcy Hoover]

I put one in my Blues Deluxe not long ago, impressed with the results. They don't cost all that much, if you don't like it just take it back out.

[tele_jas]

Originally Posted by Rick J

Is the overall volume reduced much - or at all?

Rick J

Not really reduced, but it appears to be reduced since it's not a straight line shot to your ears. If you stick a db meter in front of the amp, it's the same volume just more dispersed.


The duct tape trick does kill the highs, but the Beam Blockers are designed a bit different. They aren't just a round disk in the middle of the speaker, they are coned shaped (made out of speaker material) and point towards the speakers center, so it deflects the highs to mix with the lows and doesn't really block them completely.

[cbnutt]

+ 1 for beam blockers !