RE: [Harp-L] Re: the Cruncher
Well, I donât understand the need for sarcasm here. If that was really an endorsement of a piece of gear by a legend like Memphis Charlie himself, then I apologize for the rude response from Ron and welcome Charlie Musselwhite to our forum.
Now, for the rest of the story...I also just got a Cruncher last week. I wasn't going to go out of my way to lavish praise on Gary because I'm good friends with Scott Berberian who makes the Meteor. Scott bent over backwards to work with me to buy one and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he has done in a very short time. It's a very nice amp, many major guys love it. Check out his website. It just wasn't the amp for me. You only have to look at the pro players using either of these amps to know that depending on what you're looking for, you should be happy with one of them. I have bought a lot of amps over my 20 years of playing: Fenders, Gibsons, Silvertone, Dano, tube PA heads, etc. For the price of a Cruncher, Meteor, Harp Gear or any other of our "boutique" harp amps, you get a very well made point-to-point handwired amp. See that Fender just put out a reissue line of handwired amps: 57 Twin at $2399 and 57 Deluxe at $1899. That's more than any of the harp amps and you aren't going to get a Tuki cover with that Fender amp either. I am not suggesting that either of those amps is good for harp. I don't know. I offer them as examples of hand-made Fender amps and what they cost.
Now with respect to that Cruncher I bought. I've played it for a couple of weeks in my house and I can say that that amp has the best sound of any piece of gear I have plugged into. My complaint about many harp players is that their rigs are too overdriven and end up sounding thin. That's why my old favorite amp was a Danelectro Explorer (2 6L6 power section into a Jensen Special Design 15" loudspeaker). The tone was fat with a big bottom and a little bit compressed without losing the round, warm tone. It also had a little "glassiness" to the highs that accented the articulation and attack of the notes without sounding shrill. Upon plugging into the Cruncher, I have to say that there was even more bottom end and still there is that clarity in the high frequencies that will make good technique sound even better. Work on those tongue blocks and slaps, because you'll hear them speak with this amp!
The look of the cabinet is really stunning as well. I don't know how many coats of shellac are on that, but there's a lot. The tweed glows. It is really beautiful. Extra tubes for swapping, a padded tuki cover and a great manual come with it too. Fender does not make an amplifier for harmonica players that compares in any way. I have a 1992 '59 Bassman Reissue. It sounds great, but the Cruncher is much better.
I don't have any involvement with Sonny Jr. except as an initially very satisfied customer.
Bottom line: If you've been playing for a while and you've got the chops (If you don't have the chops, the good amp is only going to make you suck louder.) but haven't had the opportunity to blow through a really well set up Blackface Princeton, Concert, real 59 Bassman, old Silvertone 1432, or any number of great vintage amps, you can't say that some new $600 Fender with a PCB circuit board is the cat's ass because you don't know the cat's ass. The new gear might be good, some is and if that is what you can afford and are happy with it, then be happy. Don't dog anyone else for speaking highly of their boutique harp amp because the Cruncher, Meteor and other hand-made harp amp isn't even from the same planet as that Fender you tried out at Guitar Center!
... and don't disrespect Charlie Musselwhite in my presence either!
Bernie Clarke
-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of divejob@xxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 6:56 PM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: the Cruncher
<<The Cruncher is AMAZING!
I canït imagine any harp player not being overjoyed with the sound and the
uality of the Cruncher. >>
Gee, Charlie. You like it?
By the way, I LOVE the Fender I got from you two weeks ago.
It's probably a good thing I didn't read this endorsement before we made that deal.
Ron in Greenville
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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