Harry Kolbe Modded 71 Super Lead

[John DeVries]

I came into possession of a Harry Kolbe modded 71. It is a total beast.
Is there any inherent value or collector interest in these? I thought of going back stock, but I would hate to destroy what was obviously a very expensive and extensive mod.

 

[charveldan]

Not familiar with Harry.

Actually never heard of Harry Kolbe.

My Jr. High School GF's name was Chris Kolbe not that it matter.

The price of something is ultimately whatever someone is willing to pay.

 

[John DeVries]

Harry was a first generation mod guy, same time frame as Lee Jackson and Jose were doing their stuff, mostly East Coast. Did a cool load box back then called "Silent Speaker". They pop up occasionally on Reverb.
Some people swear by his work, others found him "difficult". Evidently back in the 80's he was a go to guy for amp repair in NYC.
I wasn't looking for a price BTW, just hate to destroy art. The power supply mods are really creative.
And what a coincidence, Harry never heard of you either, but he did have a pizza delivered once by a guy named Dan, not that it matters! (joke)
Actually, Dave Fiedman was the guy who identified the work.

 

[ampmadscientist]

I came into possession of a Harry Kolbe modded 71. It is a total beast.
Is there any inherent value or collector interest in these? I thought of going back stock, but I would hate to destroy what was obviously a very expensive and extensive mod.

We need to see the insides.

 

[charveldan]

Well then Harry prolly knows Frank Levi.

Ive chatted with Frank a few times. Franks been doing mods since they began.

 

[John DeVries]

You can't have a modded Marshall with out the epoxy filled black box!

 

[charveldan]

Nothing on that resembles the original circuit.

Definetely different. Even the SGR's look weird.

 

[John DeVries]

It looks to be all mill-spec and high end audio stuff. I assume lower noise and closer tolerance.

 

[charveldan]

Make us some video clips ...

 

[John DeVries]

Can do, but it all sounds like crap though an IPhone!

 

[Codyjohns]

 

[mixn4him]

It looks pretty sloppy would not trust a lot of that mess...

 

[Gregg Livesay]

I came into possession of a Harry Kolbe modded 71. It is a total beast.
Is there any inherent value or collector interest in these? I thought of going back stock, but I would hate to destroy what was obviously a very expensive and extensive mod.

I am new to this forum and just read this post. I am very familiar with Harry’s amps as I have two. A 1970 and 1971 and both have the full mod done by Harry in 1987. They have been my main workhorses for the last 32 years and yes they are beasts. As for value, I know Harry did Steve Stevens Marshall which was also the same year. Stevens sold this amp for over $8000. His mod at the time I did it was $700. Harry doesn’t deal with the public much anymore but still services his older clients. He told
Me his mod would be $3000 now

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

I am new to this forum and just read this post. I am very familiar with Harry’s amps as I have two. A 1970 and 1971 and both have the full mod done by Harry in 1987. They have been my main workhorses for the last 32 years and yes they are beasts. As for value, I know Harry did Steve Stevens Marshall which was also the same year. Stevens sold this amp for over $8000. His mod at the time I did it was $700. Harry doesn’t deal with the public much anymore but still services his older clients. He told
Me his mod would be $3000 now

To the forum my brother !
Cheers Mitch

 

[South Park]

That is some heavy mods. The chips and filter cap look real trick I would not change a thing a lot of work went into it love to hear it

 

[headcrash]

The chips are reed relays and I assume they are used for switching sounds or channels (well, what else..?). The grey epoxy filled box might be a transformer, or indeed the mystical magical circuit that needs to be hidden from curious eyes like ours.

 

[john hammond]

hello John,

mil spec it aint..

loads more filtration, dc heaters? wtf is this beast?
that aint gonna sound stock.
thanks for the images, really cool

 

[Nik Henville]

...thanks for the images, really cool

...but images of an amp don't come close to "what does it sound like".

And I don't profess to talk for anyone here other than myself...
But what does it sound like?

 

[Matthews Guitars]

It might sound good but the execution of those mods looks like a dumpster fire about to start. Long unsleeved leads running across and close to other connections, transformers and caps added by Hu Flung Du, the magic epoxy box....just wow. High falutin' audiophile capacitors in some places, cheap radial lead caps with extended leads in others.

It's like a committee worked on that amp. And not one of them had ever heard of Dave Reeves or seen the inside of a pristine Hiwatt.

There's a workmanship standard every amp builder, modder, and technician should seek to match.

 

[ampmadscientist]

It might sound good but the execution of those mods looks like a dumpster fire about to start. Long unsleeved leads running across and close to other connections, transformers and caps added by Hu Flung Du, the magic epoxy box....just wow. High falutin' audiophile capacitors in some places, cheap radial lead caps with extended leads in others.

It's like a committee worked on that amp. And not one of them had ever heard of Dave Reeves or seen the inside of a pristine Hiwatt.

There's a workmanship standard every amp builder, modder, and technician should seek to match.

The magic epoxy box appears to be a SS preamp...some of that slop is a low voltage power supply to run the SS preamp.
The rest of that abortion looks like SS channel switching.