In June of 2022 I was in need of an amp since the only one I had was a hot pink 5w VOX DA-5 Iād originally purchased for my 16-year-old daughter to use with her Hello Kitty Stratā¦
I did a lot of online researchā¦ visited a couple of local music storesā¦ finally decided on a Harmony Series 6 amp - they were newly designed, looked great, sounded good in the samples & reviews I found online, not too expensive for a guitar player at my level (early Grade 2) & also very important for Peace at Homeā¦ a built-in attenuator! So I decided on the H605, the smallest of the series & what I thought would be best for my situationā¦ only to find out that ALL of Harmonyās amps were on backorder everywhere - I checked all over the internet, even at Long & McQuade in Canada, Andertonās & Thomannās in Europe - couldnāt find one for sale.
I checked with my gear advisor at Musicianās Friend (an online retailer here in the US who are partners with Guitar Center brick & mortar stores) who told me that the amp was supposed to ship from Harmony in ~late November or early December. Great! I thought that it would take away my wifeās need to shop for my Christmas present that year - this is 2022, remember! Christmas came & wentā¦ no amp. Fatherās Day 2023, no amp. Birthday, Anniversary, Christmasā¦ no amp. Every time I called to check, I was told that Harmony had been promising delivery āsoonā. Well, Musicianās Friend has a loyalty program & Iād used quite a few of my points towards this purchase but wasnāt actually charged for it - I thought that Iād just be patientā¦
My wife called me the day before yesterday, UPS had delivered a large box that was blocking our screen door from opening & could I come home from work & move it for her because it was a heavy boxā¦
Hope ya let us know how you like it.
When I was looking at amps, the harmonyās were on my short list. The utubes did them justice I thought. They sounded pretty good.
I sure looks like a upgrade from you vox modeler.
I think thereās good reason folks like tube amps. I personally find the ones I have dynamic. Will say it did take me a moment to learn how I wanted to dial them in for the tones I was looking for though.
A plus for you and your harmony is ya get that power scalier. Seems like a most useful feature. Especially for keeping the wife happy. That very important imho.
Happy NAD man and rock onā¦
PS, let me know if that 5w is to loud. Iām curious. I went with 12w and 15w. Both can get me in much trouble if Iām not carefulā¦
This video is one of the reasons I decided on this particular amp back 2 1/2 years ago. Ryan with the 60 cycle hum channel is a bit over the top for me, but I do like the energy he brings to reviews!
Iām guessing that the 5w setting wonāt get much play here!!! The 1w or .1w will be the ānormā!
A year or so ago, Musicianās Friend had a Katana 50 Mk II on one of their āStupid Deal of the Dayā sales & after applying loyalty points, it cost me about $25 actual dollars! I love the Katana but have been wanting a tube amp since I got my 1st electric! I couldnāt justify the cost with my current level of playing for a long time, though!
Thanks for cheering me on!!!
Happy Holidays to you & yours!!!
By the wayā¦ dumb question here but this amp has separate Power/Standby switches.
Is there a ācorrectā way to use these? Iāve seen conflicting advice online about this & donāt want to blow up/burn down my house!!!
Standby switches are a most debated discussion I think.
I got one amp with the standby switch. I read my owners manual for my amp and it told me how the oem thinks I should use that switch.
Thatās what I do. For good or bad.
My instructions said turn on power switch, after a min. turn on standby switch. I generally adhere to this. My owners manual didnāt say how to turn it off. I generally turn off the standby, moments later the power switch.
Hopefully you owners manual will inform you as to how harmony wants you to operate that switch.
fwiw. my other tube amp donāt have a standby switch. It all just powers up when ya turn it on. Let it warm up a min. or so and start playing.
Perhaps the standby switch is irrelevant? I donāt know. I follow instructions. Itās the best I can do.
I think it depends on what make the amp is. My owners manual has exactly opposite instructions to Jimās @HappyCat I have to turn standby on, then main power, then wait for the valves to warm up , then switch standby off!
RTFM is really important, if the manufacturers website doesnāt have a download, in the past Iāve found with various devices that if you google ā[make & model] owners manualā you can find a pdf somewhere on the intertubes
Iāve just been experimenting with my amp and the instructions are wrong! itās a good job I hadnāt been paying them any attention
Try what Jim said - standby OFF, Power ON, wait 1 min - if at this point you donāt hear anything from the amp when you strum your guitar (which you plugged in before switching on, of course) then you have got the correct procedure and should hear your guitar when you turn Standby ON
Congratulations Tod! Just today I was having a conversation with a friend about our general societal tendency toward immediate gratification, and how weāve lost the wonderful experience of anticipation. But seriously - two years?!? Iām beyond impressed. Looking forward to hearing your new amp. Iām GASsing after a tube amp myselfā¦itāll be a while though.
I am amazed by your patience. I would not have been able to stand such a long wait and I would have ended up cancelling my order and buying something else that I didnāt really need !!
I have an Orange crush 35RT (not a tube amp) but it only gives really good tones if you turn it up to a point that I think is going to really annoy the neighbours. Iām really interested in getting a tube amp with an attenuator, if it still sounds good on the lower output settings. So I would be very interested to hear from you about the tone at the lower output levels and also how loud/quiet the low settings are. I live in an apartment and although my neighbours never complained, I always worry that I might be disturbing them.
Enjoy the amp. Looks very nice and I bet it will sound great. You will be rewarded for your patience.
If I were you, Iād carefully cut the tape on that box and ease it open, just to āmake sureā there was no damage in transit
(you should probably check the action/intonation/electrics as well )
What about an NGD- New Gear Demonstration in the New Year?
I canāt remember if youāve shared any of your playing with us before, but if not this would be a grand occasion!
If youāre happy with the amp, why not just get an attenuator. I have this budget Harley Benton one from Thomann and it works fine, so I can crank my tube amp up to get the right tone, without deafening myself or the neighbours!
I always saw that people use those attenuators so they can crank up tubes to sound nice and get to that edge of breakup type sound and then reduce the power output so they get a cranked tube sound at lower output. But my Orange amp is transistor not a tube amp, so I donāt know whether it will work as well.
percent sure, but I think sheās found a new guitar for me!!!
That very important imho.
