Re: [Harp-L] Harp Commander

[G <gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:34:14 +1100
From: Doug Lyons <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Harp Comander
>With all this talk about harp amplification. I am just wondering if anyone
on 
> the list can let me know what they think of The Harp Commander
>by Ron Holmes
>http://www.holmeseng.com/
> From what I can tell from what I have read its a Tube driven Pre amp 
>which emulates the Valve sound
>We do not get to see a lot of this gear down hear until some harp freak 
>like my self imports one.
>Please let me know if anyone has used one & what they thought.
>Doug Lyons

Hi Doug,
  I bought one. I liked it so much I sold my POD and bought a second one to
use with Alto Sax, and for jams with my mate.

  The Harp Commander is a Class A preamp derived from a Valve preamp
design, but is built around J-FETS, which behave in a similar, if not
identical manner.  
The Harp Commander includes a compressor which you can dial in, but also
kicks in when you crank the Level above half way.  It has high cut, and
bass which really thump out a good tone as far as I'm concerned.  It has
mic impedance on the input matching like what Sonny Jr has recently
described with his latest development.  It has RF filtering, a handy phase
inverter to mitigate feedback, and two outputs designed to be used in
tandem which can be very useful in many different ways.

A couple of New Zealand blues harp players have bought a Harp Commander,
both performing professionals. A blues artist in Auckland uses his all the
time both on stage and in the studio.  The other player from the South
Island prefers a clean sound, and got his money back minus shipment costs.
It is after all intended for getting a Trad Chicago Blues tone, or driven
hard if you want  Rock distortion.

I've written a bunch on the Harp Commander here
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/ampdamps.html#harpcommander
and here,
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/ampdmyrig.html#g's_amps
also check out the Digitech Digiverb sound samples, 
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/ampdmyrig.html#g's_effects
they were done through a Harp Commander with a Green Bullet with CM element
- although the reverb is overboard in those samples, for demonstration
purposes.

I intend to record another set of samples specifically for the HC, but its
all time and energy.

I like its tone, it sounds good with my effects pedals and works well with
all my gear.  Used in combination with my microphone collection I can get a
good range of sounds from them.

If you want tubes, then check out the Tube Commander instead, I haven't
heard from any harp players who've used it. Ron recommends it for studio
session work, it isn't harmonica specific, so you can't just plug and play
the way you can with the HC, but it has a wider range of tones.

Ron Holmes builds each Harp Commander by hand.  He is a friendly stand up
gentleman, and been working professionally in the analogue electronics
field for decades.  Coast to Coast Music deal with all his orders, and
remain my favourite online harmonica shop.  http://tinyurl.com/6v5nk

Cheers,
-- G.
New Zealand.