Small tube amp
Hi Skip,
I have been trying to find a small inexpensive tube amp. I have seen large ones that go up to about $1,000.00 dollars, but they are also very heavy. Since I live in Mexico and I would most likely buy it in the US, a small thing that I can carry on a plane would be good. are there amps that you would recommend? Also, is there a digital option? I know that the sound of a harp on a tube amp sounds the way it does because the sound wave is clipped at the top and at the bottom. I don't know if there are digital amps that simulate that, or circuits that simulate the clipping when connected between microphone and amp.
Please let me know what options you would consider.
Thanks!
Best regards,
Bernardo
For the $ the new Fender Super Champ XD is great. The Kalamazoo One or Two are great classic amps for the $.
I love my Kalamazoo 2 (as repaired and upgraded by Skip!).
I like the Champ XD also, but it's a distant second.
I keep hearing about the VHT Special 6 (low-wattage, all tube, Chinese, supposedly mod-friendly). Has anyone used it?
Thanks Skip,
I had heard about the pinose amps somewhere else too. I had seen that Best Buy carries the Fender Champ and that makes it a good choice for me because I don't stay long in places.
What I know is that the distorted sound comes from harp players back when they would play on small cheap tube amps, louder than the little amp could manage. As for the clippings, that's what I saw when I compared same chords played with and without amps, from Dave's "Building harmonica technique". Of course there is more, because I spent a while playing with Zener diodes and many other things and I got close, but not close enough to be happy with my circuits. Those circuits could sound ok only when playing at certain level of loudness.
I also know that the best amplifiers that people use to play music are made with tubes. They can go quite expensive and there's something about staying in the linear region of the amp that makes it so good for sound specialists.
I want to be able to distort the harp like some of Rod Piazza's recordings, and perhaps like those recordings that sound like a sax, or something different. Clean, but different. And it will be important to be able to move the amp easily on planes.
Best regards,
Bernardo
Bernardo- Those are some good suggestions from the BH crew. I had forgotten about the Kalamazoo 1 and 2. They are about the best deal going for a vintage amp. I believe they are still in the $300 range, but you would be wise to have someone do a little bit of restoration if you buy one that is not in top shape. If you are experimenting with zener diodes, you might want to check out some pedals or even build one yourself. There are even kits out there.
Let's wait a week and see if we can get more suggestions on new amps from the BH test team!
Skip
Love my Kalamazoo for a small amp, it rocks!!! And there's only one place (IMHO) to look for restoration confidently and that's from Greg Heumann (http://www.blowsmeaway.com), get on his mail notice list, and when he gets one and goes over it, he notifies you and if you are interested, your name goes on the list. Best to contact him and get the info first hand. Great guy to deal with!!
smaller and cheaper than the super champ (5w), and doesn't have the clean channel option, but some of the modelled amps are pretty cool. i tend to use voice option 4, which is the clean-ish blackface model. it seems to allow you to dial in the gain, and the onboard delay effect works nicely for the harp.
i have used this amp in conjunction with a 30w 1x12 combo (using minimal gain on the 1x12) with interesting (good) results, effectively using the fender as a preamp for the larger amp. this let me make use of the fender's on board effects. feedback was always on offer but careful adjustment made this quite manageable and the effect of the 12" in addition to the Fender's 8" was pretty nice. i know this is 2 amps and maybe veering OT...i'm just trying to illustrate the thing can be quite versatile.
for a small amp, its pretty good i think.
also have a pignose. this is not really so versatile in terms of sound production, but very good in terms of portability.
How about one of these? I haven't tried one but this review sounds enthusiastic:
http://bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/2010/11/vht-special-6-amp-first-impres...
Since buying a lone wolf harp attack pedal I have had to rethink my opinion that vintage tube amps are the only way to get a good warm vintage tone. I still use both options, but the pedal into the pa is a really portable alternative, I have some live recordings with it that I am really happy with the sound, not at all digital or harsh. I can send you an mp3 file if you are interested.
Rob
Yazoo brings up another option: a preamp or pedal in conjunction with the PA. Personally, I feel that these would be better for an experienced player looking for a way to get a decent tone through the PA or a rented amp, rather than a way for a beginner to get better tone. A small amp is the way to go when you are practicing and improving day-to-day.
Kim, Rick, and Charlie have been very happy with the tube preamps that I have built for them, especially for fly-in gigs with rental amps.
Skip Simmons
When the Sunday jam moved to a new venue I was bummed because the stage was tight for space and outlets. I love my amps and had pretty much dialled in the settings to my taste but given the space issue (man those guitar players sure have big amps and lots of pedals) and the amount of time for set up and take down between sets, I decided to go the easy route for the first few Sundays. Now I'm liking what I've got for sound and ease of set up/take down.
Power bar with transformers already plugged in (I'm chicken so far to rely on batteries), Lone Wolf Harp Attack and Harp Delay connected: I take out and plug in the power bar, take out and plug in the pedals, plug in mic and mic cord, plug in PA cord, connect to PA and use mic volume control to test. After the first couple of times, once I had the setting dialled in I put some tape on the face of the pedals so I could set the dials quickly. I can be up and running inside of 4 minutes.
Next step will be to go with just batteries. I'll want to research this to figure out how long they will last and the best way to make sure they will last for a set or two. It's not a quick easy change if they die.
So far I'm very happy with this approach. I like the sound I get (had several positive comments) and it does get me up and running quickly.
Out of the VHT Special 6, the Fender Superchamp xd, the Epiphone Valve Junior and the Fender Champion 600, which do you think is the best choice if I want the traditional Chicago sound and will mostly play at home or occasionally gig with a guitar player?
Hello - I would say your best bet would be to swallow any embarrassment, go to your local store with your mic and try them all out. They were all made for guitar rather than harp and some may be awfully high gain and feedback prone. The traditional "Chicago sound" might be tough. These amps are the lowest-cost tube amps available, not necessarily the best amps for harp, but any of them should get you started.
Skip Simmons
Hi guys,
Last week I was in Colombia, in Medellin. The area known as El Poblado has many music stores, and I was thinking I could get a book about vallenatos in one of them. None had books, but I found a nice case with cheap Hohner harmonicas, and I got it because the case was good. I asked about amps, as I always do, but my expectations were not high. I was quite surprised when they showed me the Champion 600, and thought I had to get it there. I bought it and now I'm home trying to figure it out. I don't think it will distort chords, but I haven't tried it very loud.
Anyone knows how to use it to its best? I have a green bullet mike and I don't know about high and low impedance inputs, mic volume and amp volume. Can the bulbs become damaged? How can I take care of them?
Thanks!
Best regards,
Bernardo
Hello Bernardo- I'm not sure I understand the question. As long as your mike has a 1/4" plug, you should be able to plug into the amp and start playing! You will want to keep the amp volume low at first and experiment with the volume control on the mike. Don't worry too much about the tubes. They can break, but that only happens if you drop one on the floor or something.
Skip Simmons
Hi Skip,
I checked the resources on amps, and I ended up starting with both volumes turned down, then I turned the pot on the mike all the way up, and then I slowly cranked the amp up, just before feedback, and that's where I get a nice tone. The Champion 600 is pretty small, and I am very happy with it, because it doesn't use a lot of room, it has a nice tone and it can be loud enough for the apartment.
Now I should spend some time learning to play amplified!
Thanks!
Best regards,
Bernardo
Hi guys!
What do you think of the Marshall Class 5 tube amp? Has anyone tried it ?
I own a marshall class 5 head version with the original 1x10 cabinet. I tested it today and it sounds very nice. I turned the bass all the way up mids around 3 or 4 and treble all way down. I liked the sound a lot, beautifull valve tone, but for busking I prefer the micro cube RX. it is the most versatile amp you can get. It runs on batteries (13 hours with 6 AA). It doesn't sound like a true tube amp but you can get some great clean and overdriven sounds.
I own the VHT special 6 and love it. My buddy put his kalamazoo amp next to it and its louder with a better tone. Plus you can get a brand new one for $240 bucks. Plus there are also mod kits available if you like to tinker. I only changed the cheap chinese tubes for better ones. NOS 6v6gt and a tungsol 12ax7. later I changed the speaker (stock speaker sounds fine) to a eminence lil buddy. I wonder how a Jensen alcino speaker would sound in this amp. This amp is based on the old champ design only louder I think. Lots of videos of people using this amp for harp on utube.
Hey I was looking also for some tube amp suitable for Harmonica, but in Europa is hard to fing a somthing.
untill i found this page from Germany with some interesting projects.
It worth take a look.
https://harpamps.de/en/amplifiers/my-amps/poor-bluesman.html
Best Regards
Javier
Hello Bernardo- Thanks for writing. Your problem is a common one - what is a good small and inexpensive harp amp? I'm really most experienced with older amps that would probably start around $500. I would also say that tube amps sound the way they do for LOTS of reasons, but not because they "clip the sound wave at the top and bottom."
Of course you get what you pay for, especially if you are buying something from China. New tube amps that are inexpensive are also pretty fragile and can be expensive to repair. All the pros that you look up to are willing to spend the money to get a professional piece of gear, but a beginner can use something inexpensive at first.
I think this a good question for Blues Harmonica.com members..... What are some inexpensive amps that y'all have had good luck with? I know that some guys like Adam Gussow who play on the street use Pignose and Mouse battery-powered amps with good results, but of course they are not tube amps. Anybody out there who has been happy with some of the new small tube amps in the $300 range?
Skip Simmons
Vintage Amp Repair