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Frequently Asked QuestionsForget everything you thought you knew about harp amps!Are Fat Dog amplifiers guaranteed? Yes, parts and workmanship are guaranteed for one year. Do these amps make good guitar amps? That's all a matter of taste, of course. Most modern guitar players tend to like an amp that does screaming leads and gets loud enough to blow your head off. Fat Dog amps were not designed specifically to make guitar players happy, but maybe some of them will like the sound. How about if you give it a try, and you tell me? I'm not a guitar player so I don't really feel qualified to answer the question. What kind of microphones work best with Fat Dog amplifiers? So far the amps sound good with every microphone that's been tried, although they all sound different and you need to pick the right microphone for your individual playing style. If you're looking for classic Chicago crunch, you'll be happier with a high output microphone. My favorite is the Shure controlled magnetic. It's a classic for a reason. But every controlled magnetic element sounds just a little bit different from every other one so you'll have to test them to find just the right one for your taste. Fat Dog preamps are wired for a nice dose of compression and just the right amount of crunch to add expression and body to your playing. A hot microphone will turn this into a growling machine. If you like cleaner playing, you can use a more mild microphone, or try this idea. Use a hot microphone with a volume control, and turn it down a bit, and turn the amp up! Then you can get both sounds from one song to the next without switching equipment. Just for the record, I really like these amps with an RE-10. It has a lot of guts. The modern Blues Blaster is too wimpy, and the modern Green Bullet sounds too metallic for my taste, but I recorded the amps with a Green Bullet just to make the comparison. Honestly it isn't half bad, but you can do better. Get a good microphone. How loud are these amps? The larger models are plenty loud for a club gig, which is what they were designed for. The 1A is loud for a small amp, but I wouldn't use it at a theater gig. How about tube swaps? Can you switch tubes in a Fat Dog to customize the sound? First a few smart remarks about tube swapping. There are only two reasons to do it: 1) you are trying to get a good sound out of your stupid amplifier, or 2) you are an incurable tinkerer. The Fat Dog preamp is set up with the right tubes to make it sound good in the first place, so that rules out group #1. If you belong to group #2, here's the answer to the question: You can't do a lot of tube swapping in Fat Dog amps, but there are a few exceptions. The preamp lineup in all three amplifiers includes a 6SJ7, which could be replaced by a few different tubes mostly to manipulate the gain or frequency response. I stuck a 6AC7 in and it significantly suppressed the high frequencies, which was kind of fun. You can also use a half worn out 6SK7 out of an old radio if you want to. Other than that, there's not much point in messing with it. The other two preamp tubes shouldn't be swapped because doing so will not yield good results. The power tubes in the different amps can be swapped if you want to. In the Model 4A you don't have much choice. You can trade one or two of the 6V6 power tubes for 6F6 to get a little bit thicker sound by mixing types. This will also reduce your total volume somewhat. Don't use more than two of them because the filaments draw more current than 6V6 filaments and you may burn up the power transformer. Also, in my experience the four 6V6s provide a very thick sound already, and if you mix tube types it can become a little bit too thick for some people's taste. (I like it that way, but not everybody is the same...) The Model 2A and the Classic 40 give you the greatest tube swapping options. These amps can use a variety of power tubes including 6L6, 5881, EL34, etc. In the case of the Model 2A, you can even mix two different types of power tubes. If you know what you're doing (or ask!) you can tailor your sound by using different power tubes and speakers in these amps. Which Fat Dog amplifier is the low-end model and which one is the best? There really isn't a beginner model and a pro model. They share most of their parts in common, but there are some differences between the models that affect the sound and playing characteristics. You should pick the one that best suits your tastes or the size of the room you're playing. Why don't Fat Dog amplifiers cost an arm and a leg, like a good harp amp is supposed to? What a lot of people don't know is that good circuits can be built with reasonably priced, off-the-shelf components stocked by major dealers, which is where I get my parts. The gourmet parts you hear so much about aren't necessarily better, they're just different. Of course the simple answer to why Fat Dog amps are so affordable is that I actually want to sell amps to normal musicians. I know it's revolutionary, but it makes sense when you think about it! Hey, where's the tweed? Tweed is for old Fenders, and Fat Dog amplifiers are not Fender clones. Each amp was designed from scratch, from an original idea, for harmonicas, not guitars. You won't find a bastardized Bassman or a de-tuned Deluxe in the Fat Dog lineup. So why should they be covered with tweed? Not only that, but tweed drives up the price of the amp, and I'm sure you'd rather spend that money on a microphone or new harps. The cabinets are coated with a roll-on called Dura-Tex, that looks just like black Tolex. So if it's not like a Fender, then what is it like? You know the old department store amps from the 50s and 60s that sound so great as harp amps? They had funny names such as Lectrolab and Valco. The only problem is that these classic amps are too small for most club gigs. Fat Dog amps were designed as big amps that sound like little amps. How come there are only two knobs on this thing? I believe that an amp should sound good with only two knobs. Why complicate things unnecessarily? The great thing about a simple tone control is that it doesn't eat up the signal the way that complicated tone stacks can do. The Fat Dog tone circuit is of the treble-cut variety, meaning that your bass is always there, and the knob controls how much treble there is. Need more info? Contact Robert Reynolds: 417-646-8090 cell: 443-255-5521 fatdogamps@harmonicagear.com |