Rick Davis
438 posts
May 20, 2010
10:39 AM
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Have any of you tried playing harp through an Edward Amp? Interesting design... two 6BM8 power tubes. I ran into a guy last night at a blues jam who played through this amp. I have a couple of brief videos up at the Blues Harp Amps blog (link below).
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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HarpNinja
474 posts
May 20, 2010
10:41 AM
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Wasn't Carlos Del Junco using one of these? I remember a long, long time ago Buddha trying to contact him about doing an amp but the dude at Edward never got back to him.
There was a time were I probably would've pulled the trigger too. Carlos's tone on Blues Mongrel with that amp is pretty amazing.
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Rick Davis
439 posts
May 20, 2010
10:44 AM
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Yep... Carlos Del Junco plays this amp (or did at one time).
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
Last Edited by on May 20, 2010 10:45 AM
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bigd
127 posts
May 20, 2010
12:28 PM
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To be honest Rick he sounds thin to me on the video. I'm no fool: I know such things are more organic to the player than the amp (and I'm too modest a talent and hopefully too detached a personality to critique others) but one thing "Thunder"struck me. I have one of Steve Warners thunderharp mikes and even after around 5 years it is super thick/bassy sounding even with an open hand so if an amp sounds thin with that? On the other hand: With Carlos- at least once upon a time- the amps unambiguous advocate who am I to........
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Myspace: dennis moriarty
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bigd
128 posts
May 20, 2010
12:31 PM
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p.s. Rick: Imo: you are an asset exploiting all these toys. They may not reflect the amp realistically relative to all the variables but it sure is fun to listen to them....Thanks. d
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Myspace: dennis moriarty
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Rick Davis
441 posts
May 20, 2010
12:57 PM
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Dennis, I agree with your assessment of the amp tone. Still, I thought the amp was interesting; maybe even significant since Del Junco is known to have recorded with an Edward amp.
The guy with the amp bought it second hand. Del Junco's amp may have been a customized harp-friendly version.
But.... the 6BM8 power tubes are internally similar to EL84 tubes, and I thought the amp had the same bright tone I recognize in most EL84 amps.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
Last Edited by on May 20, 2010 12:58 PM
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5F6H
146 posts
May 21, 2010
8:33 AM
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@ Rick "and I thought the amp had the same bright tone I recognize in most EL84 amps."
A lot of vintage EL84 amps (and amps like th Epi VJ, Harley Benton GA5) lack a global negative feedback loop, which can make them a bit spanky for harp...this can sometimes be sorted simply by adding a resistor.
My prefered recording amp is EL84 powered, some like the Fenton Weil are thick & creamy...basically it's more the circuit, than the tube's specific characteristic that you are hearing.
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Harpaholic
100 posts
May 21, 2010
9:06 AM
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@5F6H "My prefered recording amp is EL84 powered"
Do you mind sharing the amp model with us?
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5F6H
147 posts
May 21, 2010
9:26 AM
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Certainly, it's a Triumph Leo. An old British amp that used to be sold in Woolworth's stores, around the end of the 60's, as part of a guitar & amp starter kit.
Cheap flimsy cab, "look at it & rip" grill material, PCB construction, elliptical speaker (mine is an unknown pulled out of an old home hi-fi console - they also did a 8" speaker version), essentialy a low budget Vibrochamp type amp.
Mine is serviced, 12AX7 cathode bypass caps clipped off to reduce gain (some sound great with just one clipped at pin 8, maybe neither with a moderate mic) & I added the aforementioned NFB loop, 5F1 champ style to lose the Vox-ey sting at the front of the note.
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Rick Davis
445 posts
May 21, 2010
10:00 AM
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No, the EL84 intrinsically suffers from a LOT more fundamental weaknesses than just the absense of a negative feedback loop in an amp. I usually don't care for EL84 amps for harp, but there are some vintage or boutique exceptions.
Removing the Neg Feedback Loop actually enhances good harp tone in many older Fender amps.
You are correct that it is the circuit that exacerbates the EL84's weaknesses. but since most EL84 amps are guitar amps, they all tend to share the same crappy tone.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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5F6H
148 posts
May 21, 2010
10:06 AM
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"Removing the Neg Feedback Loop actually enhances good harp tone in many older Fender amps." I have rarely found this to be the case, there are the odd exceptions of course, usually it increases feedback considerably and can make for a brittle tone.
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Rick Davis
448 posts
May 21, 2010
10:38 AM
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The negative feedback loop has little to do with acoustic feedback. It was a Fender technique for getting their trademark "sparkling" highs. Removing it in Fender amps is more likely to diminish feedback and make harp tone sound warmer.
Are you talking about Negative Bias Voltage? That is something entirely different than the negative feedback loop. The low level of neg bias voltage in EL84 tubes can often lead to grid blocking when overdriven by a hot signal from a bullet mic. Those square waves are the EL84 tone I don't like. Mics that are less "hot" are better in the old K-zoo amps.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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