After my recent acquisition of (and general pleasure with) The Lone Wolf Harp Delay, I picked up another pedal about a month ago: The Lone Wolf Harp Tone+. As is the case with the Harp Delay, my initial reactions are very positive.

The Harp Tone is essentially a very specialized parametric equalizer and volume control pedal, with a focus on the most important frequencies for harp. It can fatten up lows, roll off highs and let you very precisely deal in that ‘sweet zone’ where your amp becomes overdriven but doesn’t launch into feedback.

The volume control on this pedal is nicely detented and is much better for dialing in small changes than the typical mic-mounted volume knob. I haven’t been a volume knob fan for years because I always felt it sucked tone, but this control works quite well and generally avoids that.

The tone controls also work effectively, particularly if you have an amplifier that’s not quite ‘there’ and needs just a little juice in the lows, or a cut in the highs (it is a rare amp indeed that needs a boost in treble, although those do exist and this pedal can do that).

I do find the claims on the company website for this pedal to be a notch hyped (which was not really the case with the Harp Delay). It will not solve all problems with all amps (at least not for me). Although it can fatten tone a bit, you should be particularly skeptical about this pedal’s ability to make a big amp sound good at low volumes (by cranking the amp and significantly cutting the volume on the pedal).

Also: As always, if your acoustic tone sucks, there’s no pedal in the world that’s gonna make you sound like Little Walter. There is no technology that will substitute for practice.

Still, this is a useful tool. Like the Harp Delay, it’s extremely durably built in a metal box with high-quality pots and jacks. It’s also light in weight (again, like the Harp Delay), which you’ll love if you have a tendency like me to carry too much gear to the gig. I recommend it, but it’s not an all-problem-solving magic box.