[Harp-L] Harp amps, mics, blah blah blah...

[JFlash541@xxxxxxx]

Such ranting over the prices of elements and custom harp  amps.  If you 
really want something half ass decent.......do it  yourself!  On the subject of 
MICS...  I've bought a couple of mics off  of Ebay from builders that have been 
mentioned previously in this listing as  having great reputations.  The mics, 
in fact, were painted with  hammertone rustoleum with no clear coat over it, 
the elements were held in place  with pieces of cheap foam insulation, and 
soldered poorly.  The mics  shorted out, and actually broke (Astatic 200 chopped at 
the stem with some kind  of bondo stuff painted over it).  I ended up taking 
the elements out, which  were actually very good and soldering them into jt-30 
shells myself.  I  then bought an inline volume control (the best custom harp 
thing I've ever  bought) and put it on.  Wham.......I'm happy again and 
wiser.  A lot  of those custom builders have great feedback because people leave 
the feedback  right away.........not a month down the road when they've had the 
mic short out,  paint flake off, or holes in the actual shell appear and the 
volume pot fall  out.  On the subject of AMPS...  I've had quite a few in my 
"quest"  for the great sound.  I can say with absolute certainty that an old  
Stromberg-Carlson, Masco, Silvertone, or Gibson will sound as good if not better 
 than these super expensive boutique amps.  All you have to do is read up a  
little on the net as to what ciruitry, tubes, voltage, etc. gives an amp  it's 
tone.....and you don't have to have a degree in electronics to half-way  
understand it.  Those guys are the ones who I say thanks to.....not  builders.  I 
currently have a Weber 5F6A  (bassman) kit.  I'm not going to name any 
builders here by name  (that would not be nice) but that kit amp built for $900 with 
the NOS  tubes and speakers I put in absolutely tore up the other boutique  
amps.  I'm not bragging about the kit amp by any means.........I  just don't 
think these boutique or custom amps are all the hype they claim  nor should you 
ever feel that you MUST have one.  You can do just as well  going other routes. 
 I also have a mid fifties Stromberg-Carlson p.a. with  the speaker halves 
that separate, and a mid fifties Gibson Maestro with four  eights.  Those three 
amps together complete cost less than one custom  amp.....and sound JUST AS 
GOOD or BETTER.  One last thing.........I bought  a custom harp amp one time 
second hand.  It didn't come with a manual  explaining tube substitutions or ohm 
settings for the speakers.  I wrote  the builder asking if I could buy another 
manual.  I got a condescending  reply asking why they should help me out when 
I did not buy the amp directly  from them in effect cutting them out of the 
deal.  It was the weirdest  exchange I've ever been involved in over the net.  
Anyways.........I ended  up selling the amp after going the Weber kit route 
(it sounded Waaayyy better  with no crazy builder to deal with).  The funny part 
is.......the guy I  sold it to was going to buy a new one from the builder 
but found them to be such  an ass that they just bought mine instead.  That's 
also the only thing I've  ever sold in which I had to let potential buyers know 
that the builder was an  ass.  Anyways........take care.......and don't get to 
googoo over the hype  of custom stuff.........



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