The Allan Holdsworth "Harness II" is a level-reducing box for running an amplifier power section. The power is reduced to line level for use with effects devices. There is no cabinet simulation or EQ. It's a load box but not a variable power attenuator with taps; it cannot drive a guitar speaker directly. There is no mention of EQ controls, except a mention of adding EQ after the box, presumably with a separate EQ unit. If this has no tone controls at all, this is even simpler than the Harry Kolbe Silent Speaker, which has a Bright switch.
Official product page for the Harness (long since removed) - excerpts:
Would you like to take your favorite amp head and interface it with signal processors: reverb, delay, pitch shifting, EQ... anything? [for post-amp eq, time-fx, etc, preserving clarity of the power tube saturation and speaker response.] Do you love the way your amp sounds, but have to play at oppressive levels to get the sound you want? Throw a Harness on it and tame that beast. The Harness is a unique device designed for total control. (Patents Applied For.) Not only will it capture the sound of your tube amp head but also the feel. You will be able to get that fat loud tone softly or at any level, EQ it, add reverb [and extreme echo, harmonizer, etc. after the amp without interfering with the power tubes' clarity], stereo-ize it and tweeze it any way you like and then monitor it on standard guitar speaker [not full-range] enclosures and the power amp of your choice. This unit is not a speaker simulator nor power attenuator. It has no through connections. It does not have any speaker cabinet eq curves and is not intended to be connected to a mixing console or tape machine [because its output signal needs to go through a speaker curve somehow first. Do either: 1) power amp, Harness, EQ/fx processor, solid-state amplifier, guitar speaker, mic, mixer, or 2) power amp, Harness, EQ/fx processor, cabinet response simulator (e.g. MicroCAB), mixer]. The Harness takes the [high-level] speaker output of any guitar amplifier or amp head, which is being used to create a modern ['modern' connotes merely preamp distortion; I would say "saturating vintage tube *power* amp"] distorted guitar sound, capture and convert that sound into more controllable line level signals. [The Harness is a full dummy load, not a partial power attenuator meant to immediately drive a speaker.] This allows the signal to remain intact [and kept simple while going through the power tubes] and be reverbed, etc. after the amplifier's internal output stage [that is, after the saturating power tubes]. This is something which would otherwise be impossible to obtain from the normal send and return jacks found on today's conventional tube amplifiers [because an amp's fx loop is *before* the saturating power tubes, which would be like placing an echo pedal before a distortion pedal]. For example, if you were playing at a relatively loud level, which included any power amp distortion, the processor's output being returned to the amp's return jack would be undesirably distorted by the internal power section -- an inadequate solution. [yes!! that's what I've been saying everywhere!] Not only does the Harness address this shortcoming, but it also allows you to take advantage of the stereo imaging provided by most modern signal processors. Using the old send and return method forces you to throw away one half of the stereo signal; with the Harness you can make full use of the stereo imaging capabilities of your favorite signal processors. Can't a preamp do the same thing? Although it is very easy to interface a pre-amp prior to any processing, and clean sounds from pre-amps can be excellent, the use of a pre-amp to derive a "distorted" guitar sound cannot produce the unique sound of a tube amplifier head (which is using its internal power section). By comparison, a pre-amp will always sound fuzzier and less dynamic. This unit is passive. Frequency response: 10-40 kHz. Input impedance: 8 ohms. Output impedance: 130k ohms. Power handling: 100 watts Each unit is hand made by Allan Holdsworth.
- please send pic.
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Messages 1-48 of exactly 48 matches for search holdsworth harness:
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1. 99/01/08 031 Re: Lexicon 284 amp rec.music.makers.guit Gary Watts
2. 99/01/03 030 Re: Lexicon 284 amp rec.music.makers.guit Michael
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5. 98/12/16 030 Re: Guytron...Initial Impres rec.music.makers.guit Michael
6. 97/07/22 030 "harness "by allan holdswort alt.guitar.amps Rick Canton
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8. 98/09/28 028 Re: Mr Outt Mixer rec.music.makers.guit Boelan
9. 97/11/11 028 Re: Allan Holdsworth alt.guitar Captain Liberal
10. 98/09/28 027 Re: VHT Power Amps. Any Good alt.guitar.amps Boelan
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12. 98/12/12 026 Re: proper dummy load on out alt.guitar.amps Michael
13. 98/09/28 026 Re: Mr Outt Mixer rec.music.makers.guit J...
14. 97/03/17 026 JUICE EXTRACTOR??? alt.guitar.amps Steve
15. 96/06/02 026 Re: Harness II answers (was rec.music.makers.guit CJSpeed
16. 96/06/01 026 Re: Harness II answers (was rec.music.makers.guit R.G. Keen
17. 95/10/05 026 Re: Carvin Vintage Amps rec.music.makers.guit gary watts
18. 97/12/10 025 Re: Question on making a loa alt.guitar.amps rpc
19. 97/11/11 025 Re: Allan Holdsworth Equipme alt.guitar Captain Liberal
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21. 96/04/08 025 Re: Did you go to Texas Gtr. rec.music.makers.guit Jeff Preston
22. 98/12/16 024 Re: 7 watt tube amp design i alt.guitar.amps Michael
23. 98/06/05 024 Re: PREAMP SWITCHERS? #4/4 alt.guitar.amps Gary Watts
24. 96/06/02 024 Re: Harness II answers (was rec.music.makers.guit Gantt Mann Kush
25. 96/05/31 024 Harness II answers (was Re: rec.music.makers.guit Jeff Preston
26. 96/05/28 024 Re: Favorite Distortion/Over rec.music.makers.guit Jeff Preston
27. 96/05/10 024 AD: Harness II by Allan Hold rec.music.makers.guit Jeff Preston
28. 98/10/27 023 Re: Amp emulators, speak#1/3 alt.music.4-track Michael
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40. 96/07/16 022 Re: head into dummy load, sl rec.music.makers.guit Charles
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42. 98/10/27 021 Re: Amp emulators, speak#1/3 alt.music.4-track Chris Gieseke
43. 98/10/25 021 Re: Low-watt power-tube devi alt.music.4-track Michael
44. 96/05/30 021 Re: Favorite Distortion/Over rec.music.makers.guit Jeff Preston
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47. 96/08/12 020 Re: best midi foot contr#3/4 alt.guitar gary watts
48. 96/05/14 020 Rev 2: Guide to Switcher#3/4 alt.guitar gary watts
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