I was setting up my drums at a live gig, and I saw the sound engineer slip a thin baffle in front of the guitar amp to reduce the volume out front. I was checking it out, and he offered to place one on the backside of this open-back amp too, which was still kind of blasting me on the drums. Whoa! Big difference! I was intrigued. Not only is this baffle “amp-sized,” but it is also covered with Tolex and grill cloth (like amps and speaker cabinets), so it looks like an amp on stage. What is this magical device? I had to find out and try one in my studio.
I have some large DIY gobos, but they are six feet tall and not nearly as nice-looking as the “Original". I use them for whole band recordings, but portability is not their forte. My studio is a single-room setup, so I’m often right in the line of fire of loud guitars. Sure, I’ve tried other ways to barricade amps and cabinets, and I use noise-reducing headphones (which I wear regardless), but the Speight “Original” is just so easy to position. It’s roughly the same width and height as a Fender Twin Reverb but weighs so much less – about 15.5 pounds – and is less than six inches deep. It has an “amp handle” on top and rubber feet on the bottom. The front side of this model is covered with black/white/silver grill cloth (other options are available) and has a solid piece of wood behind it. The backside has black grill cloth fabric and is “open” so that sound is absorbed by the materials inside (face this side toward the amp).
A couple of hours after receiving the review unit, I took it to a band rehearsal and placed it behind a Fender Twin. The bass player and I, who were both slightly behind the amp, noticed the difference immediately. The sound level was reduced, but everything sounded tighter too because we were hearing less muddiness from the back of the speakers. Now I want the “Original" at all my rehearsals and shows!
Back in the studio, I re-amped some guitar tracks through a Fender Blues Jr. and mounted my vintage Radio Shack SPL meter on a stand at roughly the same level as my ears. I set the baffle on its short side so it stood slightly taller. It only has rubber feet on the bottom, but this still worked fine. Without the baffle, the meter was peaking slightly over 100 dB, but with the “Original” eight inches in front of the amp, I was seeing an 8 to 10 dB reduction. This is in no way a replacement for an isolation room, but it does take some of the sting out of having a guitar amp pointing right at your face.
I compared a recording of the amp through a dynamic mic with and without the baffle in front. I did not hear a difference; they also nulled very closely. The sound in the room can change noticeably when you park a baffle too close to an amp. I placed the “Original” in front of a mic’d amp with drums playing in the same space, and then I tested the same without the baffle. The difference is subtle, but the baffle did reduce some of the splashy cymbal bleed into the mic. A larger baffle might be more effective in this application, but I’ve certainly worked with worse bleed!
While originally designed for live use, the Speight “Original” will definitely get used in my studio. Then again, I play with a few loud guitar players, so it may have to travel with me to some live shows around town as well. One thing is certain: I’m not sending this one back.