[Harp-L] My New Amp!

["samblancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi there folks,

I just bought a new amplifier and I want to pick everybody's brains about
it.  This amp is VERY different from my other amp and I can see I'm going to
have to work out some "issues" with it before I play out.

The new amp is a Holland, West Side Andy,2x10, 35 watts.  This amp is a far
cry from my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.  My main reason for getting the Holland
is that the Fender just has too many feed-back problems.  At home, in my
apartment, it sounds just the way I want it to sound and I'm very happy with
the tone and while a lot of people don't like the drive channel type amps I
actually like the degree of dirt I get from the Fender; it's just not loud
enough to use out in a club. The Holland is a much louder amp.

Here's my issue with the Holland.  While it is indeed a lot louder than the
Fender and with way less feed-back, it really has a much cleaner tone. One
of the things I like so much about the Fender is that the added dirt came
with just a littlest bit of sustain and this little bit of sustain tends to
smooth out the edges on my playing. I don't want all you guys to think I'm a
crappy player or what ever; I'm a respectable player. But one thing about
the Holland that I'm finding hard to get used to is this: When I start a
note or phrase and then finish a note or phrase both the start and finish
are rather abrupt.  I don't know what you call this quality but I don't like
it.  I understand that this has to do with the fact that more power is
getting to the speakers and I also understand that I'm going to have to
tighten up my timing a bit. A buddy of mine who is local has a Holland 4x10
and I've played it a lot with the same problem. I still like the amp a lot
though.

What I want to do is to explore the tonal range of the Holland via the tubes
and see if I can't get a more dirty voice like I like. I have 12AT7s and
12AY7s I can swap around with on the preamp side but this amp also has a
tube rectifier and I know that I can swap Rectifier tubes without rebiasing
the amp.  I don't really know anything about tube rectifiers or the kind of
tubes that I can use. The guy who sold me the amp said changing with
rectifier can have a profound impact on the sound of the amp but I don't
know much about this end of the amp other than that tube rectifiers have
something called "sag".  I sort of know what this is but not how to
manipulate it. But I do have an idea that this sag is what is causing the
abruptness I described above.  Then there are the two power tubes.  These
are both Sovtek 5881 tubes.  I don't know what this means - I'm used to 6L6
and 6V6 tubes.  I do know that you can get different power tubes that have
the same power ratings but sound different- kind of like the Groove tubes
with the red, blue and black color ratings.

So there it is. I would really appreciate any input from whom ever.  I know
this is getting pretty esoteric but, hey, this is a pretty esoteric list
after all. I also understand that long discussions about gear can get pretty
boring except for those who are directly involved so if you want to respond
via private email that's cool.  samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx Thanks. Later.