[Harp-L] Bronson amp @ Buckeye

["PT Gazell" <ptgazell@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

    I was at the Buckeye Harmonica Convention this last weekend and was persuaded by Dennis Oellig AKA Mr. Microphone to try out some amps and mics. After explaining to Dennis he had the wrong guy since I don't use a rig to play through and always go through the P.A., he wanted me to hear and play some of his stuff. We started with some fenders and something called a meteor...now don't be mad, but I don't know any model #s or anything about the guts... however, they were all nice products with an obvious attention to detail that should please even the pickiest player. He also has very nice vintage hot rodded mics which I am not all that familiar with. All that being said, he then suggested that I play through the second smallest amp in the room, something called a Bronson. Well I gotta tell ya, from the time the tubes heated up, I could tell right away that this was something special! We tried several different bullet and astatic mics with this amp and they all sounded good, however, when we plugged in the EV re10, I knew at least to my ears, that this was the correct combo. I did the five blues licks that I know and then played some horn lines and octave splits. This amp seemed to be transparent, pointed, distorted in a clean way, focused and ballsey all at the same time. Rosco, Joe Filisko and George Brooks all played through this same rig and while we all have different styles and approaches, I thought that this amp and mic combo was sonically correct with 4 different players. Dennis has obviously done a restoration on this as he does on all his stuff, but I gotta tell ya...this thing rocks!!!! As Joe pointed out, it would make a great studio amp.
    I wish I had copied the standard disclaimer I see you guys use when someone brags on a piece of gear, but I'm not that smart. In any event, these are just my comments on an amp that I thought was really nice...especially without any other outboard gear in the chain. I'm sure Dennis would be glad to talk tech stuff about it.

www.mrmicrophone.com
mrmic@xxxxxxxxx

PT Gazell
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