Stand alone amp
I attend a regular very loud jam. Unfortunately the sound man is not particularly harp friendly and has a habit of turning the harp down if its through the PA. probably due to some history of terrible players at the jam. I currently have a vht special 6 which is great if mic'd up through the pa properly.
I'm looking to upgrade to a standalone amp that can easily compete with a loud band and am willing to part with a reasonable amount of cash. Any suggestions would be welcomed.
Thanks G
Thanks Walter juke,
Attended a jam again tonight, very frustrating. Looking forward to competing with the guitars or at least being heard.
Thanks again much appreciated
G
cG, I agree with the bassman recommendation. In principal; doesn't have to be a bassman necessarily, but get a loud amp, preferably a 410. I messed around for years thinking a 410 was overkill, and then I watched DaveBarrett's "the bassman chronicles" and I realised the bands he is playing with are no louder than I'm trying to work with. I couldn't afford a bassman (they are relatively rare and consequently expensive where I live...and not very economical to freight), but inspired by Aki Kumar I scored a secondhand HotRod Deville and modified it. You can see that story in my old posts on this forum.
It's the best thing I've done. Apart from mod my little Legacy (valve junior rebadged).
Yeah, it's a drag to carry around, but it sounds great and I can hear it...unless the metal drummer really cuts loose...
Hi, cG
Many people don't understand WHY a big amp is needed. The very shortest answer is that it takes 10x the power just to increase the volume 10dB. Given that the smallest change in volume most people can hear is 3dB, you can see that a 10dB increase is not huge. It is, in fact, twice as loud. Feedback can also be a problem - especially when you try to "push" an underpowered amp. An unruly amp's feedback characteristics force you to steer way clear of the feedback threshold, reducing your volume even further. An amp that's properly set up for harp (which means NOT the way it is set up for guitar) has lower gain, which makes the feedback much more manageable, allowing you to play louder and still control it.
I've written a primer explaining what the relationship between sound level, dB's and power required is, as well as feedback and how to control it- along with many other related topics. It's called "All About Harmonica Microphones, and then some..." and is available to download for free from my web site (very near the top of the home page.)
Thanks Greg and Dave,
Aiming to get my hands on a 2nd hand bassman within the next couple of months, easier said than done they are quite rare here in the UK but there are a few on ebay. I will digest Gregs info to try and get a better understanding of what I'm really looking for.
G
I'd get a used RI bassman and mod it as described in the bassman chronicles. Sub out some tubes, maybe adjust the bias down, and voila great harp amp for around $1000 or less. Loud too. Later you can consider swapping out speakers (more $$$).
If you get a 90s era bassman with the blue frame eminence speakers then you'll already have really good speakers, but they don't have a bias control so you may want to take it to a tech and get one installed (a bit more $). Or you could do it yourself if you have the skills (I don't).
An LTD bassman will have somewhat inferior speakers for harp, but has a bias control.