Sonny Jr Post

[SpaceCowboy123@xxxxxxx]

     Every now and then I E-mail Sonny Jr ( Gary Onofrio ) Sometimes, he=20
checks out Harp-L and since people were asking about the Sonny Jr=20
4X10..............Here's his post on his amp and a bit on Bassmans. gh
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Hello fellow harpers. This is Sonny Jr, and as most of you know, I do not ge=
t=20
involved on HarpL, mainly because I have 3 jobs, a relationship, and put=20
aside minimum one hour per day for harp practice, and wish it were more. Aft=
er=20
seeing many of the comments about my amp, which is a very personal project,=20=
I ask=20
just to be able to explain why, and how this amp came about. My first two=20
projects, the SJ1, and SJ2, I did everything possible to get away from the=20
bassman, going more for the recording sound of Walter, using 8=E2=80=9D spea=
kers which have=20
that nasty sound, and using a Class A circuit for more overdrive. As I told=20
the class in San Jose of 50 harp players, I am not a circuit expert, guru,=20
wizard, magician, or any of the terms used for some techs. I am just a crazy=
 harp=20
player who has bought over 3000 amps to try and find various traits that mak=
e=20
up THE sound most aspire for. Interesting comment by Ray Beltran. Because wh=
en=20
I was starting one of my bands in the 80=E2=80=99s, I remember distinctly he=
aring that=20
the original bassman was the holy grail of harp, blah blah, Walter did this,=
=20
blah, you know. So I got to my first gig with my new $3000 amp, set it up, a=
nd=20
could not play past 1 =E2=80=93 2 on the volume, fed back all night, and cal=
led it=20
the hold Snail from then on. I have owned at least 30 more originals over th=
e=20
years thinking maybe if I got a really original one it would help. True, the=
y=20
are voiced originally for bass, but then again, what amp in the 50=E2=80=99s=
 was a harp=20
amp? I was never really happy with any of the 10 inch speakers on the market=
=20
when I started the SJ amps, this is going back nearly 10 years, when all the=
re=20
was in speakers was Fane, Eminence, Celestion, so you see why nothing looked=
=20
appealing. After the end of the SJ 2 line, I had gained a lot of knowledge i=
n=20
tube substitutions, why tubes do what they do in certain positions,=20
transformers, speakers, the little ins and outs of modding for harp. I kept=20=
getting=20
requests for amps, so I started messing with reissue bassmans, setting them=20=
up for=20
harp, trying different speakers on the market today, Webers, newer Eminence,=
=20
and got a pretty good sound out of them, but did not have control over the=20
circuit or transformers. THEN, after having a few custom amps built by a fel=
low in=20
California named Bill Odell, I was turned onto these NOS Astron paper oil=20
capacitors by him. So we can have lengthy discussions about caps, poly versu=
s=20
paper oil, but you know what, I know what I hear, Bird Stafford and many oth=
er=20
original bassman guys that sent me their amps that other companies that use=20
orange drops killed, and these do make a world of difference. So I bought up=
 every=20
one I could get my hands on, from two different old time radio supply houses=
,=20
and said, if I am going to do this, I want total control of what goes in it.=
=20
After trying every speaker combination I could get my hands on, I could hear=
 a=20
difference even in the 20 watt versus the 30 watt Weber P10Q, and even in th=
e=20
ribbed versus smooth cone. I use the combo of those with the Eminences=20
because that is what continues to sound the best, I have tried 4 of the same=
 of=20
every speaker, it always comes back to these. There is so much that goes int=
o an=20
amp to make it harp ready: That is why if you have a kit installed in your=20
reissue, it still basically sounds like a reissue, RIGHT. Why is that, THE P=
ARTS.=20
Same poly caps that I change out from others, as talked about before. The=20
purity that comes from a paper oil cap cannot be duplicated. Then there are=20=
the=20
transformers. What makes a bassman output, the original 45249 sound like it=20
does? Triad specs call for what is called a reverse wound product. Every=20
transformer has a certain amount of windings, turns, that make it up. This o=
ne is=20
special as it starts being wound in one direction, the process stops, the wi=
nding=20
start going in the reverse direction for X amount of turns, then goes back t=
o=20
regular. What does this mean as far as tone, damned if I know, but I have=20
original ones sitting right here I test mine against, and we are within a fe=
w=20
percent of it, the company I use does it right to the specs. I went so far a=
s to=20
spend nearly 4K recently on an all original, never touched circuit, 59 bassm=
an,=20
and stock hell yeah it fed back like I remembered, but with the proper=20
combination of the 3 preamp tubes, rectifier, and biasing of the amp, it can=
 be a=20
tonal beast, just ask any of the 30 current 410 owners. The price, check the=
=20
other replicas, number one they don=E2=80=99t have the same parts, aren=E2=
=80=99t made by a harp=20
player, no customer service for harp, and are a lot more expensive. And=20
really, how could Walter have recorded with this particular amp, when most o=
f his=20
greatest works were done in the early to late 50=E2=80=99s, and you can tell=
 they were=20
single speaker amps, like an 8, 10 or 12, maybe even a 15 with the Dano=20
Challenger. So I make no claims as this being used by Walter, but I will say=
 it has=20
the tone, power to cut, which I will agree the 8=E2=80=9D speakers cannot pr=
oject as=20
well, the knock on the SJ2, sure I wish that amp was louder, but I wont=20
sacrifice frequencies for tone, that=E2=80=99s another issue in itself. I am=
 proud to make=20
this amp, something no one else in the world is doing, as no one has the Ast=
ron=20
caps, so diagnose, talk about it, that=E2=80=99s what makes the internet wha=
t it is,=20
ability to have communication. All we could do in my day was play for 8 hour=
s a=20
day and hope you got better. Some have had less than ultimate experiences=20
dealing with me, maybe because I talk from my heart and don=E2=80=99t pull p=
unches, and=20
will not hard sell anyone or give them the false impression this amp WILL ma=
ke=20
them sound like Walter, Smith, Clarke, I  have talked some guys out of actua=
lly=20
buying it. If anyone has any questions about my amp, ask me, simple. Not=20
everyone wants to play the same amp, I understand that, but having as many t=
ruly=20
sincere supporters and getting as much positive response as I have on this a=
mp,=20
I feel proud to put it out, and will stand by it. Sorry for the length, but=20
if I post once every 5 years or so, what the hell. I will leave you with thi=
s:=20
Never take life for granted, tell those close to you that you love them, pla=
y=20
harp and live life with passion, there are no guarantees, only that one day=20=
we=20
will not be here to enjoy this. Sonny Jr.  sonnytone@xxxxxxx