[Harp-L] Teeny tiny keyboard amp

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm based in Tetonia, Idaho this summer.  I brought harps, mics, and my Digitech RP350 along, but my Peavey keyboard amp stayed home.  (I had other stuff in the car...)   I did bring the Roland Microcube, but I have never been satisfied with the tones it produces for harp.  (I know some people are.  I'm not, and believe me, I've tried every amp model in the box with every mic in my collection.)

So I decided to buy a small keyboard amp.  As it happens, musiciansfriend.com was blowing out Behringer KT108 amps for $60.  The KT108 is a 15 watt amp with a single 8" speaker, designed to amplify keyboards.  At that price, I decided to give it a try, especially since the comparable Peavey keyboard amp costs twice as much, and the next step up, a Peavey KB2, costs well over $200 retail.

The amp turns out to be a very useful piece of gear, and a bargain at the price.  It is MUCH louder than the Microcube (though it doesn't have a dedicated line out), simple to operate, and does exactly what I want it to do--amplify the signal from the RP350 without adding any color of its own.  It is very quiet in operation, with so little hiss that you really can't tell it's on until you play into it.

The amp has certain limitations.  For a start, it's got an 8" speaker, so it simply can't reproduce very low frequencies.  When I ran an RP350 patch that uses the Boss OC-2 model, meaning it doubles the incoming pitch one octave down AND two octaves down, the amp simply didn't reproduce the lowest octave.  That wouldn't be a problem for most harp players, but it is for me.

The second limitation is that it has no effects, and any harp player would want reverb or delay at least.  Finally, the thing has no line out, though it does have a headphone out jack that could be used in a pinch.  If you were playing with a band, you'd need to mic this thing up to be heard over the guitars and drums for sure.

All that said, $60 for an amp that makes a moderately loud, clean sound isn't bad at all if you like your sound clean.  Harmonica players who like their sound clean would probably be pretty happy with this amp as is, or with a reverb or delay added.  

In my case, the RP350 is what supplies the dirt, not the amp, and I'm very happy to have something so inexpensive that works so well with the RP350.  It's also nice to be reminded of what a great thing it is to be able to carry your sound in a pedal.  Any harp player who owns a harp commander, an amp modeler like my Digitech (or a POD, or one of the Boss Fender amp pedals, or whatever) can be sure that what they hear in a practice session is what they're going to hear when they take the pedal to a gig and plug into the PA.  What's not to like?

By the way, I am by now totally sold on the RP350, as opposed to the RP250.  Among other things, the RP350 has an A/B amp and EQ switching system, so you can set up a patch with a cool effects chain, and have two different amp setups ready to go with that chain.  I'm setting up a lot of my patches now so that the A version has a big amped sound and the B version has the same effects with a clean sound.  SO convenient when you want to play behind the band, then kick into a solo with something super tough.

Regards, Richard Hunter
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter