WGS Blackhawk Alnico Speaker in a Tweed Fender Deluxe Amp

Hey fellow toneaholics!  This week I get back to some long awaited (hopefully) speaker comparison videos.  I’ve been just dying to try a Blackhawk in my ol’ tweed Deluxe; she’s a Hurricane Katrina survivor, and when she found her way to me a few years back, the original speaker was long gone.  The electronics had been completely re-worked to utter perfection by Mike Clark, but the speaker (from a 69 Deluxe Reverb) just wasn’t tripping my trigger.  So, I tried literally dozens of speakers and finally settled on a Modern Fender-branded Alnico model.  It didn’t offer much clean headroom, and seriously lacked bottom end, but it was uber-sweet.  So, the amp got a fair amount of recording time, but I’ve never taken her out to gig, because she just couldn’t keep up with a full band.  It’s always been my dream to turn the old gal into a gigable amp; Could it be that the Blackhawk might do the trick?  Let’s find out!  This L-O-N-G video includes the set-up, how those wonderful Burriss DC Cabs do their thing, and (at about nine minutes in) the actual speaker shootout between the Blackhawk and the Fender Alnico (which, by the way is about the same price as the Blackhawk). Roll the Video!

So, the short answer is: YES ... she is now a gigable amp(whoo-whoo)!  I hope you noticed the INSANE increase in volume, as seen on the SPL meter.  There was no trickery involved; just a passive switch between the speakers and identical mics in identical positions at identical levels.  Holy cow, I can’t wait to take the little gal to a gig now!  Truth be told, the old girl looks cool post-Katrina ... doncha think?

See ya next week, here is the mic setup I employed:

Now, my fav site of the week is Clark Amplification, without Mike’s amp wizardry, the ol’ Deluxe would have died in Katrina! check out: http://www.clarkamplification.com/services.html

emailVaughn     About Vaughn Skow