I've been jamming/rehearsing with a new band the past four weeks. Being new, I'm trying to make a good impression. I have plenty of harps and gear, amps for all occasions. I've been using a Fender Excelsior at the leader's rehearsal space and have also resurrected the trombone to make myself more versatile as this band plays a wide variety of songs.
I arrived early tonight and set up the Excelsior with the Lone Wolf Octave pedal and Boss digital delay. The sound was good, nice and fat, no feedback at max volume (I've changed the pre-amp setup). But when the amp warmed up, it started feeding back like crazy, even with nothing plugged into it.
I pulled out the Harp Attack, which I had never used up to this point. I plugged it into the PA and set the volume at 2:00 o'clock, the drive at 9:30 and the tone at 12:00. The result was more than satisfactory. I didn't even use the digital delay.
Needless to say (although I'm gonna say it anyway) I am very happy with this investment, which I originally considered a stopgap or "just in case" piece of gear. I'll certainly try and tweak it with the digital delay or Lone Wolf reverb pedal.
And yes....the pedal is much lighter than my Bassman.
@SuperBee..."Amp feeding back with nothing plugged into it?"
Yes, it's not a typo. I set up the Octave pedal and digital delay, connected with a patch cord. I plugged the mic cable into the delay and another cable from the Octave to the amp. I then plugged in power to the pedals and turned on the amp. For a few minutes, everything was great, but then the feed back started. I started shutting down the pedals, then plugged the mic cable directly into the amp and then pulled EVERYTHING, and the amp sat there by itself, feeding back.
The Harp Attack is a superb piece of kit. It's the only "amp" I currently use. I can't recommend them highly enough. It's a great solution as I travel everywhere by motorcycle. So I can just put my harps, mics, leads, DI box and the Harp Attack into a small backpack and away I go.
Slightly different question but do you have any trouble adding the LW delay to the Octave? I haven't spent a lot of time tweaking them together but so far I seem to be getting a "non-resonant" effect with both.
Last Edited by Littoral on Jun 02, 2013 6:00 AM
@Littoral: On my tube rig, I only run those two pedals at the moment (the LW Octave and the v1 Delay--in that order, I think, though I'd have to check). Maybe it's the order you're running them?
When an amp makes noise with nothing plugged into it, something is wrong with the amp. It isn't feedback. You have to have an acoustic-sensitive device plugged in to get feedback.
Glad you had the Harp Attack with you - a great backup to carry as insurance against equipment failure! ---------- ---------- /Greg
Harpletunnel - Yes you can plug the Harp Attack directly into a PA without using a DI box. The DI box can make life easier when using an unknown PA. So far though I've only found one PA where I need to use my DI box, most I plug into work very well without it.
That makes sense. I guess I'll say it "sounds" like feedback.
I'm a little disappointed in the amp as it is pretty new and lightly used, albeit at nearly full volume while in use. I suppose I'll put it on the bench, warm it up and see if there is a problem that is apparent to me. It would have to be obvious to be apparent to me.
"When an amp makes noise with nothing plugged into it, something is wrong with the amp. It isn't feedback. You have to have an acoustic-sensitive device plugged in to get feedback."
I've seen a built-in reverb pan feed back when the reverb control was accidentally turned to 10.
Could a microphonic preamp tube cause internal feedback?
Thanks for the post. I rarely use my Harp Attack because none of my vintage amps need it. It does a nice job with my Champ clone. But after reading your post, it makes sense to keep it around!
POST SCRIPT: When I went back to pick up the offending amp, I noticed one of the tube retainers (if that's the correct nomenclature) lying on the floor. It had fallen off before. I reinstalled it and brought the amp home and put it on a bench in the garage. Since then I have been unable to duplicate the phenomenon. I can only assume that the missing, spring-loaded retainer was the precipitating factor.
