Cornford Amplification-Harlequin MK1

The Cornford Harlequin is a great five Watts guitar tube amp handmade in United Kingdom by Paul Cornford, it’s built like a tank and has lots of gain and dynamics.

The amp cabinet is made of thick birch plywood and looks like a vintage classic British 1×12″ combo, it’s strong, large and heavy for a five Watt amp and i can sit on it while playing guitar.

Top Panel

Hi/Low input jacks, Volume, Voice switch, Bass, Treble, Master, On/Off Switch, Fuse and Status light, the Master volume is a great feature because the amp can be very loud.

The control knobs are easy to manipulate so it’s really fast to get the sound you are looking for, even at bedroom volume.

The circuitry

The parts of the Cornford Harlequin are assembled in a strong white painted steel chassis, high quality parts and a clean handwire work makes it easy to repair or modify like in vintage or boutique tube amps.

I did replace the polypropylene capacitors by Orange Drop capacitors for a smoother and more open tone.

Preamp and Power Tubes

Two 12AX7’s for the preamp and one EL84 for the power amp section.

The Speaker

The stock Celestion Vintage 30-12″/60W-8 Ohm ceramic speaker sounded nice in the amp for distorted tones but it was not as great for clean tones, that’s why i decided to replace it by a Weber Speakers Ceramic Silver Bell 30W-8 Ohm-Light Dope.

How does it sound ?

With the Weber Speakers Ceramic Silver Bell upgrade, the amp can still deliver a fat and agressive sound when crancked and has a nice round and pleasant sound at lower volume, great for studio applications, bedroom levels for home use and small gigs.