Diggin' Out that ol' favorite amp

[jeffl]

I blew some 2-beer harp through my favorite harp amp at home. Man, I miss playin' through that thing.
I've been playin' through a Crate 25 Keyboard amp at our jams, 'cuz it's got a mic jac and an instrument jac for my keyboard, so I only have to lug one amp. But, I fired up my Epi Valve Special at home, and grabbed the '67 shure 515 stick mic that I've been using lately, and it sounded so much better than the sound I get at our jam.
I also grabbed my stock 520D Green Bullet and blew some through that, and it didn't hold a candle to the 515.
I would encourage anybody who wants a great mic for all-purpose use (vocals,harp, mic'ing amps) to try out a vintage 515 if you get a chance (they're prob'ly $60 U.S. on ebay) .
You can't find these Epi Valve Specials (discontinued new) , but I've played through alotta great harp amps, and these things are right up there for great ambience, even with the stock speaker. Even though it's a 5-watt amp, it's got a bigger cabinet than my Peavey Classic 30-- it's about twice the size and weight of most 5-watt amps -- and it shows in the bottom end.

[jawbone60]

i have played through a valve junior and can't figure out why they stopped making them. great amps esp modded for harp.

my current favorite remains a silvertone 1482. usually with a e-v dynamic modded to hi z or a shure cm brown bullet, sometimes with a ruskin custom crystal. i do have a 545s that has an impedance adapter with it that sounds good as either hi or low z.

i have recently been revisiting a small ss amp, the danelectro dirty thirty, with a no name condenser mic, for harp. just for a change. it's so dry though. likely will be back with the 1482 and cm mic soon.

[jeffl]

Well, if you ever get a chance to play through the Valve Special, or Valve Standard (its 15-watt big brother), give it a test drive. Those two amps are Valve Jr.s on steroids, but way less luggable.
I think they're under appreciated mainly 'cuz they didn't build 'em long, and they're cheaply built-- mainly in the cosmetics areas. They're hybrids, but I jus' stay away from the digital circuitry. I don't use their delay, or reverb.. I use mine.
When I bought mine, I tried out about 6 five-watt amps with prices from $250 (U.S.) to $2000, including the Victorias, Fender cheap Champs & Vintage Champ clones, the new Skylarks, etc.
I ended up trading my ol' Silverface Champ for it. I miss the Champ, mainly 'cuz it was so classiclly cute, and very luggable ( a trait which the Epi Special doesn't share in any way ), but I don't miss the narrow capabilities of the ol' Silverface, which I left unmodded.

[jawbone60]

well for big loud good tone- and hard to tote since it weighs about 45 lbs- i have the bassman replica. which i am about decided to sell off or swap off. these days the silvertone seems to be most of what i need. it's good for small to medium rooms and has tremolo to boot. with a couple of gaincutters and a speaker upgrade it has served very well and weighs in at about 20-25 lbs. and i get great comments about it when people see it!

i have a new love affair with a lone wolf delay pedal, which i have purposely not played with the last couple of gigs since i don't want to become too dependent on it.

[jeffl]

Portability is big for me too! Incidentally, the first musical group I made money with-- a folk trio, when I was in 8th grade-- used a Silvertone twin 12 of some kind, with two jacks. We plugged an acoustic guitar with a DeAarmond soundhole pickup into one jack, and a single mic into the other jack, and performed that way. You can imagine the tunes we were playin' in 1963

[jawbone60]

i can imagine the song lineup. i was 8 in '63 but i remember elvis, jan and dean, beach boys, garry lewis, a lot of the typical pop type acts and early rockers from back then.
i've seen a silvertone twin 12 but never played through one.
i have a very small alamo capri amp, in pieces in a box. decided to redo it some years ago and got lost. sure would be a great amp for these duo projects i'm in now. i had bought it after basically losing all my gear to a pawn shop in about '01 or '02. hard times. the capri is a very small amp, 1 power tube and a single 8" speaker. would not put out enough volume if drums or big guitar amps were involved.

[bottleneck]

my present favorite amp is a masco MA17.i tailor it to the situation with different speaker cabs.usually a 1x12 dano cab.i wouldn't get rid of my bassman RI though!

i have a crate V18,and a fender pro junior,a dano dm25,and a dm10 for small gigs.i think it is smart to keep some solid state amps on hand just in case.

i might build a tweed deluxe next.

www.shakeylee.com

[jawbone60]

i have a deposit on my bassman, it's either sold or i am getting some $$ anyway. it's a beautiful rig but i just have no need for the 40 watts 4x10 thing these days.
i am thinking of trying to resurrect an alamo capri i disassembled some years ago and stuck in a box in the shed. 1 power tube and an 8" speaker, guaranteed to distort in a hurry. maybe just the thing for a the quiet restaurant gigs i like. but it's a ways off. no idea how to get it back into 1 working piece!

for mostly my wife we have a danelectro dirty 30 and a nifty fifty, both ss amps. which may be great for distorted slide guitar stuff. i have used the dirty thirty for harp but it's a very dry pitch-y sound.

the silvertone 1482 is just exactly what i love in recent years, even in a small combo band, drums,bass,guitar, and me.

[bottleneck]

is your bassman the sligo?? you might be able to trade it for a tweed deluxe!!

i only have two remaining gigs that need a bassman. most other gigs the pro junior,or whatever is enough.

www.shakeylee.com