Re: [Harp-L] Beyer mics/WAS Low Impedance Volume Control

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Grbullets2 wrote:
> Just get yourself a decent TUBE amp and one of the more 
> traditional harp mic's(green bullet,JT30) and your set to go. 
> Theres no need to have your own trailer to sound good!

"Tim Moyer" wrote:
If what you're looking for is a "traditional" harmonica sound, then 
that works fine.  If you need more facets to your sound for the work 
you do, it's more complicated than that.  I play a lot of country, 
jazz, rock and R&B, and need at various times to sound like an 
accordion, a trumpet (or a horn section), a violin, a B3 organ, or 
just an acoustic harmonica.  Rather than have a separate amp and mic 
combination for every sound, I built a rig with a broader spectrum 
of sounds.  

I say:
Tim's and Grbullets2's basic point is correct: the trad blues sound is a bullet mic plus a tube amp.  Tim is also correct that the basic blues sound may not be enough.  But Tim's rig is pretty complex for a beginner, and this discussion started with a question from a beginner.

Here's my basic advice: figure out what you want to sound like and what you want to play.   Get decent gear that makes that sound.  For blues, see above.  For jazz or other cleaner-sounding styles, try a keyboard amp (musician's friend sells a good one under their brand for $99) and a decent vocal mic (like the Shure SM57 or SM58).  For country, try the tube amp and the mic you use for jazz.  Start with that basic setup, and add pieces to it as you go along.  

You can find information on several low-cost high-quality setups at my website at hunterharp.com.   I've added a page recently about a setup that uses an amp modeler and a keyboard amp to produce a wide range of sounds at the lowest possible cost, and you might as well look that over too.

Whatever you do, buy good-quality gear that will continue to produce good sounds for you throughout its lifetime, whether or not it remains your only setup. In 2005, "good-quality" does not necessarily mean expensive.  This is the golden age of gear, right now -- there's plenty of good stuff available in every price range from the very bottom to the very top.   

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com