Re: [Harp-L] New life for my Twin

[G <gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:22:36 -0500
From: "Steve McIver" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] New life for my Twin
To: "Harpl Post" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
>Good morning everyone,
>I finally had an opportunity to work with my Para DI along with my 
> Twin. I was amazed that my 70's Twin could sound so good. The Para 
> DI(LR Baggs) acted similar to what I believe a Harp Commander or EQ 
> box would, by giving me separate tone/gain/output vol. control over 
> my Shaker mic. The Para DI has a separate effects loop that I plan to 
> experiment with next weekend....This is so much fun.
>
>Yours,
>Steve

Hi Steve, 
  I'm really pleased you got the results you're looking for.  I've tried a
LR Baggs preamp, I was impressed - if you want a clean warm sound, and some
control over your EQ its a very good device - they have a variety of
options, and the one I tried out fits snugly on your belt.  It had two
outputs so you could plug your signal into two different chains if you
needed, like one for your amp on the stage, and another out to the mixer.

  There are a couple of important differences between the Harp Commander
and the LR Baggs which is worth mentioning here in case someone is thinking
about getting one or the other.
  The LR Baggs units are class A preamps using J-FETs, so are the Harp
Commanders.  However, the LR Baggs units are intended for clean sound, if
you try to get them to distort, they're designed to cut out, and what
little distortion that does come through in a choppy unpredictable manner
is nasty in a bad way.  Its tonal colouring is very subtle and slight.

  The Harp Commander on the other hand is designed to distort earlier than
you may find with other equipment, I like it, its my preferred unit, but
people who prefer a clean warm tone and don't want their tone coloured too
much may do better to look else where.   I've had one friend try out my
Harp Commander and decided to get one for himself, however he was
disappointed with the HC because it added more distortion.  I learnt at
that point that he prefers a warm clean sound, and already has some
fantastic Fender Class A tube driven gear which I think will more than do
the job. So he asked for his money back.   He too has LR Baggs premaps and
prefers them, it was his that I got to try out for myself.

  I've found if I plug a mic directly into the Behringer Ultra DI 100 its
preamp has a harsh quality that I don't get if I plug the same mic directly
into either of my Behringer mixers (MX802 and UB802), so if I was in a
situation where I really needed the DI 100, I'll defintely want something
else to warm up the tone to avoid or overcome that brittleness.

I've written because I think these are useful things to know before you
spend your hard earnt $$.

  Apart from some big differences in their design, I don't see how either
Ron or LR Baggs could claim infringement of rights on either side.  Class A
preamps built with J-FETs is nothing new in the slightest.  Just as Hohner
and Seydel could wrangle over infringements with their very similar 12 hole
chromatic design.  

-- G.