Blues Harmonica Secrets Revealed (Gussow.022)

[bchad53]

Whoa, what was that Max Headroom thing around time 6:00?

[ckpyron]

Quick note on your talk about mic placement on the amp (around the 4:00 mark). As a FOH engineer (and aspiring harp player), I've mic'd a ton of cabs, and have had the pleasure of micing a few harp players. The best tone I ever got was by micing off center as you noted, with the mic angled to the outer edge of the cabinet at about 45 deg. This gave the harp sound TONS of breathing room and effectively kept the house from sounding like the amp was close mic'd. Very transparent sound that way.

[KudzuRunner]

@ckpyron

Thanks for weighing in. I'm glad to know that! I'm also proud of the fact that I figured out what FOH stands for. I was just in the recording studio and there , in a small isolation room, it turned out that we needed to pull the mics about 10 inches away from the amps and put them slightly off axis. Up close, they constricted the sound just as you describe. We lost proximity effect but gained spaciousness.

[84vedder]

i got a C major diatonik harp fromSTAGG...:)

[twoflattires]

It's kind of interesting that you specifically mentioned the mesa boogie as being a terrible harp amp. I read in an interview with both John Popper and Sugar Blue that Popper uses mesa booogie amps for his harp. But Popper usually plays with a cleaner sound and rarely has any overdrive, so it makes sense. I guess it just shows that different people prefer different sounds, it's all subjective.

[KudzuRunner]

Good point. A Mesa Boogie has one extra-heavy-duty 12" speaker. All of the overdrive comes from the pre- and power-amp; the speaker basically can't be overdriven with harp because it would feed back. (Guitar is a different matter.) With the master volume up, you get essentially "fuzz harmonica." (No dynamic range. ) With it down, you get clean harp. Sugar always uses the first sound; Popper, too. Both players, if I'm not wrong, play right on the VOCAL mic when they want a clean sound.

[TheWoozle70]

Keith Richards uses this type of set up for his guitar; a fender running clean, and a marshall running dirty. He uses an AB switch to combine his signals at will to get a clean & dirty sound. Usually Keith's guitars have only five strings, so he's a tweaker too...

[madmikehooper]

Hi Adam,

Your vids are pure gold for a struggling wannabe..

Why don't you use a distortion pedal if your amp is too powerful to get the overdrive sound?

[KudzuRunner]

The solution I've arrived at after many years is to use two smaller amps in tandem--one slightly larger than the other. The smaller one can always be cranked up to optimal operating volume; the larger one can usually be cranked out, but can also be turned down without sacrificing overall sound. I mic the smaller amp; the larger amp is for stage volume. Except in VERY large rooms, I don't need to go near a large amp, like a Bassman. I'm fine with two smaller amps.

[mottag8830]

does it matter if the delay pedal is expensive? or are they all the same? are they all "passive signal splitters"?

[Charliemusslewhite]

Doesn't matter what pedal, if it's one without true bypass (which are most) you can use it in bypass mode as a buffer to remain a high impedance. So what we have is actually an active signal splitter. If you use a low impedance mike and have two high impedance amps you don't even need a buffer.

[sunsetloungejc]

NOT that it really matters (your explaination is great), but I've always been told that the "center" of the cone was halfway between the center "dust cap" and the edge of the speaker (so, 1/4 of the radius). Have you ever heard of that? Again, not that it matters much, but a LOT of jargon, it may help to clarify the "terms". Thanx!

[Comuna]

2 questions: Is The American Harmonica Newsletter active?

What would you recomend to do eliminate feedback and allowing me to play a higher volume, I'm playing with a fender deville 410 and a old shure pistol.

I'm enjoying very much your teachings

Thank you

R.

[KudzuRunner]

I don't know if AHN is still around. I don't believe it is. There are two kinds of feedback--high frequency and low frequency. You've probably got the first. Often it's an amp problem. Is the Fender amp less than 25 watts, with a fairly small magnet speaker? Those are the best harp amps, as far as I'm concerned, and don't have much of a feedback problem. You may need to turn the treble down slightly. Don't use a "master volume."

[Comuna]

THANK YOU!!!

[BGog]

Could you please explain what "micing an amp" is? Doesn't sticking a mic in front of your amp cause feedback? What is this about?

[psychopractor]

It only causes feedback if it is the mic going into the amp. Adam is talking about a second mic that gets fed to the house desk/PA system. Hope this clears it up :)

[johnnythebossman]

Thanks for the info. Does the splitter cable sound different from just daisy chaining the amps together?

[KudzuRunner]

I'm not sure how daisy-chaining works; I've never done that. I'm assuming that it does sound different to do that, though.

[psychopractor]

I really like Adam's set-up if it works the way I think it does. It appears that he has one amp running on a relatively 'clean' sound (the mouse) and another 'dirty' (the premier?)in parallel. This allows for a raunchy tone but still retain clarity. I had a similar setup for guitar. If they were daisy-chained you would lose that quality since one amp would be colouring the other.

[wetland10]

Fantastic information on setting up the mic. Hadn't thought of that.

Thanks,

Wayne

[arnenym]

Thanks for the small amp theory! I always said that but i couldnt explain it so good as you. But now i got the arguments!

[Erikjr21]

thanks for the harp angling advice i needed that

[ElvinFyre]

Interesting commentary on the amp miking. Most places I've played, the soundguy will wrap the cord around the handle 12 times and dangle the thing. I then have to unwrap, and re-aim with usually a vocal mike stand, to the groans and eye-rolling of the soundguy. I always aimed at the center though. Thanks for THAT one. :-)

[KudzuRunner]

You're welcome, dammit. Harp guys unite! You have nothing to lose but your sub-optimal sound in the mix!