Reed Triller
25 posts
Sep 16, 2012
4:10 PM
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Have any of you ever known anyone to make their own amp that sounded as good as the top harp amps out there? A quality amp is out of my reach right now but if I make one myself piece by piece I could manage that much easier.
Any parts recommendations?
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Bend it like Ricci - Me
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Greg Heumann
1786 posts
Sep 16, 2012
5:01 PM
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About 6 years ago I had exactly the same question. I even thought building a kit would be fun. I asked Gary Onofrio (Sonny Jr) and he said "save your money and buy a Kalamazoo. Best little harp amp there is."
And you know what? He was right.
I don't know of any kits that are setup for harp players. You could certainly build a kit guitar amp and futz with it.
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/Greg
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jimbo-G
142 posts
Sep 16, 2012
5:21 PM
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iv heard that the ax84 is supposed to be a good guitar amp.
www.ax84.com
im in the middle of building an amp biased on the valve jnr. i bought an old valve radio and am going to use it to house the amp in, its the only way i can keep it out without the woman getting annoyed.
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Reed Triller
28 posts
Sep 16, 2012
5:23 PM
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I am dying for one of you "Zoo's" for a good 3 years now. I just haven't been able to get the one lump sum together,lol.
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Bend it like Ricci - Me
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Rick Davis
689 posts
Sep 16, 2012
8:38 PM
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Reed Triller - The Weber 5F2H kit is a harp-specific amp. Nice tone.
click HERE and scroll down to 5F2H
The power tube is a strong KT66 (a 6L6 variant), with a big output transformer and Weber's best harp speaker: the 10A125-O alnico. It is an easy build.
I owned one of these for a couple years. (I did not build it) I gigged it a lot. It sounded very good.
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-Rick Davis
Last Edited by on Sep 17, 2012 9:01 PM
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KingBiscuit
201 posts
Sep 16, 2012
8:38 PM
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I will vouch for the Kalamazoo. Bought one from Greg a while back and love it. I suppose if building the amp was your purpose, Greg has a link on his site to a Kalamazoo page. This guy has schematics and parts lists for the Kalamazoo amps. I don't think you'd save any money building one but it might be a cool thing to do. As Greg points out on his site, make sure whatever amp you get is grounded properly. A buddy of mine bought a Kalamazoo cheap but it is not grounded. He has been shocked several times now.
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timeistight
850 posts
Sep 16, 2012
8:46 PM
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Vintage 47 has a 12-hour class next Saturday during which you'll build one of these:
It costs $100 more than it would cost just to buy the amp, but I guess you could sell the one you build and then make your own after.
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Joe_L
2055 posts
Sep 16, 2012
8:59 PM
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I built a 5F1 Champ clone from a Marsh Amplification kit. It sounds great for harp. It isn't harp specific, but its a killer sounding amp. It was a fun build. I just loaned it to Adam for his gig in San Jose. It sounded pretty good.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
Last Edited by on Sep 16, 2012 9:00 PM
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Rick Davis
690 posts
Sep 16, 2012
9:01 PM
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If you want to hear the 5F2H amp, click to the website for my old band - Roadhouse Joe. There is a music player at the bottom left. All the harp is played through the 5F2H.
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-Rick Davis
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Reed Triller
29 posts
Sep 16, 2012
11:33 PM
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My main reason for building my own wasn't to save money. It's just easier right now to buy a piece or few at a time for me than it is to get the whole lump sum at once for a good prebuilt amp.
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Bend it like Ricci - Me
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5F6H
1365 posts
Sep 17, 2012
1:31 AM
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Building your own amp is rarely the cheaper route. As the amp gets more complicated, margin for error gets bigger...A Champ style kit *with good instructions* would be a good start, if you are thinking about a stage amp, then a 2nd hand amp will usually be cheaper.
How good an amp sounds comes down to that particular amp, the top harp amps out there all have slightly different takes on what that phrase means and sound subsequently different to each other. Many amps that were built by Fender, or custom built, can sound as good as anything out there, *if* you know what you are shooting for.
Building "an amp", without that idea & with limited experience of laying out tube circuits, can be a bit like playing "pin the tail on the donkey".
But I'm certainly not one to put anyone off the idea, you don't learn how to do something by not doing it.
Try and decide what sort of power output you are after and/or what amps you have heard (ideally that coincide with the former) that you like.
Weber VST have bills of materials (BOM) on their amp kits page...even if you don't build one of their kits, or use all their parts in the build, this will help you establish what you need to buy. Don't start building until you have everything to complete the chassis & a layout of your amp.
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www.myspace.com/markburness
http://www.facebook.com/markburness
Last Edited by on Sep 17, 2012 1:33 AM
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Libertad
124 posts
Sep 17, 2012
1:53 AM
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I have never built an amp but just modded a VHT Special 6. I used the kit from alnicomagnet. When I opened the kit I was a bit overwhelmed by how many bits there were, but the instructions were very clear. It's been a while since I have done any electronics but it came together really well. I am now experimenting with different tubes. Building a kit amp will probably not be cheaper but it will let you tweak your sound and is fun.
I am working on a short review on the kit but am waiting on my mics, which I sent to Greg 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately the British postal service decided to send them by boat for some reason so it could be a while!
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Mojokane
560 posts
Sep 17, 2012
2:47 AM
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get an old Kalamazoo Model One. You can't go wrong for the money.
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Why is it that we all just can't get along?<
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Old Hickory
64 posts
Sep 17, 2012
6:29 AM
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Give Pat Bunn from STF Electronics a call. He sells a really nice Champ kit for $239.00 (includes everything but cab and speaker) and a "Super" Champ kit for $295.00 (2 6v6gt's running in parallel+master vol and tone controls) Building instructions are included and if you have any questions Pat is always available for technical advice. Nice guy and knows his stuff. He told me he's going to be be releasing a new EL-84 harp specific amp in a week or so.
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HawkeyeKane
1191 posts
Sep 17, 2012
6:44 AM
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Another vote for the Kalamazoo from me. I would also recommend the Epiphone Valve Jr., Blackheart Little Giant, and VHT Special 6 as good bangs for the buck.
But I do feel you on the kit build thing. I'm also narrowing down what amp kit to get for a build into an old typewriter case. Weber makes great kits, but so does Mojo. Their Bedroom Amp kit is low wattage, but it has dual tone controls and is very compact.
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Hawkeye Kane
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Vondy
2 posts
May 05, 2018
7:47 PM
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Where can I get plan or schematic or diagram to build a harmonica amp plus effect pedal hope you can help as I like listening to little walter cd
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indigo
507 posts
May 06, 2018
4:59 AM
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@Vondy What planet are you on?
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6SN7
800 posts
May 06, 2018
5:49 AM
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I built a Mojotone Tweed Priceton 5F2H but replace the 8" speaker with a 12". Great amp, fun to build. I wouldn't say it was cheaper than buying new, but you learn a lot.
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Lou
32 posts
May 06, 2018
7:05 AM
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http://www.allenamps.com/sweetspot.php
These amps are the sweetest sounding 12-30 watt amp I've ever heard. If you contact Him he will know what parts you would need to make it more of a "harp" amp. I play through one He built for guitar with a pre amp tube change and it's wonderful.
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