Re: [Harp-L] Amps & Processors

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Chris Michalek" wrote:
"The RP400 is not a subsitute for a good tube amp.  It's an
alternative where otherwise an amp may not work... The RP400 is great
for all that it does.  If you're just a blues guy then the Digitech
isn't really useful for you unless you're in a small coffee house. I
find it useful because I play mostly jazz inflected original music when
a overdriven and distorted sound is needed on maybe three tune per
night. I used the Digitech at a blues gig once.  It was great and fool
my guitarist but ultimately a real amps has more balls even though I
thought the digitech sounded better on a few occasions."

It's good idea to keep in mind that Chris has had his RP400 for only a
couple of months or so, and it takes time to explore what it can do. 
Let's take it from the top:

1) It's a little wierd to say that the RP400 -- and other RP-series
devices, and other amp modelers like the Behringer V-AMP2 and POD -- is
"an alternative where otherwise an amp may not work."  The RP is an amp
modeler, meaning it electronically "models" how a real amp would sound. 
If the RP works in a given situation, there's an amp that would work in
that situation too. But how many amps does any player own?  Most players
own a few amps or less -- and that's where the RP is a great tool to
have in the kit.  The RP and its brethren give the player a lot of
different amps-in-the-box, at a very low price.  Does it sound EXACTLY
like your  tweaked 59 Bassman?  Not if you put them side by side and
listen carefully.  Does it sound like a good tube amp, if you set it up
right?  Sure; it sounds better than a lot of tube amps I've heard.  I've
got half a dozen patches in my RP200 that I use for amped blues, ranging
from a Taj Mahal-style blackface sound to sounds with a heavy cutting
edge.  They're all different, and they all sound great on the right
song.

2) Chris said: "If you're just a blues guy then the Digitech isn't
really useful for you unless you're in a small coffee house."  This is
flat wrong.  The RP is as good for blues as any other good tube amp. I
used the Digitech RP200 at a gig in Chicago's in Toronto, playing
alongside Mark Bird Stafford and Tortoise Blue, both of whom played
through bullet-style mics into Stafford's RI '59 Bassman.  This was a
loud blues gig with a band that included guitar, bass, drums, and
Hammond organ.  Everyone on stage, including the other harp players,
loved the sound of the RP.  At the end of the night, Stafford and
Tortoise Blue practically tore my mic out of my hands so they could
check my rig out for themselves.  I repeat: the RP is as good for blues
as any other good tube amp. It doesn't sound EXACTLY like your favorite
tube amp, but it sounds like a really GOOD tube amp when you need it to.

Like Chris says: "It was great and fool my guitarist but ultimately a
real amps has more balls even though I thought the digitech sounded
better on a few occasions."  This is a pretty confusing sentence -- it's
great but it's not, a real amp has more balls but the RP fooled the
guitarist and sounded better than the amp sometimes -- I mean, what's
the real message?  To me the real message is this: the RP sounds great.
A great sounding box is a great sounding box, whether or not it weighs
50 pounds and has 2 12" speakers inside it. 

In the two years since I bought the RP, I've used it on stage and in the
recording studio in a very wide range of styles.  I've played with blues
bands, funk bands, rock bands, folk duos, wedding bands, jazz bands,
just about everything except Bouzouki music. I haven't been stuck yet
for something that sounds great with the band.  My onstage rig is now
the RP200 and -- if I want a big speaker right behind me, under my
control -- a Peavey KB/A 100 keyboard amp, whose only purpose is to
amplify the RP for stage monitoring before I send the signal to the PA. 
When I travel, I just take the RP.  I still use -- and love! -- my
"real" amps, but pretty much only in the studio these days. 

Bottom Line: like I said, a great sounding box is a great sounding box. 
The great thing about the RP and other amp modelers is that, for a cost
between $100-$200, depending on make and model, you get a device the
size and weight of a hardcover book that expands the number of great
harp tones available to you by a factor of 40.  If you did that with
real amps, you'd be lucky to get away with spending less than $500 per
amp, i.e. $20,000, and that's not counting 1) the extra room you'd have
to put on your house to hold 40 amps, and 2) the fact that you'd never
be able to drag 40 amps to your gig in anything smaller than a moving
van.

The only reason more harp players aren't using these things as their
main go-to boxes is that they haven't tried them.  Every player should
have the pleasure of owning a great tube amp.  Most players should also
take advantage of these amp modelers to expand their kit enormously, at
the lowest possible cost.

Thanks and regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com