ok. I'm a bit giddy right now, if you want to know why, skip to the part below about tone.
The speakers were too big to fit in the baffle together, overlapping by about 1/4". They were also right at the edge on the far left and right sides, so building a new baffle with wider spacing was not an option.
Unhappily, I took my brand new Weber alnico 8" speaker to the grinder :shock: Good news, no structural damage, and now it fits. (thanks to your tip, John, I put tape across all the openings and the front while the sparks flew)
My typical cosmetic blemish effect I add to all my projects. Maybe the guys at Weber will shoot me a little can of touch up paint.
I have to take a moment to tell you about my lovely, observant at all the wrong times, wife. She happened to notice that I was so anxious about getting the speakers, then shortly after unpacking them, I had one on the grinder. "what are you doing?"
"I have to modify this speaker a little bit so it will fit nicely"
and then, as if to prove she'd been paying attention to all my amp ramblings lately,
"you have to modify your new, custom built speaker so it will fit into the new baffle you made?"
see, observant, right? She was even kind enough to make up a simple little tune for me:
"I got to modify,
I got to modify,
I've got to modify my new custom built speaker."
in just a catchy enough time and melody that we've both got it firmly stuck in our heads and can't stop singing it to each other. :evil:
Back to the amp: a little final cleanup on the tolex, etc. and I'm in love all over again:
note the scratches around the inputs; a previous owner must have had some serious "bad aim"!
The Tone
I know these speakers have to break in, but immediately a huge, glorious blast of brightness, tightness and punch. Clear, full, just insert any positive amp tone adjective here, here, and etc. to boot.
Really, a big boost, and I liked the amp before! 45 minutes with the Starfire went by in 5. I actually rolled the tone back on the neck pickup which would have been a silly mud bath before.
Money well spent and I'm the newest Weber devotee.
Please Capn can I put the Mullards in????