The Gibson G-A6 is a great amp to my ears and is best the Harp train sounds Ok/good but a bit trebly, raspy and sort of hollow/boxy but that could be the mic element also and the actual YouTube clip.
I reserve the right to change my opinion as and when I please according to my sinusitis and it's effects on my ears at any given time.;-)
Last Edited by marine1896 on Apr 12, 2015 2:43 PM
Gonna hop a ride on the Harp Train , jump off at the Terrebone Church and catch a service !
Thanks for the post .. very cool promo and comparison ! Impressive … How often does someone not in the biz, get a chance to line up some of the coolest amps ever made and get to hear a bit of what they can with an accomplished player ..
The Harp Train sounds great imo … and here's the vid with technical stuff .. and "Our original goal was to produce a amp with vintage tone that was not a boutique amp ..we wanted to produce an affordable amp" …. got to love that !
Last Edited by mastercaster on Apr 12, 2015 11:10 AM
Don't want to be a whiner here but not a good comparison IMO. Volume levels were different, possibly due to mic placement at the amps. I have that Gibsonette and it sounds better than what I hear here. That Masco sounded dead. The Harp Train suffers from classic Kazoo Tone. Not my bag of worms. Really, none of them sounded good to me. Could be a Utube thing. Just goes to show how unrealistic and misleading internet demos are. All these amps will sound better in person I'm sure!...BN
Last Edited by Barley Nectar on Apr 12, 2015 6:45 PM
OK, so, since everyone seemed to be asking for a non Super Star to test out these amps, The Crescent City Harmonica Club, here in New Orleans, decided to invite Randy Landry to bring the Harp Train down to our Wednesday meeting and do our own test with some of our Not so well know member. Everyone at the meeting had a great time trying all the amps, and we recorded three of them. We had Thomas Walker, myself, and Destin Thibodeaux. Destin is putting together an compilation of the test, but, I have decided to go ahead and post the first Tester, Thomas Walker since this thread has popped up today. Get ready. The others will be posted later:
Thanks for that Harvey.Great demo. Trouble is being a Kiwi i find the (very nice) southern accent a bit hard to decipher. Can you tell us in what order the amps were played and what the other amps were? TIA
Yes, Sorry About that. Thomas is rather soft spoken but a great harp player, guitar player and person. The first one he did was a Kalamazoo Model 1 that was set up by Greg Huemann. The second one was the Harp Train, and the third one was a 1949 Supro. It had two 6X9 speakers and Perhaps a lot more power. We only had the volume up to slightly more than 2, I think, and it squealed a little.
I am getting ready to upload my test of the same amp as soon as I post it to You tube. In mine, I did the same test, but then I used two Kalamazoo Model 1s. It was the first time I did that, and I really liked it. So much, that I used them at a gig on Saturday Night. It was nice.
As for the amps, here is my opinion. I liked the Supro the best, and then the Harp Train, and finally, my amp, the Kalamazoo. Once I added the Second Kalamazoo, then that became my favorite sound. But is you think of the cost, Two Kalamazoos would cost at least $700 for good ones, and a 1949 Supro, I would not even imagine its value. The Harp Train is only a little over $300. Even thought I have the Kalamazoos, I probably will by a Harp Train too. ----------
Much better demo! My choices would match Harvey's on this vid. The Supro sounds bigger because it is. Apples to apples, the Harp Train wins. No doubt the HT is a fine amp for it's class...BN
Gotta agree w/BN! uhhh...what about the Masco? And what about the mic in the later clips...If it's a real original Brown Bullet,with a crystal. O.K. badass tone> and would will give anything a much better grit and bark. Which IMHO was the reason the J.S. demo went thin on almost all of em. What was he using? Better live I'm sure. For me, the Kalamazoo (Greg Heuman upgrade)takes my vote. The HT is pretty good, too. For the money and tone, and possibly getting serviceable issues taken care of, with warranty? Would be my next bet. Out of curiosity, too. Looks cool,and easy to tote. does it come with a Shure Brown Bullet? Funny,I just had seen the demo on FB...and immediately went to MBH forum. And there it was...right on top of the thread list. Funny. Good timing I suppose. I wanted to post something on FB but decided against it. I feel a little more comfortable posting to a more intelligent, and knowledgeable crowd, ofcourse. ----------
On the one that I am playing, I am using a 1970s Blue Line JT30, Stock. And, the one that Destin is working on, he is using a Greg Huemann Ultimate 545 with Bulletizer. It will be coming shortly, I think.
And the mic is a genuine crystal and had the "Specially Made for Recording" on it. And yes, it is hot, and it sort of was a ringer.
And we were supposed to have a Masco, but its wife was sick. ----------
We tried to get the volume loud, so we went up to the threshold of squeal, which with a hot mic is about 5 on the Kalamazoo, and I think the Train was at about 6 and I believe the Supro was at 2.5. Destin went first, and he had no squeals the way we set it up with the Ultimate 545, Then I went second with the 70 vintage Blue Line JT30, and then the Supro was last, before I ran both Zoos.
Last was Thomas with that real hot Brown Bullet with Crystal Recording element. and he got just a little squeal from the Harp Train and the Supro. A few weeks ago, Thomas and I were testing out some mics at my house, and on the Kalamazoo, the volume from that Brown Bullet was the same at 2.5 as the Ultimate 545 at 5. But the Bullet does not seems to be a little more resistant to feedback that the other mics are, so you can get really a lot louder. ----------
I'm hearing more bass out of the Harp Train than the Kalamazoo. Would like to hear one of those in person for sure.
I got a kick out of the Thomas Walker clip, where the guy is all joking around at first; then he turns out to be a great player with a really nice touch on the harp - fun stuff!
So I figured I chime in since I was there. Bottom line this is the best sounding new amp I have ever heard. If I am ever in the market for a small amp again I would buy this amp, and the price is unbelievable. I was very impressed. 5 star rating
I have one more track to post, and it is of Destin using the Brown Bullet. I will get it up in the next day or two. Now, who would like to see a large amp shootout with the same people??? ----------
