stashburner
18 posts
Jan 20, 2010
7:28 AM
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My brother just gave me Peavey Classic 20. I think he felt sorry for me. Could not find any info online if this would make a good harp amp. This would be my first tube amp. Anybody know anything about these amps. What mods would you do, if any. The mics I have are a SM 57 and a bottle o blues. Fighting feedback on this baby. Any suggestions would be appreciated. My other amp is a Pignose 7-100. Just a beginner and don't have much in terms of equipment.
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Kingley
645 posts
Jan 20, 2010
7:36 AM
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Congratulations.
I have played harmonica through a Peavey Classic 20 and it was not a bad amp bad at all.
The Peavey Classic 20 whilst not a great harp amp can be made fairly decent for harmonica. Just swap the first pre-amp tube/valve out for a 12AY7 that will lower the gain of the amp and give you more headroom before feedback. The tube in question is the one on the far right as you look at the back of the amp (it may have a metal cover on it which will just twist off).
There are other mods you can do to it which are far more invasive, but I suggest trying the tube swap first.
I wouldn't use the Bottle of blues mic with it. I would use the SM57. Just make sure you use a Lo-Z to Hi-Z impedance converter otherwise the amp will never sound good. These can be bought for a few dollars.
The Pignose 7-100 is also a great little amp for practice. Again though use an impedance converter with the SM57.
If you can afford it and like the feel of the SM57 then I recommend getting one of Greg Heumanns Ultimate 57's set to Hi-Z.
Last Edited by on Jan 20, 2010 7:38 AM
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toddlgreene
533 posts
Jan 20, 2010
7:44 AM
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Hey Stash, when you get to New Orleans, I'll introduce you to Randy Landry at Lone Wolf(he lives an hour from the city), if you wanna get that amp tweaked. You may have a gem on your hands!
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Todd L. Greene, V.P.
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stashburner
19 posts
Jan 20, 2010
7:50 AM
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Thanks Kingley. He gave me a bunch of spare tubes to go with it. Said I would probably want to make a swap on the pre amp tubes. He gave me some 12AU7, 12AT7, and 12AY7. I'll put in the 12AY7. I'll check with Greg about modding that SM57.
Thanks so much. Steve
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stashburner
20 posts
Jan 20, 2010
7:53 AM
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Thanks Todd,
I'm excited about moving down there. This amp looks brand new. He said he bought it 89 or 90. I'm on my way out the door to get an impedance transformer.
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Kingley
646 posts
Jan 20, 2010
7:59 AM
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I know this is probably an obvious thing to state.
Just make sure the amp is switched off and unplugged before you make the tube swap.
Randy at Lone Wolf is a great guy and knows a heck of a lot about building and modding amps for harmonica. So if you do want it modding after the tube swap. then he would be a good guy to do it.
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toddlgreene
534 posts
Jan 20, 2010
8:04 AM
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Hey Kingley, you have a HarpAttack, don't you? I have in my possession a brand-new one, with a couple mods:a TRUE tone control, and a much less-microphonic power tube. Picked it up Sunday at his house. I played thru it at his shop and I dug it(and also took the HarpBreak for a test drive-awesome!), but I want to run a few more mics thru it on a bigger PA. I'll do some vids, too(finally-I have one on YT, and it's a joke).
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Todd L. Greene, V.P.
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Kingley
647 posts
Jan 20, 2010
8:27 AM
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No I don't have a HarpAttack. I know Zack Pomerleau has one though and really likes it.
The Lone Wolf pedals seem to get good reviews from everybody who uses them.
My current rig is a Fender '65 Blackface Princeton Reverb Reissue with either an Astatic JT30 or Astatic T3 with CM element. I also sometimes use a Boss DM-2 delay pedal depending on my mood. Although I'm usually just a straight into the amp kind of guy more often than not.
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nacoran
835 posts
Jan 20, 2010
12:57 PM
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I bought my guitar players old amps at a garage sale. I got a Spectra Series 110a from DME Inc. I can't find anything on it online. I also got a little Park G10R. I paid $30-40 dollars for the pair. I wanted to pick up his guitar too but it had already sold by the time I got there. I have Shure Prologue mics, a 10H and a 8L with a VoFX effect pedal from Dod. Except for the pedal I think I have only have $50 in it, but I have no idea how to set it up for good sound or what tweaking I should do. At this point I mostly use it clean to make sure I don't have to blow out my harps when I'm jamming.
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Rick Davis
82 posts
Jan 20, 2010
2:51 PM
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Stash, I wouldn't give up on that BOB mic too quickly. It has a dark tone that might be just right for that amp once you get it calmed down with a lower gain preamp tube.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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stashburner
21 posts
Jan 20, 2010
4:05 PM
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I won't. I loved the way it sounds through that little pignose. Hopefully, it will be good through the 20.
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