[Harp-L] RE: Lee Oskar setup WAS behringer acx 1000

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Mick Erickson" wrote:
"For what it's worth, a buddy of mine works at Musician's Friend. He
said
Lee Oscar came and gave them a product demo. Lee asked for the cleanest
amp they had, which turned out to be a Trace Elliot solid state acoustic
amp. Lee told them he liked a "clean" sound, because it's easy to get a
distorted sound with effects. I also heard Lee uses a Roland solid state
bass amp.  My buddy (who is also the guitar player in my band) said Lee
Oscar was astounding and he'd never heard a harmonica sound so good.
(And this is the standard I'm now held to in the band....)"

If you want to know EXACTLY what gear Lee Oskar uses on stage and in the
studio, go to the Pro Pages at my website at:

http://www.hunterharp.com/propage1.html

The information on the page devoted to Lee Oskar comes directly from
Lee.  In my opinion, the most important component of his amplified sound
is probably the Beyerdynamic double ribbon mic he uses.  Based on Lee's
comments, I agree that he strongly prefers components that give him a
clean, undistorted signal all the way through his chain.   

I suggest that most harmonica players who seek a clean sound will be
happiest with a keyboard amp as opposed to any kind of guitar amp. 
Keyboard amps generally offer excellent portability and clear, loud
sound over a very wide frequency range at a better price-performance
ratio than for guitar-oriented amps.  Alesis is about to release a
series of keyboard amps that offer ridiculously good price-performance
ratios (e.g. 100 watts with digital FX at much less than $300 new), and
great stuff at good prices is available now from Roland, Peavey, and
others (VERY good prices if you're willing to buy used, which I
generally recommend).       

A general note on the Pro Pages: these pages are based directly on
interviews with leading harmonica players -- in styles ranging from
classical to blues to jazz to Celtic, worldwide.  I ask each player the
same 4 questions:
- what are their 5 favorite harmonica records?
- what gear do they use on stage and in studio?
- what harmonicas do they play?
- what's their discography?

The answers to these questions tell you a lot about how leading pros
think and the gear they rely on every day.

Regards, Richard Hunter