No harp content, but GREAT swampy guitar. This is Sonny Landreth's encore solo at the Greeley Blues Jam on June 12, 2010.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
It's Amazing....
...how many blues harp players spend a fortune on big boutique harp amps and sound like crap.
Then there is Kim Wilson who can use nearly any amp and sound good, even a guitar amp like the DeVille. That is inspiring.
Then there is Kim Wilson who can use nearly any amp and sound good, even a guitar amp like the DeVille. That is inspiring.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Two Fender DeVille amps for a Harp Rig?
Yep, that's what Kim Wilson was playing at the Greeley Blues Jam this year, June 12th. I've played harp through a DeVille and I thought it was one of the worst harp amps I'd heard: WAY too bright and spikey. But then, I'm not Kim Wilson.
There are two boxes on top of his amps: The one on the left is an ART Tube Preamp V3. What is that white one on the left? I looks like a pedal with no knobs. (click on the image to enlarge) I didn't get a chance to ask him about it.
Needless to say, Kim Wilson got good tone with these amps, and it was VERY loud. (watch the video) He was playing through his Astatic JT-30 microphone.
UPDATE:
This photo was kindly sent by a reader, showing Kim Wilson's rig for a show in CT late last year. It looks like the Kinder Mid Bass Cut is in the middle, with a Kinder AFB+ on the right. The ART Tube Preamp is not evident here. (click on the image to enlarge)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Value
Gary Onofrio, the maker of Sonny Jr amps, contacted me yesterday and said he agreed with me about his advertising. Today he changed the claim on his website from this:
“Sonny Jr. Harp Amps are an investment that retain their value year after year”
to this:
"Sonny Jr. Harp Amps are an investment to last a lifetime"
Perfect. Gary deserves kudos for this.
“Sonny Jr. Harp Amps are an investment that retain their value year after year”
to this:
"Sonny Jr. Harp Amps are an investment to last a lifetime"
Perfect. Gary deserves kudos for this.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Logic
My blog post about boutique harp amps as investments has created quite a firestorm out there in the online blues harp community. Gary Onofrio of Sonny Jr amps has this blurb on the front page of his website:
“Sonny Jr. Harp Amps are an investment that retain their value year after year”
As I pointed out in the previous blog post, Gary’s claim is not supported by any data I can find. In fact, it is clearly contradicted by a quick look at eBay transactions.
When I published this observation the reaction was funny. Owners of “Sonny Jr.” amps rose up with one voice and attacked me for having a bias or motive or agenda behind this. It was one of the clearest examples of the ad hominem fallacy that I have seen.
I got a hilarious email from a guy who is very well known in the amped blues harp community whose argument was ENTIRELY based on my alleged bias or motive. Another person yawped that other boutique amps decrease in value, seemingly missing the main point that none of those other amp makers claim their products retain their value. Not a single person has tried to persuade me that Gary's claim is true, they just attack me for having questioned it.
I am not attacking Gary Onofrio’s amps (they are very good), nor am I attacking Gary. I am presenting an argument that his claim is false.
Here is an open letter to Gary Onofrio:
“Sonny Jr. Harp Amps are an investment that retain their value year after year”
As I pointed out in the previous blog post, Gary’s claim is not supported by any data I can find. In fact, it is clearly contradicted by a quick look at eBay transactions.
When I published this observation the reaction was funny. Owners of “Sonny Jr.” amps rose up with one voice and attacked me for having a bias or motive or agenda behind this. It was one of the clearest examples of the ad hominem fallacy that I have seen.
“Arguments of this kind focus not on the evidence for a view but on the character of the person advancing it; they seek to discredit positions by discrediting those who hold them. It is always important to attack arguments, rather than arguers, and this is where arguments that commit the ad hominem fallacy fall down.”It’s the kind of argument you get from 12-year olds or drunk sports fans. It is a dodge to avoid being forced to defend a clearly false statement, so they change the subject by attacking the messenger. It is weak.
I got a hilarious email from a guy who is very well known in the amped blues harp community whose argument was ENTIRELY based on my alleged bias or motive. Another person yawped that other boutique amps decrease in value, seemingly missing the main point that none of those other amp makers claim their products retain their value. Not a single person has tried to persuade me that Gary's claim is true, they just attack me for having questioned it.
I am not attacking Gary Onofrio’s amps (they are very good), nor am I attacking Gary. I am presenting an argument that his claim is false.
Here is an open letter to Gary Onofrio:
Gary,
Several times you have contacted me and asked me to take down things on this blog which you thought were untrue or unfair, or which you simply disliked. I complied with your requests every time.
Now I am asking you to take down your claim that your amps are investments that retain their value year after year. It is demonstrably untrue and false. If you have any sense of duty to the truth, you will delete it. It reminds me of the worst kinds of phony ad hype, and it besmirches your fine amps with a cheap hucksterism not necessary to sell them.
Sincerely,
-Rick Davis
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Are Boutique Amps an Investment?
Some boutique harp amp builders claim their amps are “investments” that hold their value over the years. I’ve heard owners of certain amps repeat the claim as if it were a fact.
Here’s the fact: It is a lot of hooey.
I’ve been tracking the selling prices of harp amps on eBay for a couple of years, and expensive new custom harp amps lose a significant amount of their value as soon as you take delivery and plug in your mic. That is the premium you pay for the name and the hype. Some are worse than others.
When you try to sell your amp (for whatever reason) you are going to be shocked about how you were misled, unless “retaining their value” means losing 40 to 50 percent when you sell. The priciest amps often take the biggest hits on resale value.
Sonny Jr 410 amps are often lucky to draw bids of $1100. SJ2 amps with the six 8-inch speakers go for around $800. Depending on the date, these amps sold new for nearly twice that. Is that what “retaining their value” means?
Scarcity and demand will keep the value of your amp higher. The big Harp King amp, for example, loses less over time.
Good lower-priced amps like the excellent Harpgear HG2 lose a smaller percent of their value when resold.
I’ve heard lots of unverifiable stories from enthusiasts for certain amps, claiming they resold at a profit. I doubt it. The open bidding system of eBay certainly doesn’t reflect that.
If you must have a harp amp that is truly an investment and will retain its value year to year, you’re pretty much stuck with vintage amps like the 50s Bassman or Pro, or the early 60s Concert. Problem is, these relics are too valuable to really gig. I can’t imagine dragging a ‘59 narrow panel Fender Pro in and out of the van for every gig. These amps appreciate in value when they are mint, not beat up.
Here’s the bottom line: If you like the way an amp sounds and it makes economic sense to you, buy it. Don’t be swayed by bogus claims that the amp is an “investment.”
Or... wait for some fool to pay the hype premium. When he puts it on eBay you can pick it up for a fraction of the inflated new price.
Here’s the fact: It is a lot of hooey.
I’ve been tracking the selling prices of harp amps on eBay for a couple of years, and expensive new custom harp amps lose a significant amount of their value as soon as you take delivery and plug in your mic. That is the premium you pay for the name and the hype. Some are worse than others.
When you try to sell your amp (for whatever reason) you are going to be shocked about how you were misled, unless “retaining their value” means losing 40 to 50 percent when you sell. The priciest amps often take the biggest hits on resale value.
Sonny Jr 410 amps are often lucky to draw bids of $1100. SJ2 amps with the six 8-inch speakers go for around $800. Depending on the date, these amps sold new for nearly twice that. Is that what “retaining their value” means?
Scarcity and demand will keep the value of your amp higher. The big Harp King amp, for example, loses less over time.
Good lower-priced amps like the excellent Harpgear HG2 lose a smaller percent of their value when resold.
I’ve heard lots of unverifiable stories from enthusiasts for certain amps, claiming they resold at a profit. I doubt it. The open bidding system of eBay certainly doesn’t reflect that.
If you must have a harp amp that is truly an investment and will retain its value year to year, you’re pretty much stuck with vintage amps like the 50s Bassman or Pro, or the early 60s Concert. Problem is, these relics are too valuable to really gig. I can’t imagine dragging a ‘59 narrow panel Fender Pro in and out of the van for every gig. These amps appreciate in value when they are mint, not beat up.
Here’s the bottom line: If you like the way an amp sounds and it makes economic sense to you, buy it. Don’t be swayed by bogus claims that the amp is an “investment.”
Or... wait for some fool to pay the hype premium. When he puts it on eBay you can pick it up for a fraction of the inflated new price.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Nic Clark Channels Sonny Boy
This is at Erik Boa's blues jam at Q's BBQ in Denver on May 26. Nic Clark on harp. He's 14 years old!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
How Loud is Your Amp?
You see it all the time when this topic comes up: The chart showing the ratios of speaker surface area. It shows that a 15-inch speaker is 1.5 times larger than a 12-inch speaker, which is 1.5 times larger than a 10-inch speaker, which is 1.5 times larger than an 8-inch speaker. So, will you get 1.5 times more loudness out of your amp with the bigger speaker? In a word, NO.
Total speaker surface area has almost nothing to do with perceived loudness. That chart is meaningless, but it certainly helps perpetuate a common amp myth.
Let’s take for example a typical 4x10 Bassman-style amp. It has 312 square inches of speaker real estate, compared to 113 inches for an amp with a single 12-inch speaker. So, is the 4x10 Bassman nearly 3 times louder than the 1x12? No, not even close.
Remember, it takes ten violins to sound twice as loud as one violin. That is an immutable law of psycho-acoustics and the nature of the human ear.
With the 4x10 Bassman you have 4 speakers sharing the output of a 45-watt amp. Each speaker is “seeing” 11.25 watts. Adding a second sound source (another 10-inch speaker) that carries the same signal does not double the perceived loudness, but makes the sound seem only slightly greater. The Bassman’s four 10-inch speakers each driven by 11.25 watts will have the same total perceived loudness of a single 10-inch speaker driven by the full 45 watts.
Now we will hear owners and makers of 4x10 amps cry, “But the four tens move more air!” Perhaps, but “moving more air” has the same effect on perceived loudness as speaker area. By itself, it has almost no effect.
The proponents of “bigger is always louder” are confusing sound intensity with sound loudness. Sound intensity can be measured by instruments as a linear curve, while sound loudness is perceived by the human ear as a logarithmic curve. (Keep in mind the ten violins.) When you stand in front of your big amp and feel all that air making your pants cuffs flutter, it might impress you but it has almost nothing to do with the audience’s perceived loudness of your amp.
If speaker surface area does not affect perceived loudness, what does? Simply put, the two most important factors are 1) the power you apply to the speaker and 2) the efficiency of the speaker. When the bigger-is-better crowd insists they need a big amp for bigger rooms, they are right only to the extent the bigger amp is more powerful. But a lesser-powered amp with a more efficient single 12-inch speaker can have the same perceived loudness as a typical Bassman-style amp. Better tone, too.
Additionally, the smaller amp is likely to weigh less and cost less. It is axiomatic with vintage-style tube amps that a small amp turned up sounds better than a big amp turned down. And since your amp can be mic’ed through the PA in nearly any gig, the reasons for using a big multi-speaker amp are pretty weak.
Total speaker surface area has almost nothing to do with perceived loudness. That chart is meaningless, but it certainly helps perpetuate a common amp myth.
Let’s take for example a typical 4x10 Bassman-style amp. It has 312 square inches of speaker real estate, compared to 113 inches for an amp with a single 12-inch speaker. So, is the 4x10 Bassman nearly 3 times louder than the 1x12? No, not even close.
Remember, it takes ten violins to sound twice as loud as one violin. That is an immutable law of psycho-acoustics and the nature of the human ear.
With the 4x10 Bassman you have 4 speakers sharing the output of a 45-watt amp. Each speaker is “seeing” 11.25 watts. Adding a second sound source (another 10-inch speaker) that carries the same signal does not double the perceived loudness, but makes the sound seem only slightly greater. The Bassman’s four 10-inch speakers each driven by 11.25 watts will have the same total perceived loudness of a single 10-inch speaker driven by the full 45 watts.
Now we will hear owners and makers of 4x10 amps cry, “But the four tens move more air!” Perhaps, but “moving more air” has the same effect on perceived loudness as speaker area. By itself, it has almost no effect.
The proponents of “bigger is always louder” are confusing sound intensity with sound loudness. Sound intensity can be measured by instruments as a linear curve, while sound loudness is perceived by the human ear as a logarithmic curve. (Keep in mind the ten violins.) When you stand in front of your big amp and feel all that air making your pants cuffs flutter, it might impress you but it has almost nothing to do with the audience’s perceived loudness of your amp.
If speaker surface area does not affect perceived loudness, what does? Simply put, the two most important factors are 1) the power you apply to the speaker and 2) the efficiency of the speaker. When the bigger-is-better crowd insists they need a big amp for bigger rooms, they are right only to the extent the bigger amp is more powerful. But a lesser-powered amp with a more efficient single 12-inch speaker can have the same perceived loudness as a typical Bassman-style amp. Better tone, too.
Additionally, the smaller amp is likely to weigh less and cost less. It is axiomatic with vintage-style tube amps that a small amp turned up sounds better than a big amp turned down. And since your amp can be mic’ed through the PA in nearly any gig, the reasons for using a big multi-speaker amp are pretty weak.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
In Defense of the 1x12 Harp Amp
I’ve seen a few remarks online by harp players maligning combo harp amplifiers that have a single 12-inch speaker. They take it as a given that the 1x12 configuration is known to be inferior for blues harp.
WTF are they talking about?
David Barrett has a Museum of Vintage Blues Harmonica Amplifiers at his Harmonica Masterclass website, and the most common configuration of all the amps listed is 1x12.
The list of legendary harp amps with a single 12-inch speaker includes (but is not limited to):
-Ampeg Reverbrocket
-Ampeg Jet
-Fender Tweed Deluxe
-Gibson GA20
-Gibson GA40
-Premier 120
-Silvertone 1432
-Silvertone 1482
-Kendrick Texas Crude
Indeed, the Masco PA amp that Little Walter was believed to have used had two 1x12 cabinets.
The Kendrick Texas Crude has been unfairly maligned by a certain competitor, which may have started this weird canard. I’ve played the Texas Crude and it is a beast: Loud, crunchy, and soulful, and remarkably feedback resistant.
Certain 12-inch speakers are well suited to harp tone. They have a great balance of fat lows and punchy mids, more so than other single speakers. Smaller speakers sound too pointy, and larger speakers sound too woofy. Amps with multiple speakers often cost much more then single-speaker combo amps, and they lose the cohesion of sound that emanates from a single driver. There is a very good reason so many classic harp amps are 1x12: They sing.
When I asked the question on Harp-L last year I got many different answers about the best speaker configuration for a gigging harp amp. Two very well known gigging pros replied with something like, “Just give me a good 1x12 amp.” I agree.
WTF are they talking about?
David Barrett has a Museum of Vintage Blues Harmonica Amplifiers at his Harmonica Masterclass website, and the most common configuration of all the amps listed is 1x12.
The list of legendary harp amps with a single 12-inch speaker includes (but is not limited to):
-Ampeg Reverbrocket
-Ampeg Jet
-Fender Tweed Deluxe
-Gibson GA20
-Gibson GA40
-Premier 120
-Silvertone 1432
-Silvertone 1482
-Kendrick Texas Crude
Indeed, the Masco PA amp that Little Walter was believed to have used had two 1x12 cabinets.
The Kendrick Texas Crude has been unfairly maligned by a certain competitor, which may have started this weird canard. I’ve played the Texas Crude and it is a beast: Loud, crunchy, and soulful, and remarkably feedback resistant.
Certain 12-inch speakers are well suited to harp tone. They have a great balance of fat lows and punchy mids, more so than other single speakers. Smaller speakers sound too pointy, and larger speakers sound too woofy. Amps with multiple speakers often cost much more then single-speaker combo amps, and they lose the cohesion of sound that emanates from a single driver. There is a very good reason so many classic harp amps are 1x12: They sing.
When I asked the question on Harp-L last year I got many different answers about the best speaker configuration for a gigging harp amp. Two very well known gigging pros replied with something like, “Just give me a good 1x12 amp.” I agree.
UPDATE: I thought of another great vintage 1x12 harp amp: The Flot-A-Tone amp my friend Al Chesis owns. Two 6L6 power tubes, great tone.
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