I've got one on the way. Totally stock. What are some recommended harp modifications? This is my very first tube amp...so please speak slowly. Definitely flying blind!
P.S. Thanks to you all. This forum is priceless for an eager blues harmonica student like myself.
Garry, actually it was HarpNinja (Mike Fugazzi) who first "discovered" the VHT Special 6 for harp. I ordered one after he alerted me to it. Great little amp.
Use a little common sense and don't modify anything! Play it for at least a couple of months first to see how you like it. Then if after that time if you feel it needs modifying, then start to change some stuff.
Kingley, what makes you believe he will not play the amp first? That makes no sense.
He is asking for recommendations, and many here have successful experience with making small improvements to that particular amp. It is well known. He will be fine.
Hiya Rick,have you got any experience with modding a ephiphone valve junior,can you just swop the valve without a re bias,i've asked this question on Lone wolf Blues forum but it might be 2017 before any one gets back to me,cheers mark
Hiya stoke, I put an 'alnicomagnet' mod kit through mine. Made all the difference. I've documented it on Dave Barrets forum if you wanna take a look. Or email me for specifics if you like. Check out alnicomagnet on eBay. There are other mods on LW site too, no doubt you know about that. I tried tube swaps. This is much better. You can hear that amp on that video of me playing "easy" I put up a while back. Or email me for a link. ----------
Are you talking about swapping the EL84? As long as it's another EL84 you should be fine.
LW has the best mods for the EVJ in terms of harp-friendliness. But also check out the BitMo kits as well. He has a digital reverb kit, as well as a couple other items. ----------
I got one last week and am pretty impressed. There is a lot of previous discussion about the amp on the forum. Just do a forum search for "VHT Special 6". If you're handy with a soldering iron,there are some simple mods to the tone stack. https://sites.google.com/site/jimdramps/home/vht I wouldn't do any major changes until the warranty expires!
StalwartJohnson, please do post a video. I'd like to hear the amp. I did the mods suggested above to my VHT S6 amp, loved the little amp. I then took it to Mission Amps for some circuit mods in the tone stack, so I'm familiar with all of it. As I said above, the biggest impact on the tone of the amp is the speaker swap to an Eminence Lil Buddy. The change in tone from the circuit mods is more subtle.
The amp in this video has new tubes, speaker, and also has the circuit changes. If you chose to do less to the amp, just install the 5751 and the Lil Buddy speaker. That will get you 95% there.
stokeblues, sorry man... I have not owned an Epi Valve Jr amp. I tend to prefer harp amps that use different power tubes; not the EL84. But I've heard some Epi VJr amps that sounded pretty good. Players bring them to my blues jam at Ziggies in Denver from time to time.
I know the amp was popular, and that there are mod kits for it, but since I don't have any personal experience with it I can't offer advice. There are players here on the forum who own the amp and have actually done the mods, like SuperBee. Those are the guys you should talk to.
"Kingley, what makes you believe he will not play the amp first? That makes no sense."
Rick - I think if you reread my post you'll see that the advice I've given is perfectly simple, very clear and makes a lot of sense. It's a good sensible response to the OP in which he states that this is his first ever tube amp. No offence Rick, but if you can't understand what I'm actually saying in that post then there really is no point in me trying to explain it to you.
Hi guys,thanks for the replies about EVJ,its very good of you to take the time to answer me especially Superbee,your offers of info are well cool mate ,l shall have to listen to what you have done to yours! Iv'e just done my first valve swap to a 12ay7 and i could crank the dial up much further before feedback (result)!Out tonight with one of the bands and i'm taking it with me,only question i have is as its such a good amp for harp then how come everybody raves about having one and then moves on to a different amp?
"only question i have is as its such a good amp for harp then how come everybody raves about having one and then moves on to a different amp?"
Stokeblues - Most of the reason is that in your average jam situation a 5 watt amp just isn't a practical size. They are great for duo work or home practice, some low volume gigs and as a recording amp. Generally speaking though a mid sized amp (15-30 watts) is a much safer bet for live work. The Epi Valve Junior is a good amp but it pales into insignificance when compared to the VHT Special 6 tonally speaking in my opinion.
If I could chime in, I went round and round on this subject and settled on a JJ el84 (Epi v Jr. half stack) and a 5751. In regards to mods, I chose to use a LW Harp Tone + to give me control over a single knob amp and it remain stock in case someone wanted to play guitar thru it (or just so nothing was permanent). I didn't need to do the speaker swap.
Tim, it is not really GAS; it is that a 5-watt amp -- as Kingley correctly points out -- is not loud enough for most blues stages. Even if you mic it up you may not be able to hear yourself, and running the harp amp through the monitors is a recipe for screaming feedback and unhappy bandmates.
Same for the VHT. I tried gigging it just for grins and it was too underpowered. I had a lot of trouble hearing myself.
The Mission Delta Sonic is a loud 15-watt amp that I've been using a lot lately, always lined out to the PA, not in the monitors at all. 15 watts seems to be the minimum amp power for the player to hear himself, as long as the amp is on a chair or amp stand. 5 watts is just to weak for gigging with a band.
Sorry, but a 5-watt amp is not "totally giggable." A 5-watt amp is rarely giggable. If you are sitting in the audience with the amp pointed directly at you at ear level you MIGHT be able to hear it. But nobody else will hear it. It is a practice amp.
Been there many times, it does not work well. New jammers sometimes bring 5-watt amps to the Ziggies jam and they are usually frustrated.
15 watts seems to be the minimum amp power for the player to hear himself, as long as the amp is on a chair or amp stand. 5 watts is just to weak for gigging with a band.
Yep, and it better be a good 15W amp. The small "Harp Amps" may have good tone at home but forget them on stage. Plus, they are a one trick pony, cranked they sound like a kazoo... The VJ and the VHT are cool because they are good mod platforms. Great way to learn about tube amps. That knowlage makes you a better player because you understand what is going on behind those knobs. Very few players have this knowlage. Kingly's advice is right on. Get to know your amp before doing mods. This gives you a base to work from when the time comes to try a change. Try not to try a mod without knowing how it effects the circuit. You learn nothing when you change "C12 to .1uF" then look at the layout to find C12. Get a schmatic of your amp and learn how to read it. These circuits are made up of smaller simple circuits. At first this is daunting, but with research and help from others, you will learn. Stalwart J. Welcome to the world of tube amps. You will have lots of questions. Ask them here and elsewhere. Google your questions, most have been dicussed before. Remember, tube amps sound best on a full moon. That's tonight. Mwaaa, Ha, Ha, ha, ha...BN
Last Edited by Barley Nectar on Sep 19, 2013 2:47 PM
i beg to differ ...i had to turn my amp down because the soundman had me blasting so loud no problem with feedback no problem being heard the only problem i had is he had me so loud i had to turn the amp down and was not able to get the tone that amp is known for.
here is a 5 watt hughes and kettner i am not using a monitor or even a speaker straight to the pa you should here that combined with the champ taste like ice cream and cake ---------- there's a new sheriff in town
i have used it without a mic in a large room, but the band had to co-operate it is pretty damn loud. no reason especially if you are running the jam not to be able to mic up an amp.
No, a 5-watt amp is rarely giggable in a club setting, unless you have a good sound guy to mic it up and constantly monitor the feedback. He may even have anti feedback filters in his PA.
That is not typical. At a jam you have like two minutes to set up your amp and start playing. Leave the bedroom amp at home.
01 Kontakt feat.K-ROCK by propblast here is a track with a solid state amp using a eight inch speaker it is not mic'd up... it does have more than 5 watts.. i am playing with my friend "loud lou"
Sure, I'd mic it up if there was time. If you get feedback through the monitors you are on your own.
I own a Champ. Players bring Champs, Kalamazoos, Epi Valve Jrs, VHT Special 6s, Bugera V5s, and even vintage amps like Premiers. They often have problems hearing themselves unless the other players are really sympathetic to what they are trying to do. And the jam is not particularly loud. Listen to the videos I put up.
Have you seen the video from Gary Smith "Amplified Blues Harp Demystified"? Check out his advice about small amps.
The issue with small amps is hearing yourself. You have two choices: You can mic them up to the PA or line them out, and then send the signal to the monitors. But there are several issues with that.
If you run the harp through the floor monitors and you are mic'ed up you have two potential feedback sources -- The mic on the amp and your harp mic. If you are lined out you have one potential source -- your harp mic. Either source can pick up your monitor signal and cause feed back, especially since the monitor is often pointing right at the two mics. If the monitors have enough of the harp signal so that you can hear it over the other instruments it is probably loud enough to cause screaming feedback.
Many sound systems owned by bands or clubs do not allow you to direct the harp signal to only your monitor. Everybody gets it in their monitor. That is not always a good idea. Singers often hate having the harp in their monitors. If you can hear your own amp you don't have to annoy your bandmates.
We always sound better when we can hear ourselves really well when we play. That is one of the advantages of a bigger amp.
are there issues? you bet. is it the best solution? sometimes... not always i agree a bassman and a antifeed back pedal work very well. but is that always the best solution? not always. granted more times than not.
but there are occasions when it is just to loud you cannot get the best tone if you have to turn it way down which is often the case. ---------- there's a new sheriff in town
For what it's worth I gig my 7.5W 7kg Marble Max with a 5-piece blues band. Quite often I don't have to mic up or line out.
For jams more often than not there are two guitarists on stage so I nearly always need to run through the pa. I've only had problems hearing myself once or twice, but to me that's a jam worth avoiding.
For the occasional rock covers gigs I play I *always* need to reinforce the sound - mostly via an additional Pro Junior using a Y-splitter
Hey boys,took the EVJ last night and ran my Lone Wolf octave,reverb and delay through it and man was it loud!!! Guitarist had to crank up his 40 watt valve Marshall to compete! So thats two rehersals with two bands playing real loud and it made the grade easy as pie! Sounded good as well ,the octave pedal allowed me to make it a bit more dirty and push the feedback down stream but the sound really cut through the rest of the group.We were in a big room an old boy scout hut next to the church and it sounded massive. It really responds well to the pedals as the reverb sound feels so big.Iv'e got around twelve amps as the wife likes to point out, including a 65 watt and 15 watt vale amp and this amp is as loud up to feedback and is as good in my view.Hey Hondo i shall have to try my tone + with it and get back to you also i've got Gary Smith's dvd so i shall dig it out to see what he says about small amps,l remember the super reverb as i'm a big Butterfield fan (gotta love that fat tongue blocking sound)!!! To finish off gotta say MR 1847 is more close to the truth on this than most about this size amp,iv'e had my eyes opened on this,its all about usuable watts on the harp,just my two cents and i'm no expert so thanks for all replies,cheers mark
what do you consider a large club? this place holds about 150 people in the bar area behind the bar is a large dining area we had maybe 75 people in the "club" ---------- there's a new sheriff in town
1847, and the little amp is not mic'ed up or lined out? If that is the case, ya got me there. It's a freaking miracle.
But I think you might get an argument from guys who do this a lot. Can you name a pro player who always brings a 5-watt amp to his gigs? Maybe you can, I can't think of one, but I can think of many who bring big amps like Bassman, HarpKing, Sonny Jr, Harpgear, etc when they play clubs. There is reason for that. At the blues jam this Sunday I'll be playing my Bassman. Bring your Champ and set it up next to it, okay? We'll get the jam going and see where each one sits in the mix.
Stoke, yep, it is an invite! All y'all are welcome to come play at the Mile High Blues Society jam with big or little amps, or no amp at all. You can use one of my amps, or the vocal mic in the PA, or your own pedals, or borrow an amp from another player. It's all good.
I agree with everything Rick has said on the subject of small amps. All it takes is one loud guitarist and/or an agressive drummer and your drowned out.
I played in a three piece band once filling in for the lead guitarist using a Bass Combo unmiced and it worked great, but we were playing at a low volume including the drummer, and we didn't have a bass player.
Pretty much every band in Reno plays super loud, sometimes a Bassman isn't enough unless miced.
Last Edited by Harpaholic on Sep 20, 2013 2:55 PM
can i name a pro player who always brings a 5 watt amp with him hmm let me think for a minute i want to say adam gussow, but he uses a 4 watt amp so he does not qualify.
Okay, 1847, now make a list of pro players who play big amps in clubs.
I can help you with this. A couple years ago the Blues Harp Amps Blog ran a survey of nearly 400 harp players and asked them what amp they used. By far the amp most used by players who make more than 25% of their income from gigging is the Fender Bassman RI. ---------- -Little Rick Davis The Blues Harp Amps Blog The Mile High Blues Society Tip Jar
if you look close at that picture you will see first of all i am not using a five hundred dollar mic that is a vintage fender they did not have a line out and it is not mic'd up. notice the fine looking man in the picture does he look like he is having a hard time hearing himself? does he look like "the audience can't hear me should turn up'? i had a room mate once, she loved channel #5 she would bathe in it. i called it shark repellant it drove people away because it was too much. if she would wear just enough, people would want to come closer it would drive them crazy. sound is the same way too loud you drive people out the door but if you are turned down, people can come closer and if you can groove, heaven forbid, they may just dance.
Sorry for hijacking the vht thread guys!got a gig in two weeks in a pub and i'm gonna take the EVJ,i appreciate all thats been said on the subject and i can't say if any ones wrong or right on this,pro players who used low watt amps (maybe Little Walter!!!),cheers mark
Hi Stokeblues; which model EVJ do you have? Anyway, aside from anything else I think it's definitely worth installing a treble cut circuit, although no doubt you can approach the issue in different ways, with a simple adjustable circuit you can adapt to circumstance. I have one modified and one stock VJ, and the tone control is a clear advantage. (The modded one is a version 2 head.) The other thing I noticed was that the EL84 was running very hot in the amp I modded. The PCB was noticeably discoloured around the valve socket, and the adhesive on the board was charred.. I believe that is not an uncommon issue with these amps
i replaced R10, the 220R 2w resistor on the HT line running to the plate of the EL84, with 680R. This resulted in 300v to the plate and the power tube is now running within spec for a JJ el84 I also installed a fuse on the high voltage line, a standby switch, and a line out jack. A bit of chassis-drilling required but in concept very straightforward, cheap and worthwhile. ----------
"sound is the same way too loud you drive people out the door but if you are turned down, people can come closer"
I'd agree with that statement. The sad truth 99% of the time though is that most bands are way too loud for the venue they are playing. Most guitarist's I know turn up with a 40 - 60 watt amp and run their volume around 6. There is no way that a 5 watt amp is going to compete in that environment even if it's miked into the PA. If you're playing with a considerate band like "1847" is in that picture and the guitarist is using a 15-25 watt amp, then maybe, just maybe you have a fighting chance. In your average real world jam or gig scenario though you just won't be heard using a small amp for harp. This is why the '59 Bassman is the amp of choice by so many harp players and not the 5F1 Champ.
"can i name a pro player who always brings a 5 watt amp with him hmm let me think for a minute i want to say adam gussow, but he uses a 4 watt amp so he does not qualify."
Adam plays most of his gigs either solo or in a duo setting. So that allows him the luxury of using small amps to create his sound. If he was playing with a full electric loud band, where you often struggle to be heard (or hear yourself) I'll bet you a pound to a penny he wouldn't be letting that little Kay amp do most of the heavy lifting. He'd be using that Bassman amp of his for that job.
Last Edited by Kingley on Sep 21, 2013 6:47 AM
Stoke, no problem hijacking the thread... It is an interesting conversation.
1847, how do you explain it, then? What is your secret? I've tried playing 5-watt amps with bands several time (and seen others try it many times) and it almost always needs PA support.
Some bands play too loud, for sure, but not good bands. And good bands don't play too softly, either. There is a range of amplitude that listeners like and where the music sings. Clubs require you to play in that range. It is what their customers demand.
Small amps unaided by PA support usually cannot hang in that environment. Sorry if that hurts your feelings; I can tell you are very proud of your amp. But I've been there, done that, and learned from it.
When Rick Estrin plays clubs in Denver he brings a 100-watt HarpKing. Mark Wenner (The Nighthawks) brings a 40-watt Bassman RI. Kim Wilson requests two 60-watt Fender Deville amps. Charlie Musselwhite brings a 35-watt Cruncher. They all mic them up through the PA.
As for the local pros, Nic Clark plays a 44-watt Mission Bandmaster. Ronnie Shellist plays a SJ Avenger. Al Chesis plays a Mission Bandmaster. Dan Treanor plays a custom Bandmaster, sometimes a Fender Super Reverb.
Are they all missing something? Perhaps you could share your secret with them. Carrying a Champ around to club dates would be a lot easier than lugging a Harpking or a Bassman. Help 'em out, man!