Commander for a commando

["M. N." <mnessmith@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just thought I'd mention a fun night I had this past Monday here in Prague. 
Sitting around the apartment that evening, I decided at the last minute to 
run downtown and catch up with an old friend I hadn't seen in 5 years. His 
band was gigging at a little jazz and blues club. I thought I might be able 
to sit in for a song or two, so I tossed a few harps, an SM 57, and my Harp 
Commander into a small bag and headed out. Since I'd be taking the bus and 
tram, I really didn't feel like bringing my full box of goodies, plus amp. I 
chose the 57 thinking I'd either plug straight into the PA system or, better 
yet, run my Harp Commander into the system. Stan was mighty amenable and 
during a set break asked me to sit in, and turned me loose to set up my 
gear. While the band was upstairs having a smoke, I ran the 57 with a 
lo-to-z converter into the Commander and then ran a guitar cord from the 
Commander's instrument output to the board. (I know this isn't the "right" 
way to do it. But while my HC has both 1/4" and xlr outputs, I only brought 
a 1/4" cord with me. Ron Holmes had assured me this would work just fine, 
and he was right.) Anyway, the last thing I want to do when sitting in as a 
guest is take too long to set up and/or have a bunch of technical problems 
and feedback. I'm happy to say that getting set up on this tiny, cramped 
stage took me all of two minutes - at most. The sound guy set all his knobs 
pretty low and let me dial in a sound I liked. During that next set, when my 
buddy called me to the stage, all I had to do was grab harp and mic, turn up 
the level on the Harp Commander, and tell him to count it off! I got damn 
nice "amped" tone with no fuss and no headache and had no problems being 
heard. And I didn't have to scurry around looking for a place to set an amp 
(did I mention this place has a TINY stage?). Lastly, after my three tunes I 
got a standing o and my buddy later said something to the effect that he 
didn't remember me having such "a fat tone and authentic sound." Those warm 
fuzzies, though, I attribute FAR more to lots of woodshedding under the 
guidance of my former teacher, Jason Ricci, than I do to gear. At any rate, 
at the end of the night I simply jammed everything into the bag - about the 
size of a small shoe box - and caught that last tram back to my 
neighborhood. For hit-and-run sit-in gigs like this - and a lot of other 
situations too - the Harp Commander is wonderful!
MN

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