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New Amp
Jul 28, 2018 10:50:14 GMT -5
Post by JamesP on Jul 28, 2018 10:50:14 GMT -5
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Post by JamesP on Jul 28, 2018 13:41:29 GMT -5
Sorry, I guess I should have posted my thoughts...
I haven't bought a new amp in over 40 years, but back in the day, I wanted an amp that would give me a bright, rockabilly tone. I wasn't too concerned with reverb, just volume, tone and I liked the "bright" and "normal" channels. Since I didn't know better back then, I'd use one of the store's amps to try it out. But a tele is a tele, right? LOL.
When I first heard some of the Blues guys like B. B. King and Muddy Waters playing through a Marshall amp, I had to try one out. The dark, deep sound was great with the ES-125 and even the Les Paul, not so great with the Telecaster.
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New Amp
Jul 28, 2018 23:17:52 GMT -5
Post by jbone on Jul 28, 2018 23:17:52 GMT -5
I have bought a few new amps but mostly used. I would take a harp mic- usually a hot bullet- and a harp to wherever and plug in. Not always a good bet though since a lot of amps need some massaging to be just so for harp. But generally I could determine if a pre amp tube swap would tame it down some.
I mostly bought tube amps with the exception of a Pignose 7-100 shoebox battery powered amp and a couple listed below. It's solid state and made for electric guitar busking actually. It was fun but the bullet mic was way too hot for it to get much volume.
I made a mistake and bought a brand new Pignose G40V tube amp once. The sales guy assured me it would be great for harp. Like he knew. It was a feedback beast no matter what I did with it. Sold at a loss.
I splurged on a new Fender Hot Rod Deluxe in the 90's on the counsel of a guitar player. We wanted me to have more volume for a loud stage but feedback squeal was always a problem. At the time I had no idea you could swap a pre amp tube or two and tame the feedback frequencies quite a bit, so I sold it off and got something else. In the mid 2000's we decided I could get a Fender '59 Bassman replica built by a guy in Maryland, Steve Clark of Sligo Amps. No idea if he's still around. He built a beaut for me and with one pre amp tube swap it was close to perfect for harp tone with volume. It's one amp I did not test before I bought it. He had great reviews on his other builds albeit for guitarists. 60's Fender were his specialty and he used components as close to period stock as he could get. Even though it was a top notch amp it turned out I had no use for it, I was not making any $$ with it. Most bands who saw it didn't want their guitarists to be out volumed, and the thing would seriously crank, 40 watts with 4 10" speakers designed for both early breakup and high end volume. Eventually I sold it for 2/3 of what I paid to have it built and shipped. Needed a fishing boat!
A music partner once bought a slightly used but great shape Peavey Delta Blues 210 and let me use it in our project at the time. I cut the gain in one slot and it was a pretty dam fine harp amp! If I could have I'd have bought it from him but we were pretty broke just then soo it went away.
Other used amps I've had:
First amp ever, a Crate II solid state p-o-s that looked nice.
'63 Fender Princeton Tremolo
90's Peavey Classic 50
80's Fender Vibro Champ
A guy once gave me a Fender solid state amp, I don't recall what flavor. He'd found it next to a dumpster and didn't want it. It was no use for harp so I gave it to someone else.
Early in the duo adventure with Jolene we bought a used solid state Peavey amp that had 2 channels, one side for guitar and one for a vocal mic. Decent enough but later we swapped it back and got a small p.a. instead.
Danelectro Dirty Thirty and Nifty Fifty, both sold state. At one point early on I was using the Thirty for harp but it was just too squeaky and high. But- Really good for guitar for their size, great tone and all, but ultimately Jo wanted what I was using, a Silvertone 1482, so we found her one. We still use these 12w tube amps today.
Silvertone 1432 (I think), small with 8" speaker, nice for home but useless for any stage. I stepped up to the 12" speaker 1482 at that point.
There may be others.
I guess what I as a harp guy always want is a warm round tone with very little feedback. These days I am not looking for big stage volume since the duo is my thing, and we keep volume down to what's good for a medium room. I like something not too dang heavy too, and the 1482's are about 20 pounds each.
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New Amp
Jul 29, 2018 8:31:40 GMT -5
Post by JamesP on Jul 29, 2018 8:31:40 GMT -5
Great post Pat
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New Amp
Jul 29, 2018 9:02:59 GMT -5
Post by jbone on Jul 29, 2018 9:02:59 GMT -5
In the harp amp arena there are a lot of choices lately if you have some dough. Several guys out there have designed and built purpose-built amps specific to harp mic frequencies, usually on the somewhat small side, 8 or 10 inch speakers and under 15 watts generally. The circuits are designed to be harp mic friendly and resist feedback yet put out good tone and good volume with a reasonably amped band. Marble, Memphis Mini, Harp Gear, Mission, and others come to mind. Harp Gear and a couple others make bigger and badder amps if you want to spend the $$ and lug the weight.
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New Amp
Jul 29, 2018 9:46:30 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by JamesP on Jul 29, 2018 9:46:30 GMT -5
How does the typical PA systems work for the harmonica players ?
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