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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Weber H dust cap or hemp cone?
Weber H dust cap or hemp cone?
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TetonJohn
337 posts
Feb 26, 2019
9:40 AM
Weber Vintage Series speakers can be purchased with a larger dust cap specifically for taming trebles for harmonica -- they have been offering this for a while. I see they now also offer hemp cones about which they say the "longer fibers give treble notes a sub-harmonic richness that warms the sound."
Any wisdom on this out there?
Lou
54 posts
Feb 26, 2019
12:53 PM
Not sure on dust cap size but to my ears hemp cone would be the way to go. I’ve used a tone tubby HC and an Eminence lil buddy HC and they both had a warmer sound to them compared in sane amp with normal cone speaker. And if money wasn’t an issue I’d use Tone Tubbys in everything !
I know Weber ‘s are great speaker I just ordered 2 of them for an amp I’m having built.
hvyj
3680 posts
Feb 26, 2019
1:23 PM
The H dust cap does absolutely NOTHING. No effect on sound or tone whatsoever.

Hemp cone speakers are nice. They take the edge off the highs and sound warmer and fatter. However, they take a while to break in. Before they break in you have to push them harder, which may create feedback problems. But after they are broken in, that's no longer a problem. My experience is with Weber.

However, if you are looking for crunch and early breakup, hemp cones may not give you what you are after. I have a Weber 10F150-H in my Princeton Reverb RI with a beefed up output transformer (Mercury Magnetics Axiom Fat Stack OT). I like it a lot, and I get a lot of complements from other musicians on the tone.

Last Edited by hvyj on Feb 27, 2019 3:49 PM
TetonJohn
338 posts
Feb 26, 2019
2:37 PM
Thanks for the input.
Coincidentally, it is a real 1965 Princeton Reverb that I am thinking about. I'm considering pulling the Jensen C10R out to protect it. With the LW Tone+ in front, it sounds great -- not too much treble. So maybe I don't need to worry about the speaker helping with that. Although, if I did go with hemp, there would be room to dial up the highs if needed with the Tone+ and/or the amp. And, I actually have a 10F150-O with a damaged cone that I have not yet bothered to get fixed.

Last Edited by TetonJohn on Feb 26, 2019 2:38 PM
SuperBee
5833 posts
Feb 26, 2019
4:49 PM
Hi, John.
I have that Weber 10a125-O in my SF (78) PR, and I recall that made a good change to the amp. I have messed with a tone+ on that amp to boost the bass and I did get a big round sound but eventually decided I prefer the natural sound of the amp. Whether anybody else likes it I’m not sure. It is a fairly bright amp but I’m not quite so bright anymore so maybe there’s a balance struck.

My friend here has put a cannabis Rex speaker in his peavey classic 30 and I must admit I’m rather impressed with it. I think it did improve over time.
TetonJohn
339 posts
Feb 26, 2019
8:09 PM
SuperBee: Oh, THAT 10A125 -- now I remember :-)
Glad it made a good change. I just did the Elmers Glue and tissue paper fix to the hole I carelessly put in the cone of the 10F150-O; guitar players seem to really like a 10F150T in BFPR, but a less powerful one (like 125) might work better for harp(?). I'll give it a work out tomorrow -- too late to make a racket tonight.
BnT
230 posts
Feb 26, 2019
10:10 PM
I changed out speakers in my Bassman, putting in two blue frame Eminence alnicos and two Weber Chicago Vintage series speakers, a 10A125-0 and a 10F125-0 - one ribbed cone, one smooth, both with H dust caps (not knowing until today the H dust caps do nothing). Anyway I was happy with the sound. (Chicago series had chemically treated paper for instant broken-in, aged cone).

So when I designed a 3-speaker cabinet to use with a 40's PA I went with one Eminence blue frame and the exact compliment of H dust cap Webers, but 8". And Weber told me how to age the cones since they no longer make the Chicago Vintage series.

Anyway, I get the crunch and early breakup I want. What part H dust caps do or don't play in the sound, I don't know. It was an experiment to start and I liked the results. As somebody who plays traditional blues I wasn't ready for hemp.
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BnT
TetonJohn
340 posts
Feb 27, 2019
9:18 AM
I might ask the folks at Weber if they think their hemp cones now make the H-dustcap redundant (or even overkill) as far as taming highs go. (I do trust actual harp players here more.)
For now though, after playing my Princeton through a 10F150-O and through a 10A100, I have lost my craving for a new speaker. Both sounded great.
The F150 was louder -- probably more gig-worthy. I have not gigged with it lately, but now that I and one of the guitarists set up our amps as a monitors, 2-6V6 amps are definitely enough for stage volume. In fact, last gig I brought out a 1941 National "Concert Model 400" -- cathode 2-6V6 -- loud enough and SO FINE! (Did have Tone+ and delay in front).
I'm a lucky guy -- no need to crave more gear! (well, maybe...)
Joe_L
2860 posts
Feb 27, 2019
1:49 PM
I've got several Vintage series Weber speakers. Most of them have H dust caps. I never knew they did nothing until today. I'm sort of surprised. Ted Weber seemed like an honest guy that would market something that was useless. Several other people put those speakers in their harp amps and I don't think they would have bothered if they did nothing.

Last Edited by Joe_L on Feb 27, 2019 1:50 PM
dougharps
1914 posts
Feb 27, 2019
2:17 PM
@hvyj

You stated a very strong opinion:

"The H dust cap does absolutely NOTHING. No effect on sound or tone whatsoever."

Please share the basis for you having such a strong and sure opinion about the H dust cap on Weber speakers.
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Doug S.
hvyj
3683 posts
Feb 27, 2019
3:39 PM
Sure. Before Fender came out with the PRRI I had a Blues Jr. (which I eventually sold to get my PRRI). Anyway, the BJ was somewhat gainy and I wanted to mellow it out. So, I ordered an H dust cap. Because the speaker in the BJ is hard to get to I took the amp to a local tech shop with very experienced staff to have it installed. When I told them what i wanted them to do and why, they told me it wouldn't work and gave me a detailed technical explanation regarding how an amp speaker generates high frequencies and the role of the dust cap and why it would not accomplish what I wanted it to do. I don't remember the specifics of the explanation, but they didn't want me to pay them to do something that would not work.

But I was insistent. I explained that I had actually called Weber to recommend a new speaker for me, but when I explained to the people at Weber what I was after, they told that an H dust cap would do the job. I figured that they must be right because they could have made more money selling me a speaker. So, the tech shop agreed to install it for me even though they were certain that it would not do what I expected it to do.

It was a 2-3 week wait because the shop is always very busy, but I got a call that the amp was ready and I picked it up. Took it home plugged it in, turned it on and blew harp through it. Absolutely no difference in sound, tone or response. Tried it again the next day and for days after that, with different mics, different amp settings, different volume, etc. and it still sounded the same as it did before. No difference at all. No improvement, not different, not better, not worse, No change whatsoever. Nada.

So, this is the basis for my opinion on the Weber H dust cap.

Btw, over the years every now and then I've heard some others pooh-pooh the effect of a speaker dust cap on tone, but I really don't understand the technical analysis.

Last Edited by hvyj on Feb 27, 2019 3:58 PM
Lou
55 posts
Feb 27, 2019
7:07 PM
Hi hvvi, I'm playing through a Princeton clone and when using a ceramic mic I have to back off all treble & mids & turn bass to 10 I'm wondering if you are kinda in the same range & maybe by cutting all highs out any difference a dust cap would make are negated due to the goofy amp settings we use with the harp ?? Just a thought.3yvrmb
Lou
hvyj
3686 posts
Feb 27, 2019
8:32 PM
I understand what you are talking about. Before I put the Fat Stack OT in my PRRI I had to put the bass on 10 and the treble on 1. Anyway, I don't use a bullet mic, and the amp I had the H dust cap installed on was a Blues Jr. and I tried all sorts of various settings. Now, the speaker was whatever stock speaker Fender was putting in BJs at the time. It was not a Weber speaker. But that's not supposed to make any difference according to Weber.

I've got no beef with Weber. I like my Weber hemp coned speaker a lot, and their customer service is very decent. H dust caps are not very expensive. It cost me more to have it installed than I paid for it. But I'm certainly not tempted to buy another one.

Last Edited by hvyj on Feb 27, 2019 8:35 PM


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