I remember talking to Jim from Li'l Dawg Amps when I was first looking to have an amp built. I was describing the sound I was looking for and he was saying it's difficult to trust these videos. Many of what you hear might not be what it really sounds like live.
Don't judge any amp by listening to a youtube video!
The HG2 with a 8" is not going to have huge bottom end, volume or projection. If you use a Tone+ pedal with it, that will give you all the bass you need, more volume before feedback, and fatten up the tone if it needs it.
The DT sounds surprisingly loud and full in a band for a 2x8 amp. In a really loud gig/jam, it will need miced. Some people like to swap the bottom speaker with a 8A125 Weber, or a Jensen RI P8R. That will make it louder for sure. There's limited space behind the chassis to swap out the top speaker.
The HG2 is, what, a tweed Princeton-style amp? How much bass are you realistically expecting? It sounds fine in those clips regardless of the mic limitations. A Champ with a tone control - it is what it is.
Both have have monstrous tone. The line out features make them suitable for many purposes.
When listening to these recordings you have to realise that in the first clip, Dennis is playing outside so the sound dissipates much more quickly than it does indoors.
I've heard Adam's HG2 firsthand. It sounded great-nothing thin about it. I agree-I've put a few vids on youtube(and mirrored onto the forum here), and between me not having a high-quality audio mic on the cameras used and whatever happens in translation, they all sound thin, be it me playing acoustic or amped up. Folks put way too much weight on thbe sound coming from these Youtube vids. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Last Edited by on May 07, 2010 5:45 AM
If you are thinking of getting either one of those amps and only plan on playing it around the house, get the HG2.
Tweed Champ and Princeton amps can be pretty bright sounding, but they do sound great and are worth owning. There are things you can do to make the sound less bright, if necessary. For example, I put a Weber 8A125-O with a H dustcap in my tweed Champ. It's a bit louder and less bright sounding.
The Double Trouble can be pretty loud around the house. The good thing about that amp is that it can get pretty darn loud before feedback sets in. I've played my Double Trouble in a lot of rooms. I've used the line out feature a few times.
I think I've seen that guy in the second Double Trouble video recently.
On that video, the volume was cranked up to 7 or 8 and the tone was completely off. I used a Blues Blaster with a MC-151 crystal element. It was really loud.
I shot two of those videos. In the first one, I used a Shure 545 with the volume on 4 and tone on 10. I've played out with the 545 using those settings and it was plenty loud.
It's a pretty versatile amp. It's a perfect "grab and go" harp amp. As Harpaholic said, "if it is really loud, it'll need to be miced." It's my experience that if you can't hear that amp, the other people in the band are playing way too loud.
Adam is right. The quality of the original videos of Dennis Gruenling are not very good. In the right hands, a good sounding tweed Champ sounds virile.
Last Edited by on May 07, 2010 9:25 PM
