Kingley
317 posts
Aug 14, 2009
6:50 AM
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I went into a local music shop today to try out a few Fender amps. I took with me a Marine Band in A, and one of my Astatic T3's with a CM element in.
I was simply testing them for out of the box useability and usefullness for small to medium gigs. All of them had 12AX7's in the pre-amp stage.
The amps I tried were:
Fender Vibro Champ XD
Blues Jr
Fender Champion 600
Pro Jr
Fender 65 Princeton Reissue
The Vibro Champ XD was as I expected a heap a junk and not useful for harp at all.
The Blues Jr was ok, but didn't have what I consider a great sound at all. It ws pretty muffled, and nort very harp friendly.
The Champion 600 was a nice sounding little amp but due to the 6" speaker sounded very ratty. Not really a practical choice.
The Pro Jr was a great little amp. It could reach 3 on the volume before feedback and had a great ripped tone. Pretty loud amp.
The 65 Princeton Reissue was again a great amp with a nice ripped sound.
The Pro and the 65 Princeton Reissue were by far the best of the bunch and I would quite happily gig with either. I'd probably do some minor valve swaps (down to 12AY7), but other than that they both had a great easy to obtain Chicago sound. The Pro Jr seemed to have a slightly better bass response which surprised me.
If you were looking for a portable amp to do a wide range of gigs I'd recommend either of them.
My personal choice would be the Pro Jr due to the cost. But if money wasn't an option then I'd buy the 65 Princeton Reissue. I think the Princeton just had the edge over the Pro Jr.
Last Edited by on Aug 14, 2009 7:00 AM
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harmonicanick
333 posts
Aug 14, 2009
9:44 AM
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Kingley, do you think the pro jr would be a good replacement for my blues junior instead of a bassman re-issue which is too heavy for me?
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snakes
333 posts
Aug 14, 2009
1:29 PM
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Would you recommend the Princeton over a Harp Gear HG2?
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LIP RIPPER
114 posts
Aug 14, 2009
3:56 PM
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Okay, I gotta tell ya a Princeton story. My buddy, a antique dealer was called to a home to look at a display case. He noticed a guitar amp in the corner. When he asked the old lady about it she said it was her husband's and it didn't work. Of course he asked if she wanted to sell it and she said yes, I'll take $40 for it. He bought it with the original cover on it. it was a black face amp. He spent about a hundred bucks having his electronics guy go through it and fetched only $1700 and change for it on Ebay. Lucky shit...
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Kingley
318 posts
Aug 14, 2009
4:29 PM
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Nick, In my opinion the Pro Jr is a better amp than the Blues Jr. But it's nowhere near as loud as a Bassman though.
Snakes, I would recommend the HarpGear HG2 over the reissue Princeton.
Lip Ripper, Wow!
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harmonicanick
335 posts
Aug 15, 2009
1:26 AM
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Kingley do you know if HarpGear amps are available in the uk anywhere.
i know you can get them shipped direct from HarpGear in US, its very expensive
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Kingley
319 posts
Aug 15, 2009
4:44 AM
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No you can only get them from Brian Purdy directly.
Unless you can find one secondhand (which doesn't happen often).
Even with shipping and customs charges the HarpGear amps are still cheaper than Marble amps, and quite a few of the Fender amps.
The HarpGear Rock Bottom is $540USD = £326GBP
The HarpGear HG2 is $810USD = £489GBP
The HarpGear Double Trouble is $1050USD = £634GBP
The HarpGear HG35 is $1340USD = £810GBP
The HarpGear HG50 doesn't have an export price on the site but is around £1100GBP I think.
When you compare that to the Fenders they are a great deal in my opinion.
Fender Pro Jr £349GBP
Fender 65 Princeton Reissue £749GBP
Fender 59 Bassman LTD £978GBP
Fender 57 Champ Reissue (the HG2 is based on this amps circuit but is far better!)£769GBP
Of course you need to add some customs charges to the HarpGear prices, but even then they are still a great deal.
Last Edited by on Aug 15, 2009 5:06 AM
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