Henriksen The Blu - The Tweeter

[ffej]

Just got a Blu. Enjoying it immensely, but not sure I'm detecting much, if any, tonal difference between the tweeter being on or off. I've only played it at home at relatively low volume, so maybe you need to be in a session or gig to appreciate it(?) Perhaps a defective unit? Or maybe just too subtle for my comprehension?

Not even sure what the purpose of it is. Is it primarily for acoustic guitar use? Is it supposed to enhance the whole frequency spectrum or just the highs? Is it affected by the other EQ settings?

Any comments appreciated. Thanks.

[Klatu]

The tweeter will only reproduce the high frequencies present in the signal. If the signal doesn't contain the high frequencies, there is nothing for the tweeter to amplify.

Try running an acoustic with a microphone or piezo pickup through the amp and you should hear the tweeter kick in.

[ffej]

So would you say the tweeter's just there for use with acoustics, and electrics just don't produce those frequencies, so leave it off and forget about it? (Which is fine with me, 'cause it sounds great anyway. Just want to make sure everything's working right.)

[marcwhy]

[I don't hear a difference, either, with my electrics!]

[Stringswinger]

With a piezo the tweeter does make a difference. With a magnetic PUP, if there is a difference, I cannot hear it.

[Greentone]

Especially with a humbucking pickup, you will not notice tweeter content. The twin coils of a humbucker are sitting adjacent to each other. Wavelengths shorter than the distance between the two coils (i.e., the pole pieces) are going to be cancelled out by the phase cancellation of the coils--this is how they "buck" hum.

Humbuckers sound girthy, but they lack the high end shimmer of single coils (and, of course, the hum). As Stringswinger mentioned, try a piezoelectric pickup equipped acoustic, or a mic'd acoustic guitar, and you should hear some tweeter content with your amp.

[dconeill]

I concur with the previous posts. I have a Bud, and the tweeter apparently produces nothing with electrics, but has a noticable output with piezo acoustics.

[krusty]

I have a Benedetto Carino 10 with a defeatable tweeter. I do notice a distinct difference between on/off with both my El Rey (Alumitone HB) and a Strat I play frequently (Anderson M Series pickups). I prefer the tweeter on. I had a cab I built myself that used a rear firing tweeter with an L pad. The tweeter was much more subtle on or off on that cab, probably because it was rear mounted, but I still noticed it.

[Greentone]

Yeah, with a Strat-guitar, I think you will notice tweeter on/tweeter off.

[krusty]

The M Series pickups are actually unequally wound mini humbuckers. They sound more like a hb than a single, but can replicate singles if eq’d such. I just like the detailed jazz tone I get if I roll the volume off, losing a bit of the highs in the process.

[sgosnell]

My RE Stealth 10 ER has a tweeter, and I can hear it with a humbucker. It's not defeatable, but it has an adjustment knob, which works like a tone or volume control, from almost fully off to fully on. It's very obvious when it's up, even with humbuckers. But the effect of a tweeter will vary from amp to amp, depending on the crossover circuit and the speaker, cab, etc. I've never heard a Blu in person, so I have no idea how much difference the tweeter might make in it.