[Harp-L] Amps & Processors

["Bill Hines" <billhines4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

"I use the RP400 for small rooms and nobody mentions anything about my
tone except for two other musicians who couldn't believe that I wasn't
playing through and amp."

Ok, so this leads to a question I had, since the Digitech RP400's were
discussed recently, I was thinking "Why spend all the money on an amp
when you can buy one of these that can emulate so many different amps?"
I know these units require a PA for gigs or some receiver and speakers
or something for practice to play through, but aside from that, if you
have those and are just getting to the point where you need a rig, isn't
the money better spend on something like the RP400 or Harp Commander
instead of a $2,000 amp? Excuse me if it's a dumb question, I'm just a
beginner, but this is something that does confuse me a bit. Comments
Chris? You seem to have experimented quite a bit in both areas.

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Chris Michalek
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 10:06 AM
To: 10hole@xxxxxxxxxxxx; blittlehales@xxxxxxxxx; Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] 

I agree with FJM. People will always spend their money in questionable
ways (to ourselves). I have currently have nearly $10000 in my reef tank
and have a small and inexpensive amp. 

I've gone through a ton of different amps, I once had a 57 bassman. I
bought it for $1800 and then sold it for $3000.  I liked the amp but I
thought the guy was a fool for wanted to spend that much. I saw it as
profit. After the bassman sale I went out and got a few new harps, a
nice dinner and peavy classic 50 with 2x12. Nobody ever comlpained about
my tone. A year after that I got sick of lugging the amp around and
playing blues so I sold the peavey for $100. Personally I thought the
bassman was a better sounding amp but not but much. A local won one of
the Holland amps from the summit.  He hated it and gave it to me. I used
it for a few gigs and quit playing through it because it was too much of
a hassle.  It's still sitting in my friend's studio. and hasn't been
touched in nearly five years.

I went ten years (minus the three shows with the Holland)without and amp
and nobody ever complained about my tone through the PA.  A few months
ago I started playing blues again and was blowing through a 1964 BF
Deluxe. I thought it sounded great. I got into looking at amps. I looked
at the bassmans again.  Sound great but too big to haul around. I was
able to A-B an original 58 bassman and a reissue bassman ltd.  for the
money I would have purchased the new reissue. Heck even for the same
money I would have probably purchased the reissue.  The difference to my
ears was minimal and I know that ultimately nobody will care about the
rig I am using.

So now I'm playing blues maybe once a month. I use the RP400 for small
rooms and nobody mentions anything about my tone except for two other
musicians who couldn't believe that I wasn't playing through and amp. I
recently bought a 1968 SF Deluxe Reverb amp - it have the AB763 circuit
and sounds great. To me this is the ultimate amp because it's small and
light. I noticed Annie Cohen and Dennis Gruenling play through a deluxe
too under similar circumstances. Still I hate lugging that thing around.

I think musicallity supercedes tone. I try to be musical and put on the
good show. I haven't had any complaints about my music other than people
thinking I don't play dazzling technical lines that have little soul.
I'm happy with my music and my tone and depending how you look at it,
the cost is free or priceless.

Chris Michalek

www.michalekstrone.com
cd available from CD Baby


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