[Harp-L] Thanks to y'all

["Bob Laughlin" <rlaughlin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to Jason
Bullfrog
Iceman
Ron
fjm
smokey joe,,

The welcoming words are appreciated.

I'll still be mostly a reader/listener. This is my favorite mode, as it seems that all the good I've derived from music has come from listening and learning. Whatever contributions I've made in my little corner of the world have been due to having been fortunate enough to have parents that exposed me to the best in music, and let me discover areas they weren't familiar with themselves.

I never really fleshed out the things I could have in terms of musical achievement, as I took on familial responsibility at too early an age, and worked jobs just to get by, most of my life. Because of this, I became an electrician, rather than a professional musician, because it "paid the bills". A part of me died doing this, until someone I worked with brought me, back around the "turn of the century" (this one), to a "blues harp battle of the bands", on thanksgiving eve, up in Long Beach, Cal., at the "Golden Sails Ballroom". This goes on every year on thanksgiving eve, and hosts most of the local talent (Rod Piazza and the band,,and Honey!,,that girl jammms on keys, James Harman, Mama's Boys, etc.) as well as some guest artists from around the block. This night was amazing, and got me back into playing harp. 

But the truth be told, it was not until I discovered "harp-l" that I began to really improve, play better harp, and attract consistent attention. This site is an amazing thing, ya know. 

I'm retired now, but my son, nineteen, and already turning heads locally at performances in the local "Orange County Guitar Circle" ( http://www.ocgc.org/ocgc/ ), is really doing more of the "fleshing out" of his abilities than I ever did at his age. He's found the secret of networking, performing, and practicing persistently until he gets it right. Always improving, he's an amazing person to me.

I should have, would have played either concert cello, or blues guitar or harp if I'd had the opportunity to follow my dream, but now I'm just a retired homebody with a yen to get out and visit some clubs and jam. No going on the road for me at this stage of the game, unless the money justified the time away from home. I love my wife and son too much to be gone that long. It's a damn sacrifice, I know, for you guys who have to live on the road so much of the time.

Met someone very interesting the other night. This guy named "Dez" works at the local health food, restaurant/grocery store, and heard me busting out on harp (sometimes I "jus' can't help m'self",,it's a "blues moment") somewhere near the bread aisle, and came over to introduce himself. He was actually interested in why I was wearing my "blueblockers" in the store. To my amusement, he asked "if I were blind". They're almost a fixture on my head, as I feel more comfortable with them on, and especially when I play harp, as it seems to enable me to focus on the notes and the tone, and not worry about how people are affected by the "crazy-harp-stare" (I tend to play with my eyes open, more so than closed, and they tend to get that "wide-open" look). Wearing blue blockers also tends to get people to ask why you're wearing them, which always leads into a harp-solo-opportunity. That's why I get repeat invitations to play over the store PA when I shop. It also ferrets out the talent in the store, when you play, as more often than not, someone will begin to sing, be it a checker, or another customer. I've discovered some profoundly awesome vocalists that way. 

Well it turns out Dez lives with Lonnie Jordan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Jordan ) of the band, War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(band), which band also featured Lee Oskar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Oskar), who lends his name to the majority of harps I've been playing for some time. Soon we found that we have much mutual enjoyment of all things musical. I guess Lonnie has played with with many bands, and you know Lee still plays locally as well.

I play primarily Lee Oskars, with a few Hohner Pros and a couple of chromats in my gig bag. I find the Lee Oskars bright, but annoyingly so in the upper registers, tending toward some shrill sounding notes there, but I don't venture there much of the time anyhoo. 

The Hohner Pros, I have nothing bad to say about them. They take a bit more wind, better technique, but are also much more durable than any other harp I've tried. You seem to be able to blow them to kingdom come, and the reeds hold up well under that kind of punishment. They are, what I would call a bit "mute" in comparison to the Oskars, but under amplification, I like that. It tends to warm up and deepen the sound.

I'm merely a beginner on the chromos, and can only use them occasionally for the different sound. No Stevie am I, though I admire the heck out of him.

My gigging amp is a small, no-name ("Musical Electronics Incorporated, Los Angeles, California") tube amp I picked up for a deal at a local shop called "The Gear Trader". I got a beautiful Hoffner semi-hollow body guitar there too, for a deal, since it had a chip out of the shellac. It's got a beautiful sound, tons of sustain. Nice humbuckers. Beauty is more than skin deep.

anyway,,this little no-brand amp just has this "tone",,you know what I mean. It breaks up just fine, and as Neil Sedaka once stated,,"breakin up is hard to do" (http://www.geocities.com/merrystar3/allysongs/BreakingUpIsHardToDo.htm )

Miked, it's a dream. I use a green bullet, unmodified, though I've though about going to a mike I can wrap my hands around a bit better, for cupping. It's okay, though, and sometimes I think the unending equipment chase can be affected by "the law of diminishing returns" if one is constantly chasing that holy grail. I can't afford the chase anyway, at this time. "You can't always get what you want,,,,but if you try sometime,,,you might find,,you get what you need."

Again,,thanks for the welcome mat. I'll try to wipe my feet every time I come in,,

Bob Laughlin,,harmonicaman