Still suffering from that H&K upper end stridence? Go back and think about this.

We all know about the H&K top end.  In all of our amps, glorious though they may be, there is a danger that aspects like matching them with the wrong speakers can release a harshness into it which is very grating on the ears.  At least for some of us.  Some may love it but I find it impossible to get to grips with real classic 60s/70s rock sounds with a H&K.

I was playing my latest Marshall SC20H recently and, thinking about how good a Marshall sounds with my own designed and built G12M Greenback 2x12", I remembered something I had once been aware of.  Remember that guy - errrrm - what was his name?  That's right, Stevie Ray Vaughan?  He used to use blankets over his amp to mute down the level.  That definitely would change the tonal balance too.  I tried it with just two layers of a velour cloth I had unused from a guitar case reline as it was too short a pile and, what do you know, the sound smoothed out noticeably.  I immediately thought of my GM36 and tried it with that.

Those of you suffering from that top end edge would do well to just put a thick towel or a folded blanket over the speaker and try it to see how it can take the edge off.  You won't lose too much volume and you may even find beaming improves a little too.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

cool I'm going to try that out along with dialing down the presence trick just before the fizz

You gotta love simple. Thanks bordonbert.

Yeah, ah do simple purdy gud! (And cheap too!)

Hahaha!  I have a couple of these I made myself which I've used off and on for years.  The theory of what these do to prevent beaming is absolutely sound.  Michell is a rogue audio genius whose analysis is always spot on.  These things are wonderful at helping with beaming given the right circumstances.  You have to be in a big enough space for them to be effective.  Too many local close reflections will mean they may be swamped by other factors.

People refuse to believe that the "Beam Blockers" sold as a commercial product cannot work.  I was aware even before I found Michell's work on the subject that they were not going to do anything for beaming except exacerbate it.  You only have to look at the causes of beaming to see they are actually setting up that very situation.  The Physics absolutely shows that they do nothing to prevent beaming however, they may make changes to the sound in other ways which the untrained are interpreting as improved beaming.  Without correctly measuring it is easy to assume that a change in tonal balance is the same thing as improve dispersion.  It isn't.  They don't work at all for the job they are sold to address, beaming.

Good to see someone else is interested in them.  If beaming is a problem for your setup I can recommend them as a simple and not very expensive solution.  Stick rigidly to his design and take care of the details. Oh yes, you will get a slight tonal reduction in top end as a consequence of the reduced area for high frequencies. It is easy to rebalance with a touch of treble. Whether they would remove harshness is another matter and not one I have experienced.