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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
What Makes a Good Amp a Good Amp?
What Makes a Good Amp a Good Amp?
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PM42
33 posts
Sep 18, 2017
11:23 AM
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I've been working hard recently to really understand amps. I've purchased and watched Adam's lesson, and watched a bunch of videos on Barrett's site, and read a variety of resources by Greg Heumann (http://blowsmeaway.com/all%20about%20harmonica%20microphones.pdf), Rick Davis and others, all of which are really helpful. I'm still trying to understand, however, what criteria good harp amps share that make them good harp amps, and I'm wondering if anybody here can help.
Ultimately, I'm curious what, say, a 6-watt Memphis Mini, 35-watt Cruncher, and 50-watt HarpGear (or non-harp specific amps that are generally respected by harp players--Princeton Reverb, or Gibson GA20, or original Bassman for instance) share that, say, a Peavy Classic 20 or a MesaBoogie Triple Crown--tube amps that aren't generally spoken of very highly by harp players--lack.
Amps that harp players use come in a wide variety of wattages and speaker sizes and tube configurations, so I'm wondering if there is a common thread about the design and construction of the amps that make them harp friendly. Something beyond the fact that history and practice has shown that they work well and sound good.
Of course maybe the fact that they work well and sound good is all there really is to it.
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nacoran
9611 posts
Sep 18, 2017
12:32 PM
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I don't know as much about amps as I should. I do know that I like mine pretty well. It's solid state, but I'm able to dial in a sound I like. It's got two gain knobs, which someone explained to me once (probably Greg). All I know is that I can play with the two of them to dial in some nice crunch. It's got a built in reverb which is nice too. I dial the treble down, bass up, mid levels about middle, adjust the reverb for what I'm playing...
If I need something louder I mic it through the P.A.
So, like I said, I don't know a ton about amps, but two gains gives you a lot of control over distortion that you might need a pedal for otherwise. Built in reverb saves a pedal too.
Honestly, I'd like to see some of the amp guys get into fly by wire controls. I saw a picture of John Popper's rig once, where he's got this giant control stick he uses to change effects. It looks about as low tech as you can get- a bunch of wires running into a stick. Even my Yeti, which is ostensibly a computer mic, makes you manually turn knobs to control things (you can of course, override the mute and volume on your keyboard, but the gain and directionality functions are just on the mic itself). It seems to me like someone should make a full functioned amp with some built in features that you can control wirelessly, or at least through your mic cord (that might require going to USB, or wrapping a USB around it, but heck, a normal computer mouse can have 20 buttons these days and sell for $100. If you could run the controls electronically you could map features to buttons and adjust everything without going over to the amp!
(Okay, maybe I got a little off topic there...)
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Nate
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TetonJohn
320 posts
Sep 18, 2017
1:23 PM
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harp friendly = lower gain, less treble (generally).
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BnT
100 posts
Sep 18, 2017
2:02 PM
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There are so many amps each with their own idiosyncrasies that there’s no consensus. There are classics – the ‘59 Bassman, the MA-17 Masco, that have stood the test of time – one great for large venues, the other for small. And their schematics have been the basis for many other amps. But based on the number of different players and amps, not for everyone.
Even if you said “tube amps” was a common thread (and based on the first response, it’s not), there are so many variations even between seemingly similar amps – wiring diagram; transformer size; capacitor (paper & oil caps); tube type, manufacturer, new or NOS; pine vs. baltic birch; speaker size, vintage, model, and manufacturer; closed or open back cabinet – maybe all the differences are the common thread.
If you like rock-blues, the Mesa Boogie may be a killer; for Little Walter tone, no good. Low gain and less treble – good for old Fender tone but not John Popper's sound. You need to listen to people and try out combinations you hear/see and like, drive the music store nuts testing different amp and mic combinations (not every mic works well with every amp). There’s no one answer. If you find a common thread, buy a big spool of it.
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BnT
Last Edited by BnT on Sep 18, 2017 2:51 PM
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Joe_L
2780 posts
Sep 18, 2017
7:39 PM
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A good amp accurately represents the sound you have in your head.
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timeistight
2209 posts
Sep 18, 2017
8:36 PM
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"A good amp accurately represents the sound you have in your head."
...in the setting you need to use it in.
People often forget that an amp that gets that sound in your bedroom probably won't get it in the coffee shop. And the amp that gets it in the coffee shop probably won't get it in the club. Etc., etc.
Horses for courses.
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Joe_L
2783 posts
Sep 20, 2017
11:24 AM
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@timeistight - Thanks for adding that.
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