Henriksen Amp: The Bud

[Dom Minasi]

I just got this amp and it's the best amp I've ever owned. I know if you're playing gigs and if you're tired of carrying a heavy amp this is the amp you've been waiting for.

Check it out:

http://henriksenamplifiers.com/the-bud-amp/

Take a look at the videos

and read the reviews

http://henriksenamplifiers.com/product/the-bud/

It's worth the price.

[rpjazzguitar]

Better than the Lunchbox?

That one also got rave reviews and is actually used by some well known players, but I got one and it sits in a closet. It's useless to me. It's not the amp section because it sounds okay through an external speaker. It's the 6.5 inch speaker.

[ott...@hotmail.com]

Well I checked out the Demo Vids, and it sounds like a winner!
The Emminence speaker should be pretty good, and I believe the 8" version was in the Raezers edge cabs and they can handle whatever you throw at them.
Great Eq as well, it looks like they thought of everything.

Bg

[Tom Pandel]

On Monday, November 30, 2015 at 6:55:00 AM UTC-5, Dom Minasi wrote:

> I just got this amp and it's the best amp I've ever owned. I know if you're playing gigs and if you're tired of carrying a heavy amp this is the amp you've been waiting for.
>

Can it compete with a drummer and an electric bass player? I currently use a 10" Henriksen Jazz amp with a MFX in front for that trio and don't need to go past 11 o'clock on the volume. Sounds great on the videos.

I also have a lunchbox (6.5" speaker)and it doesn't cut it. It does not have a broad open tone for cleans and barely enough clean volume for big band rehearsal. Because of its tone, I won't bring it on a gig, though I will use it for a basement rehearsal or jam.

Tom

[da...@brusegard.com]

I tried it out and it's just not got enough oomph. I'm back to my acoustic image series 2 amp (200 watts) with either my Raezer's Edge 10 or Twin 8s. Bit nicer with a Redstone 10 jazz speaker. Sold the lunchbox. Fine for just guitar bass and quiet venues, but fails to cut it at weddings or larger scale venues when your single line solo has to get above the drums, bass and keyboard.
David

[rpjazzguitar]

Quick Lunchbox story ...

The Seasons Guitar Quartet played the jazzschool in Berkeley a couple years ago.

That's Anthony Wilson, Julian Lage, Chico Pinheiro and Larry Koonse. Great players and each had a high end archtop.

Amplification? Each one used the Lunchbox, although I think each one had some kind of box in front of it -- not sure what, maybe some reverb and EQ or something. Of course, they sounded great.

Reg Schwager and Joe Giglio also used the LB.

So, this sounds like an ad for the LB. It's not. I hate mine. I can't get anything I like out of it. The usable volume is no better than my 12 watt Crate practice amp -- and the Crate sounds much better. That's because the LB has to be on the floor to have any bass, but then it's pointing at your ankles. The Crate sounds good on a stand or shelf or whatever.

[Gerry]

I can't understand the enthusiuasts. I returned mine as well, it wasn't
purely the volume, the sound was just atrocious.

I would like to try the Bud. It is out of my price range unless it is
incredible. And no matter how bad the LunchBox is, it has nothing to
do with the Bud.

[rpjazzguitar]

Bud. It is out of my price range unless it is
> incredible. And no matter how bad the LunchBox is, it has nothing to
> do with the Bud.

The one I was looking at has a 6.5 inch speaker like the LB. That's the reason I brought up the LB.

I'm having trouble imagining a good sound out of a speaker that small.

My imagination extends to 8 inch speakers (my beloved JC55 has two of them), but not any smaller.

[Gerry]

On 2015-12-01 06:22:07 +0000, rpjazzguitar said:

> Bud. It is out of my price range unless it is
>> incredible. And no matter how bad the LunchBox is, it has nothing to
>> do with the Bud.
>
> The one I was looking at has a 6.5 inch speaker like the LB. That's the
> reason I brought up the LB.
>
> I'm having trouble imagining a good sound out of a speaker that small.

I hear you. On the other hand I got some high-efficienty Altec Lansing
bookshelf years ago that sound stellar and crazy volumes, they're only
a couple of inches in diameter.

> My imagination extends to 8 inch speakers (my beloved JC55 has two of
> them), but not any smaller.

My imagination has been over-run by technology every year for the past
20. All things are seemingly possible. Whether I can afford them or
not, not so feasible.

[Dom Minasi]

On Monday, November 30, 2015 at 6:55:00 AM UTC-5, Dom Minasi wrote:

I have Lunchbox too. Very disappointed in it. It's Ok for my apartment but with my archtops and a reverb unit it breaks up. This amp I played with all my archtops at very loud volumes and it held it's own. Very happy with it.

[Tom Pandel]

> I have Lunchbox too. Very disappointed in it. It's Ok for my apartment but with my archtops and a reverb unit it breaks up. This amp I played with all my archtops at very loud volumes and it held it's own. Very happy with it.

Do you keep it on the floor or raised up? If up, does it still sound full? Have you used it with a combo?
Sorry for the grilling it's just that this amp is a curious invention and there is no place to try one.

Thanks,
Tom

[Gerry]

We're still talking about the Henriksen, right?

[Tom Pandel]

> We're still talking about the Henriksen, right?

I was, yes. I know the LB "snuck" in there but only as a point of comparison. And I think we all know what that thing sounds like.

Tom

[Dom Minasi]

On Monday, November 30, 2015 at 6:55:00 AM UTC-5, Dom Minasi wrote:

Played it on the floor and on a table..it sounded great with all my guitars including acoustics and solid bodies

[Tom Pandel]

> Played it on the floor and on a table..it sounded great with all my guitars including acoustics and solid bodies

Thanks Dom.

I have been thinking about a new amp lately, not that I need a new one as I have a few, two of which I use regularly that do a good job.

I'm considering Fender Deluxe for two reasons. 2) I have never owned a Fender amp and 1) I always liked the tone when I hear one (Ted Greene, Tim Lerch). Not sure if a Deluxe has enough power to cut a trio gig with mixed genres, excluding anything with the word "heavy" or "fusion" in it.

Then Roland came out with a JC40 stereo amp w/LR inputs on the front panel, tempting me to want to try that route again. Not sure about 40 solid state watts for a clean sound even going into two tens.

Now comes The Bud. There's a lot of allure in the idea of a big sound, relatively speaking, coming out of a shrimp of an amp plus it's other obvious qualities.

Oh well...

[rpjazzguitar]

I recently read a post somewhere that referred to "the old Princeton rule". The rule is that if the situation demands being louder than a Princeton, it's too loud.

For years I gigged with a Roland JC55 (when I didn't want to risk permanent injury lugging a Boogie). The JC55 was as loud as I ever wanted to be. I just can't see any reason why I'd ever want to be louder than that. If I ever had to play a room too big for it, there should be a PA. I don't want to be sitting right in front of something that's supposed to project to the back of a huge room. I don't want to risk the hearing damage and I can't imagine being able to hear the other players well. Also, when things get that loud, my hearing loses definition. I've heard it referred to as depth of field. At some point, the sound becomes a dull roar. The musician's earplugs can tame it, though, with the sound then becoming more defined after the reduction in db.

A friend's Hotrod Deluxe (low wide one, two speakers) sounded as good as any amp I've ever used. I've read someplace that some people don't find them loud enough. I never gigged with one, so I'm not sure, but my guess is that it would more than meet the Princeton rule.

And, then, there are people who discuss "headroom". I confess that I'm not sure exactly what they're talking about. The ability of an amp to stay clean at high volume, or perhaps track transients well? The JC55 actually starts to distort just a bit at higher volumes -- this distortion sounds good to me on single string stuff, so I guess it's the speakers not the solid state electronics. I like the tone. But that's for soloing, I can't imagine wanting to play chords that loud. Well, it is possible, but I'm not entirely sure, that playing a Wes type thing where he plays a high energy chorus in 4 note chord voicings on the high strings might distort a little too much. I've never had any complaints, but it might be true. On the other hand, I think you can hear that on one of the Wes live albums. Maybe that makes it all right.

[Tom Pandel]

> I recently read a post somewhere that referred to "the old Princeton rule". The rule is that if the situation demands being louder than a Princeton, it's too loud.
>
> For years I gigged with a Roland JC55
>

> A friend's Hotrod Deluxe (low wide one, two speakers) sounded as good as any amp I've ever used.
>

> And, then, there are people who discuss "headroom".

I wonder if a Princeton has enough power for clean rhythm. I heard one at a jam where the guitar player was playing a knockoff Mosrite with single coils. He had a delicious, broad, clean tone. He was playing well articulated jazz figures in a blues band context. It was unusual, to me, to hear this sound coming out of this guitar. I know, "it's not the axe..."
Anyway, I mentioned the Princeton to a big band guitar player I know and he told me the Princeton is under powered and to get a Deluxe. I know what I heard, that Princeton filled the room.

I had a JC55 and found it was not powerful enough for me BUT I think there was something wrong with it. It had a very compressed sound. Squeezed actually. I finally sold it at Guitar Center for $150, the price I paid for it on eBay. They were very excited to see it, sales guys crowding around it, and asked me what I wanted for it. If I was astute I would have asked for a higher number. Apparently it had some value as an old piece.
I have a JC90, powerful amp. It sits here next to my PC and my GB-10. I practice thru it and use it for jams here at my house. Nice amp but there can be a certain brittleness to it that is hard to dial out.

I have heard Wes distort a little and I think that makes it all right.

[rpjazzguitar]

>
> I have heard Wes distort a little and I think that makes it all right.

It's in the fingers, but a single coil pickup does things a humbucker can't do and vice versa. I like single coil for rhythm playing. I have a Strat copy set up with the stock pickup in the middle and a Lil 59 humbucker in the neck position. I don't use the single coil all that much, but in the right situation, it's terrific.

An advantage, IMO, of the single coil is that, when playing with keys, it has a lesser tendency to create mud with a lot of low mid frequency content. You can get it to sit in its own spot in the mix. Audible without stepping on anything. My pet peeve about archtops and humbuckers is that I often here a lot of mud in the overall sound of the band. I'm guessing that it sounds better on stage, or the guitarist would change something, but I often hear the same problem from different players. Not so with a single coil.

And, for jazz warmth, it's hard to beat Jim Hall's 1964 or so tone on the Paul Desmond albums like Glad To Be Unhappy, and that was P90 on an older 175.

[Tim McNamara]

On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 19:14:26 -0800 (PST), rpjazzguitar
<rpjazz...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> I have heard Wes distort a little and I think that makes it all
>> right.
>
> It's in the fingers, but a single coil pickup does things a humbucker
> can't do and vice versa. I like single coil for rhythm playing. I have
> a Strat copy set up with the stock pickup in the middle and a Lil 59
> humbucker in the neck position. I don't use the single coil all that
> much, but in the right situation, it's terrific.
>
> An advantage, IMO, of the single coil is that, when playing with keys,
> it has a lesser tendency to create mud with a lot of low mid frequency
> content. You can get it to sit in its own spot in the mix. Audible
> without stepping on anything. My pet peeve about archtops and
> humbuckers is that I often here a lot of mud in the overall sound of
> the band. I'm guessing that it sounds better on stage, or the
> guitarist would change something, but I often hear the same problem
> from different players. Not so with a single coil.

I think it's hard to tell. We've been recording gigs with a couple of
mics in the audience and the sound is very different than what I hear on
stage. My tone in the recordings is boxy and both thin and muddy, very
annoying, but not at all what I hear on stage. I have not been able to
figure out how to fix it.

This seems to be less of a problem with my single coil Tele than with my
other guitars; I have another Tele that had a Vintage Vibe CC in it but
I swapped it out for a Classic 57 because the hum of the CC was driving
me nuts (and shooting for an Ed Bickertish sound). I may have to go
back to the CC, though, as the 57 sounds great in my living room but not
so much on stage.

The perceived sound of the guitar changes a lot once you add a drummer,
bass and horns. Not sure what EQ changes I need to make to help with
this.

> And, for jazz warmth, it's hard to beat Jim Hall's 1964 or so tone on
> the Paul Desmond albums like Glad To Be Unhappy, and that was P90 on
> an older 175.

My favorite jazz guitar sound. Makes me want a late 50s ES-175 with a
P90. But it would also have to come with Jim's talent and sadly thats
not something I can buy. I've thought about trying a noiseless P90, I
think Lollar makes one.

[rpjazzguitar]

No way to diagnose and solve a problem like this from afar, but, what the heck, it's the Internet. I'll offer a suggestion.

One thing that I rarely see a guitarist do is to place the amp somewhere away from himself on the bandstand.

Obviously that can make it hard to adjust a combo amp, mid set. Two solutions: head and cabinet - keep the head where you can reach it and run a line to the cabinet. Or, use a pedalboard that gives you all the control you're going to need. I've used them both, and they both work.

My theory is that you can get a better idea about what the guitar sounds like in the context of the band this way. When I put the speaker just behind me I'd sound loud and then other band or audience members would tell me I wasn't loud enough. Well, I was loud enough where I was sitting! So, moving the speaker helps. Not a total solution, but a step in the right direction.

I have listened to the same gig recorded on stage and recorded in the audience. The audience recording may be more balanced but, invariably, it doesn't sound as good. The problem is probably sound reflection. A sound guy would have a better explanation. Another thing is that the microphone may have some compression, so that sounds within the audience are causing it to lower volume and you end up hearing rustling from your audience and relatively less of you music.

I've never done it, but getting a nice long cable and going out in the audience as an experiment would be interesting. Then, you'd know what you sound like to the audience, you'd be able to modulate your volume perfectly, and you'd be able to do any other adjustments based on what you actually sound like out there. Moving your speaker away from yourself is a step in that direction.

Curiously, I have actually been criticized by a bandleader for doing it. He said something snarky about never having seen anybody else do it. My response was to ask "what are you hearing that you don't like?". He had no answer for that -- it was just based on what most people do.