[Harp-L] Amp Comparisons - Are there any?



Well, it depends a lot on how you WANT to sound. My favorite big amp is a tubed down Fender Super Reverb Reissue. I've tried other players' Meteor, Harpgear and Sonny Junior amps at jams and i like my Super much better. But I tend to prefer a cleaner set up than some players do. i also like the way an on board reverb tank sounds in a tube amp and none of the harp specific amps I've tried have reverb. But some players might not be able to get the sound THEY prefer from a Super.

So, it's not so much a question of what amp is better, but which amp can give you the sound YOU want at adequate volume. Also, any good tube amp is almost like a living breathing thing. They sound different with different mics, so mic choice becomes important. Also, you've got to fool around with the controls to find out what settings work best to coax out the sound you are after--and the different settings can often produce dramatically different sounds/ tones.

In this regard, many tube amps have to be pushed--turned up--to sound good. So, FWIW, I tend to go into the low gain input and set the volume of my Super at 7 (which is LOUD) but roll off volume with the volume control on my mic (a 545 Ultimate) to set performance level. That gives me the best depth of tone. I do the same thing on my little Princeton Reverb Reissue.

I use different rigs for different gigs, but for loud hard rocking heavily amped blues, I'm totally satisfied with my Super. You don't have to mic it (unless you are on a really big stage where everything is miced through the PA for balance). The tubes that came with the Super sounded a little harsh for harp. I re-tubed it with JJs I got from Eurotubes which sound warmer and fatter. The owner of Eurotubes, Bob Pletka, recommended certain tube swaps to better voice the amp for harp and i followed his recommendations. There's nothing on the Eurtoubes web site to tell you this, but they are VERY knowledgeable about tube swaps to voice guitar amps for harp and are very helpful and willing to provide advice.

If you are into a distorted sound, (I'm not), the Meteor is very impressive. Very warm and controllable distortion. Very responsive to playing technique. Not sure you can get a clean sound out of it, but the distortion is really nice if that's what you are after.

A lot of players rave about Harpgear and Sonny Junior amps. I found both to be nice harp amps, but NBD. But I'm not a bullet mic guy, so maybe they perform better with bullet mics. I've actually played through both a Harpgear and a Sonny Junior side by side with my Super at jams and my strong preference was for the Super for the sound I like. But YMMV. And, to be fair, i really didn't have an opportunity to fool with the settings on either the HG or the SJ which, as i said earlier, could make a big difference.

Hope these ramblings are of some help to you.

JP



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