You may have heard this before, but it bears repeating: The lion’s share of what we think of as “guitar speaker tone” comes from the cone. Specifically, it’s the complex movement across the cone’s surface that creates the tonal magic. More than anything else, the cone’s physical attributes—its shape, weight, density, and material—give a guitar speaker its unique sound. A speaker used for sound reinforcement, such as a woofer you’d find in a venue’s PA, is made to be stiff and unyielding so it behaves as much like a piston as possible. This piston-like action—theoretically the “ideal” behavior for a loudspeaker—allows it to more faithfully reproduce the input signal, while adding a minimum of unwanted coloration. A guitar speaker behaves very differently. To add complexity and desirable colorations to the output, we encourage resonances within the cone—we want it to “wobble about” rather than simply move back and forth. Imagine you’re throwing rocks into a lake: In a PA speaker, the cone’s movement is like a single rock hitting the water and creating concentric outward ripples. These resemble the predictable motion of a stiff cone moving forward and backward. But with a guitar speaker, the cone behaves more as if you’ve thrown a handful of pebbles into the water, thus creating a collection of interfering ripples. Complex patterns moving across the cone’s surface effectively add character and a broad coloration to the speaker’s sonic output.
For the guitar speaker designer, the challenge is to find the best ways to guide and control—and not interfere with—that complex pattern of vibration. To discourage flexibility in a PA cone, we add such materials as polyamide or glass fibers to the paper mix and then make the cone thick. The guitar speaker cone has no such stiffening agents and is made as thin as physically practical to better encourage the desirable vibration across the surface.
A consequence of the frequency of coil movement, a cone’s resonant flexing is the largest contributor to a speaker’s tonal signature. The better we are at designing and building the speaker, the more of the cone’s pure tonality we preserve and the fewer undesirable colorations we introduce into the output.
Basically, we want the cone to vibrate in the most natural way possible. This requires careful consideration of how all the elements required to build the speaker, as well as the methods used to assemble it, will impact cone movement. It takes considerable expertise to find the most sympathetic way to integrate the other constituent parts with the cone. In addition to selecting the most appropriate materials, we might consider the surround, the “springiness” of the suspension, and the size of the voice coil and dust dome. There are many other small elements to consider as well, and taken together they can have a noticeable impact. We make these choices for practical reasons. For example, we’d select a particular voice coil to achieve a desired power-rating target. We know this choice will alter the overall sonic signature because of how it influences the cone’s movement, so the challenge is to ensure that the overall effect is positive.
At low frequencies, when the cone is vibrating in the “piston band,” it moves as a single entity. At higher frequencies, the movement gets a lot more complicated. As frequency increases, neighboring parts of the cone begin moving in opposite directions from each other and become decoupled. Known as modes of vibration, these movements are generally predictable because they, too, are resonant frequencies of the membrane. The frequencies at which this occurs are dictated by the weight, thickness, and density of the cone material, the cone shape, and the cone’s “boundary conditions” (how it’s clamped at the inner and outer edges). The cone will break up into radial modes that extend out from the center of the cone, as well as concentric modes that form circular patterns of movement on the cone surface. A speaker’s parts all influence how the modes’ vibrations manifest themselves over the cone surface, and this is where we see the impact of a given design. We’re looking for a smooth transition between cone modes. This is what delivers a tone free of unpleasant and unwanted colorations. It’s the complex interaction of the cone’s vibrational characteristics, summed into one harmonious collection, that yields great tone. Ultimately, the best thing we can do is let that cone sing!
A faithful recreation of the Germanium Mosrite Fuzzrite with a modern twist.
From the years of 1966 to 1968, Mosrite produced two distinct fuzz circuits---one outfitted with silicon transistors, the other with germanium parts. Of the two, the germanium version is by far the most rare, with original designer and Mosrite employee Ed Sanner estimating that around 250 ever made it out the door. In that final year of production, Mosrite shifted exclusively to silicon parts, making germanium components a thing of the past. However, by 1968 the public was hungry for fuzz, having heard it on a handful of recordings, most notably "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly and "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock. These two buzzy, sinewy fuzz tones were part of a wave of psychedelic rock gaining traction in the mainstream, and both were recorded prior to the introduction of the silicon Fuzzrite.
Other purported users of this early Fuzzrite circuit include Ron Asheton of the Stooges, Norman Greenbaum on "Spirit in the Sky", Henry Vestine of Canned Heat, and many others. Catalinbread have a germanium version at their disposal, and we've used it as a benchmark to create an extremely faithful version with a modern twist. Just like the original, the Catalinbread Fuzzrite Germanium includes two NOS PNP germanium semiconductors with a polarity inverter IC so it plays nice with all forms of power. Unlike the original, Catalinbread added a toggle switch to shift into modern mode, significantly beefing up the low-end content to suit more contemporary rigs.
The Fuzzrite Germanium is out now and available for $179.99 at participating retailers and catalinbread.com.
The all-new HT series offers "heat treated" pickup technology along with the Cutlas HT, StringRay HT, and Sabre HT guitars.
The Ernie Ball Music Man Sabre HT guitar delivers an incredibly dynamic and responsive playing experience. The pickups are able to achieve an ultra-high-output, powerful low-end response while retaining a distinctively clean, clear tone and definition at lower volume control levels. The HT (Heat Treated) bridge pickup utilizes patent-pending heat-treated pole pieces with a large ceramic magnet and an overwound coil that gives the pickup higher frequency harmonics and excellent touch sensitivity. The Sabre's custom-wound neck humbucker also features a large ceramic magnet and has been wound specifically to pair with the Sabre's HT bridge pickup. In other respects, the Sabre HT shares many of the original Sabre guitar specifications such as a contoured Okoume body with a thick maple top, Schaller locking tuners, and 22 stainless steel frets. The Sabre HT is available in a Yucatan Blue, Raspberry Burst, Showtime, and Snowy Night finish.
The Ernie Ball Music Man Cutlass HT showcases new custom Music Man pickup technology delivering an incredibly dynamic and responsive playing experience. The pickups are able to achieve an ultra-high-output, powerful low-end response while retaining a distinctively clean, clear tone when rolling back the volume control. This set of three HT (Heat Treated) pickups uses patent-pending pole pieces and a large neodymium magnet which provides remarkable definition. The bridge pickup has been wound with plain enamel magnet wire providing a strong, powerful tone, while the neck and middle pickups have been underwound with heavy formvar magnet wire for a more traditional voice. All three pickups have been crafted for a complimentary tonal offering across all five switch positions. The Cutlass HT shares many of the standard specifications of the original Cutlass guitar, including a contoured Alder body, a roasted figured maple neck, 22 stainless frets, Schaller locking tuners, and Music Man vintage tremolo. The Cutlass HT is available in a Showtime, Brûlée, Midnight Rider, and Raspberry Burst finish.
The Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray HT showcases new custom Music Man pickup technology inspired by over a decade of guitar string research delivering an incredibly dynamic and responsive playing experience. The pickups are able to achieve an ultra-high-output, powerful low-end response while retaining a distinctively clean, clear tone and definition at lower volume control levels. The Stingray HT (Heat Treated) bridge pickup utilizes patent-pending heat-treated pole pieces with a large ceramic magnet and an overwound coil that gives the pickup higher frequency harmonics and excellent touch sensitivity. The custom-wound neck humbucker also features a large ceramic magnet and has been wound specifically to pair with the Stingray's HT bridge pickup. This Stingray HT is outfitted with a stop tail Tune-o-Matic bridge which sets it apart from the Stingray's vintage style tremolo but shares a number of the standard specifications, including a contoured body, a roasted figured maple neck, 22 stainless frets, and Schaller locking tuners. The StingRay HT is available in a Showtime, Brûlée, Midnight Rider, and Raspberry Burst finish. HT Series instruments are available now at authorized Ernie Ball Music Man dealers.
Visit them online at www.ernieball.com and www.music-man.com.
Presets extend the flexibility of an already expansive and easy-to-use reverb.
Intuitive. Great range in all controls. Well-built.
Some digital artifacts at long decay times.
Walrus Audio Slötvå walrusaudio.com
Walrus Audio is a prolific builder, but, as the five reverb pedals in their lineup suggest, they have a real affinity for manipulating time and space. The beauty of the Slötvå reverb (which is derived from the company’s very similar Spin FV-1 chip-based Slö reverb) is how satisfying and simple it makes dramatic shifts between time/space textures.
Slötvå’s big departure from the Slö model is the addition of three presets, enabling quick switches between vastly different reverbs. But Slötvå’s interface is also pretty easily mastered and manipulated on the fly without using presets. And that operational flexibility makes Slötvå just as capable of delivering surprises as predictable, repeatable results.
Slötvå’s three algorithms all range to super-long decay times, especially when you hit and hold the sustain button. “Dark” adds a minus-one-octave signal, rise adds an almost reverse-like swell effect, and dream adds a latch function that effectively “freezes” the reverb signal. In all three modes, the octave content can reveal chorale-style overtones and discernibly digital artifacts at long decay times. Some players love and utilize these sounds to great effect. So, try before you buy if you don’t know where you stand. If you’re untroubled by a little shimmer at expansive settings, however, Slötvå is a fun, intuitive, and performance-practical way to source a genuinely expansive range of unobtrusive to ambient reverb sounds in a compact, easy-to-wrangle unit.