[Harp-L] Pedal help

["Maurice Thaler" <maurice.thaler@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

 

I am an experienced player in the Madison WI area, with a request for
suggestions for a pedal for my rig. 

I am using for smaller gigs a Princeton Reverb (1972) which works great and
needs no help. But for gigs in larger rooms with louder guitar to keep up
with, I use a Bassman reissue. I have modified it slightly by using less
aggressive preamp tubes. Before I did that, it was 3 is too soft, 4 is
feedback. Not a lot of room for adjustment. At any rate, the amp sounds
great, but it is so clean that it needs something to add some crunch to the
sound. That amp has no reverb and the only other adjustment is "Presence"
which I never really understood all that well.

 

I have a Holy Grail which works nice (I like the simplicity) and I have
tried using a Tube Screamer to add crunch, but it is rather touchy and I
have trouble getting them to work well together.

 

I am using an Audix Fireball V which I really like since it fits in my small
hands well so I can cup with a nice tight seal. I am of course using an
Hi-Lo Z adapter to plug either into the amp or whatever pedal.

 

What I am asking for and have not seemed to find is a "one pedal solution"
that combines some crunch plus some reverb. I tried one at the Guitar
Center: Mad Professor MP1DR which combined distortion and reverb with level
control in one pedal. 

That SOUNDED like what I needed on paper and it sounded good with the guitar
at the shop, but when I went to set up at the gig (idiot that I am, I did
not show up at the Guitar Center with a harp & mic in hand to test it
there), I plugged everything in and the level was so pumped that I could not
move it above about 1 on the level control of the pedal.  I had my volume
levels set on the low side on my amp. My guess is that pedal is setup for
certain guitar pickups and does not match well impedance-wise with my Audix
Fireball V mic with its low-z adapter.

 

So, to rephrase the question, is there a pedal that combines reverb and
distortion that could be recommended for my setup? I really like to keep
things simple, I find when I start stringing pedals together I lose control
over the sound, so I am hoping to find a single pedal solution that works
well with a harmonica mic and my Fender Bassman.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

-Maurice