Re: [Harp-L] Hohner Hoodoo

[Timothy Kane <hawkeyekane@xxxxxxxxx>]

"I haven't heard anything good about the Hohner Hoodoo amp.  I've been told that this amp includes a built-in distortion circuit, which is absolutely useless for a 5W tube amp, and degrades the player's ability to control tone.

The Hoodoo amp is priced at a little over $200, which puts it squarely in the range occupied by a half-dozen other 5W tube amps (e.g. Fender Champ, Epiphone Galaxy, THD Special 6), ANY of which is a better buy than the Hoodoo Amp.
 
It's disappointing to see Hohner get it wrong with a product aimed at harp players, which is supposed to be their sweet spot. It's also puzzling, given that making a decent 5W tube amp is apparently a trick that anyone else can master."
To clarify, I've only read one or two good reviews on the Hoodoo Box, but they were surprisingly laiden with praise. 
 
The Hoodoo Box doesn't have a distortion circuit per se. The tone knob has labels of dark, bright, and scooped from left to right, and it has a gain knob as well. This kinda puts it in league with the Bugera V5 and the Epiphone Valve Jr. Hot Rod, both sharing similar circuits, features, and controls. The V5 is quickly catching on as a good 5-watt amp for harp, and I've heard very few complaints about it.
 
I will agree with you on the point that Hohner did a lackluster job designing an amp that's supposedly geared toward harp. For a while, it looked like they were gonna have another Hoodoo Box that was slightly more powerful, but it looks like they reconsidered because I can't find anything more about it. The only amp made by a harmonica company that I've seen thus far that seems to be pretty spot on is the Seydel Hyperamp, and it seems to be a mish-mash of design elements of the current Blues Junior and PRRI. Too bad it runs around 1200 Euro (almost $1600 USD).
 

                          Hawkeye Kane
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