The small harmonica amplifier classification has become a crowded room in recent years. Twenty years ago harmonica players didn't have the vast amount of choices available that they do now, especially in the harmonica-specific amplifier way of things. Trial and error with various guitar and bass amplifiers for years by pro players and amateurs alike led to what many feel is the "vintage" sound, or what we call the vintage sound today. Harmonica players of yesteryear just picked up and played through whatever microphone and amplifier combination was available and affordable at the time. It was a great experiment that has led to so many incredible recordings and performances that the harmonica players of today try to recapture and emulate. Eventually, technology caught up and the harmonica gurus of tone started putting their ideas into practice leading to the vast array of choices for both the veteran and the amateur harp player alike.

For many harp players, the 50s and 60s Fender tweed Champs is where they start (and sometimes stop) when it comes to a small, low-watt (10 watts or less) harmonica amplifier for recording and gig usage. The 5F1 and 5C1 circuits have been copied, redesigned, and modified many times over for the last 40 years by many companies. Names like HarpGear, Lone Wolf, Kendrick, Mission, VHT, MegaTone, Hohner, and more recently the Memphis Mini among others have all created their own take on this popular amp style - most of them aimed directly at the harmonica player.

The Sonic Pipe Windy City amplifier stands out from all the rest. By taking the long way around to find the correct components, special circuitry design, power tube line-up, and tone; the Windy City was tweaked and tested by a harmonica player for harmonica players before it even went to production. The rigorous months of experiments and tests have led to one of the most unique, versatile, portable, and affordable harmonica amps on the market today.

This series of amps starts life at a factory in China using our specified one of kind components and circuits and completely final wired / assembled in Chicago, Illinois; the Windy City is carefully re-assembled , tested and quality checked to ensure that the integrity of each piece will never fail in a working musician's environment, achieve maximum performance, and deliver that sweet vintage tone that each harmonica player seeks from their instrument. This lifetime guarantee and the road less taken has led the Windy City to an exclusive group of working, influential official harmonica players who endorse the Windy City at their gigs the world over. The Windy City is becoming the face of the harmonica amplifier community by providing innovative 21st Century technology and not sacrificing integrity to produce vintage, "old school" harmonica tone.

Explore all the versatile options the Windy City has to offer, and find out why it continues to excel against the competition in terms of build integrity, versatility, reliability, portability, and affordability. You will find that the Windy City is a significant compliment to the harmonica - your instrument. With the most organic and multi-faceted tone capability suitable for any microphone set-up in the industry, the pedal board rig or the "plug & play" approach will deliver in the practice/studio session or any live setting. The beginner to the veteran working musician expect the Windy City to blow them away with its titanic ocean of tone.

Features

The most basic set-up is the Windy City Chassis. You can outfit it with your own choice of speaker and cabinet at $275 or

1X8 Combo with the choice of speaker. Starting at $395 This is the original Windy City. There are 3 choices of speaker you can take home with this one. The Weber Signature 8” Ceramic (stock), the Weber Signature 8" Alinco, and the Eminence 8” 820H Alnico for $25.00 additional. If you have your own favorite 8 inch speaker, just drop us a note, we will check its fitment and do our best to accommodate your special requests.

or

1X10 Combo. Starting at $485. Pushing the bar alot higher than the 1X8 model, this edition of the Windy City comes with the Weber 10A100, which closely resembles the highly popular vintage Jensen P10R 10" speaker of vintage amps past. Giving more bass, cooler bias, and slightly larger in size and weight, this amp truly is the epoch of the Windy City's tone capability

All Windy City Amps comes with the Following Features:

Brightness Cutoff Switch.  The Windy City is not feedback resistant but is easily tamable with very simple settings. To tame the high end even more or to achieve the possibility of cutting more high end, we have included the Brightness cutoff switch. This can be used in conjunction with any setting on the amplifier and we find it quite useful, especially with modern dynamic element microphones.

Bias Switch and Switchable Power Tubes.  The bias switch built on the inside chassis of the cabinet is designed for maximum tone control when switching between the two power tube options - 6L6 or 6V6. The Windy City will ship you 1 Ruby of each power tube to allow you to play around with the complex tonal pallet that the Windy City offers - from the rugged, bass-heavy sounds and crystal cleans of the 6L6 to the nasty bark and growl of the 6V6. You can also diversify your tone pallet by playing with mismatched biases, further allowing you to play with various tone capabilities.

6SJ7 Octal Preamp Tube. Valco, Magnatone, Gibson, Vega, National, Les Paul, and the Fender 5C1 vintage amps often used the 6SJ7 for its tone capabilities in the 1950s-1960s, and are now are very scarce to affordably find in working condition on the open market these days. Many modern small harp amps use the 12A series of preamp tubes. The 6SJ7 offers varying degrees of break-up in the sound of the speaker and gives the desired tonal qualities of the aforementioned amps without breaking the bank. It's also yet another reason why the Windy City stands out from the competition.

6Z4 Rectifier Tube. Similar to the 6SJ7, the 6Z4 was a common rectifier tube found in many sought-after harp and guitar amps of the late 50s and early 60s. Akin to the 5Y3, the 6Z4 is yet another way the Windy City sets itself apart.

Speaker Out and Line Out Jacks. If you feel like the 5 watts just isn't going to cut it through the mix of a loud band, use the direct and "true" line out into any PA system and have complete control over your tone. Some Line Outs bypass the tubes and give a flat, farty sound; this Line Out is true. You control your tone and output into the PA and not the sound guy, allowing the player to control his own destiny. The speaker in the Windy City then acts as a monitor. True versatility at its finest! The Speaker Out works similarly. If you have a nice speaker cabinet that you'd like to drive, the Windy City Speaker Outwill allow you to use it in a combo set-up and drive the cabinet. Essentially, the Windy City can act as a head in a combo set up. At 21 or 25 pounds, you never have to lug that massive 4X10 or 6X10 harmonica amp around gig to gig anymore. No more breaking your back to be heard in a loud band setting.

Hand wired. No cheap, printed circuit boards here.

One of a kind circuit tested by harmonica players. Wired to eliminate screechy, harsh feedback, the Windy City is a unique circuit that's one of kind that's been hand-tested and approved by working harmonica players for ensured integrity, performance, and tone.

Choice of dressing. Your choice between Tweed, Lacquer, and Black Tolex. Each are exquisite beauties that will stand out in any collection or on any stage for any style of harmonica playing. This one is built for oceans of tone!