JimInMO
1 post
Jul 24, 2009
12:25 PM
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Couldn't find a search function so I'll apologize in advance. Anybody have any experience with the current Fender Vibro Champ or Super Champ XD amps for harp? Being a guitar player too the Super looks good but maybe a little much for harmonica. Also it seems that a natural break up is hard to achieve and you have to use the built in affects. Is this a good or bad thing?
I have Blues Deluxe RI for my main guitar playing but it is way too much for home practice. I have been blowing through our PA at recent gigs but can't achieve the dirty sound I want.
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bluedogg
7 posts
Sep 15, 2009
12:57 PM
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i didn't care for either (although I know others that love them) I settled on a Fender Pro Junior. I replaced the preamp tubes with a 12AU7 and a 12AT7 and it sings. Very happy with it. My try to replace the 10" speaker with a weber just to see if I can improve it even more. It's is a true class A tube amp. I think the Champ XD is an AB. I also use a H&K red box DI from the speaker output to the PA. still get the warmth of the output tubes without mic'n up
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jbone
147 posts
Sep 15, 2009
3:47 PM
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you can go all the way and get a bassman- steve clark of sligo amps built me a nice one modded for harp! check out harpgear, meteor, sonny jr amps. harpgear makes amps from pretty small out to about 50 watts and i hear nothing but good about them.
i used a silvertone 1482 single 12" amp for years. a bit light on power when you pit it against a couple guitars and a drum set. the bassman is my big room amp.
it really depends on what size room you want to cover. smaller rooms, a blues junior or maybe pro junior, peavey delta blues 210, even a kalamazoo model II or a epi valve jr.
do you have a high z mic already? that's another thing to consider. probably a whole nother topic, but this also depends on the sound you want. if you're going with a tube amp though, a high impedance mic is pretty much essential. i favor a cm or dynamic mic with a tube amp, gives that overdriven grit we all like (or some of us anyway). a crystal powered mic can be a good thing too. not as much low end but a real clean warm tone and the low end deficiency can be compensated for with playing style and amp settings to some extent.
i'd like to know what amp and mic direction you go.
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Blocker
24 posts
Sep 15, 2009
4:28 PM
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Hey JimInMO, welcome to the forum. The search engine is in the orange strip to the left, 3rd from the bottom. You may first want to check out the forum archive just above this first, as there has been a ton of stuff written about amps.
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JimInMO
4 posts
Sep 18, 2009
9:08 AM
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Duh, I discovered the search and archive functions shortly after I posted this. The local music store let me bring home an SCXD for a trial. It's not a very good harmonica amp IMHO. Clean channel is OK but even for a 15 water it gets way loud before even a little break up and its kind of brittle. It would be an OK guitar amp but I already have a Blues Deluxe RI which I wouldn't trade for anything. It sounds really good with harp too but way loud. The music store is expecting a Pro Jr. in on trade and will let me try that for awhile but I'm pretty sure if I get anything it will be an Epi. valve jr. In the meantime I'm using our PA for gigs and getting some nice sounds using a SansAmp ParaDriver DI and a DanEcho for some tone shaping and even a little crunch.
jbone, I have both hi and lo Z mics. Shure SM57 clone and Shure Green Bullet. I use a Shure 2 way transformer to fit whatever situation.
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Randy G. Blues
80 posts
Sep 18, 2009
11:42 AM
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About two weeks ago I got the chance to play through Brian Purdy's Harpgrear HG35 (35 watts, 2-10) using my mic as well as the fellow's Audix Fireball V. Very impressed with both. I know that the bullet mics are somewhat more suited for blues, but I found that the Fireball was a bit more versatile in tone.
The next day I called to talk to Brian, and I even said right off that I was not ready to buy right now, and that i called just to tell him how impressed I was with his amp. A great guy to talk to.
I will probably be putting my Genz Benz BP-30 112 up for sale soon. it's probably a great guitar amp (I don't play guitar as I have enough trouble being bad on just harmonica), and works well enough when re-tubed for harp, but the tone of the Harpear is better for harp (no surprise there) and it weighs about 20 pounds less than the GB. My almost-58 year old back will appreciate that.
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