Got this in the mail a few weeks ago.....price was right (OK...maybe a little high...) but, I couldn't turn it down......Sweet little 20 Watt solid state amp. I'm guessing maybe early - mid 80's.....had just about everything I was looking for.
( Edit: From the Stratopastor ---->>> Your amp is from Dec '83 or Jan '84. I'm told these make a really good Fender clean sound... I've got a Harvard non-reverb from the previous series of amps ('81) and I use it a lot.
best wishes from the NE of England )
( Edit: From the Stratopastor ---->>> Your amp is from Dec '83 or Jan '84. I'm told these make a really good Fender clean sound... I've got a Harvard non-reverb from the previous series of amps ('81) and I use it a lot.
best wishes from the NE of England )
"Made in USA" stamped all over the front of it .....and it's well made. For a cheap, small, solid state amp, it's got some weight to it. This little thing is solid. Feels good.
Aside from a little surface rust on screws / nuts etc...the thing was crazy clean...even under the pots....no one had taken them off to clean....that little dust ring around the treble potentiometer wiped right off.
Inside was just as clean....a little surface rust / corrosion here and there... but everything was as clean as you could possibly expect... even the RCA cables for the reverb tank were still in great shape, and bent / moved nicely without any stiffness or cracking. Excellent condition for a 30+ year old amp.....
Here are some stamps / date codes / speaker stamps etc....for those of you into that kind of thing. Click on the photo to see the full/large image.
...and the 10 foot anaconda-like power cord. I don't know what the wattage rating on the power cord is....but I'm sure it's way more than the amp...might be 12 AWG inside that thing....kind of funny....they spared absolutely no expense on the power cord. Must have been someones pet-peeve.
"How's it sound?", and "Why a 30 year old transistor amp?"
Well.... it sounds pretty much exactly like what you would expect....except better.
Absolutely no question that it's a Fender....you can tell from the first chord.
The 10" speaker can maybe seem just a little "boxy" until you get the EQ's set and the "Master " / "Gain" and "Volume" tweaked in. It sounds better at decent volume (5-6), after it's warmed up a little bit..........I think there is a sweet spot in that range.
settings that work for me:
Volume --- Way up (or at least on 7-8). If you dime it, the gain gets a little out of control....
Gain --- to taste. Usually somewhere between 2-3 for "just a little hair" when you dig in.
Master --- I use this as more of a volume control....use it in conjunction with the "gain" to dial in your volume.
Treble / Middle / Bass -- 7.5/6.5/4 seems to work pretty well for me on a variety of guitars. Sometimes I scoop it and do a 7/4/7. Kind of depends on the guitar, and the sound you are looking for.
Reverb -- 2-2.5 seems to be a pretty sweet spot, but don't be afraid to crank it....you can do some pretty respectable surf with this little amp. The reverb is surprisingly good for an amp this size.
...and about the "gain" .....unlike most Fender Solid State amps......it doesn't suck. It's completely usable (to a point). Don't get me wrong here....you're not doing any metal with it, but for standard blues / classic rock stuff....it's not bad (to a point). Definitely not tube overdrive/gain...but it works for "just a little taste".
I *think* that the intention was that you could use the "Volume" and "Gain" to somewhat adjust the amount of gain on the signal from the one channel....and then use the master , as ....well...a master (volume)...but...I have found that maxing out the "volume" and messing with the gain and master controls works for me.... I generally play pretty clean, with maybe just a touch of gain.
So the setup is almost opposite of how I would run the Master/volume/gain on a tube amp.....on my SF Twin, I keep my Master Volume pegged at 10 and use the channel volume for each input....on this one I crank the channel volume and use the Master....
Overall, it's bright on the the high end of the spectrum, and maybe a little light in the bass, but not in a necessarily "bad" way..... in a good, Fenderish way...just without the warm-smooth low end of some of it's big brothers.
Worst I can say is that it sounds maybe just a little "small" at lower volumes, but once you open it up a little, it sounds fine. A good speaker upgrade might cure that (or...you know..... just turn it up a little...).
The reverb is very nice.... great sound out of a small tank. You can *almost* hear a little surf-drip out of it when you peg it .
It puts out a very respectable sound at a pretty decent volume. If you're playing standard blues / rock bar-band stuff....this thing *might* be able to hold it's own in a small club / bar (depending on the drummer) without any help.
Get it up off the floor, stick a tube screamer (or clean boost) in front of it, and you should be just about set.
But.....it's only 20 Watts (of solid state) with a single 10 inch speaker....so if things get a little loud, it could get lost in the racket pretty easily.
What it really is though, is a great practice amp (that could be used for small gigs). For that purpose....it's just about perfect in every way.
Small/Light/Portable -- check.
Loud enough -- check*. * again...this depends on who / what type of music you are playing....
Built in gain and reverb -- check.
Sounds good -- check.
Priced right -- check.
Plays decent clean, and takes pedals well -- check.
Plays well at fairly low volumes -- check.
Headphone jack for "no volume" practice -- check.
What's not to like ???
It's just a really nice little amp that can be picked up at a pretty decent price.
"Why a 30 year old transistor amp?"
I think they sound a lot better than the current "modeling" technology..... the current modeling amps sound very steril and somewhat flat.....I can't get my sound out of 'em... I just don't think they respond well to attack.... They don't seem to have a lot of "feeling". They have the "sound" and they have the "volume" but that's about it.
I tried a Champion 40 for a few weeks.....haven't touched it since I got the Harvard II.
(well ok...maybe just once or twice....to mess around with the delay and play with some slap-back ...but that's it....)
Unfortunately....most of the low wattage / small Fender tube amps are out of my price range..... when Champs and Princeton's go for $600-$700, I have to look elsewhere....no way can I justify that kind of money for a small amp.....
The american made Fender solid state amps in this timeframe (mid 80's) sound great, and are a great bang-for-buck value.
For the price of a pedal....I can get a NICE little amp !!
20-30 watts is probably going to do me fine for the rest of my playing days.
If I need a little more power....I can always feed the "pre-amp output" into another amps "power-amp input" and double the fun.
According to the Stratopastor web site.... he estimates that only maybe 3,500 of these amps were ever made.
After 30+ years of attrition due to time, natural disasters, stupidity, and accidents...that number could easily be cut in half.
Probably a safe bet to guess that there are less than 2,000 of these amps left in the wild.
I'm not sayin' that they are collectible or valuable because of that......but if you happen to spot one, just know that they are a finite quantity, and that number is getting smaller every year.....
People are not going to fix these.
If I spot another one for a good price......I'm snatchin' it up.
And the honeymoon's over.....
After a few weeks, the reverb started cutting out on my Harvard Reverb II. It cuts out only after the amps warmed up and been on for a while.
I immediately thought the worst.....that I have some component failing due to heat....most likely a 30 year old transistor or one of the IC's.
In my head..those were the immediate suspects.
So I started combing the Internet and looking for other people with the same issues.....at the same time I downloaded the manual, parts list and schematic from the Stratopastor site...
(the repository of all "Fender II" knowledge....or at least most of it...)
Well.... it sounds pretty much exactly like what you would expect....except better.
Absolutely no question that it's a Fender....you can tell from the first chord.
The 10" speaker can maybe seem just a little "boxy" until you get the EQ's set and the "Master " / "Gain" and "Volume" tweaked in. It sounds better at decent volume (5-6), after it's warmed up a little bit..........I think there is a sweet spot in that range.
settings that work for me:
Volume --- Way up (or at least on 7-8). If you dime it, the gain gets a little out of control....
Gain --- to taste. Usually somewhere between 2-3 for "just a little hair" when you dig in.
Master --- I use this as more of a volume control....use it in conjunction with the "gain" to dial in your volume.
Treble / Middle / Bass -- 7.5/6.5/4 seems to work pretty well for me on a variety of guitars. Sometimes I scoop it and do a 7/4/7. Kind of depends on the guitar, and the sound you are looking for.
Reverb -- 2-2.5 seems to be a pretty sweet spot, but don't be afraid to crank it....you can do some pretty respectable surf with this little amp. The reverb is surprisingly good for an amp this size.
...and about the "gain" .....unlike most Fender Solid State amps......it doesn't suck. It's completely usable (to a point). Don't get me wrong here....you're not doing any metal with it, but for standard blues / classic rock stuff....it's not bad (to a point). Definitely not tube overdrive/gain...but it works for "just a little taste".
I *think* that the intention was that you could use the "Volume" and "Gain" to somewhat adjust the amount of gain on the signal from the one channel....and then use the master , as ....well...a master (volume)...but...I have found that maxing out the "volume" and messing with the gain and master controls works for me.... I generally play pretty clean, with maybe just a touch of gain.
So the setup is almost opposite of how I would run the Master/volume/gain on a tube amp.....on my SF Twin, I keep my Master Volume pegged at 10 and use the channel volume for each input....on this one I crank the channel volume and use the Master....
Overall, it's bright on the the high end of the spectrum, and maybe a little light in the bass, but not in a necessarily "bad" way..... in a good, Fenderish way...just without the warm-smooth low end of some of it's big brothers.
Worst I can say is that it sounds maybe just a little "small" at lower volumes, but once you open it up a little, it sounds fine. A good speaker upgrade might cure that (or...you know..... just turn it up a little...).
The reverb is very nice.... great sound out of a small tank. You can *almost* hear a little surf-drip out of it when you peg it .
It puts out a very respectable sound at a pretty decent volume. If you're playing standard blues / rock bar-band stuff....this thing *might* be able to hold it's own in a small club / bar (depending on the drummer) without any help.
Get it up off the floor, stick a tube screamer (or clean boost) in front of it, and you should be just about set.
But.....it's only 20 Watts (of solid state) with a single 10 inch speaker....so if things get a little loud, it could get lost in the racket pretty easily.
What it really is though, is a great practice amp (that could be used for small gigs). For that purpose....it's just about perfect in every way.
Small/Light/Portable -- check.
Loud enough -- check*. * again...this depends on who / what type of music you are playing....
Built in gain and reverb -- check.
Sounds good -- check.
Priced right -- check.
Plays decent clean, and takes pedals well -- check.
Plays well at fairly low volumes -- check.
Headphone jack for "no volume" practice -- check.
What's not to like ???
It's just a really nice little amp that can be picked up at a pretty decent price.
"Why a 30 year old transistor amp?"
I think they sound a lot better than the current "modeling" technology..... the current modeling amps sound very steril and somewhat flat.....I can't get my sound out of 'em... I just don't think they respond well to attack.... They don't seem to have a lot of "feeling". They have the "sound" and they have the "volume" but that's about it.
I tried a Champion 40 for a few weeks.....haven't touched it since I got the Harvard II.
(well ok...maybe just once or twice....to mess around with the delay and play with some slap-back ...but that's it....)
Unfortunately....most of the low wattage / small Fender tube amps are out of my price range..... when Champs and Princeton's go for $600-$700, I have to look elsewhere....no way can I justify that kind of money for a small amp.....
The american made Fender solid state amps in this timeframe (mid 80's) sound great, and are a great bang-for-buck value.
For the price of a pedal....I can get a NICE little amp !!
20-30 watts is probably going to do me fine for the rest of my playing days.
If I need a little more power....I can always feed the "pre-amp output" into another amps "power-amp input" and double the fun.
According to the Stratopastor web site.... he estimates that only maybe 3,500 of these amps were ever made.
After 30+ years of attrition due to time, natural disasters, stupidity, and accidents...that number could easily be cut in half.
Probably a safe bet to guess that there are less than 2,000 of these amps left in the wild.
I'm not sayin' that they are collectible or valuable because of that......but if you happen to spot one, just know that they are a finite quantity, and that number is getting smaller every year.....
People are not going to fix these.
If I spot another one for a good price......I'm snatchin' it up.
And the honeymoon's over.....
After a few weeks, the reverb started cutting out on my Harvard Reverb II. It cuts out only after the amps warmed up and been on for a while.
I immediately thought the worst.....that I have some component failing due to heat....most likely a 30 year old transistor or one of the IC's.
In my head..those were the immediate suspects.
So I started combing the Internet and looking for other people with the same issues.....at the same time I downloaded the manual, parts list and schematic from the Stratopastor site...
(the repository of all "Fender II" knowledge....or at least most of it...)
harvardandyalereverbiimanual.pdf | |
File Size: | 3281 kb |
File Type: |
harvardreverbiischematic.jpg | |
File Size: | 201 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
harvardreverbiipartslist.jpg | |
File Size: | 207 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
I had an extra reverb tank of about the same size (short -2 spring), so I tried swapping it in....no joy. Exact same issue. This kind of rules out the reverb tank.
By giving the reverb tanks a little "love tap" I could get both tanks to "crash"...and produce an output. So obviously the tanks and the output circuit were working.
Checked RCA cables. Cables were good.
I was really starting to think that I had a failing component on the board....I was guessing Q1 , Q2 or IC5. These components all feed the "dry" signal into the reverb tank.
But...then I discovered that by pushing (lightly) directly back on the Reverb POT, I could get the reverb to kick back in.
(the front hex nut holding the pot in was pretty loose...so the pot had some flex / give to it...)
Well......that's interesting.....
Maybe just a dirty POT ??? Some sort of sludge inside it heating up and shorting out ???
I guess at worst .... it could be a bad potentiometer, or maybe just a loose / cold solder joint??
I always try the easy stuff first....and....cleaning is easy.
I didn't have any Deoxit on hand...so I ordered a couple different cans...in a 2 pack...
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-D5S6-Contact-F5S-H6-FaderLube/dp/B00HNV7WI2
But....while waiting for the cleaner to arrive..... I figured I'd at least take it apart and look at the reverb potentiometer...give it a quick visual inspection...make sure it doesn't have something jammed in it, or some sort of other obvious issue.
Maybe if I get lucky...it'll be wired in ...and not PCB mounted.... so I could easily touch up the solder joints.
By giving the reverb tanks a little "love tap" I could get both tanks to "crash"...and produce an output. So obviously the tanks and the output circuit were working.
Checked RCA cables. Cables were good.
I was really starting to think that I had a failing component on the board....I was guessing Q1 , Q2 or IC5. These components all feed the "dry" signal into the reverb tank.
But...then I discovered that by pushing (lightly) directly back on the Reverb POT, I could get the reverb to kick back in.
(the front hex nut holding the pot in was pretty loose...so the pot had some flex / give to it...)
Well......that's interesting.....
Maybe just a dirty POT ??? Some sort of sludge inside it heating up and shorting out ???
I guess at worst .... it could be a bad potentiometer, or maybe just a loose / cold solder joint??
I always try the easy stuff first....and....cleaning is easy.
I didn't have any Deoxit on hand...so I ordered a couple different cans...in a 2 pack...
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-D5S6-Contact-F5S-H6-FaderLube/dp/B00HNV7WI2
But....while waiting for the cleaner to arrive..... I figured I'd at least take it apart and look at the reverb potentiometer...give it a quick visual inspection...make sure it doesn't have something jammed in it, or some sort of other obvious issue.
Maybe if I get lucky...it'll be wired in ...and not PCB mounted.... so I could easily touch up the solder joints.
Disassembly
Unplug the Amps power.
Make sure you unplugged the power.
Go have coffee.
Check that you unplugged the power again.
Look at the amp for a minute.
Look at the power cord, make sure it's unplugged from the wall.
Go finish your coffee.
Find something else to do for a couple hours, then come back, and check it again.
Warning:
I'm about to tell you how to break your amp (possibly permanently).....and maybe shock the living shit out of yourself in the process.
If you're not OK with that...don't continue.
Seriously.
Make sure you unplugged the power.
Go have coffee.
Check that you unplugged the power again.
Look at the amp for a minute.
Look at the power cord, make sure it's unplugged from the wall.
Go finish your coffee.
Find something else to do for a couple hours, then come back, and check it again.
Warning:
I'm about to tell you how to break your amp (possibly permanently).....and maybe shock the living shit out of yourself in the process.
If you're not OK with that...don't continue.
Seriously.
You made sure it's unplugged ...right ?
OK....
Gently lay the amp face down and take out the screws marked in the above picture.... basically take off the back cover panel, and remove the two screws holding the tray in the chassis. One of the screws has the ground wire on it.
OK....
Gently lay the amp face down and take out the screws marked in the above picture.... basically take off the back cover panel, and remove the two screws holding the tray in the chassis. One of the screws has the ground wire on it.
Next, unplug the speaker, the reverb tank cables, and remove the screw for the power cord clip. You *may* want to note the wire colors and locations....just in case they don't match mine.....
Carefully stand the amp back up to it's normal position.....and remove the 4 top screws....you *probably* want to use one hand to remove the screws, and the other to reach under the metal chassis to hold it in position while the screws are removed. This way the metal tray won't drop and twist / mess up any holes / screws....or bang up anything under it.
Once the screws are out, the metal tray *should* pull straight out the back of the amp....you may need to give it a little push from the front...but it should slide right out with a little wiggling. Try not to stick your fingers inside the top of they tray.....
Once the screws are out, the metal tray *should* pull straight out the back of the amp....you may need to give it a little push from the front...but it should slide right out with a little wiggling. Try not to stick your fingers inside the top of they tray.....
...and if everything went OK.....this is what you should have.
Real quickly......there are some things in here you shouldn't touch.... or you should at least be VERY aware of where and what they are...
Real quickly......there are some things in here you shouldn't touch.... or you should at least be VERY aware of where and what they are...
As a general safety precaution....transformers lugs and big capacitors should be avoided unless you know exactly what you are doing....admitted....this is a solid state amp, and after power has been removed for a little while, you are probably very safe...and the voltages in here are not in the lethal range of some tube amps....but...they *could* still give you a nice little poke.
So.....keep your fingers away from that stuff..... you don't need to be afraid of it....just respect it, and be aware of where your fingers and tools are. Pay attention to what you're doing.
So.....keep your fingers away from that stuff..... you don't need to be afraid of it....just respect it, and be aware of where your fingers and tools are. Pay attention to what you're doing.
Here is my problem potentiometer.....unfortunately......it's mounted to the board....so I can't really get a good look at it or easily touch up the solder joints.
Oh well.....looks like I wait for the Deoxit ...I'll try that first before I start messing with taking the circuit board out.
Oh well.....looks like I wait for the Deoxit ...I'll try that first before I start messing with taking the circuit board out.
Cleaning Time
Got my Deoxit 2 pack in.....so time to clean the potentiometer. I'm using plain old Deoxit D5 for cleaning this potentiometer.
Don't be afraid of Deoxit.....use a couple quick 1-2 second bursts down the potentiometer shaft, followed by a couple shots into the hole in the rear of the potentiometer.
Got my Deoxit 2 pack in.....so time to clean the potentiometer. I'm using plain old Deoxit D5 for cleaning this potentiometer.
Don't be afraid of Deoxit.....use a couple quick 1-2 second bursts down the potentiometer shaft, followed by a couple shots into the hole in the rear of the potentiometer.
After each burst...do some (20-30-50) rotations of the potentiometer from beginning to end (1 to 10), make sure to go through the full range.
Use paper towels and/or rags to keep the overspray down to a minimum.
When you're finished.....wait a couple minutes and do the whole process again.
You can see in the above photo that I took the reverb knob, and the nut and washer off the potentiometer. This is to hopefully allow better access to the shaft with the Deoxit spray nozzle.
Clean up as much of the excess Deoxit as you can....don't leave a mess.
Deoxit has a 2 minute evaporation/dry time.... so by the time I got the amp all put back together...it was plenty dry.
If cleaned correctly....you should definitely feel a difference in the way the potentiometer rotates.
....and.....
no go..... doing the exact same thing.....reverb cut out after just 5-10 min. of playing time.
So...it looks like touching up the solder joints is next...
Use paper towels and/or rags to keep the overspray down to a minimum.
When you're finished.....wait a couple minutes and do the whole process again.
You can see in the above photo that I took the reverb knob, and the nut and washer off the potentiometer. This is to hopefully allow better access to the shaft with the Deoxit spray nozzle.
Clean up as much of the excess Deoxit as you can....don't leave a mess.
Deoxit has a 2 minute evaporation/dry time.... so by the time I got the amp all put back together...it was plenty dry.
If cleaned correctly....you should definitely feel a difference in the way the potentiometer rotates.
....and.....
no go..... doing the exact same thing.....reverb cut out after just 5-10 min. of playing time.
So...it looks like touching up the solder joints is next...
Heating up the Iron....
After tearing the amp down (again) I removed all the control knobs, nuts and washers. I use tools from an old PC repair kit to pop off plastic parts...the tools are made for cracking laptops and such...but work great on most plastic stuff....like amplifier knobs.
when you pop the knobs off...make sure to get the little metal clips/bushings as well.....you can see one sticking up out of the knob in the above picture.
On a side note ......this board is laid out nicely...everything has space, and is labeled (old school)...thank you Fender ...for not trying to jam everything onto a board the size of a credit card.....of course....back in '83....this was how it was done.
Once I had the knobs off, I flipped the tray over and found 4 screws that attach the board to the tray. These 4 screws screw into the bottom of 4 standoffs, as soon as you remove these screws, the board will be floating.
Next, there are some other connections to deal with.....some of them may have glue on them to keep them in place. The glue is 30 years old...and pretty dried out. I was able to chip it right off (using a plastic dental pick from the previously mentioned toolkit).
Most of the connections were easy, and the clips / connectors worked fine.
There were a couple exceptions..
The input jack looked like a mess....so I just took off the nut and washer (from the outside) and left the jack dangling from the board.
The power LED connections were on hard enough that I couldn't pull them off with my fingers.... so I just left it connected and worked with the LED wires still attached. It kind of tethered the board to the tray...but...not a show stopper.
After everything is disconnected, it's just a matter of working the POTS through the holes while pulling the board back (and slightly up) away from the faceplate.
The POTS (and input jack) all have lock washers on them...they'll probably fall off during the board removal process. Keep track of them.
Most of the connections were easy, and the clips / connectors worked fine.
There were a couple exceptions..
The input jack looked like a mess....so I just took off the nut and washer (from the outside) and left the jack dangling from the board.
The power LED connections were on hard enough that I couldn't pull them off with my fingers.... so I just left it connected and worked with the LED wires still attached. It kind of tethered the board to the tray...but...not a show stopper.
After everything is disconnected, it's just a matter of working the POTS through the holes while pulling the board back (and slightly up) away from the faceplate.
The POTS (and input jack) all have lock washers on them...they'll probably fall off during the board removal process. Keep track of them.
the solder connections *look* OK.....nothing weird or obviously bad....
But.....something ain't right...so I gave them a touch up....
But.....something ain't right...so I gave them a touch up....
Nice and shiny....I just hit the pads for a second or two...just enough to reflow the existing solder....then added just the tiniest little bit of new solder.
Soldering is a quick process....Get in, get it done, and get out .... don't waste time messing around, or holding the soldering iron on pads for to long....if it takes more than a couple seconds to heat up the existing solder...then your iron isn't hot enough, or you have a bad spot/cold tip on the iron.
So...that was it...
Just a cold/bad solder joint.
No clue which one (but it was one of the three...)...and I guess it doesn't really matter.
After putting everything back together (just reverse order of how I took it apart...) the reverb control is working great, and I've played for a couple hours straight without any issues.
Total repair cost....about 2 - 3 mm's of solder.... a penny or two I would guess.
I did buy a couple cans of Deoxit, but those can be reused for a long time to come.
As a matter of fact...now that everything is working again....I may tear it back apart and clean all the POTs.
But first I'm going to play it for a while.
Even with a messed up Reverb potentiometer, I still have nothing bad to say about this amp....absolutely great little amp that gives you great Fender tones at a crazy low cost.... bang-for-buck this is a winner, big time.
Soldering is a quick process....Get in, get it done, and get out .... don't waste time messing around, or holding the soldering iron on pads for to long....if it takes more than a couple seconds to heat up the existing solder...then your iron isn't hot enough, or you have a bad spot/cold tip on the iron.
So...that was it...
Just a cold/bad solder joint.
No clue which one (but it was one of the three...)...and I guess it doesn't really matter.
After putting everything back together (just reverse order of how I took it apart...) the reverb control is working great, and I've played for a couple hours straight without any issues.
Total repair cost....about 2 - 3 mm's of solder.... a penny or two I would guess.
I did buy a couple cans of Deoxit, but those can be reused for a long time to come.
As a matter of fact...now that everything is working again....I may tear it back apart and clean all the POTs.
But first I'm going to play it for a while.
Even with a messed up Reverb potentiometer, I still have nothing bad to say about this amp....absolutely great little amp that gives you great Fender tones at a crazy low cost.... bang-for-buck this is a winner, big time.