Did you say you don't like the Tube Dampers on the Modwright 999ES?
Well it's funny you should mention that ted_b...
I've always been an admirer of Herbie and his products, but I've never really wholeheartedly
liked them. What I mean to say is here's a guy who has seen the need for specialist products that no-one ever realized they needed before! He's researched them, tested them, sourced the parts and packaged them. He sells them for
very reasonable prices and offers a 90-day trial period, during which time he will give you a full refund if you don't like what you hear. If you DO like what you hear, he will give you an unconditional lifetime warranty on everything he makes.
Now that’s service! I’ve a lot of time for people who conduct their business so openly and fairly… it’s just unfortunate that I don’t really care for the sound. In my system they seem to over-damp things, introducing a rubbery lifelessness especially to the higher registers. However, because Herbie’s products are so honest and reasonably priced, and because I like the cut o’ his corporate jib, I’ve never taken him up on his 90-day money-back offer, so I’ve still got bits and pieces of his secreted away in drawers and cubby holes. What better time to pull them out and re-evaluate them?!
With the HAL-O rings on the tubes of the 999ES the trebles seem choked. The life, the atmosphere,
the excitement, is drained from the recording. Drums and cymbals in particular seem to suffer: where there was once a lively driving force, there is now a truncated unit, smaller in size and impact. The rings can be slid up-and-down the tubes in an attempt to ‘tune’ them, but I can’t detect any drastic changes from doing that.
HOWEVER… for the first time I try the HAL-Os with the Grungebuster2 and I’m surprised and delighted to report that the two tweaks in tandem sound really quite good together! The GB2 widens the soundstage and the HAL-Os deepen it. There’s no trace of the deadening I heard before. A perfect match… well I’ll be darned…
I knew there was virtue in being a pack rat!