Some Weber Speakers and a gig at Duff's Garage

I finally pulled the trigger on a quartet of Weber speakers for my reissue Fender Bassman LTD amp.  I chose the 10A100T model speaker, which Weber describes as a clone of the late '50s Jensen P10R.  The main difference between this speaker and the 10A100 Weber speakers that I have bought in the past is that the 10A100T has a ribbed cone whereas the 10A100 has a smooth cone.  Both are 10-inch speakers with one-inch voice coils and are rated at 15 watts of power handling capability.  Alnico magnets, of course.

So what's the difference?  The smooth cone speaker (a clone of the early '50s Jensen speakers) should distort earlier than the speaker with the stiffer ribbed cone.  The ribbed cone speakers should work just fine for me, because I like some speaker distortion, but not tons of it. 

Here's a photo of the Weber speakers installed in the Bassman amp.  Note that, just like the in original Fender Bassman, the magnet covers have to be removed from the upper speakers in order to reinstall the amplifier. 

It is hard to quantify the difference between how speakers sound, but I will try here.  Compared to the reissue Jensen speakers (ribbed cones also, but rated at 25 watts) that this amp was shipped with, I would say that the Weber speakers sound punchier, more articulate, and put out more bass.  From past experience, I am anticipating that the new speakers will develop a nice fat, warm distortion and even more bass output as they break in.

My first gig with these new speakers in the amp was at Duff's Garage in Portland last night.  I found that I had to dial up the Presence and Treble controls and dial back the Bass and Mid controls to get my sound.  I think that this is gonna work out fine.  I sold all four of the reissue Jensens in two days, so it's all good!

Speaking of the Duff's gig, we had fun playing there again, and were glad to see some of our Portland peeps (hi Kristi and Rob!) including Uncle Ray Varner, bassist David Kahl, and harp blowers Arthur Moore and Jim Wallace.  There were some pretty darn good dancers at the gig, including one couple that was doing some great (and unusual, for me to see anyway) Balboa steps.  Here's an example of some freestyle Balboa dancing:

The Preachers at Duff's Garage. Photo created by Lauri Miller.

 

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

The Preachers at Duff's Garage - 5/30/13

The Preachers played a Duff's Garage in Portland for the first time last Thursday, and really had a ball!

Duff's is located on the east side of the river, in what looks like a light industrial area.  There is a large stage, and good house sound system.  Thursday is an off-night at the club, so we played from 9 to 11:30 PM.

The Preachers, left to right: Steve Yonck, Mike Lynch, Conrad Ormsby, Patty Mey, and Tim Sherman.  Photo created by Ray Varner.

Since this band has never played in Portland, we had pretty low expectations as far as turnout goes.  However, we had a pretty decent and enthusiastic crowd, including some friends from Seattle (DJs Dan Bryant and Oogie Richards), and Portland pals "Uncle" Ray Varner and Les Hutchinson.  Several notable Portland blues musicians were in the house also.  Harp blower Jim Wallace was kind enough to sit in with the band for a couple of songs, and sounded great, as usual!  Jim's brother, Jon, owns Duff's Garage.

Hopefully, we will have other opportunities to play in Portland again soon.  I'll keep you posted.

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

The Boneyard Preachers play at Duff's Garage on 5/30/13

Road trip!  The Preachers will be performing at Duff's Garage in Portland, OR on Thursday, May 30th.  Showtime is 9:00 PM.

Thursday is an off-night at Duff's, of course, but we are doing the networking thang in an effort to make enough at the door for gas money anyway.  I played at this joint one other time, with the final version of the Beckie Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies band.  Our old friend and Portland resident Les Hutchinson played drums on that gig, and did a sterling job!

Duff's provides a house sound system, so we won't have to bother dragging our PA with us to the Rose City.  That's a good thing!

We hope to see some friendly faces at this gig.  Keep an eye out here for details and photos from the show.

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

Portland Tribute to Muddy Waters

This just in from our pal Bill Rhoades in Portland:

Muddy Waters Birthday / Tribute
Friday April 5th

Duff's Garage Bar & Grill
1635 SE 7th Ave - Portland, OR.

8:00 pm to 12:00 midnight

Admission $12.00 at door

Featuring: Franck "Paris Slim" Goldwasser, Alan Hager, Lloyd Jones, D.K. Stewart, Bill Rhoades, Jim Wallace, Don Campbell and Boyd Small

"I Got A Black Cat Bone - I Got A Mojo Too" - I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man

Muddy Waters during his Guild endorsement days.

April 5, 2013 will be a special day for blues fans here in the Northwest. On this date at Duff's Garage we'll be celebrating the birthday of Muddy Waters - the King of the Chicago Blues!

Some of the finest blues musicians from the Pacific Northwest will be combining on this night for a celebration of the great bluesman Muddy Waters and his influence on any and all who play blues music!

Our special guest from Santa Barbara, CA. will be the the fantastic French/American Bluesman Franck "Paris Slim" Goldwasser.  Franck is a guitar player and vocalist extraordinaire, who honed his chops in the infamous Eli's Mile High Club house band in Oakland, CA for well over 15 years. Franck will be playing both solo and in a band setting at the show.

From here in Portland will be a man well versed in Muddy's songs and style - Alan Hager! Over the years Muddy's songs have been a staple of Alan's live shows and set list. Alan will also be playing solo and with the band and stinging that slide guitar!

Blues pianist and vocalist D.K. Stewart is on the bill and will have his Otis Spann/Big Maceo licks ready to burn. A perfect compliment to any Muddy Waters' songs were his great piano men and D.K. fits right into that 88 keys spot!

Two harmonica men who were greatly influenced by Muddy Waters and his fantastic harpmen will be blowing the blues at this show. Bill Rhoades and Jim Wallace (2012 Muddy Award winner - Best Harmonica) grew up hearing Muddy's tunes with Little Walter,

Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells, James Cotton, George "Harmonica" Smith and others, writing the book on how to play blues harmonica while backing up Muddy on his tunes. They'll bring their own Northwest roots and styles to this show!

Another blues guitar giant on the bill is Portland favorite Lloyd Jones! On this night Lloyd has his own Muddy Waters bag of tricks, both solo and band wise. Lloyd has been playing Muddy's tunes since his introduction to blues - many years ago! Solid stuff!

And no blues band would be complete without a dynamite rhythm section. Don Campbell is well acquainted with the Willie Dixon school of bass and a veteran of many Northwest blues bands! And back to the USA from the Netherlands is percussion expert Boyd Small.

Boyd has been a sought after drummer here in the Northwest for many years and over the last decade has been woodshedding with the Dutch blues players. Great chops and vocals!

One thing that Muddy Waters did in all of his fine groups was to let his sidemen step out front and do their thing! That's what will be happening on this show, with all the artists playing their favorite Muddy tunes and paying tribute to one of the greatest bluesmen who ever lived. A happy birthday celebration to Muddy Waters!

See you at the nightclub, kids!

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.