Weber C10Q
This directory contains USENET articles Mic
has saved about guitars, equipment, pickup, techniques, players,
and so on. Mic has graciously granted permission to post the
stuff on the JT30 page on the off chance that it might be useful
in the context of Blues Harmonica. Mic is not responsible for
the content, just the collection.
Speakers
Weber C10Q
Weber C10QFrom biocy--(at)--rols.com Sun Apr 19 09:33:59 CDT 1998
From: "Mark T. Van Ditta"
Newsgroups: alt.guitar.amps
Subject: WeberVST C10Q Review (Long)
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 12:53:06 -0400
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Xref: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu alt.guitar.amps:99195
Like many people on the net, I look to this newsgroup for answers to my
questions about amplification-related products. Many people have
taken the time to produce well written and informative product
reviews. I can only hope that this review does justice to this fine
product.
First and foremost, be prepared to wait longer than the posted lead-time
if you want a speaker with an impedance other than eight-ohms. I
ordered two sixteen-ohm and one eight-ohm C10Qs for my Bandmaster-style
cabinet. After waiting the posted, two-week, lead-time, I called
WeberVST to see if they had shipped my speakers. However, to my
disappointment I was told that they were waiting on sixteen-ohm voice
coils. I have heard this song from many manufacturers before, but this
was the first time I honestly believed what they were saying.
Another week and a half went by, and I started to wonder if I should
drop WeberVST a line to see if the voice coils were still backordered
when, to my surprise, two well-packed boxes greeted me when I arrived
home after work. Like many people, I dropped what I was doing, and
immediately inspected the contents.
The first thing I noticed, after opening the package, was that the backs
of the speakers were bare. WeberVST is shipping the speakers without
the decals affixed; so, that the customer can decided were they get (or
do not get) attached. I choose to put the decals on the backs of the
speakers.
The next thing I noticed, while hooking the C10Qs up, was that these
speakers have very small terminals. Threading two, tinned, pieces of
eighteen-guage, stranded wire through the tiny holes in these terminals
is quite a feat; however, it can be done.
Enough of this negative stuff, how do they sound? Well...it took me
until 10:30 PM to get them hooked up; so, I had to wait until the next
day to give them a test run (Cyndi does not stand for loud guitar
playing after 9:00 PM on weeknights). However, after doing so, here is
my first impression:
Guitars: PRS Standard, Ibanez USA Custom S540FM
Amp: home-brewed, solid-stated rectified, Tweed Princeton-style
design, running open-loop with
360 B+ on the plate.
Playing style: my own which is a fusion of Blues, Funk, Jazz, and Rock
The first thing I have say about these speakers is that they are loud,
REALLY LOUD. I had been playing this amp through the speakers in my
Pitbull Forty-Five and my Marshall ValveState 8240. It sounded good
through the speakers in both of these amps; however, neither came
anywhere close to the volume produced by the Webers. I was quite
surprised to see how loud the C10Qs were because this is not the amp
that I have targeted to go into this cabinet. That amp, a
cathode-biased, 6G3-derivative, is still on my workbench. All I can
say is that Cyndi will probably divorce me after I stick it in the
cabinet :-).
Okay the speaker is loud, but how does it sound? Well...the first
thing that came to my mind, after playing the amp the next day, with a
Svetlana 6L6GC installed, was Stax. You know, that sound Steve Cropper
had when he and Booker T. where the house band. The bottom-end is
tight. The top is bright and steely without being harsh. The C10Q
makes single coils sound like single coils, and to steal a line from
Mike Z., it will take your humbuckers off of life support. It even
makes my midrange-thick PRS sound good clean (the PRS is my acid test
because it turns most amps into mud producers when playing cleanly).
After playing with the amp a little more, I was also able to produce a
wide range of Motown-derived sounds. Do you want James Brown-like
soul? no problem! How about about a little funk? no problem here
either! These speakers are just the ticket for a 6L6-amp player who
wants to do the 60s R&B and 70s soul/funk thing.
Okay, C10Qs do the clean R&B/soul/funk thing, but how about the blues?
Well...I popped out the 6L6, and plugged in a 50's RCA 6V6GT ( I really
like this tube because, while not having great bottom-end, it produces
beautiful midrange harmonics). The 6V6GT gave the speakers a
completely different personality. Yes, the tight bottom-end and steely
top-end where still there, but the midrange fattened up, and they really
began to sing. The tone produced by the C10Qs was not the "R,"
bass-heavy type of fatness, but something totally different. It was a
tone that could most definitely cut through a muddy mix.
In closing, if you are an aging, but not over the hill, musician like
me, who is looking to expand their tonal palate, getting a set Webers is
a great place to start. They will not create your tone; that
responsibility lies with your fingers. However, they will most
definitely enhance and open-up your tone. Give Ted a call, what do you
have to lose except for bad tone?
Mark T. Van Ditta
Index:
|
