[Harp-L] Tech 21 Trademark 30 for harp: first impressions

[Dan Hazen <bluesmandan76@xxxxxxxxx>]

The little 30 watt amp came in the mail today. It's about the size of a
HG2/Champ. Black tolex. Goldish grillcloth. Chicken head knobs. After an
argument with the wife, defending the purchase, I plugged it in and put it
through its paces.

For harp, it did a pretty dang good job. Tried two mics: my 1938 biscuit
with 49 CR, and 1960 JT30 with same year Controlled magnetic "A" (super hot
mic). Ran it off the stock speaker, then through a 2x12 cab I built (using
WGS Reapers), then through the built in speaker emulator out to the PA (xlr
cable). Tried two harps: a Bb and an F. (Also did this with guitar).

The amp has:
a chicken head drive knob (input volume and preamp gain together),
three switchable amp models (Tweed, British, Calif.),
three switchable tube-gain "Mod" settings (Clean, Hi Gain, Hot),
three switchable speaker voicings (Flat, UK, US),
chicken head 3 band EQ (Bass Mids Highs),
chicken head reverb (3 spring),
and a chicken head master volume.
4 ohm cabinet out. XLR balanced out (w/ or w/o ground lift). And an effects
loop.

Both mics worked very well, and feedback was quite controllable, even
without the Kinder AFB+ hooked up. When feedback appeared, it was pretty
high, but was the kind of feedback you would get with a tube amp rather
than a typical solid state amp. (Talk about convincing analog tube
emulation! It's feedback reacted very similar to that of my HG2.
Surprising.)

I found two usable voices for harp:
1. Clean Harp: Drive at noon. Tweed amp. Clean Mod. EQ even but boost the
mid to 1:30ish). No reverb.
2. Overdriven Harp: Drive at 9:00, Tweed amp, Hi Gain Mod, EQ same as
above. No reverb.

Both of these are good sounds. #1 sounds like my HG2 at 3 (9/10 oclock) on
the volume knob, and #2 sounds like the HG2 at 5 (noon) on the volume. Only
difference is there isn't quite the sag you get from a real tube. It's
almost there, but it reacts slightly different.

Don't care for reverb on harps, as it just increases feedback. Delay is
better. I've sold my delay pedals, because I don't use them. But the amp
has an effects loop to put one in there if you like. As for the speaker
voicings, they just color the sound a little bit, like an extra EQ,
switching different speakers. I liked the UK sound, but other will prefer
the US or Flat settings. Go dark, go bright, whichever you like.

It sounded fantastic through the PA, which is how I'll use it most of the
time, I think. This is -20db balanced out, as opposed to the superhot 1/4
out I have on the HG2. It is supposed to be just like mic'ing the amp, and
it sounds really good.

It worked great for guitar, too. Everything from super clean to almost
metal. Lots of available tones for the git. Reverb sounded good for guitar,
too. Only complaint is that the speaker (along with my ears) couldn't
handle the volume cranked. It flabbed out. Farty sounding with the drive
and master at 3:00. Have to either replace the speaker, or just go through
the PA or cabinet if you need to get loud on guitar. Wasn't a problem with
harp. I got it up to my regular stage volume like with my HG2, and it was
fine. Similar volume on the guitar was fine, too, but if you want to get
really loud, you'll need a cab or the PA.

All in all: Bought used for $286. No tubes to buy or worry about fizzling
out at the wrong time. Works great for harp and guitar. Speaker emulation
with balanced out to the PA. Sounds very tubelike. I'm impressed. It has
"almost" the tone of my HG2, but is much louder with more options. I've got
a gig (more like a public practice) in a couple hours, and I'm planning on
using it there. We'll see how it performs.