Saturday, April 10, 2010

From Mission Amps: "The Chicago"

"The Chicago" from Mission Amps is ready. Master amp builder Bruce Collins designed it from the ground up to to be the most exceptional and economical mid-sized harp amp on the planet.

It is rated very conservatively at 30 watts. I've measured nearly 50 watts while playing. It is a 2x6L6 amp with a 50 watt power transformer. Here are some of the features:

-30 watts at only 34 lbs, in a Tweed Deluxe cab.
-All hand wired point-to-point by master amp builder. Beautifully crafted.
-Every finished amp rigorously tested by pro harp player. Guaranteed five years.
-Cloth-covered solid core wiring.
-NOS military-grade Paper in Oil capacitors. Dark, warm, lush tone.
-DEEP Switch for fatter tone.
-Switchable from Fixed Bias to Cathode Biased.
-Beefy 50-watt power transformer. Powerful bottom end.
-Optimized for bullet mics (including crystal) and Shure SM57 microphones.
-Separate Bass and Treble controls.
-Speakers broken in using custom harp-specific processes. Fat tone from the first note.
-“True Tone” Line Out XLR jack with level control. Perfect for PA or recording.
-One 12-inch Eminence Cannabis Rex speaker.
-Tweed Deluxe cabinet, finger jointed, solid pine with a furniture grade birch plywood baffle board.

I've played this amp extensively, and it sounds sensational. It is LOUD, with a complex, organic tone that responds easily to the pressure you put on the harp and mic. Goes from Sweet to Nasty when you dig in.

The regular price for this amp will be $1200. For a limited time the introductory price will be only $999.00.

I'll have this amp at the blues jam my band hosts at Ziggies in Denver on Sunday night. If you are in the area, I need your opinion. Please come play the amp and let me know what you think.




UPDATE: The amp is 20 in. wide, 16 in. tall, and about 8 1/2 in. deep at the top, from front to back. The exact weight is 33 pounds 12 ounces.

It sounds great at low volumes, particularly in the Cathode Biased mode. BTW, in that mode you can switch to 6V6 power tubes and a 5Y3 rectifier for the best sounding 15-watt harp amp you have ever heard.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure looks nice! Dimensions?

Rick Davis said...

The amp is 20 in. wide, 16 in. tall, and about 8 1/2 in. deep at the top, from front to back. The exact weight is 33 pounds 12 ounces.

It sounds great at low volumes, particularly in the Cathode Biased mode. BTW, in that mode you can switch to 6V6 power tubes and a 5Y3 rectifier for the best sounding 15-watt harp amp you have ever heard.

Anonymous said...

Your previous thread from Dec. 5 stated the Chicago was a 2x10 in a
tweed Super cab. Is it available option?

Rick Davis said...

Anon, that option is available. contact Bruce Collins at www.missionamps.com.

He decided to use the Tweed Deluxe cab for the initial run of 1x12 amps. The chassis, however, will fit perfectly in the Tweed Super cab as well. Bruce is even thinking of a 4x10 model.

Bruce Mission Amps said...

The 1x12 Chicago cabinet is actually not a tweed Deluxe cabinet...it is a tweed 5F11 Vibrolux cabinet with a tweed Deluxe 12" speaker baffle board installed.
My plan is to also build this circuit in the chassis' used for the tweed 5F4 Super 2x10, 5E7 Bandmaster 3x10 and if desired, the 5E5A Pro 1x15.
I'd like to see if it is possible to install a single 8" and 12" in the Bandmaster cab too.
That covers a lot of ground with only two chassis and four different cabinets!
For further information, Rick Davis can get a hold of me locally, directing questions my way.

My g mail address is:
bluescrusader@gmail.com

And anyone can also contact at the Mission Amps 'info' email address:
info@missionamps.com

Wayne Norman said...

Can anybody give some feedback on how *guitars* sound through this amp? I would use it primarily for harp, but I'd be curious if it also gave an interesting or unique guitar sound to be used on occasion to switch things up on stage. (I normally play guitars through a Fender Twin Reverb.)