As someone who recently purchased a boutique amp, I have been reading this thread with
much interest. I used to own and play exclusively through a 1962 Fender Concert amp. I
sold the amp to pay for an engagement ring (well worth it!)... My wife felt so bad about
the situation that as a wedding gift she bought me an amp... I considered buying a vintage
amp but wanted the reliability of a newer amp so I started to explore harp amps on the
market... SJ, Harpgear and Meteor were on my short list but after playing through a
boutique amp before leaving Chicago I decided to go with a guitar amp. I am now playing
through a VERO (4 ten) amp that I had custom built (separate head and cabinet) by the FAzio brothers who live outside Chicago..
For those unfamiliar with VERO (
www.veroamps.com) Charlie Baty plays through one as does Nick Curran... They are not common among harp players although Gary Primich was using one before his untimely passing...
It took a while for me to dial in a sound that I am happy with (swapped out many tubes - settled on a 5751 preamp tube.. Like Rick Davis I have found this to "mellow" out the amp a bit and make it more harp friendly... It sounds great for both Diatonic and chromatic.. I have only used mics with crystal elements (mc 151) but am excited to try it with a ceramic or CR...
Kurt Crandall
www.kurtcrandall.comwww.myspace.com/kurtcrandall
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