First off, I'm a tube amp junkie. If I could have any small amp in the world
I'd take a 1959 fender Tweed Champ.
That said, I bought a - gasp - solid state Ventura Vintage 50 (it's
not really "vintage" it is a new amp but they glommed the word vintage into
the name of the amp model) a couple of years ago (from Tim Northcutt if I
recall) just to have an amp I didn't have to worry about at all.
Guess what? It kicks butt. All the great break-up crunch, tone, etc.
that my vintage classics have (Kalamazoo 2 and a vintage Gibson GA5 Skylark)
I can leave it in my car in any weather when I play in crappy places and
best of all it weighs nuthin'. Cost: about $100.00. I shove a Shure 533 into
it and man it growls like a tiger.
So there, I admit it, I love that little green solid state thing (I
can't believe I actually wrote that on Harp-L). It t'aint no tweed Champ,
but it'll do.
From: AV1901@xxxxxxx Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2006 11:49:55 EST To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Your 'dream' small amp?
In a strange quirk of fate, the 1st amp I ever owned was a Kalamazoo that I
bought new many years ago when I bought a used electric guitar (some strange
Japanese job with lots of chrome and slider switches). I never learned to
play guitar, and before I played amplified harp I gave the amp and guitar to a
nephew. I am of course regretting the loss of the Kalamazoo...
However, I bought (from a harp-L posting a few years back) what I consider
to be the best small amp I have ever played through - a Hurricane V-8 made by
Gary Drouin in Florida. typical Champ-like setup tube-wise (5Y3, 6V6, 12AX7),
8" speaker in a cool looking white ostrich face/ brown "gator" sides covering
with a black round speaker grill cloth with a white musical note in the
center. I just checked and his old website isn't there any more. It has a
line
out on the back and in a pinch I've used just this amp lined out to a nice PA
and been pretty happy with my sound. It works very well for recording and low
volume duos (harp & guitar), and it is nice and light and small for an older
guy to carry.
Any one else here have one or know where I can get another one?
As for the Crate VC508, I got my daughter a used one for use with her strat
(she is learning guitar and I made it a point to get her a small tube amp -
that maybe I could borrow?). Its a fun amp for in the living room, but
doesn't
come close to the Hurricane V-8 or the Kalamazoo.
Andy Vincent
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