Blues Harp Amps

Check this out: The G-Rig

2012-01-26T14:56:00.000-08:00

New from Front & Center Microphones.

Sitting in with Bad Brad & The Fat Cats

2012-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

I'm playing my Mission Chicago 32-20 amp. This was a very fun set.

Delta Sonics at Clark Family Benefit

2012-01-23T08:49:00.001-08:00

Nic Clark shows us how it's done

2012-01-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

Fantastic tone, phrasing, and discipline.

Nic Clark playing his Fender Bantam amp

2012-01-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Al Chesis playing his 1958 Fender Bassman

2012-01-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

A Few Good Harp Amps

2012-01-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

This was the harp amp lineup at the Little Walter Tribute show in Denver last Saturday. L to R:

-My Fender '59 Bassman Reissue

-Dan Solem's Sonny Jr 410

-Dan Treanor's Fender Super Reverb Reissue

-Kirk Vriesman's 1960 Gibson GA-40

Which one sounded the best, you ask? The Gibson.

BTW, that's my harp kit in the foreground...

Dan Solem playing a Sonny Jr 410 amp

2012-01-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

Southside Dan Solem at the Little Walter Tribute Show in Denver CO, Jan 7 2012.

Kirk Vriesman playing a 1960 Gibson GA-40 amp

2012-01-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

Very nice tone and phrasing! This was at the Little Walter Tribute Show in Denver on Jan 7, 2012.

New Pedal Lineup

2012-01-03T12:37:00.001-08:00

With my ’59 Bassman RI amp I’ve gone back to using a few pedals. Here’s what I have now:

Boss EQ7 – I use this only when I have a feedback issue. I prefer the tone without it.

MXR Carbon Copy Delay -- My guitar player bought a new TC Electronics Flashback delay (that thing seriously rocks) so I bought his MXR pedal. So far I’m just using it for single echo slap back, with the settings you see in the photo. It sounds good, really warm.

Line6 Relay G30 wireless receiver – I gave my old Line6 wireless to my girlfriend’s son. (He plays in a very good band in Phoenix.) Having been so happy with it I replaced it with a new Line6 digital wireless. Fantastic sound and performance. It is noiseless and simple. It has no companders like the analog wireless units (Samson, etc), so the sound is uncompressed and natural. It sounds exactly like a cable.

About the TC Electronics delay pedal… I haven’ tried it, but I am greatly impressed with the tone my guitar player gets with it. It is greasy wet without being splashy. Way different than he sounded with the MXR.

New from Mission Amps

2011-12-31T12:15:00.000-08:00

Bruce Collins at Mission Amps is now shipping some notable new harp amps. They follow the same design philosophy used in my Mission Chicago 32-20 amp (pictured above), but with a few mods.

First of all, the chassis is bigger which allows for beefier 50-watt transformers. The new amps run with slightly higher plate voltages and produce an honest 50 watts of power at clipping.

The amp shipping now is a 3x10 configuration with a Weber 10A125-O speaker on top, an Eminence Lil’ Buddy hemp cone ceramic on the bottom along with a Quam ceramic speaker. I’m told the tone is stunning.

I have not had the chance to play this amp, but I have heard from new owners after they take delivery and gig it. They use superlatives to describe its tone and performance. Here’s a quote:

“The amp is the best and coolest sounding amp I have ever played and I currently have and have had sonny jr's, Harpgear, Clark, Magnatone, Premier's, Hurricane, and some others. They're just not in the same category as this amp!!”

Bruce is shipping the 3x10 and is taking orders on 1x15, 4x10, and 10+12. One well-known pro harp player has ordered a 4x8.

I’ll road-test the amp as soon as I can and review it here. You can contact Bruce at Mission Amps.

Little Walter Tribute Show

2011-11-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

Tony Smith at Little Walter Tribute in St. Pete.

2011-11-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

Tony is playing a crystal mic into a Fender Bassman Reissue amp. Great tone and mastery of the instrument.

Bassman Tweed Rehab

2011-11-16T08:12:00.001-08:00

This is a photo of the 1991 Fender Bassman RI amp after two coats of MinWax Polyshades Satin Classic Oak. The 1/2 pint can was plenty for two coats.

I tried cleaning the old tweed up with Resolve but it had little impact on the old stains and discolorations in the tweed. So, I stained over everything. It now has a very nice "Relic" look with a deep golden tone to the tweed. There are still holes worn in the tweed on a couple of corners of the amp but the poly finish will help keep it from fraying.

The project was pretty easy, and took only a couple of hours total. I removed the chassis and handle from the cab, and loosened the baffle so I could move it back a bit. Then I masked off the edges of the grill with regular masking tape and applied the stain to the tweed with a foam brush. After waiting a few hours I applied the 2nd coat of stain. I reassembled the amp the next morning.

When I got the amp the tweed was washed out, yellowish, and looked dirty. Now it looks like it has some serious mojo.

Bassman RI Harp Amp Project - Update

2011-10-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest on the Bassman RI project:

-From right to left the preamp tubes are RCA 12AY7, and two JAN Philips 5751.

-The power tubes are Tung Sol new production 6L6.

-The rectifier tube is a JAN GE 5R4 brown base.

Bruce Collins at Mission Amps installed adjustable bias pots, biasing the power tubes rather cold. He also repaired a faulty tube socket under one of the power tubes. Other than that the circuits remain stock.

The speakers are two Weber 10A125-O on top, an Eminence Lil' Buddy hemp cone speaker on the lower left, and one of the original alnico blue speakers on the lower right.

We tried many different combinations of tubes in all the sockets before arriving at this configuration, which sounded best. We both like a big fat organic tone, with a punchy low end and some sparkle without being edgy. I like a harp amp to sound wide.

This amp sounds good. In Bruce's shop I could get it to 5 on the volume before it started to ring, and the sound was big with a nice warm tone. It is not as naturally crunchy as my Chicago 32-20 amp but it has it's own set of virtues. That old Coke-bottle full-wave rectifier gives it a very cool sag, and the alnico Webers compress nicely as you put some pressure on the amp. It makes about 40 watts in this configuration and is quite loud. It weighs 62 pounds.

I plan to leave it like this for a while, and I'm looking forward to flogging it at a gig we are playing Saturday night Oct 29 for a Halloween Party at a country club. I promise... sound samples will be coming soon.

Harp Amp Project - Fender Bassman RI

2011-10-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Today I bought a rather well used early Fender Bassman Reissue amp, which dates from April of 1991 by the production code. The amp has a tube rectifier (not solid state) and the original alnico blue speakers, which are re-branded Eminence 1028s. I paid $500.

The amp was playable when I got it home, but the tone was shrill and it had intermittent problems. A couple of the tubes were bad, so I replaced the 5881 power tubes with some Tung Sol new production tubes I had on hand, and swapped in a 5AR4 Sovtek rectifier. For now the preamp tube is an NOS JAN Philips 5751 and the 2nd gain stage tube is a vintage GE 12AY7. The phase inverter is a 12AX7.

I swapped out 3 of the 4 speakers: On top there is a pair of Weber 10A125-O speakers, and on the bottom is an Eminence Lil' Buddy ceramic speaker and one of the original alnico blues.

So far it sounds pretty good. I'm sure it will sound a heck of a lot better after I get it biased and tuned by Bruce Collins at Mission Amps in Denver. Since I tinker with amps a lot I had all the parts I used today laying around in my amp room, so there has been zero added expense on the amp so far. I was looking around for an old Bassman RI, partly because I recognized I already had a lot of the components I would need for the project.

I'll put up sound samples later. I plan to take the amp to a blues jam tomorrow night to see how it performs as it is now. I'll keep you posted.

New Cable

2011-10-12T15:11:00.001-07:00

New cable: Fender "Vintage Voltage." My trusty old Planet Waves cable I've been using for nearly 10 years is starting to get noisy. I think I've stepped on it too many times...

UPDATE:

(I've gigged with this cable and it sounds great. Even my guitar player noticed. My old Planet Waves cable must have been farther gone than I knew.)

My purchase of the Fender Vintage Voltage cable generated some discussion on Facebook. Chris Richards, among others, said the fabric covering of retro cables rubs against the “rubber” inner sheath and creates a small electrical charge that makes the cable noisy and raises its capacitance, changing its tone.

I’m not so sure. I’ve heard that before but have never seen definitive evidence to support it. Chuck Gurney is a very well-known custom harp microphone maker who also makes and sells cables – all of them cloth covered.

I found a web page from Ovni Labs comparing and testing several instrument cables. Their top three picks were all cloth covered.

So what’s the deal? Is the story about cloth cables being inferior just an old urban legend? Chris makes and sells fine custom cables that are not cloth covered, so he may have a bit of an agenda here. I’d like to know what you think.

Walkin' Blues at Ziggies Blues Jam

2011-10-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Devin from L.A. dropped into the jam and blew some manic harp. Great energy. Devin is playing through a custom bullet mic with Shure CM element into a Mission Chicago 32-20 amp.

Steve Mignano on guitar, David Brenowitz on drums, Mike Wysocki on bass.

Coming up on Saturday

2011-10-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Ronnie Shellist will be playing blues harp with the headliners, Boa & The Constrictors. My band precedes them at 9:00pm. Should be a hell of a show...

RJ Mischo Endorses Harpgear Amps

2011-10-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

Good move for Brian Purdy at Harpgear. RJ Mischo is a great player and a tremendous ambassador for blues harp in general.

The amp pictured is an HG50 1210 with a new look.

What you missed at the jam

2011-09-26T11:05:00.001-07:00

Ronnie Shellist and Todd "Buckweed" Edmunds at Ziggies Famous Sunday Blues Jam last night. I put them up on stage with two members of my band, the Blues Allstars: Steve Mignano on guitar and Billy Hoke on drums.

Ronnie is playing through my harp rig: Front and Center cystal mic and Mission Chicago 32-20 amp.

Al Chesis & The Delta Sonics are on their way to Memphis

2011-09-26T09:46:00.001-07:00

Here is video of Al Chesis and his band The Delta Sonics winning the finals of the Colorado Blues Society International Blues Challenge event. They advanced to the world finals in Memphis in February.

Al is playing Hohner harps with a vintage JT-30 ceramic mic into a 1958 Fender Bassman.

The Emotional Value of Note Relationships

2011-09-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Ronnie Shellist explores an outstanding topic.

"Bumkin" at the IBC in Boulder Colorado

2011-09-14T09:27:00.001-07:00

The band "Bumkin" competes in the International Blues Challenge prelims at Boulder Colorado, Sept 11, 2011. Bill Walsh on harp.

Bill is using a custom bullet mic with Shure CM, into a Harpgear HG35 amp.

Al plays Fat Chrome

2011-09-14T06:23:00.001-07:00

Al Chesis & The Delta Sonics at the Boulder Outlook in Colorado, Sept 13, 2011. Jeremy Vasquez on guitar, Willie Panker on drums, John Butler on bass.

Al is playing through his vintage ceramic JT-30 microphone into his Bandmaster tweed clone from Mission Amps. His collection of cool vintage harp amps is sweet. But this is his normal gig rig.

Reverbnation

2011-09-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

Please check out our Reverbnation band page: Updated pics, songs, gigs and more. Thanks!

Power Harp

2011-09-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

A fan at our gig last night called me "Power Harp." LOL... I think it fits. With this band (The Blues Allstars), I tend to play hard and imitate the guitar tone and lines. We trade a lot of riffs. It gets pretty far from your strict old-school blues harp style. Blues harp Nazis get the vapors at our gigs. They think I'm doing it "wrong."

Some of the Power Harp thing might be about the tone I'm getting now. I've gone back to a minimalist philosophy: harp, mic, cable, and amp. No effects, not even reverb or delay. I bought a cheapie tilt-back amp stand at Guitar Center for $19.99 to point the amp more toward my ears so I can hear myself even when I'm not in the monitors.

I'm still loving the Mission Chicago 32-20 amp. It's tone is wonderful: warm, crunchy, punchy, and responsive. The amp is relatively small and light (a 1x12 amp in a tweed Deluxe cab, 35 lbs. and 35 loud watts). It pretty much keeps up with the guitar player's Fender Super Reverb.

Power harp!

Tube Down? Why?

2011-08-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here's 15-year old Nic Clark of Denver CO getting monster harp tone through a STOCK Fender Deville 410 amp. No mods to the amp; it even has the stock 12AX7 preamp tubes. Nic is playing straight into the amp with no pedals, no delay, nothing. He is using a vintage Astatic JT-30 Crystal mic.

If you haven't heard Nic and his band lately, they are sounding outstanding. They'll be in Memphis in February for the IBC competition, and I expect them to do very well.

The Delta Sonics at Colorado Blues Society IBC prelims

2011-08-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Al Chesis on harp, playing a ceramic Astatic JT-30 microphone into a vintage Fender brown Concert amp. The Delta Sonics advanced to the finals of the Colorado IBC.

If you're around Denver tonight...

2011-08-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

...this is shaping up to be one hella fun gig. Caldonia's is on Parker Rd just north of Illif. Boogie!

UPDATE: Jock Bartley from the band Firefall stopped in to listen to us!

Fender Mustang III amp for Blues Harp

2011-07-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today I dropped into Skip's Music in Sacramento CA to pick up a couple of harps. Skip's is one of the few places I've found where you can buy Hohner Golden Melody harps without ordering them. Tim Barron and I got to talking harp amps and he said he was often using an inexpensive Fender Mustang III amp for gigging lately: A 100-watt solid state 1x12 amp with digital modelling.

The amp has a street price of only $299. The tone was impressive, and with 100 watts on tap it really barked when he stepped on the gas. Tim had the modeler set up to emulate a Fender '59 Bassman with the digital settings pretty much as you would expect: rolled off treble and middle, boosted lows, low gain and high channel volume. It sounded totally giggable to me.

Sure, it does not have organic texture of a great vintage tube amp, but it ain't bad at all. As I said, I was impressed.

Celebrity Endorsements and the FTC

2011-07-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

A question came up on Harp-L about celebrity endorsements of harmonica gear, such as mics and amps. Here is my response.

=======================================

The Federal Trade Commission has issued guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. You can read the guidelines here:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf

Here are the bullet points that might be of interest:

-Vendors are subject to liability for failing to disclose material connections between themselves and their endorsers. If the endorser received a discount from the Vendor-- such as a free or reduced-price product -- this MUST be disclosed in any advertising, including claims made on websites.

-It is the burden of the Vendor to make sure any claims made by endorsers are true and current. If an endorser claims or implies that he uses the vendors product exclusively, for example, the Vendor is subject to liability if he uses that endorsement in an advertisement and it is not true.

-A Vendor may use an endorsement of a celebrity only so long as it has good reason to believe that the endorser continues to subscribe to the views presented.

I know for certain that some vendors give hefty discounts to endorsers because I've discussed it with them. Yet they do not reveal this material relationship as required by the FTC. They sometimes continue to claim endorsements that are stale and no longer true.

This is important to the harmonica community for several reasons: The endorsement game can be misleading to people shopping for harmonica gear, such as microphones and amplifiers.

Wezo Megatone ME-18 amp

2011-06-30T10:28:00.001-07:00

David Barrett doing a demo of the Megatone ME-18 amp.

Big Tone from Two Amps

2011-06-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday at the blues jam my band hosts at Ziggies in Denver I used two amps: My 1953 Masco and my Mission Chicago 32-20. I ran the mic into the Mic 1 input in the Mission amp and then jumped a cable from the Mission’s Mic 2 input to the Masco. I turned them both up half way and let ‘er rip.

The wait staff at the club immediately started waving their arms and shouting, “Whoa, that it too fucking loud!” I’ve never seen that kind of reaction to any harp amp at that jam.

I was pushing 55 vintage watts via four 6L6 tubes into two 12-inch speakers, and the tone was enormous. Think of a Fender Twin Reverb tuned for harp. Now, that was fun!

The Masco is a 20-watt cathode biased vintage amp with the characteristic sag and crunch. The Mission is a 35-watt amp switched to fixed bias (the bias is selectable on the amp) with its stiffer, punchier sound. Together they made a huge complex tone with lots of texture. Feedback was not a problem unless I did something stupid.

The downside to this rig, of course, is carrying and setting up two amps instead of one. For now I plan to use both amps in bigger venues and outdoor shows. The sound is such a kick in the ass I can put up with the extra hassle.

Notes: The Fender amp in the picture is guitarist John Goggin's wonderful little 1968 Princeton Reverb.

The mic input in the Masco is right in the front, where the Phono volume control once was.

Livewire cables seemed to be popular at the jam that night, eh?

The Harp Amps Gigging Musicians Use Most

2011-06-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

The Harmonica Amplifier Survey conducted by The Blues Harp Amps Blog earlier this year revealed some fascinating information about amp preferences. As we drill down in the data we find more interesting stuff.

For example: One of the questions asked in the poll was, “Do you earn more than 25% of your income directly from playing harmonica?”

We put a lot of thought into this poll question. It was decided that players who earn at least 25% of their income from blowing harp are serious gigging players who might make different amp choices. The survey demonstrated that they do indeed have different performance amp preferences when compared players who answered “No” to this question.

Earn LESS than 25% of income from playing harp (top 5 amps):
maker -- pct

FENDER -- 28
SONNY JR -- 14
KALAMAZOO -- 8
HARPGEAR -- 7
MASCO -- 5

Earn AT LEAST 25% of income from playing harp (top 5 amps):
maker -- pct

FENDER -- 41
HARPGEAR -- 16
SONNY JR -- 11
MISSION -- 7
GIBSON -- 3

Fender amps took the most dramatic jump when moving from the amateur group to the pro* group, gaining 13 points in the poll. HarpGear amps had the second biggest increase among pro players with a 9 point increase. Mission amps jumped 4 points in the pro group.

The biggest losers when moving from the amateur to the pro group were Kalamazoo and Masco. (Remember, we are talking about the amp a player prefers most in a performance setting.) I think the reasons are obvious: The little K-Zoo amps put out about 3 watts on a good day and are more suited for practice and recording. I was a bit more surprised about Masco amps. (I own and play a Masco.) But judging from the list, pro players seem to prefer powerful fixed bias amps in performance settings. The lower-power cathode biased vintage amps such as the Masco may also be better suited for recording.

One thing that jumps out is that amateur players use Sonny Jr amps more than pro players do. Sonny Jr. amps dropped 3 points when moving from the amateur group to the pro group. Sonny Jr amps moved from second place in the amateur group to third place in the pro group, being passed by HarpGear amps as second choice behind Fender.

NOTES:
Pro – Don’t get heartburn about my use of the term “pro” to describe players who earn at least 25% of their income directly from playing harp. I know debates rage endlessly about what constitutes a “pro” player, but the use of the term here is ONLY to distinguish those who make more than others according to my arbitrary formula.

William Harp playing SM58 and Onerr Amp

2011-06-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

Brazilian player and amp. I like this.

Results for the Harp Amp Poll

2011-06-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

THE HARMONICA AMPLIFIER POLL - June 2, 2011
From the BLUES HARP AMPS BLOG (http://www.bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/)

Data collected from April 17, 2011 to June 1, 2011

372 participants -- Margin of Error = 5.18% at 95 percent confidence.

26% of participants earn more than 25% of their income directly from playing harmonica. (PRO25)

97.4% of participants are male.

Average age of participants is 51 years.

Average number of amps owned that are used for harmonica: 4.5

53% of participants bought their performance amp USED.

===========================================

Performance Amps
FENDER --- 32%
SONNY JR --- 14
HARPGEAR --- 9
KALAMAZOO --- 6
(none) --- 4
MISSION --- 4
MASCO --- 3
DANELECTRO --- 2
GIBSON --- 2
MEGATONE --- 2
METEOR --- 2
PEAVEY --- 2
SILVERTONE --- 2
VHT --- 2

You can view the complete results by clicking here. (PDF)

===================================

NOTES: The poll results are interesting. A whopping 26 percent of the poll participants earn more than 25% of their income directly from playing harmonica. That number is much higher than I expected, and is probably a result of me promoting the poll in online forums that are frequented by gigging players. So keep this bias in mind as you look over the numbers.

This poll proves something we already knew: Harp players are older and overwhelmingly male.

This poll also shows that Fender is still the big dog among performance harp amps, particularly with gigging players. The Fender amp most often used in a performance setting is the Bassman RI. Most amps used for performance were bought on the second-hand market.

Many thanks to all those who participated in this poll.

==========================================

Note: I'll be posting addenda to this article from time to time over the next few days and weeks. There is lots of interesting stuff buried in the poll.

UPDATE 06/04/11: A reader asked about amps that most often get used by a player in all three settings. Here are the percentages for players who use the same amp for performance, recording, and practice, and the amp they use:

Same Amp in all 3 Settings

Fender -- 36%

Sonny Jr -- 15

Harpgear -- 9

Masco -- 7

Others were, Danelectro, Kalamazoo, Epiphone, Mojo, Peavey, and VHT.

There were 91 participants who use the same amp in all three setting, but only 18 of them own just one amp. The average number of amps owned by players in this subset is 3.7.

UPDATE 06/04/11: Overall, harp players own 4.5 amps on average. Players who earn more than 25% of their income directly from playing harp own 5.26 amps on average.

UPDATE 06/09/11: Sonny Jr amps garnered an impressive 14% of the market for performance amps, behind only Fender. The SJ models break out this way:

Super Sonny -- 23%

410 -- 23

Avenger -- 19

Super Cruncher -- 17

Cruncher -- 13

Model 1 -- 5

The Sonny Jr amp was purchased NEW by 81% of those who used it as their primary gig rig.

UPDATE 06/09/11: The amps preferred by gigging players.

UPDATE 06/24/11: Performance amp choice by age range.

Here is a table with age ranges, their percentage in the the poll sample, and the number one amp used in performance settings for each age cohort.

20s -- 4% -- Fender

30s -- 11% -- Fender

40s -- 14% -- Fender

50s -- 44% -- Fender

60s -- 24% -- Fender

At Ziggies this Friday

2011-05-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan McGarvey sits in with The Blues Allstars

2011-05-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

Only a Few More Days to Participate in the Amp Poll

2011-05-28T09:52:00.001-07:00

The survey of harmonica players about the amps they use is ongoing until June 1, 2011. This will be the first scientifically conducted, unbiased poll of its kind. I encourage all players to take part in the poll. Your information will be completely confidential.

To participate in the poll please email the answers to these questions to bluesharpamps@gmail.com:

========================================

-What amplifier do you use most frequently in a performance setting, either Jam or Gig?

-What amplifier do you use most frequently for recording?

-What amplifier do you use most frequently for practice?

-How many amplifiers do you own that you use for harmonica?

-Thinking of the amplifier you named in Question 1, did you buy it new or used?

-Do you earn more than 25% of your income directly from playing harmonica?

OPTIONAL:

-What is your age?

-What is your gender?

-In what state do you live?

========================================

You can find out a bit more about the survey at these links:

http://bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/2011/04/harmonica-amplifier-poll.html

http://bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/2011/05/thoughts-on-harp-amp-poll.html

Your opinions are welcome! We don’t want any amp to be underrepresented in the survey, so please take a moment to fire off an email to bluesharpamps@gmail.com.

June 1 is the last day poll submissions will be accepted. Shortly after that we will begin publishing the aggregate results. It will be very interesting, and we’d like very much for you to be part of it.

Thanks!

--
-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
http://www.bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/

Tony Smith blowin' some blues

2011-05-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

Tony is playing an Astatic crystal mic into a 1962 Fender brown Deluxe amp. This is at Chef John's in Jupiter FL on Apr 22. Nice tone!

Ryan McGarvey at Ziggies Sunday Blues Jam

2011-05-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

No harp content here (except you can see my Misssion amp on stage), but I wanted to put this up on the blog anyway. Ryan McGarvey played a blistering set with us at our blues jam at Ziggies last night.

5881

2011-05-13T10:22:00.001-07:00

I'm trying a pair of 5881 power tubes in my Mission 32-20 harp amp, in place of 6L6 tubes. It seems punchier, more "forward," slightly more grunt. I'll try 'em for our show at The Toad Tavern Spring Blues Fest this Saturday, see how they sound in a big room. I predict major blues honk. Should be fun.

UPDATE:

The 5881 tubes have slightly more grit and sparkle than the warmer 6L6 tubes. Punchy and loud.

UPDATE: At first I was dubious about these tubes. Now I'm thinkin' they are badass. I'll roll with them in the amp for a while...

Thoughts on the Harp Amp Poll

2011-05-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

A few thoughts on the harp amp survey I am conducting. I know some players may be skeptical of the results because I have a well-known bias in favor of a particular amp. But so does everyone else, and that is exactly what the poll sets out to measure.

My company is frequently commissioned to conduct polls about issues or candidates (or products) where I personally have a preference, but it has zero bearing on the outcome of the survey. Interested parties often run “horse race” polls so see where they stand among their competition. That is exactly what this poll is all about.

I have no idea how the survey will come out. As the poll responses come in they are entered into a database system that is suitable for statistical analysis. Nothing else will be done until the poll closes on June 1 after which no further responses will be accepted. At that time we will calculate the margin of error and announce some preliminary results.

It may take some time to publish the full results. There are some values in the data that will yield interesting cross tabs with the demographics. I am looking forward to learning more about harp amp players in general and their preferences.

This poll will be completely unbiased, anonymous, and as accurate as mathematically possible. As far as I know, this is the first survey of its kind. The Blues Harp Amps blog is proud to conduct and publish this poll.

If you would like to participate in the poll please click here.

Email from Italy - Mission Chicago 32-20 Amp

2011-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

Ciao Rick,

just a brief note to let you know that this amp is really great; Bruce Collins did a wonderful job; apart from the cosmetics (that I like), the amp is very flexible and this is the feature that I like best; today I received some tubes I bought to try a few substitutions; I swapped the rectifier with a 5Y6GT and the 6L6s with a pair of EH 6V6; as expected the power decreased proportionally but the tone became deep brown (too much for my taste !!); however, it is interesting with fixed bias, deep off and pre-amp switch in "no boost" position; then I tried the original GZ34 with a pair of tung-sol 5881 RI and ... wow ... big power and organic crunch; using this pairing the deep switch really works (night and day) and sweeping the tone controls I achieved great tone results; this amp is a winner, I don't understand all the negative discussion about you, mission amp etc. This amp is versatile, sounds good and is under-priced for its cathegory.

Thanks for introducing me to this amp

Gianandrea

You're welcome, Gianandrea. I haven't tried the 5881 tubes in the amp, but I surely will now! The Tung Sol RI tubes are among my favorites; nice warm tone.

As for the negative discussions... It's mindless noise from those who feel a deperate need to defend their own purchases. I ignore it.

Spring Blues Fest

2011-05-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

Mission V-Front 5B4 Super - (Updated)

2011-05-07T08:02:00.001-07:00

I was visiting Mission Amps in Denver last week when Bruce Collins asked me to plug into a guitar amp he was ready to ship to see how it sounded with harp. It sounded sensational.

The amp was a clone of the late 40s - early 50s Fender Super, with the distinctive V front and chrome prow.

Very interesting amp: The front end is 3 octal NOS 6SL7 GT preamp tubes. The power section is two cathode biased 6L6 tubes with an NOS 5U4G coke bottle recto tube. It makes about 24 watts. A very old-school design, and very similar to my 1953 Masco ME-18 amp. No wonder I liked it so much.

The speakers are two Weber 10-inchers: a 10A100 and a 10A125.

I immediately loved the tone. It is so Chicago: Warm sag with a mellow crunch. The tone oozes like honey.

Contact Mission Amps for more info.

Four Eights

2011-05-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a cool little amp: The Gibson – Maestro “Accordion Amplifier.” Al Chesis of the Delta Sonics uses this amp for lower-volume gigs in smaller rooms. At his happy hour show at Tony’s Bistro in Denver last night the amp sounded really good.

I believe it is a Gibson – Maestro GA-45 amp. It has two 6V6 power tubes for about 14 watts, and FOUR 8-inch Jensen speakers.

I caught a short video clip of Nic Clark sitting in and blowing through the amp. I used my phone for the clip and the audio is very poor; my apologies. But I think you can get the flavor of the amp’s tone nonetheless.

The Harp Amp Survey is still open

2011-05-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

The Harp Amp Survey is open for another month. Please take a moment to respond to this questionnaire. We do not want any amps to be underrepresented in the poll.

Qblues Sizzle Reel

2011-05-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

This promo for a BBQ & Blues series on the Travel Channel includes a few seconds of me playing harp. Dan Treanor appears as well.

The Mission Chicago 32-20 harp amp: Cheap?

2011-04-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

The new theme now emanating from one of the competing amp makers is that the Mission Chicago amps are cheaply made, using inferior parts. I encountered one blowhard online who was particularly insistent about this, so I put him on the dime and asked him to be specific: Exactly what is cheap about the Mission amp? He replied that it was the circuit board, and he said he had pictures to prove it. In fact, he promised to send me the pictures the next day. Of course, they never arrived, even after I repeatedly requested them.

Here are the facts about the circuit board in the Mission harp amp: The eyelet board upon which the circuit is mounted is hand-fabricated from a fiber-reinforced polymer sheet. Vintage tube amps used a composite eyelet board that buckled when exposed to moisture. Anybody who has spent time with old tube amps has seen these buckled circuit boards, and the problems they cause such as noisy cracked solders. In fact, some makers of expensive amps use un-dyed versions of the same old composite boards, another invitation to future problems. The circuit boards in the Mission Chicago amps are impervious to moisture and heat.

The circuit board (pictured above in low resolution to preserve trade secrets) looks like a work of art. It is hand crafted, one board at a time by a master amp tech, not assembled in a factory like some other “custom” harp amps.

The components on the board were all chosen using only two criteria: tone and reliability. It did not matter if the component was the most or least expensive. For example, we spent many hours trying tone capacitors and listening to the differences. The NOS military-grade K40Y-9 paper-in-oil caps were by far the best, imparting a subtle human vocal quality to the tone. Most caps (including those used in some expensive custom harp amps) made no impact on the voice of the amp. None.

The transformers used in the Mission amps are custom wound in Chicago to Bruce Collins’specs. The chassis upon which all the electronics are mounted is made of thick chrome, fabricated and bent to Mission’s specs by a vendor here in Denver. The tweed cab is from Mojo Musical Supply, the same cab used by the two biggest custom harp amp sellers.

The speaker is an Eminence Cannabis Rex, chosen for its smoky tone and punchy character. Its 102db sensitivity rating gives the amp great efficiency and volume, with a gorgeous crunch and rip. This is a premium speaker, not a no-name rebranded compromise acquired from the lowest bidder. The Mission Chicago harp amp is sweet enough for recording and loud enough for a raucous blues jam.

For more than two decades Mission Amps have been known worldwide as serious tools for working players: Superb tone, beautiful build quality, and exceptional value. The competitors are evidently getting very nervous indeed.

============================

Disclaimer: I helped design and develop the first Mission Chicago 32-20 harp amp, which I own and use as my primary gig rig. I have no other relationship or interest with the company, other than Bruce Collins is a friend and occasional band mate.

Ziggies Famous Sunday Blues Jam - April 24, 2011

2011-04-25T15:37:00.001-07:00

This was one of the best moments of the jam, I think. Jasco killin it with the beer bottle slide. Dan Treanor blazing on harp. Steve Mignano just rippin' it up on the Les Paul, getting epic tone with zero pedals. I was a smilin' jam host at this point.

Dan is playing the Mystery Amp.

Mystery Amp: Modded Bassman RI in Sonny Jr Cab

2011-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

A buddy of mine bought this amp on eBay: It is a modified Fender Bassman chassis circa 2003 in a Sonny Jr 410 cabinet. The eBay seller did not misrepresent the amp at all, and my friend got the amp for only $750, which is a smokin’ good deal.

The seller said the chassis had been modified by Gary “Sonny Jr” Onofrio himself. I contacted Onofrio and sent along photos for his comment. He said he had no specific memory of working on this amp, and had no idea how it ended up in an SJ 410 cab. He said he may have modded the chassis back in the timeframe when he was transitioning from the 410 model to the Super Sonny amp. He took on custom work during that time of low amp sales.

When examining the Bassman chassis it is easy to see the mods. They are the standard tweaks that are typically used whenever adapting a guitar amp for use with blues harp: Convert to tube rectifier, larger than normal coupling caps, and lower idle plate current in the power tubes. There is nothing secret or magical in the tweaks here. Pretty standard stuff.

When bench tested the amp produced 32 watts just as it began to distort on the scope, and 39 watts at peak output.

One thing did stand out. Bassman RI owners often use low-gain 12AU7 tubes to calm the amp down and reduce feedback, and this amp was no exception. They get bad advice from yokels on the Internet who claim the AU7 tube is the magic bullet for the amp. In fact, the 12AU7 tube is incompatible in circuits designed for the 12AX7, such as the Bassman RI. The 12AU7 tube draws more current than the 12AX7, so the cheapo ¼- watt carbon film resistors found in many PCB amps get stressed, sometimes burning open and causing a nasty hum and damaging downstream components. In this case the tech changed the plate load resistors to a higher value. Good call.

This amp had a nasty sizzling noise that usually indicates a bad preamp tube or a bad solder joint. After resoldering several connections the noise went away.

The amp is loaded with four Alnico Blue speakers, which I believe are rebranded Eminence 1028s. We tried several different preamp tubes and finally settled on this combination: 5751 in the preamp socket, 12AX7 in the secondary gain stage, and 5751 in the phase inverter.

How did the amp sound? Good! Very good, in fact. It has less of that reedy edginess typical of the stock Bassman RI. It has a bit more wamth, with good note definition but not much crunch, which is normal with 4x10 harp amps. Nice big sound. I need to borrow the amp and play it in a performance setting to wring it out more, but I am initially impressed. (I'll be using this amp at the Sunday Blues Jam my band hosts at Ziggies Saloon in Denver this Sunday night.)

I am so impressed I plan to buy a used stock Bassman RI for a project amp. I’d like to see just how much tone can be wrung out of this amp. I suspect the amp can rival the expensive custom 410 amps for a lot less money.

NOTE: Many thanks to Bruce Collins at Mission Amps in Denver for helping with this article.

Harmonica Amplifier Poll

2011-04-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

* * * THIS SURVEY HAS ENDED * * *

Please see the results here.

============================

In my consulting company one of our biggest lines of business is public opinion polling. I plan to conduct a poll of harmonica players regarding the amplifier they use most frequently in a variety of settings. To participate simply reply to bluesharpamps@gmail.com with the answers to the questions below. Sorry, poll responses that are posted in the comments section of this blog will not be tabulated.

Your responses and email addresses will be kept strictly confidential and never used by anyone to contact you. The ONLY exception is if we need clarification for any of your poll responses. When the poll is finished I will publish the aggregate results only. The poll will close on June 1, 2011.

These questions apply to amplifiers you OWN. I know most harp players own multiple amps but please pick the one that most applies to each question.

Thank you very much for being a part of this poll. The questions begin here:

========================================

-What amplifier do you use most frequently in a performance setting, either Jam or Gig?

-What amplifier do you use most frequently for recording?

-What amplifier do you use most frequently for practice?

-How many amplifiers do you own that you use for harmonica?

-Thinking of the amplifier you named in Question 1, did you buy it new or used?

-Do you earn more than 25% of your income directly from playing harmonica?

OPTIONAL:

-What is your age?

-What is your gender?

-In what state do you live?

========================================

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Shameless Self Promotion

2011-04-15T08:57:00.001-07:00

Please visit The Blues Allstars page on Reverbnation and click on "Become a Fan."

Thanks!

The Cruncher Amps

2011-04-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

I’ve played and heard others play the Sonny Junior Cruncher and Super Cruncher many times, and I am only mildly impressed every time. A friend who is a good young player brought his Super Cruncher into my jam at Ziggies last week. Let me try to explain as clearly as I can what I dislike about the sound of these amps.

I hear it every time a Cruncher amp is played: First, a trebly nasal quality to the tone. Second, a serious lack of bottom end. Third, not much crunch, despite the name!

Those 8-inch tweeters in the Cruncher amp can be shrill. I am of the opinion that 8-inch speakers sound good ONLY in small class-A amps such as vintage Champs. Those circuits get their distortion in an entirely different way than a big fixed bias amp like the Cruncher, where the small speakers just kind of rattle as they break up.

Sonny Junior claims the 8-inch speakers help the amp “throw” the sound to the back of the room. That is true… They are beamy and project the treble tones well, but the low end rolls off about 10 feet in front of the amp, as if the speakers are out of phase.

Whenever anyone offers criticism of the Cruncher amps, its supporters point to the list of endorsers. What they don’t mention is the list of great harp players who chose not to play the Cruncher. Kim Wilson is arguably the best blues harp player in the world. Dave Barrett arguably has the best technique and tone. When you listen to either of them play it becomes evident why they choose other amps: Both of them like a deep warm sound. In this video Barrett is explicit about why he prefers a different amp: Deeper tone.

I feel the same way. A deep warm lush tone is a must in a good gigging harp amp. The Cruncher amps do have a bold sound, but there are other amps with better tone. The Cruncher’s nasal quality make it annoying after a while. Sure, when Charlie Musselwhite plays his Cruncher I can appreciate his amazing virtuosity and command of the instrument, but the whole time I’m wishing he were playing a better amp.

The Cruncher amps are popular because they have a bold sound some players love. And amp tone is of course entirely subjective and personal. I and others prefer a warmer, more natural amped tone.

UPDATE: Listen to an audio comparison - Cruncher amp vs. Mission Chicago 32-20 amp

MORE: I’ve heard from several Cruncher owners and former owners, some of whom agree with me and others who don’t, just as you would expect. One of them reminded me of something I should have made clearer in the original post.

If you stand in front of the amp and play it, it does indeed sound great. But that is not what your audience is hearing if you actually play in large rooms in front of people. When you stand in front of your amp the bass sounds huge and the highs are pointed at your knees. Highs are much more directional than lows.

If you use a wireless rig as I do you can walk around the club as you play and hear exactly how your amp sounds. Try walking out 30 feet from your amp and see what I mean. I frequently walk all the way to the back of the club to listen to my amp as I play.

When you play at home in your living room the Cruncher sounds nice and full. When you stand in front of it on stage you hear all the bass and little of the highs, so it sounds good to you. It’s a different story out front, and that is what I am talking about in this article.

Why Blues Jams are Important

2011-04-09T15:43:00.001-07:00

Blues music is kind of like baseball: It is often passed from father to son, from sister to brother. Without that generational link it will wither. Blues is oral history… It is three chords and the truth.

Blues jams have been an important tradition nearly since the beginning of the form, with raucous head-cutting sessions among jazz and blues players in New York City, and jams from Delta juke joints to Chicago night clubs. The blues Jam I host on Sundays at Ziggies Saloon in Denver is at the end of a long, long train of blues relationships, and I expect it will eventually help pull more boxcars that hook up along the way. Blues jams are about keeping that train rolling.

One of the things I like best about hosting the jam is encouraging new players. Playing in front of a crowd can be terrifying, especially the first time. The newbies who come to the jam and bust out their chops on stage for the first time are my heroes. Every blues jam has a debt – an obligation – to nurture the music. That means attracting, helping and inspiring new blues players.

I’ve seen new and intermediate players blossom over the year and a half I have hosted the jam at Ziggies. Playing on stage every week with musicians of all levels, some of them develop a real talent for the music and the show. A few have moved on to working bands.

Accomplished players frequent the jams to see friends, to try out new chops or gear, or to just share the joy of playing the music with others. Blues is a performance art. Practice is just waiting.

One of my goals for every jam is to put together at least one killer feature set; a set that includes some of the best working pros who drop in, perhaps backed by members of my band. My main duty as a jam host is to put on a good show, and that killer set can bring people back to the jam and help inspire the new players. At jams, aspiring performers pick up riffs and showmanship and attitude from the more seasoned players. They hear great tunes to add to their repertoire. It’s about paying it forward. The blues will abide.

Blues jams are about doing a simple thing very well. They are about a shared understanding – a visceral instinctive joy – for the sound of the Delta, and Memphis, and Chicago, and West Coast Jump, and all the regional dialects of the blues language.

A big shout out to my brothers and sisters who host blues jams. It doesn’t pay much, it is often chaotic, and you have to deal occasionally with drunk and/or egotistical jerks. But it is service to the blues tradition. It is helping to keep the blues alive.

# # #

UPDATE: People from all over the country have contacted me asking for permission to reprint this article. I am flattered. Anyone may reprint this verbatim with attribution. Please include a link back to here if possible. Thanks!

Denver's Best Blues Jam: And the winner is...

2011-04-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Westword magazine -- the definitive voice on Denver’s music scene -- has named The Sunday Blues Jam we host at Ziggies Saloon as Denver's Best Blues Jam - 2011.

Nic Clark playing a Bantam amp

2011-03-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Nic Clark with Another Kind of Magick. Nic is playing through his vintage Fender Bantam amp, using a Front & Center crystal mic.

The Bantam is a cool bass amp, with a wild speaker: Yamaha, asymetrical trapezoid shaped w/ white styrofoam cone.

Note: Everybody in this band is under 17 years old.

Shrimp Daddy

2011-03-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

Mike Reid is playing an Astatic JT-30 mic with 151 crystal element through a Harpking 6x10 100-watt amp. Great tone!

The Blues Allstars - Live at Ziggies

2011-03-04T11:23:00.000-08:00

I'm playing through the Mission Chicago 32-20 amp here. Steve Mignano on guitar, Mahlon Hawk on bass, and Bruce Collins sitting in on drums.

Blues News

2011-03-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

I've been elected to the Board of Directors of the Colorado Blues Society.

Champ at Work

2011-03-01T07:39:00.001-08:00

Our gig at Jazz @ Jacks in downtown Denver last night had one of those load-ins you dread: Up on the 3rd floor and with long carries. So, I decided to take my lightest amp, the 1971 Fender Champ. I played it at band practice the other day and was impressed by it's nice tone.

Holy crap! When I got it in the big room and cranked it up the little Champ came alive. It was very crunchy and compressed, like you'd expect out of a Champ, but more so. Like a Champ on steroids. It was filthy. And I mean that in a very good way.

This ain't yer daddy's Champ.... It's been modded for harp and has a 10-inch Weber speaker. Bruce Collins at Mission Amps in Denver put in Paper in Oil caps and tweaked the tone stack. He installed beefier transformers and even added a choke. It is twice as powerful as a normal silverface Champ, and way way nastier. It is the junkyard dog of Champ amps.

The gig went well; lots of comments on the harp tone; lots of hyperbole about the band. Our next show is this Saturday at Dazzle Nightclub in Denver, but I plan to play my regular gig rig, the Mission Chicago 32-20 amp. More color and not quite so much grit. But the Champ was a stone blast for one night, and it made the load-in and -out a breeze.

Ronnie Shellist endorses the Super Cruncher Amp

2011-02-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

Bad Amp, Good Amp

2011-02-25T11:00:00.001-08:00

A few days ago I spotted a used Ampeg J-12R reissue amp in my local Guitar Center store, for only $300. I knew it was an EL84 amp (an amp design using EL84 power tubes), a design whose tone I dislike. But I was curious about it and hopeful it might be the EL84 amp that finally changes my mind. I mentioned it to a harp-playing buddy - Gary - and the next thing I know he has the amp in his house. I was eager to head over there and put the amp through its paces.

It was awful. The worst ghost notes I've ever heard in a harp amp. Check out this video.

Yikes!

So, Gary returned the Ampeg amp to GC (ya gotta love their 30-day return policy) and picked out a Fender Hot Rod Deville 410 amp instead.

Now, that's more like it! This is a new amp but last year's model (not the newer "III" version.) It was marked at $799 but Gary got it for about $700. Four 10-inch speakers, 60 watts, very muscular sound.

This is the same amp Kim Wilson uses when he plays big venues, except he uses TWO of them. Kim uses an ART tube preamp to warm up the tone a bit, so Gary tried his Behringer tube preamp. It worked very well. The -20db pad got the signal under control and the preamp drive gave the tone a bit more color. Nice rig, for not much money.

The downside, of course, is the bulk and weight of the amp. It weighs 53 pounds, which can get old real fast. The pluses for the amp are its good tone and very powerful presence, which makes it ideal for loud blues jams. (Are there any other kind?)

I like the amp with the outboard tube preamp. The last time I played a Deville was several years ago and it was a feedback demon. I've been wanting to try the amp again since hearing Kim Wilson wail through a pair of them last summer at a festival. I know he used an AFB+ anti-feedback pedal, and his volume was absolutely enormous. Playing in Gary's house it certainly seemed that the Deville had plenty of volume before feedback for normal gigging. Gary plans to bring the amp to the blues jam I host at Ziggies in Denver on Sundays, so I'll thrash it out there and report back. So far I'm impressed.

My Champ Amp at Band Practice

2011-02-12T07:54:00.000-08:00

The audio is from band practice the other night. Recorded on a Zoom Q3 sitting off to the side. The little Champ was singin'...

Comparing Performance Volume Before Feedback in Mid-Sized Harp Amps

2011-02-10T12:09:00.000-08:00

A friend who is a very good working harp player wrote to ask my opinion of one specific issue when comparing the Mission Chicago 32-20 amp and the Sonny Jr. Cruncher: Performance volume before feedback. Here is what I wrote back to him:

Good question, but I don't really have a definitive answer. The Cruncher amp is quite good, actually, despite the overblown claims made for it. Some guy on Harp-L a few days ago said his Cruncher sounded better than a 6x10 HarpKing. Please...

The Mission is slightly louder overall, and has slightly better feedback performance (and much better tone), but both amps are meant to be lined-out on loud stages. They are both compromises between volume and bulk. It is possible to overwhelm either amp on a really loud stage.

I find when I raise the amp up on a milk crate it makes it a lot easier to for me to hear. Both amps get lost when they are sitting on the floor. I don't tilt the amp back because pointing it at my mic can increase the feedback potential.

It's always a battle. Bigger 4x10 Bassman-type amps have better perceived volume for the player, partly because the top two speakers are elevated. But many of us dislike the weight and awkwardness of these beasts, so we put up with the compromises in a smaller lighter amp.

As I wrote in my blog recently, the sound is glorious when the amp is mic'ed up by a good sound guy and run through a really good system. Even Rick Estrin's 100-watt 6x10 HarpKing amp gets mic'ed up when he plays clubs in Denver, the same clubs I play. It just sounds better that way.

Sorry this does not answer your specific question. The Mission 32-20 and Cruncher amps are similar in volume and feedback resistance (and physical dimensions). The differences are in tone and price.

The Blues Allstars

2011-02-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

Winter Blues Fest 2011

2011-02-08T18:01:00.001-08:00

Lionel Young Band at the IBC

2011-02-07T07:12:00.000-08:00

Denver's own Lionel Young Band, winners of the 2011 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

Nic Clark Advances to the Semi-Finals in Memphis

2011-02-06T07:13:00.001-08:00

15-year old Nic Clark and his band Another Kind of Magick advanced all the way to the semi-finals at the IBC in Memphis. Everyone in the band is under 17-years old! Memphis is buzzing about them.

I hear Nic also won the Blues Knowledge Bowl at the IBC. Quite a week for Nic.

Here is a video of Nic playing at at blues jam at Ziggies in Denver last year. I should have lots of video of Nic in Memphis in a few days.

Colorado Blues Society Elections

2011-02-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

The Colorado Blues Society is holding elections for Officers and Board Members. If you are a member you can vote online at this link.

Memphis Maniphesto

2011-02-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: The Lionel Young Band WINS the IBC Competition in Memphis!

Local blues maven Honey Bee Sepeda is live-blogging the trip to Memphis with Colorado Blues Society's International Blues Challenge winner, The Lionel Young Band.

Lionel Young won the national IBC title for solo/duo acts a couple of years ago, and now he's going back to win the band title. He's a great player and entertainer. My band Roadhouse Joe lost to Lionel's band in the finals of the IBC hosted by the Colorado Blues Society last summer.

Blues Jam

2011-01-31T13:15:00.000-08:00

I like this video clip from the Ziggies blues jam last night: Dan Solem tearin' it up on harp, Todd playing his cigar box guitar, Bubba on drums, and Cal on bass. All of them belting out a fun tune, "High Heeled Sneakers."

Dan is playing a Sonny Jr 410 amp, about 3 years old, and a JT-30 mic with a Shure CM element.

Club Sound

2011-01-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

I've played in lots of clubs over the last several years, and a couple days ago I played a club with the best sound system/sound guy I've heard in a long time. It was in Cervantes' Other Side in Denver. The photo above was shot during load-in, with the sound guy walking toward the booth.

There is not much that sounds better to my ear than a great harp amp running though a great system. The tone was glorious; rich and full. I could hear myself perfectly through the monitors, every nuance, so my dynamics were easy. I never had to strain or try to feel my way through.

The monitors were old EVs from the 80s: Loud and Heavy! I own the same beasts and I love the sound but hate the weight.

In the top photo you can barely see my Mission Chicago 32-20 amp peeking over the monitor. The amp was on a milk crate and it was mic'ed up with a Shure SM57 on a stand. It wasn't lined out. There was a slight feedback issue if I stood directly in front of the left monitor, so I moved to the right a bit and everything was cool.

Fans who follow us from club to club raved about the sound. So did my bandmates. This was off-the-chart good. Too bad all clubs don't sound like this...

Gig Flyer - The Blues Allstars

2011-01-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

My Gig Rig

2011-01-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

In my website traffic statistics I noticed a Google search for "what kind of harp does Rick Davis play?" Here's the answer: Hohner Special 20, Marine Band Deluxe, and Crossover harps. At this time all my harps are stock, out of the box.

Here is the rest of my gear, going down the signal chain:

1- Hohner harp

2- Front and Center mic w/crystal element

3- Line6 digital wireless

4- Deltalab DD1 digital delay pedal

5- Mission Chicago 32-20 harp amp

Thanks for asking...

A reader plays his stock VHT Special 6 amp

2011-01-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Nice!

Tube Showdown in VHT Special 6 Amp

2011-01-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here are three videos that illustrate the sonic differences between three preamp tubes in the VHT Special 6 amp.

Harp players often change the preamp tubes in amps, almost reflexively... They want to quiet the amp down a bit to control feedback, and they want to warm up the tone slightly. All too often the harp player will rely on advice -- often bad advice -- gleaned from Internet harp forums or from other players. I wanted to do a test everybody could hear and make their own judgements.

I chose the modded VHT Special 6 amp because it is a Class A single-ended amp, which makes it a perfect test bed for a tube test. The circuit is simple yet sounds so sweet.

The tubes I chose were the stock 12AX7 that comes in the VHT amp, a NOS JAN Philips 5751, and a NOS GE 5965. The 5751 has about 70 percent of the gain of the 12AX7, while the 5965 (12AV7) has about 40 percent of the gain of a 12AX7. Both are thought to be warmer than the standard tube. The 5965 is quite similar to the 12AY7 tube many players use.

In these videos the audio is normalized to a common level, so you will not be able to hear the changes in volume from one tube to the other. I wanted too focus on tone rather than volume. NOTE: The back panel is off the amp in all three tests. Here are the amps setting for all three tubes. The pull boost was not on:

First, the stock 12AX7 tube: There is nothing wrong with the tone of this tube. I like its punchy, gutsy feel. You could leave this tube in the amp and love the tone. It is loud but just a touch bright without being overly harsh. Cuts through the mix like a hack saw.

As many of you know, the JAN Philips 5751 tube is my favorite preamp tube for harp, and I think it stands out here. It sounds fuller and warmer than the 12AX7, with a broader more complex tone. Breakup sounds more pleasing to me. It sounded as loud as the stock tube.

The 5965 tube had a rather large drop in volume, and the sound was kind of lifeless and un-dynamic. It was the darkest sounding of three tubes. In bigger, more powerful amps this may be okay, but in a 5- or 6-watt amp it just sacrifices too much punch and power.

Both the stock 12AX7 and the 5751 sound great in this amp. Either one is a good choice, but I give the nod to the 5751. What do you think?

The Phase Inverter Tube

2010-12-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

The least understood tube in your vintage harp amp is the phase inverter. What the heck does it do?

In amps with two or more power tubes the phase inverter (PI) splits the music – after the preamp gain and tone stack EQ – into two out-of-phase signals. Each of your pairs of power tubes gets one of the signals to each tube, so that one tube pushes the sound and the other pulls it. If you have a master volume amp there is another gain stage after the phase inverter, but that is a different topic.

Amps with only one power tube don’t need a phase inverter. One of the main differences you hear between single ended amps and Class AB amps (with multiple power tubes) is the phase inverter. Stick with me here while I explain.

The common theory you hear spouted over and over by harp players is that we want to reduce the preamp gain in our amps so that we get to that sweet spot of power tube distortion before we hit the feedback threshold. Heck, I used the believe that myself, but I've come to learn that it means a lot more in small single ended amps.

In Class AB harp amps the power tubes are almost never driven hard enough to distort much. What you hear is the phase inverter breaking up! The power tubes just amplify that and pass it along. It can be a very sweet tone with a nice organic breakup.

The phase inverter circuit is not a gain stage, so the difference in amplitude you hear from a 12AX7, say, to a 12AU7 is not as great in the PI socket as it would be in the preamp socket. The goal in the choice of PI tube is no so much to quiet the amp down as it is to get a nice warm dynamic distortion when you hit the amp hard.

In general, my advice is to leave the phase inverter tube alone. Many amp makers now use all 12AX7 tubes in the preamp section (first and second gain stages and PI tube) to keep things simple and cheap. Older Fender amps used a 12AT7 as the PI. (Note: Never use a 12AT7 tube in any circuit for which it was not specifically designed. The AT7 is a terrible tone generator and very different from other tubes in the 12A?7 family.)

But, you CAN improve the tone of your amp by plugging in a 5751 in the PI socket. As you may know, this is my favorite input tube for harp amps. It is an industrial grade 12AX7 with slightly less gain and a warmer tone. Going all the way to a low-gain 12AU7 will give you more clean headroom, which is not really what you want in the phase inverter.

Or, you can throw out everything you just read and try it yourself. The phase inverter does not have to be biased or anything like that, so this is pretty much plug ‘n’ play. The PI tube is usually the small tube closest to the bigger power tubes. In a Fender Blues Junior, for example, it is the third small tube. Start counting at the tube closest to where you plug in your mic.

I’d encourage you to try the 12DW7 trick as well: very interesting results.

Remember to turn your amp off when swapping tubes and BE CAREFUL! Getting zapped can ruin your day. But understanding the role of the phase inverter tube in your vintage-style harp amp can help you get where you want to be tone-wise.

NOTE: Coming up soon I will have a video tone comparison of three different input tubes in the VHT Special 6 amp: The stock 12AX7, an NOS JAN Philips 5751, and an NOS 5965 tube.

Feedback and the Rectifiers

2010-12-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

[Hmmmm. That would be a great name for a band.]

A reader emailed me to ask if it is true that changing to a copper plug-in solid state rectifier “will get you more power without feedback.”

The short answer is, No.

Let’s review feedback for a moment: We all know it well. When your amp starts to howl the very first thing you do is turn down either your amp or your mic. In other words, you reduce the amplitude of your entire system: harp, mic, and amp.

Also, we all know that if we crank up the treble on our amp it is more likely to start howling feedback, so we usually have the treble set relatively low.

Swapping your tube rectifier for a copper recto of the same value will result in a slightly increased B+ voltage and a reduction in vintage sag tone, which gives the perception of a tighter, more present sound. Does it make your amp truly louder? Maybe very slightly louder, but it would be hard to hear.

Will it reduce feedback? How could it? All the remedies we know of for feedback involve reduced amplitude and/or EQ filters. The rectifier does neither. The claim is bogus.

Update: Here is a good article about rectifiers, solid state vs. tube.

Review: Dan Treanor – My Blues Diary

2010-12-14T08:13:00.000-08:00

Dan Treanor’s latest album is a tour de force; a musical roadmap of Dan’s blues journey from 1997 to the present. Yet each cut shares a stylistic and thematic key with the others. This is truly the blues diary of the last 14 years from a man steeped in blues music, and blues harp in particular.

The talent on the album is impressive. Darryl Lee sings most of the cuts with an understated passion and brief moments of sobbing power. It is a unique and effective blues voice. People I know on the album include session man Rich Reno – a great slide guitarist – and my bandmate Charles Billiris. Outstanding bluesman Randall Dubis also makes an appearance on ‘Blue Bossa,’ the 6th track. The entire roster is impressive.

But this is Dan Treanor’s baby and you can tell he loves it. Dan is known mostly for his brilliant harp playing and it is on good display here. His teasing, lilting harp lines on Sonny Boy’s “Nine Below Zero” are beautiful. His tone on the Chicago-style “Love Me With A Feeling” is worthy of Maxwell Street. Dan is at his best in minor blues with a Latin beat, and there are a couple of those gems on the CD. Lonesome Railroad Track, 3 O’Clock in the Morning, Stoop Down Baby; they all kill. My band performed the song “Cut With Dynamite” at the Colorado Blues Society IBC Finals with Dan sitting in. All thirteen tracks are keepers.

The album is well produced. The sound is warm and personal across all the cuts. Vocals are vibrant and detailed. I thought the opening to Mean Woman Blues was a bit heavy, but that is mild criticism.

Mostly this album is about Dan Treanor’s love for blues harmonica. His licks are actually infrequent, but always beautifully soulful. I’ve already heard phrases I plan to steal.

I give this album a IV+ on the I-IV-V scale of blues harp excellence. Highly recommended. Contact Dan Treanor to find out how to get the CD: daniel2102@comcast.net

The Mission Chicago 32-20 Harp Amp

2010-12-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

Bruce Collins at Mission Amps tells me the Chicago 32-20 amp is selling extremely well. Players are buying it for the warm crunchy tone and great features you can’t find on any other amp. You can switch the amp from fixed bias to cathode bias which changes the texture of the tone. You can use the DEEP switch to fatten your sound, like the loudness switch on old Hi-Fi gear. Another switch disables the cathode bypass capacitor. All these adjustments allow you to tailor the basic circuit design of your amp to your tonal tastes.

Players are also choosing the Chicago 32-20 amp because of its tremendous value. At only $999 it is hundreds less than other amps in its class. Every Chicago 32-20 amp is hand-built by a master amp maker who is known worldwide for tone. Bruce uses only New Old Stock (NOS) military-grade paper in oil tone capacitors and solders every part himself.

When the amp was being designed, special attention was paid to the rectifier. The copper solid state rectifiers were tried but discarded in favor of real tube rectifiers. The copper solid state rectos deliver slightly more B+ voltage with less sag, which is why they give the impression of “tightening up” the sound, or making an amp sound more “crisp.” But that is at the expense of real tube sag and the warmth it provides. It would have compromised the true vintage tone of the amp. The rectifier tube is one of the tone generating components in a vintage tube harp amp, and solid state just doesn’t cut it.

Mission Harp Amps

Comparison: Kalamazoo amp vs. VHT Special 6

2010-12-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

Once again, here is the video of Nic Clark playing the modified VHT Special 6 amp:

Here are three links to Youtube videos of the Kalamazoo amp:

Kalamazoo model 1 blues harp amp

custom kalamazoo harp amp model 1

Kalamazoo amp and BluexLab harp mic

The Kalamazoo amp suffers from a design that gives it that raspy harsh tone: It uses a single EL84 power tube, while the VHT Special 6 amp uses the warmer sounding 6V6 power tube. The 6V6 was the tube used in many classic harp amps from the glory days of tone… Amps such as the Fender Champ and Princeton, vintage Gibson amps, the National/Supro amps, the classic Premier amps like the Twin 8, and cool old PA amps like the Newcomb E-10B.

I cannot think of any classic harp amps that used a single EL84 tube. The EL84 has a characteristic tone that I call a “crackly mush.” The tube has a very low negative bias voltage, so the tube is driven to square wave distortion very easily. I wrote about the details of this problem here: EL84 Harp Amps.

The 6V6 tube has a much warmer tone and smoother distortion, which is why it was the choice of so many of the great blues harp players of the 50s.

The Kalamazoo amp has been popular as a low cost practice amp for harp players. One particular vendor rehabs these old amps and sells them for $269 for a “beat up Model 1,” and up to $379 for a “really clean Model 2.” No matter which one you buy, you still get and old amp made of particle board that often disintegrates when exposed to moisture.

For less than $200 you can buy a brand new VHT Special 6 whose cabinet is made entirely of finger jointed plywood. Its circuit is soldered point-to-point on an eyelet board, and it is guaranteed for 5 years (90 days on speaker and tubes). The amp circuit is essentially a vintage Fender Blackface Champ, with a 10-inch speaker in a larger cabinet.

When bench tested the VHT amp produces an honest 6 watts of power right at the point it begins to clip. It is very loud for a small amp. The Kalamazoo amps produce about 3 watts at the point they begin to clip. Some vendors claim the amps put out 8 or 10 watts, but that is an exaggeration and does not comport with the generally accepted methods of measuring amp power for the purpose of comparison.

Right out of the box the VHT is a much better harp amp than the more expensive Kalamazoo. Its tone is warmer and more dynamic, and much bigger and less boxy. For about the cost of the “beat up” Kalamazoo amp you could purchase a brand new upgraded VHT amp that is among the sweetest I have ever heard.

UPDATE: From Wikipedia - "When overdriven, the EL84 power tubes in these amplifiers produce a distinctive chiming, articulate, treble-heavy sound..." Yep, that's what I hear when harp is played through the Kalamazoo and other EL84 amps.

Nic Clark playing the Modified VHT Special 6 amp

2010-12-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

Great tone, eh? And it sounds huge. The amp was on 3 (9 o'clock on the volume control) and everybody was like, "Holy crap, that thing is loud." This was during a break at Ronnie Shellist's blues harp workshop last Sunday.

VHT Special 6 Amp - Modified for Blues Harp

2010-11-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

This is an amazing little amp to start with, and these mods make it even better.

Bruce Collins at Mission Amps modified the voicing and tone stack as described in the previous blog post. The changes were actually very small: a few components on the eyelet circuit board. Anybody who can solder could do it.

I installed an Eminence Lil' Buddy speaker, mostly because it has a hemp cone similar to the Cannabis Rex speaker I use in my Mission Chicago 32-20 amp.

The amp has a JJ Tesla 6V6 S power tube in it in this video, but the stock power tube sounds the same.

The delay pedal -- with a small amount of delay -- is ON when the video starts. The delay is OFF after you see me hit the button.

Here are the differences I hear in the modified amp:

-It is louder than the stock amp. The Eminence speaker is more efficient.

-It is warmer/darker than the stock amp. Bruce voiced it lower, and the Eminence speaker is less bright. IMPORTANT NOTE: The amp is sitting on a pedestal in this video, up off the floor and away from the walls and corners. That gives it a truer sound, with less exaggeration of the bass tones. If you put the amp on the floor or against the wall the bass with be more apparent.

-The sound is bigger and less boxy.

-The break-up is more organic. The stock amp had a slight crackly, reedy quality to the tone.

-The amp tips over into nice distortion when you push it a little bit. You can hear that in the second part of this video when I play the blues riff a second time a little harder. This is because of the circuit mods.

-The amps seems more dynamic and musical. I gotta tell ya... it is a blast to play!

I played this amp at a loud blues jam at Ziggies Saloon in Denver on Sunday and it did well. I got lots of nice comments on my tone. It is not as robust and powerful as my normal gig rig, so I had trouble hearing myself in the loudest moments. The next mod will be a line out, so I can put a bit of the amp through the monitors. That will be perfect. In all but the loudest situations I think the amp will do just fine by itself.

So, I paid $200 to Amazon.com for the amp. It arrived in five days, no shipping charge. The speaker sells for $75. There is no real need to change the stock tubes unless you are an inveterate tinkerer (like me). The tubes sound fine. For $275 you can own a killer little harp amp that beats the pants off the EL84 amps like Kalamazoo, Epiphone, and Fender Pro Jr.

With the circuit mods the amp steps up to a whole new level and becomes a true harp amp. It has the tone and feel you crave... It's a boutique harp amp for a fraction of the cost.

I am thinking of offering a kit for the circuit mods. If there is interest in this, let me know. I will produce detailed instructions including a video, and include all parts and wires. I may also offer complete conversions. If I get some demand for this I'll come up with some prices and publish them here. The price of the mod kit would be quite modest, for sure.

VHT Special 6 Harp Amp Project – Step One

2010-11-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

Today the Special 6 project amp spent some time at Mission Amps in Denver for testing and first-step harp mods. Here is what I can tell you:

-The amp produces its rated power of 6 watts with about 5 percent distortion at two o'clock on the volume control (it is not numbered). Feedback is well controlled. The amp is very well made, with a hand-crafted circuit similar in design to a blackface Fender Champ from the mid-60’s era.

-Changing to a 6L6 power tube in the amp does nothing to increase the power or improve the tone. It sounds and performs better with a 6V6. Also, the magnet on the stock ceramic speaker makes many 6L6 tubes a very tight fit.

Right out of the box this is a very good harp amp. It is among the most harp-friendly guitar amps I’ve seen. A harp player could buy this amp and do nothing to it, and get great tone from it.

But the amp does have a few compromises that can be improved upon to make it more suitable for outstanding blues harp tone:

-The slope of the tone stack is too trebly. It needs to be shifted downward.

-There is a slight reedy quality to the tone that detracts from its warmth.

So, we decided to make a few simple modifications to the tone stack, making it more like the circuit in a tweed Bassman amp. Each of these mods was tested by playing the amp to ensure the tone was improved in the way we expected. We sometimes had to try several different component values to get the tone just right.

We changed the tone stack slope resistor, the bright cap, and the cathode bypass cap, and changed the plate voltage on the preamp tube.

The result is a smoother, warmer tone without the reedy quality. The voice of the amp has been shifted downward, and its tonal girth has been enhanced. It retains the nice crunch and grit. It is a very fine sounding blues harp amp.

Remember, at this point the amp still has its original tubes and speaker, and I am in no hurry to change them. I suspect the speaker will break in well, and the stock tubes sound great. I’ll try other tubes later, after I’ve played it more and made certain the circuit mods are as they should be.

UPDATE 11/26/11: The amp is substantially louder now. Same room, amp settings, mic, and harp. I suspect the speaker got broken in during all the hard playing at Mission Amps while we were proto-typing the mods. The tweaks to the tone stack also focus more of the amps energy on the harp spectrum.

Jump to review of this amp with mods

VHT Special 6 Amp - First Impressions

2010-11-23T13:25:00.001-08:00

My new VHT Special 6 amp arrived a couple of hours ago and I've already given it a hard workout. My first impressions? I'm impressed! Very impressed. This little amp sounds great right out of the box.

The VHT Special 6 is a point-to-point wired tube amp that sells for $200.00. The power tube is a 6V6, the same tube that powered vintage Fender and Gibson amps and has such wonderful natural harp tone.

Here are a couple of videos I made within minutes of the UPS guy dropping it off. In the first vid I am playing a bullet mic with a Shure CM element, very similar to a vintage Green Bullet mic. In the second video I'm playing a Front & Center mic with a crystal element.

The Shure mic is plugged into the "Lo" input and the F&C mic is plugged into the "Hi" input. Otherwise, the controls were the same for both.

This little 6-watt (nominal) amp has caused me to rethink my favorite starter amps. Already, this VHT seems to have more volume and much better tone than the low-priced EL84 amps such as the Epiphone Valve Junior. It's 10-inch speaker blows away the Fender Champion 600, and it just runs rings around the old Kalamazoo amps. The amp has a natural warmth and crunchiness and it responds well to the pressure you put on the microphone. It is essentially a blackface Fender Champ with 10-inch speaker for $200. Amazing.

The VHT Special 6 amp begs for mods with its intelligent open design, eyelet board, and point-to-point wiring. The next step will be to take this little gem to Mission Amps in Denver for bench testing and upgrades. As I said, stay tuned...

Jump to Step One Mods

VHT Special 6 Amp

2010-11-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I ordered the VHT Special 6 amp from Amazon.com. This will be a new harp project amp, with great potential. Stay tuned on this one....

Update: Mission Chicago Amp

2010-11-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

Bruce Collins has posted a few interesting details to his Mission Harp Amps website. He has changed the name slightly to the Mission Chicago 32-20 amp. As far as I know there are no changes in the design or features or sound.

One detail he added concerned the output transformers used in the amp: "Custom made, oversized windings and vintage style open frame, paper bobbin." These are the same killer OTs he's used since the amp was first offered for sale.

Bruce recently shipped a Chicago amp with 5881 power tubes that produced 41 watts in fixed bias mode. Crikey! It retained all the warm tonal qualities of the 6L6 amps, but with more bark and punch. What a beast...

Update: My bad... The tubes Bruce used in the 32-20 amp to get 41 watts were 6L6WXT+ tubes. You can order the Chicago 32-20 amp with these tubes, no extra cost.

Smackdown! – Harpgear HG35 vs. Mission Chicago 32-20

2010-11-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

Let me say right up front that I think Brian Purdy at Harpgear makes excellent harp amps. For years I have recommended to my students and others that they buy the Harpgear HG2, a 5-watt tweed Champ clone with outstanding tone and build quality.

I’d heard and played the HG35 amp on several occasions, and at a blues jam last night I had the opportunity to play both it and my Mission Chicago amp and do a close comparison.

The two amps are similar: The HG35 claims 35 watts of power, while the Mission amp claims 32. They are both built in tweed cabinets of roughly the same size, with the Harpgear amp using two 10-inch speakers and the Mission amp using a single 12-inch speaker.

The basic circuits are similar, with twin 6L6 tubes providing the power in each amp. These tubes are cathode biased in the Harpgear amp, and that presents one of the biggest contrasts between the two: The Mission amp is switchable from cathode bias to fixed bias, and I prefer to play it in the fixed bias mode.

I have been curious about the Harpgear HG35 for this reason: Claiming 35 watts from a cathode biased 2x6L6 amp is unusual. Using the standard method of measuring output wattage, it is tough to get more than about 25 watts from this configuration in a harp amp.

This difference was evident last night when I played the two amps on stage at a blues jam. The 32-watt Mission amp is substantially louder than the 35-watt Harpgear HG35. In fact, the Mission amp has a remarkably fuller tone at half volume than the Harpgear has at three quarters volume.

Both amps produce good tone, but the Mission amp produces a bigger tone with noticeably more crunch and bottom end. I switched back to the Mission amp because I was concerned I would not be heard in the loud jam setting.

The Harpgear amp has a cleaner sound, and I am sure that is a feature that Brian designed into the amp. His amps are known for this. The amp sounded brighter and more directional. It was a bit more prone to feedback.

When I switched the Mission amp to cathode biased mode its volume dropped to a level similar to the Harpgear amp, but the tone retained more of a vintage-style warmth. Overall, the Mission amp breaks up more readily than the Harpgear amp.

For those who prefer a cleaner tone and always play in situations with low-to-moderate stage volume, the Harpgear HG35 could be a good choice. For players looking for a bigger crunchier tone, the Mission Chicago 32-20 amp might be a better choice.

Interview at Ziggies

2010-11-09T13:02:00.001-08:00

We were interviewed during the Sunday Blues Jam that we host at Ziggies in Denver. Charles Billiris (guitar player/singer) and I are standing out on the sidewalk in front of the club while the jam goes on.

The Truth About Gear

2010-11-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

It is an arcane debate that rages forever on music forums and elsewhere: How important is gear to your tone?

The Curmudgeons in this argument insist tone comes only from the player, and too much attention is paid to gear. The Gear Heads lust after one piece of gear after another, dreaming that some combination of hardware will give them that perfect blues harp tone.

I’ve been in both camps at various times. Here is the truth about gear:

-No matter what gear you use, you will still sound like you. People who are familiar with your playing will still immediately recognize it and most of those people won’t notice much difference no matter what gear you are playing.

-Players spend an enormous amount of time and money on custom gadgets that do not improve their tone, and in fact may make it worse. This includes vintage or custom mics, pedals, amps, harps, etc.

For good blues harp tone you need an amp and a mic, period. Let’s start there. After you are satisfied with your tone it is fair to experiment. But when I read (rather frequently) about new players spending big bucks on a custom harp amp and then throwing a bunch of pedals in front of it I cringe.

A custom harp amp will not improve your tone, technique, or playing, expect to the extent it inspires you to practice more. And a good-sounding amp will certainly raise your level of excitement and commitment to the craft. The value of a custom harp amp is this: It allows you to focus on your tone. It will be less likely to have screaming feedback, and it will have the potential to reward good playing. It can make you a better player if you work at it.

You don’t need an exotic vintage or custom microphone. You most certainly don’t need a “HOT HOT HOT!” element, as advertised on eBay and elsewhere. That high output will kill your tone, and the flame paintjob will be indifferent to your tooting and honking. Much money is wasted on expensive mics that do nothing to improve your tone.

If you have a good harp amp (see above) you don’t need any pedals except for perhaps a simple delay pedal. A complex pedal chain is a waste of your money and an impediment in your quest for good tone. And, the arguments over which delay pedal is best are often absurd. There is nothing about blues harmonica that demands a certain circuit in a delay pedal. As long as the pedal sounds good to you it is perfect. The pedal I use costs $60 and sounds great.

If you aspire toward good blues harp tone you don’t need $200 custom harps or demon tweaks from high-priced amp Gurus. You need a good basic rig: a harp amp and mic, and maybe a delay pedal. You need these working tools, and that’s it. Other players don’t sound better than you because they have exotic or expensive gear. They sound better because they practice more or are simply more gifted.

Bugera V5 Amp

2010-11-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was over at Gary Yates' house to practice harp and go over some points from Ronnie Shellist's harp workshop last week. Gary had a little Bugera V5 amp set up and I played it for a few minutes. It was fun!

The tones from the amp are good, and feedback was not a problem. Gary had a small tube preamp hooked up but I preferred the sound when I plugged straight into the amp.

It's a little 5-watt bugger with a 12AX7 preamp, an EL84 power tube, and a solid state rectifier. Controls are gain, tone, volume, and reverb. Fiddling with the gain and volume I was able to get some pleasing harp tone. The digital reverb is usable but a bit too watery.

It also has a power attenuator on the back panel, but this will be a lot more useful for guitar heroes than for harp players. It has settings for full power, 1 watt, or a tenth of a watt.

Interesting feature: It has a headphone out connection; a 1/4 inch jack that would work fine for a line out into a PA system.

The Bugera V5 sells for about $150. It is certainly worthy of consideration if you're looking for a small harp amp and your budget is modest.

Fender Champion 600 Mods

2010-10-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Sunday blues jam my band hosts at Ziggies in Denver was a madhouse last week. There was a full house of jammers and fans, and it cranked up to a really gonzo level. It was loud, rockin’, and fun.

AC Blue came in late with a cool little Fender Champion 600 amp he wanted to try in a live setting. This is a little 5-watt amp with one 6V6 power tube, way too wimpy for blues jams. It sells new for about $150.

Earlier in the week AC had taken the amp to Bruce Collins at Mission Amps to make it more harp-friendly and add a line out. Bruce changed out some of the tone capacitors to reduce the highs and boost the low mids. He lowered the preamp tube plate voltages and dropped some of the first preamp stage gain.

AC is also a wicked keys player, so his idea was to use the new line-out jack to route the little amp’s signal through his big solid state keyboard amp when he is playing harp. That’s what he did at the jam.

It sounded great. The tone was warm, with plenty of rip and grunt. It cut through the loud blues jam like a hacksaw.

He was using the little amp like a pedal; you sure couldn’t hear it by itself. But, after the jam was over he still had a cool little practice amp with nice tone.

The jam was so busy and rowdy I neglected to get photos or video of AC’s amp. Bummer, maybe next time. I’ll update this post then.

Review of the Mission Chicago amp from Mojo Red

2010-10-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

[NOTE: Mojo Red -- AKA Ken Mergentime -- is a very fine harp player well known to the blues harp commmunity. He sent this review unsolicited to the Harp-L list.]

I own the first production version of the Chicago amp by Mission (built by Bruce Collins). I've been playing through it for several months now and I LOVE it. It's got some great features for harp players and looks just beautiful with its tweed 1950s Fender style cabinet.

Anyway, here are my impressions:

Things I love:
- The lacquered tweed cabinet (Fender 1955 Wide Panel Deluxe) is beautiful!

- The single 12" speaker (Eminence Patriot "Cannabis Rex") is VERY efficient and can handle a whole lot of output without breaking a sweat.

- Plenty of power (@ 35 watts) so I'm never buried in the mix unless I want to be.

- GREAT set of natural overtones. This thing is rich with overtones, and just sings! The more I play through it the more I love it as I discover -- through varying my attack, vibrato, cupping techniques, tongue slaps etc. -- that this amp really responds spectacularly well, and offers a very nice pallet of tones.

For example, by using a delayed attack on a low harp, I can get a wonderful trombone-like sound (a-la-Dennis Gruenling). This I never expected, and really kicks butt on those slow blues numbers, especially 3rd position minors.

- I love the "Deep" switch which boosts the bottom end response. I just leave that sucker on all the time. Playing a low harp, like your G or Low-D can be a powerful experience -- it's all out front, despite the band's volume. This is a GREAT feature!

- I love the line-out on this amp as it has it's own volume control on the amp! I've had several occasions to use it now, and it's MUCH better than micing the amp. Once set up, if I need more through the mains, I can tweak it myself (drives the sound guys crazy).

- The tone (bass/treble) controls really REALLY effect the tone (what a concept). Other amps I've used, the tone controls seem wimpy for harp.

- The amp has two inputs (Hi and Lo) for using different types of mics. I'm using the Lo input for really hot mics, like my 1950s Green Bullet and my super-hot wood-bodied crystal, and use the Hi input for lower-output mics, like my JT-30, or my RE-10.

- It comes with a switch that allows you to change from cathode bias to fixed bias on the fly. The difference is subtle to my ears, but one provides a little more vintage sound to my ears, so I leave it there (not sure which bias that is, however, as they are not marked).

- It has a gigantic 50-watt power transformer which I'm told is the secret for the HUGE bottom end you can project.

- The feedback resistance on this amp is phenomenal, even at hi volumes. Not completely immune, but easily managed.

- I haven't added any pedals to the amp yet, but Bruce tells me it's very "pedal friendly" whatever that means. I'll take his word on that as he's come through with everything else he's promised.

- Bruce, incidentally, is GREAT to work with. Since mine was the first production model, he would often come to my band's weekly blues jam to hear for himself how the amp was breaking in. He actively solicited my thoughts/impressions as a player. Bruce, BTW, is an engineer who really knows his stuff. He's been building custom tube amps for guitar players since the 1980s. The Chicagoamp is his first go at a purpose-built harp amp and he's hit a home-run in my opinion.

- The pricing on this amp is fantastic. Much less than comparable harp amps from other custom builders, yet the quality is still amazingly high.

Things I don't love:
- Initially, I found my amp to be a little edgy/harsh with high-key harps (at higher volumes). I went back to Bruce for a little tweak. Bruce then installed an additional toggle switch inside the cabinet that he calls the "crowd-friendly" mod. It cut the harshness right out of that puppy without sacrificing power or projection. However, if I find myself on stage with some guitar shredders, I can still flip that toggle and it will have more cut, but I don't need that for what I generally play.

- In addition, the speaker itself, being brand new, needed a few hours of stage time to mellow out. It did mellow out a LOTafter about 20 hours of play. Now it's smooth and creamy.

- At 35 Watts this thing needs a bit of push to get it to break up like smaller amps, but I can still get around that by pushing the volume on the amp and holding back the overall volume using the VC on my mic. I'd like a little more break-up sometimes, so I'm thinking about picking up one of those "Harp Break" pedals from Lone Wolf for when I want a more over-driven sound. Might add a delay pedal as well for a little slap-back when I want it.

- As a player, I wish I had a better vibrato... Other players with great vibrato pull more out of this amp than I can... but that's not the amp's fault. :-)

The Nighthawks - Mark Wenner harp solo

2010-10-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

Mark plays a Shure Green Bullet mic into a stock '59 Fender Bassman re-issue amp (1991).

This was at the Toad Taven in Denver last night. Great show!

Steve Marriner

2010-10-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Steve is playing through his Astatic T-3 crystal mic and an original blackface Fender Super Reverb amp.

4th Annual Rocky Mtn. Blues Harp Blowout

2010-09-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

“The 5f2h amp is ridiculously awesome”

2010-08-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

A note from Bill L. in NY, the lucky harp player who bought my 5F2H harp amp:

“The 5f2h amp is ridiculously awesome. It screams, growls, honks, kicks ass and is pretty thunderous for a ten-watt amp. I played it on every volume setting from 4 to 12, and I found a tone control setting that works for each volume. The amp simply shines. It made me want to play less notes and be more toneful with each note... I am thrilled with it to say the least. Your recent blog post about the basic elements of quality harp tone comes to mind -- the 5f2h exemplifies all those qualities. I couldn't imagine ever needing anything else.

The new Mission amp must be truly a thing of wonder for you to be able to part with the 5f2h.”

Wow! Thanks, Bill!

Bill brings up some interesting points about the 5F2H harp amp that I thought I’d expand upon a bit here.

It was originally designed by Bruce Collins of Mission amps as a pure harp amp, inspired by the tone circuitry of the classic 1960 Premier Twin 8 amplifier. Weber sold it as a kit in a smaller cabinet with a 10-inch speaker. The one I sold to Bill is in a larger tweed Deluxe cab with a 12-inch speaker.

During the two years I owned and played the amp I learned much of what I know about good harp amp tone and how to wring it out of an amp. I spent many hours testing and listening to different components and circuits in the amp to get that fat chunky harp tone we all crave.

Indeed, much of the philosophy behind the amazing Mission Chicago amp came from my experience with the 5F2H. The Chicago amp has much different circuitry, but shares some of the same demon tweaks. They have the same sonic DNA.

Bill’s 5F2H amps was my gigging amp for a year, and was the prototype for a new small harp amp from Mission, named “The Memphis.” Contact Bruce Collins at Mission Amps for details.