harpoon_man
24 posts
Aug 21, 2013
6:29 PM
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Had a chance to blow through the Mission Delta Sonic amp at SPAH last week. It sounded great, with plenty of crunch, articulation, and volume. It's a nice looking amp and looks like a high-quality item.
I had a hard time dialing it in with my favorite mic (Shure CM in a JT30 shell) and really didn't care for the sound at first... until Dennis O. stepped up and dialed it in for me. I was surprised by the settings that sounded best: volume at about 2.75, tone at 10.75...I would not have thought to crank the tone up that high, but I learned something that day.
It would have been nice to have some more time to dial in the amp with a couple of other mics I had with me.
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Rick Davis
2254 posts
Aug 21, 2013
7:55 PM
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Hi Harpoon man-
The Delta Sonic at SPAH was a "PRO" version with the bigger transformers, and Bruce Collins finished building the prototype just a couple of hours before he handed it off to the guy who brought it to St Louis. So, the amp was not properly sorted, or broken in. I apologize for that.
With my Delta Sonic amp I usually play it with the volume on 6 and the tone on 4. In the videos you've seen of Nic Clark playing my amp he uses similar settings. He is using my Shure 440SL mic with CM element.
I'm glad you liked the tone. I trust your judgement about amps. Thanks for the update.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Aug 21, 2013 8:03 PM
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timeistight
1332 posts
Aug 21, 2013
8:07 PM
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I missed that. Where was it?
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harpoon_man
26 posts
Aug 22, 2013
5:51 AM
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The Delta Sonic was set up in the "amp room" that also had a Bassman, Meteor, Blues Junior, maybe a Supro, and a few other small amps (plus a variety of mics and pedals). Dennis O. was in charge of the amp room, and it was open for amp taste testing during the Filisko Teach-In sessions. The room was a conference room in the far back hall past the vendor area.
Dennis was very knowledgeable and helpful. Also, Jake, the young guy, was in the amp room at the same time and sounded great through every amp he played.
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harpoon_man
27 posts
Aug 22, 2013
6:55 AM
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Rick: thanks for the additional details. Since the amp was a prototype, do you think Bruce might eventually tweak the circuit to allow for more "normal" tone settings?
It might have just been me or my mic, but I don't typically have to crank the tone almost to 11 to get the sound I'm looking for. As a reference point, I typically run the tone setting at 25-30% with this mic plugged into most other amps.
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Rick Davis
2255 posts
Aug 22, 2013
7:16 AM
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Harpoon man, yes, I am sure of it. I will pass your comments along to Bruce Collins today. I'll head to his shop this weekend and play the amp and get it all thrashed out. There was not time for that before the amps was sent to STL for SPAH.
Thanks again for your thoughts on the amp.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Aug 22, 2013 7:17 AM
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HawkeyeKane
1949 posts
Aug 22, 2013
7:20 AM
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@harpoon_man
"Dennis O."
I wish I'd been able to go to SPAH this year....kills me that I had to back out of it! But are you by chance referring to the mythical mystery man known as Mr. Microphone in some circles? ;-)
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Hawkeye Kane
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harpoon_man
28 posts
Aug 22, 2013
7:43 AM
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@HawkeyeKane: Yes indeed, Dennis O. and Mr. Microphone are one in the same! He had some great looking mics displayed in the amp room as well.
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1847
1002 posts
Aug 22, 2013
8:12 AM
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a blues jr? lol
i thought i was the only one who likes them
did anyone compare it to the others?
perhaps some new converts?
we use one all the time.
my buddy has one of them and a harp king
i cant count the times we have used the jr
it is totally stock, it sound just fine.
if it didnt we would have it modded.
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master po
i get a lot of request when i play
"but i play anyway"
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HawkeyeKane
1950 posts
Aug 22, 2013
8:33 AM
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@1847
A young firebrand player in my town also uses a BJ. I believe he put a 12AY7 in one of his preamp sockets but that's all. I dunno if it's applicable to the current BJIII or not, but I read recently that BillM has a mod to convert a BJ to 6V6's. Another mod to run 6L6/5881's with a PT & OT replacement to achieve 30W! The 6V6 mod is also applicable to Pro Juniors. Pretty delicate operations if you ask me, but I'd be willing to try one in a heartbeat!
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Hawkeye Kane
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harpoon_man
29 posts
Aug 22, 2013
8:37 AM
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I didn't hear anybody play the Blues Junior as all the "elite" amps were getting more attention. It would have been nice to be able to plug into each amp to compare them all, but there was only a limited amount of time available, plus there were other people in line behind me looking to play them.
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Rick Davis
2257 posts
Aug 22, 2013
10:59 AM
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This might be the answer: The amp has a 3-position mini-toggle on the chassis that Bruce calls the "Sonic Boost." It is there to accommodate different mics. The switch cuts highs in two positions, full forward and full backward, and at the same time it boosts the lows and mids in forward position by about 6dB and about 9dB-12dB in the other position.
The middle position is no high freq cut and no bass or low mid boosting.
Do you happen to know what position this switch was in? I have this feature on my 32-20 amp and I like it a lot.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Aug 22, 2013 11:00 AM
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timeistight
1333 posts
Aug 22, 2013
12:33 PM
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I guess I was always in seminars or other teach-ins when it was open.
It seems that no matter how much you do at SPAH, you miss more than you see.
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harpoon_man
31 posts
Aug 22, 2013
2:35 PM
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@Rick: good question, I'm not sure if Dennis did anything with the switch on the chassis or not. We noticed there was a switch present, but nobody was sure what it did...but that's good to know - I'll keep it in mind the next time I have an opportunity to try out this amp!
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Rick Davis
2261 posts
Aug 24, 2013
3:08 PM
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Bruce Collins of Mission Amps will be bringing this amp to the jam at Ziggies in Denver on Sunday (tomorrow). He hasn't made any changes to it yet. I'm looking forward to playing it for the first time.
I'll be bringing my Mission Chicago 32-20 amp -- one 12-inch speaker, 35 watts, etc. I haven't had it out lately because I've been playing the Delta Sonic 15-watter with the line out.
Harp players are welcome to come and try either amp, or both! I'll get video if I can.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Aug 24, 2013 3:10 PM
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Rick Davis
2269 posts
Aug 26, 2013
4:02 PM
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I played the amp at the jam: fiddled with the settings and made sure the "Sonic Boost" switch was in the middle position for no low boost or hi cut. I thought the amp sounded great, really spanky, lots of character. Nic Clark is playing the amp in a video I posted in another thread.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Aug 26, 2013 4:03 PM
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2plankr
45 posts
Aug 26, 2013
5:38 PM
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Sounds great with Nic playing it. Was the amp cathode or fixed bias?
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