Fwd: Re: [Harp-L] Your 'dream' small amp?

["John K." <jkuzloski@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Richard Hunter 
<turtlehill@...> wrote:

"T-Roy" wrote:
"I am an owner and collector of many small, sought-after vintage tube
amps. The other night - in church of all places - I played through a
Crate V8 Palomino, a small 5 watt, class A. Wow! It about knocked my 
sox
off. For $270 USD it is an amazing value to harmonica players."

 I played through a V8 Palomino at a Guitar Center a month ago, and it
certainly sounded nice to me. The V8 Palomino is electronically
identical to the Crate VC508, which can be found used in good 
condition
on eBay for between $125-$175 dollars. 

Try substituting a 12AT7 preamp tube for the stock 12AX7 tube and see 
if
you like it even more. On my VC508, the 12AT7 gives me more bottom end
and more overall output with less feedback.

These Crates are the current equivalent of Kalamazoo amps from the 60s
-- inexpensive tube amps that know exactly what they're supposed to
sound like with a harp plugged in, out of the box.  

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com


Now, John K writing:

I was going to ask if there was any difference between the Palomino 
and the VC508, but Richard has answered that it is electronically the 
same (seems like the Pal has a 10" though vs.the 508's 8").  Just in 
case, based on Richard's pretty glowing statement above, someone 
wants to order one from Musician's friend today, just be aware that 
not everybody likes the sound of the VC508.  As Richard has often 
said abour gear, try before you buy.  In my experience, the 508 has a 
very thin line (using the gain control) between too clean/too low 
volume to a distorted sound that seems artificial to me -- I'm no 
tech, so I can't say what might be the source of what strikes me 
as "artificial."  As I have often said, this stuff is very 
subjective, so mine is just one opinion.  
Oh, on the general subject of dream small amp, I'm currently in love 
my 1941 National (2-6v6), I think it's a "Model 400" -- but maybe 
it's a medium.
Be well.  --John k.
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--- End forwarded message ---