For in the house only, cup your harp to a mic but don't plug it into anything, record it & critique it.
Remember that a harp is an acoustic instrument, unlike a strat, it can be loud enough to annoy your neighbours & relatives without the benefit of amplification...not what you were really expecting to hear, sorry.
"I have a 5 watt Gretsche with a 6" speaker and want to get another that has at least 1 10"." Well harp gear make small single speaker amps, so based purely on your criteria I'd check them out first, the others are really gig sized amps.
The larger amps I mentioned are only if you were going to attend jams/ gigs at some point.
On Ebay.com at the moment there are 2 HarpGear amps up for auction. One is a HG Rock Bottom. The other is a rare HG2 with 2X8" speakers. In other words a HG2 in a Double Trouble cabinet. Just search for "harp amp" and they should appear.
Sounds like you have a way bigger budget than me. If you like the sound of your small Gretsche you could just get something like a Digitech RP 155 for $90 and use it's stereo out. Get another Gretsche or an Epiphone Valve JR and run both small amps to get a wall of good sound. You would keep a lot of your ching in your pocket. And the Digitech has a lot of other great features like a drum machine and EQ, loop, various other effects, etc
Echoing Joch. Get an Epi Valve Junior, do the mods on the Lone Wolf site, and save yourself a buttload of money. They sound great. Now, if you want to pay more, and the reviews surely don't lie, Harp Gear amps are fantastic. If you can score one of those HGs that Kingley mentioned for under 400 or so shipped, you will not be disappointed. or a Kalamazoo-just shop with care(call Greg Heumann!), as he knows his stuff, and will keep you fom getting ripped off. No need to get a huge or high-wattage amp that you can't turn up past 2 until you know you're playing stages or regulalry competing with loud guitars. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Last Edited by on Mar 17, 2010 7:14 AM
Oh, believe me...I know. I know all to well. Spending $0.50 on a pop can be an issue at our house, lol. ---------- Mike Fugazzi vocals/harmonica MySpace YouTube Twitter Facebook Album Ordering
What 5F6H said - Keep it acoustic around the shack and work on your chops that way, but if you really are looking for a good little house amp and want to keep a tight budget check out Isaacullah's post on the Epi Valve jr.
After playing through one of these myself and watching the vid on Isaacullah's work I'd say that would be the perfect house or small venue amp.
Why not just get your self a sound card that takes a mic jack 3/16th to 1/4 guitar cable and plug your harp mic in. There is a massive amount of sound effects you can down load for free and the best thing is if you get a decent pair of headphones you can hear all the nuances that you need to work on your tone and not annoy the rest of the house or next door.
This is me on my pc without headphones just through the pc speakers. I can get a great sound and the effects are great to play with when you are experimenting plus it dont cost an arm and a leg.
Call Greg at www.blowsmeaway.com, he'll fix you up with a terrific re-worked Kalmazoo and mic combination. You'll have a great set-up, nice tone and still have cash left for some new harps, pedals and a vintage fedora.
The Epiphone Valve Jr, after doing the Lone Wolf modifications to the circuit, is the best "house" amp I've ever played through. The volume is high enough to give you an authentic feel and sound, but not so high that your neighbors will come calling (if you live in a detached house. An apartment would be something else!). The tone is amazing, and the price is damn good. Like X-Harp said, I recently made a video of how it sounds after modification. You can find probably three or four pages deep in the archives. ---------- ------------------ The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
@ isaac-I got mine back from Randy Landry, and he added a line out to mine. I hooked it up to our practice room PA last night-nice, strong signal. So, in addition to being a great 'house' amp, it'll be a great 'live' amp this Friday night! ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Is the Epi Valve jr. really that much better then a Gretshe? Before I got a smoking deal on a new out of box Gretshe (got it for cost $129.00 ) listed for $179 all the review I read compared it about equal. Is it that the mods make the huge difference? I wonder If I can do the same with the Gretshe. I am told it is basically a Fender champ.
Doesn't the Gretsch have a 6" speaker? Besides the guts, that small of a speaker probably wouldn't sound too great. I recall seeing some reviews of it for harp, but don't remember much favorable, unlike the Epi. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Last Edited by on Mar 17, 2010 11:15 AM
If it's the Gretsch G5222, that along with the Epi are the two small amps that Adam has pictured on this site under the Amps for sale tab I believe. He liked both of them a lot. I have the Epi. If you aren't an electronic science project kind of guy, like myself, you can still get great tone by using the Digitech RP 155 or a Boss ME-20 without doing all those mods.
+1 on the Double Trouble, but honestly, it is too loud for around the house use. Although, your idea of what's acceptable and mine differ. I would think your 5W amp would be good enough. If you really want a 10" speaker, buy one and build a cabinet for it.
Put a better set of tubes in the Gretsch. JJ's have been mentioned by quite a few on this forum. For playing in the house,that's all you need. Save your $$$$'s.
Yes it is a Gretsch G5222. I was just looking for a little more bass which I hear is hard with a 6 inch.. maybe it is fine. Adam gave it a great review for the dollars. Thanks for all your opinions. I will have to think about what I want to do. :)
Ox, that was pretty good.Damn, I wish I was puter literate.Is there a tutorial any where that explains what a sound card is,and how to hook it up. That really sounded awesome for just going thru the puter!
By the way I have nearly every amp & mic worth having.(Not trying to start a debate,my list is too long). I just was really impressed! You have nice tone ,too.
Hi Markdc70 I use the software that came with the sound card drivers and I use virtual amp and effects software called free amp its a VST plugin into a host. If you dont know what that means then you need to email me for a longer chat. russ.turner@ntlworld.com ---------- Oxharp
Hi Blueharper. You should not need a tutorial to get this up and running.
Question : Do you have a mic jack on your pc?Its the same size as your headphone socket.Can you plug a pc mic into you computer and hear your voice from the speakers?
If you do then buy a step up connector from radio shack or somewhere like that you need to go from 3/16th mail end to 1/4 female end that you can plug your guitar/mic cable into.
find out if you have any fx software installed on your pc. I have a standard sound card quite old with EAX sofware running. this gives me reverb, autowah, and loads of other sounds to mess about with. the clip I used above is just no effects with a little reverb on.
Basically if you can speak into you pc with a pc mic then you can plug your harp mic into you pc and play with the setting as you would on an amp. The best thing is that you can play with your headphones on and listen to you cds at the same time and adjust the volume to balance the harp its really wild.
Its not very hard to achieve this. any more questions then email please. Its not my thread.
Last Edited by on Mar 17, 2010 11:22 AM