I'd heard some rumors about a new small 2x8 harp amp from Victoria Amps called the "Blow Box." Victoria makes wonderful amps so I was curious. I contacted Mark Baier, the proprietor, and got the straight scoop:
"The 'Blow Box' is a creation of Michigan harp player James Reeser. Jim took one of our 45410's fitted with our 'harp-centric' sonic seasoning and converted it into a head only unit with an 8" speaker crammed into the box. We have never replicated his custom 'Blow Box' as a factory made item, although, I would be happy to do so! The starting point for the BB is a custom harp modded 45410, and they are certainly available factory issue. Although Victoria is known more for making guitar amps, we have cultivated an elite roll call of top harmonica players: Kim Wilson, Jerry Portnoy, Mark Hummel, Mark Wenner, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells have all had us make a rig for them over the years. Thanks to our interaction with these players, their suggestions have been incorporated into the harp-mod 45410 we build. The individual tube choices, as well as circuit elements, are all part of the equation. It features a 1/2 power/"harp-monic" switch (I just made that word up BTW) and a tone stack voicing switch."
Mark will build a "Blow Box" amp if anybody is interested. I'm sure it is a very fine amp -- like all of Victoria's products. I am in love with their 5112 amp, but then I'm a sucker for Class A amps with one 12-inch speaker.
3 comments:
Based on a 45410....?
So it's 45 watts through a single 8 inch speaker?
Uh... WTF?
Is that a typo?
It's a 2x8 the way James Reeser made it, but I'll bet Mark can build you any configuration you want.
Hey James Reeser here. I will answer any questions about the amp. There is a video taped at the Sand Bar of me playin' chromatic through it on youtube. Yep it cranks. Has 2, 4 and 8 ohm outputs so you can plug it into virtually any cab if you don't want to use the 2 8's. There is a switch that cuts in or out the harp circuit. with the switch off it is a stock 59 Bassman. Verstile as it can be used as a back up for guitar as well as harp.
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