The preferred choice of Charlie Musselwhite when he cannot bring his amp, the Harp Attack is a very popular pedal for the tube distortion that harp players love. The tone is provided by a sub-miniature tube providing rich harmonics and smooth tube overdrive.
ABOUT
The Harp Attack is designed to provide true power tube distortion in a pedal. This pedal is not your typical tube preamp that uses a triode; this pedal uses a subminiature beam power tube, which is the same type tube as a 6V6 or a 6L6 to provide the tone of an overdriven tube amp. It produces a fat punchy tone that can be set with the exact amount of overdrive desired. You can certainly tell there is a tube inside of this pedal. The pedal is designed with a high impedance input buffer providing 1M ohms of resistance to get the best tone from your crystal, CM, or other high impedance microphones. The pedal features a DRIVE control to set the amount of power tube saturation desired, an active tone control with a 20dB range that is tuned for harp frequencies, and an output VOLUME control to set the output level.
The Harp Attack fills several needs of harp players. For instance, it provides true power tube overdrive distortion in a pedal, it allows you to plug straight into a PA and get an over-driven 6V6 sound or dirty-up an amp that is otherwise too clean. The Harp Attack gives an excellent tube sound to a solid state amp, and it makes a great, easy to bring-along, back-up harp amp. The pedal does not produce massive distortion, but a smooth over-driven tone.
Please be aware that the subminiature tube, like all tubes, can be microphonic and make a ringing noise when the bypass buttons are hit, any noise should be of low volume and subside quickly. Because this pedal is intended to be an "always on" pedal, this issue is not a factor when performing.
POWER
The Harp Attack operates with two 9 volt batteries or one 18vdc power adapter. The DC adapter requirements are a regulated 18vdc with a minimum 100mA output and a 2.1mm x 5.5mm connector with a negative center. The battery is switched OFF when an external power supply is used, and the "IN" jack acts as the pedal ON/OFF switch. Battery life is estimated at 15 hours of playing time. Power adapter is sold separately.
FEATURES
- DRIVE control
- TONE control
- VOLUME control
- Actual power tube distortion
- 18V DC input (barrel with a negative center)
- True bypass with LED indicator
- High impedance input
- Reverse polarity protection
- 10 year warranty on parts and labor
- If not satisfied, return within 60 days for a refund
United StatesThe right tool for the job
Years ago I had an early version of this pedal which disappeared and I recently purchased my second one. I hope my new review can be helpful for potential buyers.. In my opinion this is not an aggressive harp overdrive pedal. I believe that this is a subtler overdrive/boost pedal using a real mini tube, and is best suited to use in "direct to board" or to give that SS amp a little "warmth, drive, and more bottom". And it can generally help shape a guitar amp sound in situations where you have no control over the back line.It does those kind of things well. If you understand its limitations you should be pleased. The right tool for the job and and like all of Randy's stuff, a quality product.
United StatesPretty much just what I expected.
Very nice, love the sound and the vacuum tube amp is very convenient for the sound your looking for. :)
United StatesAwesome Pedal
Great pedal. Running it thru an Orange Crush amp using a Jason Ricci mic. Only gripe is it should have come with an AC power supply. I have one on order cause I would go broke buying two 9V batteries for it.
United StatesAmazing vale preamp!
Love it! Wanted a great harp sound through the PA, and this pedal really does the job. With a green bullet or, even better, a bulletini, the overdrive harp sound is truly excellent. Recommended.
CanadaI'm not that satisfied, for the price I expected a muddier sound for the harmonica. The Input jack is a bit sketchy as it doesn't seem to connect well , I have to anchor my input cord to keep it stable.