Harp Amps - Harmonica Amplifiers

Harplinks.com expiring

2010-03-09T14:41:00.000-05:00

A while ago I created a website called HarpLinks.com that is a listing of about 5,000 harmonica related links. It has been a useful resource for some people, but it has not paid its way. I am letting it go.

If anyone out there has a use for the domain name HarpLinks.com, let me know and we can arrange a transfer of ownership. It has a Google pagerank of 3 and 15,000 back links. It should be useful to someone.

On April 6th it disappears. I will keep the data as here in case it is useful at www.harpamps.com/harplinks

Name this Amp

2010-02-26T14:23:00.001-05:00

Anyone recognize this? I'm thinking it's from an organ, but it could be a guitar amp.

Dukane tube PA

2009-04-19T18:18:00.003-05:00

This is a Dukane, 1U460A all tube amp. 4 channels, plus 2 phono type channels. It screams beyond the 30w rating. It's stock as far as I know and I do not have any of the mic transformers in the amp. They are not needed for guitar. I have used it mainly for electric guitar. jerry

Newcomb E-25

2009-04-11T18:59:00.004-05:00

I picked up this Newcomb E- 25 a while back and it is a great little 25w amp. I retrofitted the screw on mic terminals to 1/4" for guitar playing and it's perfect for acoustic guitar.

Jam while you still can....

jerry

Masco Mania

2009-04-11T18:50:00.004-05:00

Here is a newly acquired, right out of the box vintage Masco ME-18P. This unit has the phono/turntable on top, hence the P in the model #. I just quickly soldered in a 1/4" connector for a speaker out and played my Seagull thru it. It has a piezo pickup, cedar top, etc. and it was spectacular. This amp is 18w output but more than enough volume for anyone. I could not crank it very far before it got really loud. I will try an electric thru it soon. I have not tried the turntable with a record but it does spin when I turn on the switch on top. It plays 78s, 45s, 33s. I have attached some pics. This unit arrived in the electronics store in Denver where I got it today on Nov. 1, 1957 and has all the paperwork and a letter from Mrs. Mark A. Simpson, including the orig shipping box and packing. What a beaut! Jam on.

jerry

New MegaTone Wezo 45 Harp Amp

2009-02-16T17:11:00.005-05:00

I'm proud to announce a brand new Harp Amp. It's called the Wezo 45 and is made by Megatone amps. This a totally unique cabinet design and has enough power and tone to fill ANY size room. Thew amp is available in a "head only" design at the moment.Forget about dueling it out with your guitar player. He may be asking YOU to turn down. Please come visit our site at http://www.megatoneamps.com/ and see for yourself. We've got a downloadable PDF manual and will have sound bites up soon. We're also working on some very cool cabinet designs. Also.............we'll have a very cool Harp Road Case up in the next few weeks.

Premier Twin 8 Vintage Amp 1961!

2009-01-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

Michael Todd is selling his Premier Twin-8 amp. This sounds like a deal.

Premier Twin 8 Vintage Amp 1961!

ME-27 and ME-36

2008-12-27T16:19:00.003-05:00

I own 3 Mascos that I use mainly for acoustic guitar. The 3rd, an ME-18P, was acquired on 4.11.09 and is listed above. The above models are ME-27 and ME-36, both restored to more original than modified other than connectors. Whoever owned the ME-27 before me put a toggle switch for off/on bypassing the knob on front. It now works only as a treble control. The tone of these are unbelievable. Here's the good part; my Dad found it in an estate sale about 10 years ago for $3.

jerry
Denver, CO

Amp Knob settings - Jason Ricci

2008-08-31T09:40:00.001-05:00

I saw Jason Ricci at Mexicali Blues on 8/29/2008. Between sets I jumped on stage and took a picture of his Harp Gear Amp knob settings.

Treble and Middle off and Bass and Volume on 7. I should have taken a pic of his effects box. He used some wild chorus on one number.

I am uploading a couple of videos to Vimeo. When they are finished I'll put them on JT30.com.

One of the relics restored for guitar

2008-08-23T15:25:00.002-05:00

This is a Stromberg-Carlson AU-57 and one great amp for both acoustic and electric guitar, as well as lap steel I might add. It's likely in the 50-watt range with 1 input channel that's a bit hotter than the others, 3 mic channels, Bass, Treble/On-Off.

Cotton's Amp Settings

2008-08-06T22:30:00.002-05:00

Snake, James Cotton's harp wrangler and chief cook and bottle washer, showed me Cotton's amp at the Weehawken concert this evening. He said he'd replaced the first pre-amp tubes with a 12AU7 and another with a 12AT7 in order to cut back on the gain and improve the amp's tone and resistance to feedback. (click image to see the knobs better)

Sonic Circus Guitar Amplifier Sale of the Century

2008-07-31T13:34:00.002-05:00

$200,000 anyone?

Somebody had a serious case of Hoard and Clutter syndrome, Packrat Syndrome, or Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome. Even I don't have this many amps. (but only because I have no more room to put amps).

There are many nice amps in this auction, but very few real finds. Any of these amps could be had on eBay. Some are more valuable than others. I counted (quickly) 664 pictures, but many are front and back pictures so figure 400 amps. Most are valued between $300 and $500. Many are less and there are a few notables valued at more.

There has to be $200,000 worth of amps retail. The eBay price would be about $100k to $150K. I am guessing that the purchase price will be less than $100,000 for the bunch. Possibly well under 75K because there aren't many people who can come up with the cash and have the patience to off that many dogs on eBay.

You could bid $75k or so and then spend the next year posting them on eBay at the rate 10 or 20 a week. You could make a nice living for a year. You'd make about $75k total on the project and only have to work 15 to 20 hours a week listing amps and packing them up for shipment.

Sonic Circus Guitar Amplifier Sale of the Century

Fixed the browser hijack problem

2008-07-21T09:53:00.004-05:00

I discovered that the problems that I had with HarpAmps redirecting users to new pages was due to Chitika.com, and advertising group. I used to have a little graphic section where you could buy harmonicas and amps from various stores. I put this way down at the bottom of the page so it wouldn't bother anyone. These ads started going nuts over the weekend.

I turned off most of my Chitika ads today. Their new premium ads were the cause of the browser hijacks. Chitika started their premium program because, they claim, the older per-per-click ads weren't working. They never did more than a dollar a day for me on about 8,000 exposures, but I considered this to be a problem with the fact that I placed them below the fold, near the bottom of a long pages.

Premium is a misnomer for their new product. What they did was resell their ad space to doubleclick and other advertisers. Along the way they were not very careful about who they were selling to, because the ads resulted in the execution of javascript that produced popups and in some cases page redirection to other websites.

Popups suck and I never want them on my page. Browser redirects are unacceptable. I opted out big time. I am now going through and removing Chitika code from websites. I don't need users calling me up about problems for a lousy dollar a day.

HarpAmps Hacked

2008-07-20T08:27:00.002-05:00

We had some weird things going on here for a while. It appears that some piece of code managed to send a redirect to a malicious site. I think it might have been the Webring code. It appears that it has stopped so I have returned the site back to its original state.

I was taking out a bunch of the scripts that run (google analytics, etc.) trying to figure out where the bad guys were getting in. The website should run a little fast, now, anyway.

If you have a problem, please notify me. Use my other site www.jt30.com to get in touch with me, or check my non-harp blog at www.cthreepo.com/blog.

I am sorry if you had a problem with the site this morning.

Keith

Build aTube Amp - Do It Yourself Tutorial

2008-06-26T11:29:00.003-05:00

I came across this tube amp tutorial. I like the absolute thoroughness of the tutorial, Everything is covered from soup to nuts. The schematic is customized, which may be a good or a bad thing. It uses relatively low voltage power tubes, which means it might be good for harp. Lower power means sweeter tone and less feed back.

The article offers a great many good ideas about where to get parts, how to salvage stuff to save money, even how to build a neat cabinet.

Even if you are not going to build this particular amp, it is worth while checking out the process. It may be just as easy to build a deluxe or bassman clone (I suggest looking at a tweed Fender Super Amp).

Ultimate Keyboard

2008-06-10T10:38:00.000-05:00

This looks very interesting. I combines a PC keyboard and a MIDI keyboard. I want it, but I can't figure a good justification for buying one.

It's only $19.99 with free shipping. It seems sort of dumb not to buy it. It comes with a cover for the music keyboard so you can actually type. I don't suppose that it would go over big here at work, though.

It would be the perfect present for the musician in your life.

The thing hooks to USB. This would work better with a full function sound card, but a standard sound card will have the regular MIDI instruments and the ability to edit and add instruments. Since sound is Creative.com's forte, I am assuming it comes with some nice music composing software.

Prodikeys PC-MIDI - The Ultimate Keyboard for Work and Play

Cheapest Do It Yourself Amps

2008-05-29T08:02:00.000-05:00

I found this site. The prices are pretty good. I am ordering a 5F4 Super chassis. THe Fend 5F4 is one of my favorite harp amps. It has separate tubes for each of the preamp channels so you can put a 12AU7 in one and a 12AX7 in the other and have hot and cool channels to plug into.

CeriaTone.Com - DIY Guitar Tube Amp

10 Steps to Becoming a Harmonica Super Star

2008-05-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

I've been fooling around with creating web pages on Squidoo. This one is called How to Become a Harmonica Super Star. It is a list of the steps that you need to follow to really learn how to play harp.

10 Steps to Becoming a Harmonica Super Star on Squidoo

Squidoo allows you to make a nice web page that's good for a short lesson or an interesting article. It is good for a band to make a nice profile page and any number of things. The advantage is that Squidoo pays you to create a page by giving you a good chunk of the advertising revenue. It does not have the kiddie type features of MySpace or other social networking sites. It is more business oriented, concentrating on pages the are useful. If you interested in trying this yourself, click on the link above, and sign up.

The Gear used by Jimi Hendrix

2008-05-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

My friend Bobby from Yonkers (we call him Video Bobby because he video tapes our jam sessions) has two Marshall Speaker cabinets that he bought from an estate sale. They have the JHE (Jimi Hendrix Experience) logo on them and are marked serial number #2 and #4. He's been offered $500,000 for the pair, but Bobby lives the music of Hendrix and has every note the Jimi ever played down to perfection. He isn't selling. Another friend has a guitar that he bought at a flea market that can be traced by serial number to Jimi. When they Jam at a local home, they sound pretty damn good.

The link above is to Gibson article on the gear that Jimi Hendrix used. Fascinating stuff, although no harp content.

Build your own effects clone.

2008-05-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

I know there are a bunch of you out there that want to build their own effects pedals. I am ordering the Ping Pong delay kit from BuildYourOwnClone.com. At $100 it is more expensive than the cheap delays coming out of China, but more advanced than some of the more expensive delays available at your corner music store.

Check out the YouTube of their tremolo kit. Tremolo is something that works for surf and early rock, but never seems to fit with blues. I love the demo, though.

Summmer Jam at Renegades Bar & Grill

2008-05-05T14:34:00.000-05:00

Dave Lampert writes that the Jam at Renegades Bar & Grill, Burnsville, MN is now on every Wed all summer long. It begins at 8:00 and goes until the last dog is hung (usually between 12 and 1).

Savage Audio,maker of Savage Amplifiers, Tim Ellis of Ellis's Drum shop, and LaVonne's music have teamed up to sponsor the Wednesday Night Jam at Renegade's by providing a new Glas 30, a new drum kit built for the jam, and two brand spanking new Fender Highway One guitars...a Strat and a Tele for all to use and enjoy...Come on down and check 'em out.

Dave writes:

In other news we have just received word that we are On the lineup at the Omaha Blues and Jazz Festival on July 5th of this year and will be at another club on the 6th in the area. We will announce the club soon. There are several and we are trying to get the best fit...You can monitor this and all dates at the calendar on the website through the link below.

We will be in LaCrosse again this weekend at Nighthawks Taproom and look forward to seeing our friends in the area both Friday and Saturday.

One of the First Premier Amps?

2008-04-22T10:25:00.003-05:00

This showed up on eBay. It is a very early (1946-1948) Premier amp. I am guessing the date from the fact that it uses 7C5 tubes instead of the 6V6. The 7C5 is a locking tube designed for use in things like car radios and other applications where the tubes might shake loose.

Premier used these "loctal" tubes on their Model "O" and the very early Model 50s. Since these are all 1948 or earlier amps, I guess that this unknown model Premier is from the same time frame. The Field Coil speaker also dates it very early. After around 1950 Alnico magnets were easy enough to get for speakers so Field Coils speakers were not used. The grill clothe is similar to the mid 1940s Model "O", as well.

By the way, it is usually a no-brainer to replace the Field Coil speaker with a better sounding modern speaker. All you have to do is put a resistor across the speaker power lead to keep the transformer happy. (Don't throw out the vintage speaker in case some day you want to restore the amp to its original configuration.)

OK, here you have a VERY old Premier harp amp. I'm guessing early 50s. It's not working, but I think all it needs is some new filter caps which I am including, as well as two complete sets of NOS tubes. It runs on 2 x 7C5 (locatal version of 6V6) power tubes, a 5Y4 rectifier and 7N7 and 6SJ7 pre-amp tubes. It has a 10 inch Emerson field coil speaker that looks like it needs a recone to me (Ted Weber & co. will do that fairly inexpensively). It also has a 'clicker' tone knob and a regular volume control. I also have a schematic for this somewhere which I'll throw in. I snagged this as a project for our harp player, but before I could get anyone to help me restore it he got a Gibson harp amp he loves. Anyway, this would probably be a real sweet harp mp with just a quick cap job and $60 speaker recone. It's all original except i did change the power cord and clip the 'death' cap. And the handle was missing when i got it.

Blues Harp Amps

2008-04-08T10:18:00.000-05:00

Blues Harp Amps has some nice blogging on my favorite subject. Check out the old gibson and JT-30 that he has for sale. He's practically giving it away!

Amp Show 2008

2008-04-04T12:34:00.003-05:00

Coming up Saturday, May 10, 2008 the 2008 Amp Show will be coming to Piscataway, N.J.

There may be a couple of good harp amps. This show did not have much in the way of vintage gear or boxes of junk to pick through in previous years. If you go bring a JT-30 and and a harp and plug into a few amps and see how they stack up harp-wise.

Demo, compare, and evaluate, Exotic Boutique, Custom, Prototype, and Production models at Real World‚ levels. Test the amps, cabinets, speakers, effects, and pickups, that make up the classic, vintage, and the cutting edge of the electrified instrument world.

Over 45 exhibitors including: 65amps, Ark, AXL, Celestion, Egnater, Electro Harmonix, Fender, Fuchs, Goodsell, GoodTone, Hermida Audio, Line 6 Madd Professor, Marshall, Pure 64, Sommatone, Top Hat, Tube Wonder, Two Rock, Vox and more.

"TONE WIZARDS" forum discussion with Q&A & more TBA.

GoodTone’s "AMP BIASING CLINIC" • "Pedalboard From Hell"

40+ demo rooms where you can plug in and play at real world levels, the most exotic
boutique and finest production bass and guitar amps, pedals, and pickups available.

Vintage Hi-Fi Equipment EXPO

2008-04-04T12:34:00.000-05:00

Vacuum Tube Valley is having there Vintage Hi-Fi Equipment EXPO staring this June. The dates are June 1, July 27, September 28, and October 28.

Location is Blue Lakes Lodge, Hwy 20, Blue Lakes, CA.

Located in Northern California.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view and purchase rare, museum and collector quality vintage tube hi-fi amps, tuners, receivers, preamps, speakers, books, parts and tubes. Thousands of items.