A few days ago a customer asked me about using the Eminence
820H speaker in the Memphis Mini amp. I
tried that speaker long ago and considered offering it as a substitute speaker
but I had to reject it: The 820H comes
only as a 4 ohm speaker and the MM amp expects to see an 8 ohm load at the
speaker tap. This would cause the amp to
run hot, leading to transformer failure.
Nobody likes to see smoke coming out of the back of his amp.
Any amp based on the Classic 5 platform will have the same
problem unless the builder has gone to the considerable trouble and expense of
swapping out the OT to accommodate the 4 ohm speaker. Even worse, if you are running a 6L6 power
tube along with the 4 ohm speaker you are likely to burn the power
transformer.
We have hundreds of Memphis Mini amps in use, many for up to
two years on stage. We know what works
and what doesn’t. A well-designed vintage-style
tube amp is a Rube Goldberg contraption of moving sonic parts that work
together to produce a wonderful tone. It
can be a delicate balance. Ask your amp
maker before using a lower impedance speaker or bigger power tube. It could fry your amp.
Two years ago in his blog Adam Gussow challenged me to an amp
“Throwdown” between the new Memphis Mini amp and his Harpgear HG2 amp, both
small “Champ” style amps. He wanted me
to ship him an amp so he could do a comparison test. I declined for two reasons: I didn’t have any spare MM amps to send to
anyone, and since Adam is an official endorser of the HG2 amp I didn’t expect
an unbiased result.
A few months ago Ronnie Shellist asked me to co-sponsor a
Blues Harmonica Workshop he and Adam would be presenting at Ziggies in Denver
on January 16. I wasn’t certain that
Adam would be bringing his HG2 amp since he was flying in for the event, so I
didn’t expect the throwdown to happen.
But, as soon as I walked in and carried the MM amp to the stage some of
the attendees at the event started yelling “Throwdown!” It was on!
Ronnie Shellist is an official endorser of the Memphis Mini,
and Adam endorses the HG2 so this was a level playing field. Both are monster players, and the room was
full of enthusiastic and talented harp
players attending the event. It was
perfect.
In my opinion both amps are excellent, both have great
vintage tone, but there are some notable differences. You cannot hear all the differences in the
video, which tends to compress the audio signal. To my ear – and to most of the attendees who
spoke to me later -- the MM amp sounded much bigger and punchier, with more
crunch and presence. The MM also had
significantly more volume before feedback.
The MM seemed more giggable.
Some people will prefer the HG2 amp, and for good
reasons. I was very proud of the
comparison, and gratified by the enthusiasm of the players in the room. The bottom line is this: The MM amp sells for more than $400 less than
the HG2, and it sounds at least as good.
I booked several orders that day.
One of my favorite parts of the video is when Ronnie wondered
if perhaps the HG2 amp has a little more bottom end, and most of the people in
the audience immediately disagreed with him.
You can hear them on the video.
The discussion is funny. BTW,
when you are standing close to your amp, as Ronnie was, it is hard to hear the
low end.
I am grateful to Ronnie and to Adam for doing this. I didn’t direct it at all: They ran with it themselves spontaneously,
chose their own amp settings, and I think they tried hard to wring out the
similarities and differences in the two amps.
The challenge for many blues CDs is to broaden the appeal for the traditional blues format without wrecking its roots. This new CD from Little Boys Blue, a band from western Tennessee, hits the mark. And it is all tied together by JD Taylor’s smoky harp playing. This is a fine blues album.
Of the 11 tracks on the CD nine are original, written by JD Taylor and his son Alex who plays guitar in the band. Their version of “Death Letter Blues” is swampy and fresh, and their take on Muddy Waters’ “Can't Be Satisfied” has a wonderful Delta feel. The originals range from traditional blues to Cajun to Memphis blues to one song – “Howling for You” – that sounds like slow, greasy Southern rock. I love it.
JD Taylor’s blues harp is the real magic in this album. His command of his tone is remarkable, and his phrasing is like a conversation with a Southern gentlemen: It has a certain drawl and a clever humor that will keep you listening.
My favorite cut is “Go Back Home,” an original slow blues song with two guitars, horns, a B3, and JD’s harp and voice. Like all the songs on this album the rhythm section is solid. The record has a good pro recorded sound. I recommend it to all blues fans, and particularly to those who are blues curious. If you are a blues harp player you should have this disc on regular rotation.
“Bad Love” from Little Boys Blues is available at iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby.
-Rick Davis
Sheridan Wyoming USA
Let’s talk power for a minute. An amps output is measured in watts, which generally determines how loud the amp can play. The Memphis Mini produces an honest 6 watts of power when measured accurately. Not all wattage claims are measured the same way.
We run a 120Hz test signal into the amp while it is driving a dummy 8 ohm load. Much of the sound of a well-played blues harp is low, so we use a low test signal. We send the amp’s output to a dummy load – not a speaker -- so the impedance is stable across all frequencies. A speaker will change its impedance unpredictably as the frequency and volume change, so getting an accurate wattage reading will be nearly impossible.
The standard method is to increase the power until audible distortion occurs, and record that level as the nominal watt rating for the amp. But since we are using a dummy load there is no sound. We take the measurement to a higher level of accuracy: We record the watt rating at the first visible appearance of distortion of the sine wave signal while viewing it on an oscilloscope.
You might wonder why we measure the clean signal when amps are usually played with lots of great sounding distortion. Good question! The method described above is the only way to arrive at an honest number that can be used to compare one amp to another. There are ways to juice up the signal and make grossly exaggerated claims about watts, but that does consumers no good at all.
Not all the breakup we love comes from the sine wave distorting its shape. It starts with the element in your microphone and ends with the cone in your speaker. A good vintage style tube amp rig is an organic thing with many moving sonic parts, including the rectifier tube and tone caps. Understanding wattage ratings helps the consumer make better choices.
Okay, so what does all that stuff mean? Well, it doesn’t mean that a 12 watt amp is twice as loud as a 6 watt amp. In fact, it would require a 60 watt amp to deliver a sound that is perceived as twice as loud as the 6 watt amp. I know, it sounds crazy but it is a fact. As with many things we perceive, the measurements are logarithmic. The 12 watt amp would be perceived as barely louder, and an 8-watt amp – for example – would be no louder at all.
Of course, all this talk about amp volume depends on the sensitivity of the speaker. The Memphis Mini uses a Weber Signature ceramic speaker that is efficient and punchy. Six solid watts into a high quality speaker like the Weber make the MM amp surprisingly strong. It happens every time the MM is played: People are amazed at the bigness of the tone.
Printed Circuit Boards
The only advantage a printed circuit board has over a hand wired PTP circuit is that it costs a lot less. If you were to put a LOT of money into a PCB you could probably make it perform as well, but then you will have lost the only advantage it has. PCB's are used in cheap amps for one reason only, to make them even cheaper.
That's why the Memphis Mini is hand wired point to point on a turret board. No printed circuit boards.
Mounting Pots and Jacks on the Circuit Board
Cheap amps that have the pots and jacks mounted on the circuit board instead of the metal chassis are well known for developing noise and reliability issues. The mechanical forces are death to component connections, particularly the thin fragile traces of metal on printed circuit boards But it is a cheap way to make cheap amps..
That's why the Memphis Mini has the controls and jacks mounted firmly on the metal chassis, not the circuit board.
Small Transformers
Tiny transformers do not make a harp amp sound better. They might give a guitar amp a sparkly singing quality, but they kill the low frequencies to do it. That's just not what we want with a good harp amp. It takes some bigger iron to deliver the punch and volume you get with the MM amp. Custom amp makers including Meteor, Sonny Jr, Harpgear, Mission and others use oversize transformers for bigger tone and more bottom end.
That's why the Memphis Mini uses oversize transformers
This is an amazing unmolested vintage Fender amplifier. Everything is original, right down to the
leather handle and the old 2-prong electrical plug.
There are no cracks, tears or rips in the tolex , and the
grill cloth is perfect. I have never
seen a 64 year old Champion 600 in such perfect shape.
I have done nothing to it, not even cleaning off the patina. It has been sitting in a closet for at least
40 years. No mouse turds or
insects. It is time-capsule find.
The amp plays perfectly.
The pilot lamp glows. There is no
hum or static, and there is no smoke or smell.
The sound is pure vintage Fender tone.
I decided to leave it a perfect example of the era rather
than making any upgrades or changes. I
will leave it to the new owner to decide if he wants to change the plug or
replace the caps.
The price is $1150.
No trades. The amp is offered AS
IS with no warranty. Payment through
PayPal. You can contact me via FB
message or email at bluesharpamps@gmail.com.
I was talking to an very well-known and respected amp maker about the weird notion that smaller transformers are good for tone. Here is a quote from the conversation:
"A slightly bigger output transformer with the proper impedance, turns ratio, leakage inductance and parasitic capacitance.... will always be a better choice unless you are tuning for a junky, cheap ass sound."
There you have it. That's why we use beefy transformers in the Memphis Mini amps.
In this amp category, the Memphis Mini is the best. It is far above the others.
I have finally been able to compare it to the Lone Wolf amp I have read and heard so much about from my recent customers.
The two amps do not compare to each other. Really nothing! Their sound and their tone are very different.
Lone Wolf has a less toned sound, more plain.
With respect to power and volume, the MM would tend (and I mark my words to not offend anyone) to overwhelm the Harp Train.
The MM is worth every penny, and the Lone Wolf is way too expensive for what it does. You can get better, more powerful amps for the same money or less . The MM is very seducing and I can see why people like it. It makes you feel as if you are on Beale Street in the 40's. The tone is wonderful! And it makes average players sound good and good players sound great. It is very powerful as well. More power and much more guts than the Harp Train.
--Nicolas Fouquet
-------
(Nicolas Fouquet is a French-born harp player from Limoges. He is the son of a famous French guitar maker, Claude Fouquet, grandson of a Jazz Musette soprano sax player, and great grandson of a Spanish flamenco guitar player. He is a respected harp tech and well known for his expertise on harmonica playing, amps, and mics.)
Two years ago when I
first began researching the idea of producing a small harp amp I considered
importing a finished amp from China using all Chinese parts and selling
it as a low priced bargain amp. I talked
to several vendors in Hong Kong and Shenzhen and tried some examples they sent
me. But I gave up on that strategy over time because the tone just was
not there. Yeah, there are ways to save money and build a less expensive
amp, but at some point you just have to face the cost vs. tone conflict.
Which do you want more? Low cost or killer tone?
To get to that low
cost you have to make some pretty serious sacrifices. Printed circuit
boards are WAY cheaper than hand wired circuits on a turret board. But,
the PCBs are built with the cheapest components possible which are soldered by
robots. Cracked solders and noisy connections are an issue.
Chinese counterfeit power and
preamp tubes are notorious for poor tone. And Chinese speakers lack the
warmth and character of more familiar brands. All the bargain amps I
tried had a common sound I didn’t like – a kind of metallic tone lacking in
warmth and overtones. I hear that today
in harp amps imported by other companies. I just didn’t want to put
my name behind an amp that sounded like that.
The MM amps are all
hand wired and soldered, using turret boards. No printed circuit
boards. The power tube is an Electro Harmonix 6V6. The preamp tube
is a JJ 12AU7. The speaker is a Weber Signature smooth cone ceramic.
The tone is warm and colorful, rich with overtones. The breakup sounds
natural. No gimmicks, just pure vintage tone.
Here is a photo of the final production version of the MM Delay pedal. They will begin to ship on April 12. Only $69 with free shipping in the US. The pedal has a very nice slap-back effect; really fattens up your tone. Or you can set it up to do an echo effect. Very well built. Check it out HERE.
