-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Rowse <steven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 14:53:24 +0100
Subject: [Harp-L] 'A' harp issue
One of those 'is it me' questions that only a list like this can answer:
I sing and play with an electric blues band, not too rocky or noisy, the
guitarist uses a little Fender not a big Marshall, you know? >>And I don't
like playing my 'A' harp with the band. It sounds low and it feels slow
and it doesn't cut through the mix for me >>somehow. Yet when we do songs
in F - 'My Babe' for instance - I'm fine with the Bb harp, it sounds high
enough to cut through and >>I like playing it. I tried a few different
types of harp in A - went through Lee Oscars, MBs, even a Hering 192?
'reissue'. No dice. >>They tend to go flat on me too, probably because I
overdo it trying to get them to sound right. Lately I got a Suzuki
Bluesmaster - >>nice little harp and the best so far because it's quite
toppy and responds quicker than the others, I feel, but that bad feeling I
can't >>quite explain is still there. So is it me or is it the harp?
It's a problem, what with so many songs being in E. Seems unreasonable to
get the band to go up a step for what may well be a >>crazy reason, anyhow
it would make singing harder; songs in E often go right to the top of my
range as it is. I feel I'm reaching for a >>'high A' harp but acourse they
don't go above high G - probably for good technical reasons, though I'm
considering retuning a high G >>up a step anyway... I like the way my high
G squawks, maybe it would be go up a couple of steps without summoning the
>>neighbourhood dogs?
So I got out my Bb and my Suzuki A and swapped them around for a bit - and
the whole feel of these harps seems totally different >>to me - the Bb is
fast and high enough and nice and horn-ey, and even the Suzuki seems slow
and a bit low-down and just nothing >>much going on to inspire me.
Anyone else been through this? Is there really a mugh-bigger-than-normal
difference between Bb and A harps? Maybe it's my head >>resonance? Or
maybe it's just my head, whaddaya think?
Steve