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Best Harp Amps 2022
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Rob McNeilage
1 post
Mar 06, 2022
7:12 AM
I'm looking at getting my first Amp. The forum comments I have seen so far go back 8 to 10 years back, unless I'm missing something?
I see back then that the VHT Special 6 1x10 Combo
was highly recommended. ( Not the VHT Special 6 Ultra)
Is this still the case? I've also been looking at the Harp Gear 2 which seems to be roughly double the price but has a magic sound.

Last Edited by Rob McNeilage on Mar 06, 2022 9:23 PM
SuperBee
7062 posts
Mar 11, 2022
2:30 PM
People really loved those VHT amps. Cheap and with a 10” speaker. I was sceptical and kept waiting for the complaints of component failure but that never really happened. Instead, people just stopped talking about them. I guess that was because they stopped making them. Nobody talks about the Epiphone Valve Jr anymore for much the same reason. I think the VHT was a much better harp amp than the Epiphone VJ though.
There were some changes people commonly made to the VHT but I don’t recall the detail. I’m sure it could be easily found.
These days there are the little amps which Rick Davis brings in and modifies. They seem very popular. There was the original Memphis Mini amp but for whatever reason he moved on from that and now calls his units Stage 5 and sells with various options starting from around $440
By all accounts they’re good little rigs.
I had a few little amps, various Valve Jr amps, a Fender XD, built a Lone Wolf 6L6SE and a 5F1 clone in a Harpgear 2 cab with the Weber speaker.
I sold all the Epiphone amps, I like the 6L6 amp for home use, I like the Fender Vibro Chsmp XD too but not many other harp players have much good to say about that.
I like my 5F1 which I built. I used good parts in that. I’ll never sell that amp
So I’m probably not much help. I’m all sorted for small amps and not paying attention to current market except for the Stage 5 stuff and I just remembered those tiny units which Vox make. They look like a toy but they are real amps. I think they are actually ok Harp amps. The guitarist in my band uses one and has been happy with it.
Personally the smallest amp I commonly use is a Princeton Reverb but not at home
ME.HarpDoc
410 posts
Mar 11, 2022
5:50 PM
I’ve got a lone Wolf Harptrain 10 which I like, a Fender Superchamp XD Whitt a Lil Buddy speaker substitute which can get me through a moderately loud jam (15w tube amp) and a Quilter solid state amp for louder stages that can model to several classic sounds. I have played through a stage 5 amp and it has great sound but probably needs to be lined out at a jam. I don’t think Lone Wolf puts out the Harptrain anymore. You can pick up a used Fender Superchamp XD on eBay for around $300. The Quilter is probably up over $1,000. For that you might as well go with Harpgear. If you want to try a little DIY, I was happy to purchase a speaker cab, add my choice of speakers and add a Vox mv50 amp which has a mini tube pre amp circuit and gives great sound. Total investment under $600.
SuperBee
7063 posts
Mar 12, 2022
1:58 AM
MV50, that’s the one!
Yes you are right about the LW amps. Probably a few on the second hand market, but then again maybe not many because I think people who have them all seem quite happy to hang on to them.


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