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!
