Dox
32 posts
Nov 03, 2017
12:50 AM
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Hi,
I need a medium amp around 10-15watt but not too much heavy (around 10kg) which I can find in Europe. I like the seydel hyperamp but is expensive a lot.
Have you some advise for me?
Thanks, bye
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MindTheGap
2381 posts
Nov 03, 2017
3:29 AM
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Before everyone wades in their fav hand wired tube amp - which is what you probably want? - I'll mention the Fender Champion 40 which is light, loud, cheap, available in Europe. No tubes but it has models that sound quite good for harp, or a clean mode that you can use with a pedal like Harp Break.
Now back to the tubes, sorry I even mentioned it.
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LSB
294 posts
Nov 03, 2017
2:34 PM
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If you have access to the site, David Barrett over at bluesharmonica.com just did an in depth video review of the fender champion 20.
He's doing a series of reviews of 15-20 small amps under $1000. Mostly 20 watts and under If I recall correctly from the list he posted. Should be good series!
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Joe_L
2797 posts
Nov 03, 2017
3:19 PM
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A 10-15 watt amp isn't an incredibly useful size. They tend to be too loud for use at home and not loud enough to be used in a normal sized bar with a full band.
I would look for a used Pro Jr, Blues Jr or reissue Princeton Reverb.
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Dox
33 posts
Nov 03, 2017
4:09 PM
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Joe_L, nice point of view. On the other hand a bassman is good for any situation but is an heavy beast. The blues junior can be the "right size", even if is a little heavy for my purpose (14Kg...).
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SuperBee
5068 posts
Nov 03, 2017
6:30 PM
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I use a late 70s Princeton Reverb for that job. May not suit everyone I guess. I run a 5751 in the preamp slot and plug into the low gain input. I like it a lot, bit I remember skip Simmons advised me to caution when I was first looking at buying it, warning me it is inherently clean and bright. Did take me a while to get to a point where I was really happy with what I got out of it
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Dox
34 posts
Nov 04, 2017
3:55 AM
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I think can I suite the way of fender blues junior (or pro junior to save some weight) running the TAD RT002 Tube 12AT7/ECC81 on preamp, replacing the 3 12Ax7. I think will works, right?
Last Edited by Dox on Nov 04, 2017 4:08 AM
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Jaybird803
35 posts
Nov 04, 2017
9:02 AM
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If I am not mistaken the fender Pro Jr. And Blues Jr. are 15 watt amps. The Princeton Reverb is 12-15 watts.
Last Edited by Jaybird803 on Nov 04, 2017 9:02 AM
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1847
4522 posts
Nov 04, 2017
9:22 AM
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12AT7/ECC81 i would not consider that to be a very good choice. perhaps for the reverb circuit.
we use a blues jt. quite a bit, possibly this afternoon.
if i am not mistaken it is completely stock.
some people prefer a 12 ay7 or a 12 au7 in the first slot.
a lot of mid size amps sound better by them self's, however a blues jr. cuts thru the mix. if things get too loud then a bigger amp is necessary.
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Dox
35 posts
Nov 04, 2017
11:57 AM
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I'll try out the ay7 and au7, but, for example, in the junior pro we have 2 ax7, and in the blues junior we have 3. Normally, if we would try to swap tubes, we change 1, 2 or all tubes? Thanks, bye
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shakeylee
705 posts
Nov 04, 2017
2:03 PM
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5e3.
----------
www.shakeylee.com
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FreeWilly
518 posts
Nov 04, 2017
2:06 PM
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Are you in Germany? I might have exactly what you need..
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Dox
36 posts
Nov 04, 2017
2:44 PM
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FreeWilly, I'm in Italy, not so impossible with shipping...send to me an email at: paradox_NOSPAM@cheapnet.it (trim out _NOSPAM).
shakeylee, 5e3?!?
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Jaybird803
36 posts
Nov 04, 2017
3:13 PM
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I have never found a 5e3 to be harp friendly. Too much gain and feedback problems. Champ tweed is a good harp circuit.
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Dox
37 posts
Nov 05, 2017
10:04 AM
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ok, finally, try a blues junior with ay7 and au7 tubes swap can works fine? I'm a very noob, but, can we use for example 2 ax7 (standard) and one ay7/au7, or 1 ax7 and 2 ay7/au7?
Last Edited by Dox on Nov 05, 2017 11:23 AM
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1847
4523 posts
Nov 05, 2017
11:30 AM
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the battery died in my amp yesterday, thankfully someone brought a blues jr. to save the day.
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SuperBee
5073 posts
Nov 05, 2017
11:48 AM
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Dox, when swapping tubes, usually you’d look at the 1st preamp tube, because that is where the signal goes first and that 1st preamp stage is the one over which you have least control. In a 15 watt amp you might also look at changing the Phase Inverter tube, which is usually the tube closest to the power tubes.
There are more ways to approach the problem though. These days lots of people are attacking it by cutting the input signal from the mic before it reaches the amp, via some kind of preamp pedal or for instance Lone Wolf’s ‘mojopad’ pedal.
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6SN7
745 posts
Nov 06, 2017
6:20 AM
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I saw a Gibson GA45 for sale on a FB harp site last week for 1000$ which is a steal. It’s a 15 watt amp with 4x8” speakers if you want a cool vintage amp that is a Chicago tone monster. On the new side, Vintage 47 makes some excellent harp friendly like the twin speaker supreme, made here in the USA, high quality builds. Memphis 20 amp is Made in China and tweaked in the USA. Good luck
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hvyj
3495 posts
Nov 06, 2017
5:14 PM
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To a certain extent, what kind of mic you use is a consideration in how you go about tubing an amp down to voice it for harp. Personally, I find au7 and ay7 to degrade signal too much to be used in the v1 slot. Too wimpy. If you aren't going to use an ax7 in v1, then 5751 or at7/ECC81 is as low as I would go, FWIW. But, I do like tubing down the back end with an au7 or some type of dw7 variant that is one half au7 in the phase inverter (PI) slot.
In a Princeton Reverb, the PI is the first triode of the v4 slot. If you put an ECC823 there, you get an au7 as the PI. (An ECC823 is a reversed dw7 that has an au7 in the first triode and an ax7 in the second triode of the same tube.)
In the Blues Jr. I like an at7/ECC81 in v1, an ax7/ECC83 or a 5751 in v2 and a dw7 or ECC832 or ECC823 in v3. In the BJ, BOTH sides of the v3 tube are used for the PI, so you are tubing down half of the PI with an au7. (The dw7 and ECC832 have the au7 in the second triode with the ax7 in the first triode of a single tube.)
I am certainly no tube coniseur, but I do like JJs. JJ has an ax7 tube called the ECC83mg. GREAT sounding tube for harp, IMHO--not as hot or feedback prone as other ax7/ECC83 tubes I've tried. But, YMMV.
I find it interesting that PRRIs and BJs are being referred to as "medium" size amps. Personally, I consider these to be small amps.
Another thing: If the amp has adjustable bias, have it biased cool. This really helps with feedback. You only need to bias when you change power tubes. But cooler bias is better for harp, in my experience.
Some people claim using a dw7 tube in the PI slot of an amp that uses both sides of the tube for the PI fattens tone. Others say it doesn't. But it DOES help control feedback--that's not debatable.
TRUE STORY: I've used an ECC832 in the PI slot of my Super Reverb Reissue for years. A couple of months ago I was replacing the preamp tubes in my SRRI and I accidentally broke the new ECC832. I didn't have another, but I did have a new ECC823 laying around, so I put that in thinking it would be functionally the same as an ECC832 (both tubes being "unbalanced" one half au7 one half ax7). But to my surprise, the ECC823 sounded MUCH better than any ECC832 I had ever put in there. Why? I have no idea....
Last Edited by hvyj on Nov 07, 2017 10:41 AM
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