Re: Re: [Harp-L] fender bassman ltd again

["r_buschner@xxxxxxxxxxx" <r_buschner@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Russ wrote:

> Frankly, I think it's physically impossible to copy anybody's sound.
> The head, chest and hands of a player all form the resonating chamber
> for the harp.  To get Sonny Boy or Little Walter's tone, your head,
> chest and hands all need to be identical to them, in addition to
> technique.  

Exactly. You'd have to copy everything, what could affect the tone - and
the you'd get in the ballpark of their plaing though. :-)

> That doesn't mean they are doomed to poor tone, it just means they
just need to develop a tone that works for them.

Exactly. For sure it's a nice experience to fiddle around with an amp
and to find anything, what sounds exactly the same like known from any
recording of the greats, but is it really a thing you could do on the
stage? The audience wants to hear YOU and not one of the Walters - if
they would, then they would stay at home and listen to a CD. Play your
tone, improve your tone, and find an amp/mic, that gives you the right
combination, and 
- hell - play! 

> And, for all the talk, no mic or amp is going to give you bottom end.
> Some mics and amps amplify the lower frequencies YOU PRODUCE better
> than others.  If there isn't that much lower frequencies in what's
> being played, no mic or amp is going to generate it for you.

Here is disagree a bit: When there is no bottom at all, the equipment
couldn't generate it.
But if you have a given amount of bass, let's say 10 or 20 percent, then
your amp is able to rise it, compared to mids or treble. That is, what
tone stacks do, and this is, what equalizers do. And if it works for
vocals, it works for harmonica, too.
 
> Finally, I wouldn't give up on the bassman ltd without investing
> around $300 in a Hoffman kit.  That bypasses the printed circuit board
> and wires in all the caps and resistors point to point.  To my ear,
> there is a huge difference in sound between a printed circuit board
> and point to point wiring.

And here i disagree fully: It's not PCB or hand wiring, what makes the
tone.
A PCB will not change it, but the most important things are the
transformers
and the circuit design, also the Q-factor of the caps, and the speakers
are 
also important. There heve been guys saying, Peavey couldn't be good for
harmonica,  would be trash and something else. These guys are harp
players, 
and usually they play fenders, and they wouldn't give a shit for a
Peavey. After 
i changed that amp to a wild, roaring beast, they asked, what i changed,
and 
wether i could do this with every amp or not. 

By the way: It doesn't sound like BW, LW or someone else, it sounds like
me, 
and it sounds the way i like! And *that's* the real thing - to like your
own sound, 
so you'll easily can "fall" in the music and float there...and then you
play the real 
thing. 

Amen.

cu,
Ralf