Harp Commander - A Late Review



Hi harpers,

Well, I?ve had this Harp Commander unit since
Christmas, but my band?s been in remission after
loosing my guitarist last year, so I?ve held off
writing a public review until getting a chance to
try it out for a live gig. Well, this last weekend
we finally had our first gig with our new
guitarist, and I used the HC in all night long.

When I first got the Harp Commander, it was with
the idea that I would beef up the output of my of
amp and increase its voicings -- and do all that
with fewer feedback problems. Armed with a
feedback-resistant amp, I had hoped to run another
line from the HC through the PA and create a nice,
full sound for myself.

Well, in my case, that?s not ~exactly~ how things
went. Here then are my experiences with this
interesting device, subjective though they may be.
Each of my amp tests was conducted with 4 different
mics: a crystal JT-30 (my main mic), a Sure 520D, a
custom bullet (with CM element), and an SM-57. 

I tried the HC unit with 4 different amps -- two
all-tube amps, one solid sate amp and one using
both tubes and solid-state circuitry. My goal with
each was to see if I could increase output, fatten
tone and keep the Feedback Beast at bay. 

The first amp I tried was my trusty Fender Blues
Jr., a 15-watt tube amp with some solid state
circuitry. In this amp the HC seemed to do
everything it was supposed to do. I was able to
push it quite a bit farther before feedback, and
the HC opened up a whole new pallet of tonal
colors. Very impressive. These effects were
consistent, yet varied, depending on which mic I
used. It still sounded like my BJ, but in general
it sounded quite a bit smoother, with earlier
breakup at some settings than with others.

The next amp was a cheapie solid state job, a
practice amp borrowed for this test. The amp, a
Crate BX15 solid state job was for me a crappy
little feedback monster without the HC, but with
the unit I found it easy to dial in some nice
crunchy sounds? The dang thing sounded pretty
decent! Again, the HC, proved itself to be
everything it was cracked up to be -- a quality
preamp that can help fatten up your amp?s sound.

Flush with this success, I turned to my favorite
small amp, my ?63 Harmony 304, a class A amp with a
single 10? speaker that has the most killer tone
you?ll ever hear. At only 6-8 watts, however, I
thought it would be great to push it to higher
output. Well, on this amp the HC made no
discernable improvement that I could hear. It
didn?t allow me to push it ~any~ louder and seemed
to simply distort more when I tired to dial in
various sounds. It?s a real screamin? little amp,
like I said, but the HC didn?t ?improve? it one
bit, IMO. 

Now, feeling a bit less enthusiastic, I pulled out
my big ?65 Alamo, an all-tube beauty (class A-B)
with a single 15? speaker and 35-watts of pure
Texas tube tone. This is the amp I wanted to gig
with using the Harp Commander, using the unit to
split the signal between the amp and the PA. Well,
it was much the same story as with the Harmony. No
?improvement? tone wise, and when I went to open
the amp up (hoping for more output with less
feedback), it seemed to do the opposite? MORE
feedback-sensative at higher output levels. Ugggh!!


I tried every kind of variation on the settings I
could think of? (trying my best to keep calm). I?d
set the amp low, push the HC; push the amp, keep
the HC levels low. I inverted the phase thingie,
tried lots of settings, high-cut, low-cut. I
carefully tried each setting variation using each
of my mics. It was the all the same. Yes, new tonal
variations became available at modest volumes, but
the feedback issue was made ~worse~ not better, as
soon as I would open up the amp to gigging sound
levels. 

Needless to say, I was very disappointed. I asked
Ron Holmes (the creator of the Harp Commander) for
advice and he told me that there are so ~many~
things that can create feedback that it would be
difficult to pinpoint. Still, he offered some more
settings suggestions, but nothing seemed to help me
achieve my goal. Perhaps it was simply the
acoustics in our practice space, but whatever the
cause, I wasn?t going on stage with the HC and my
Alamo just to fight with feedback. Uh-uh? no way!

Well, the band finally got lined up for this gig
last weekend, and I still wanted to try out the
Harp Commander, but was afraid of using my Alamo
with it. It was a regular conundrum. Then I came
upon a solution that worked great for me -- though
it might seem like a lot of bother to anyone out
there who?s really happy with what the HC does for
your amp. Here?s what I did:

I plugged my JT-30 into my good ol? DOD FX-90 delay
pedal. I ran that to my Morley A-B box where I
split the signal. The A line went directly to my
Alamo and the B line went to the Harp Commander and
then to the PA. 

Now, during the sound check I was able to dial in a
VERY nice tubular sound on the HC running to the
PA. The Alamo was dialed in as per a normal gig.
Together it made for a really, REALLY fat sound.
Downright awesome, I must say. I?d heard many users
rave about the HC being far superior to the POD 6
to the PA, but it took the live-gig setup to really
convince me (I also own POD that I never use). For
the PA, the Harp Commander truly ROCKS!

My conclusions? Well, with regard to it?s allowing
for more output with less feedback, and its ability
to fatten up an amp?s tone, I?d say the Harp
Commander can polish a turd, but it can?t improve
one bit on a diamond. 

If you?re playing through a solid state amp, the HC
will likely knock you out. If your amp has some
solid state circuitry, like my Blues Jr., or, say a
?59 Bassman RI, then I think the HC might also be a
great choice. However, if you already have a killer
all-tube amp, then the HC isn?t going to ring your
bell. 

I plan on using the HC with my Blues Jr. at the
next gig, and split from the box to the PA. I?m
sure it will sound great!

Harpin? in Colorado,
- --Ken M.

=====
"When you speak of Walter Horton, the first thing you think of is his tone, that big, fat tone."
- ---Li'l Ronnie Owens

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