Re: [Harp-L] multiple Effects and tone

[G <gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:29:35 +0000
From: nonidesign@xxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] multiple Effects and tone 

>I want to play around with the effects boxes and effects pedal board my
>band's guitar player has. 
>
>I currently use a Danecho pedal to add just a touch of delay. It was
>modified by Ron Holmes to prevent the diminshed tone some effects
>cause. Any tips/suggestions suggestions for preventing the same type of
>tone loss (other than having each stomp box individually modded) when I
>hook-up all those boxes and/or pedal into a chain? Is there a device
>that could be used in the "mic - effects - amp" sequence for this
>purpose?
>
>Also, is there an effects device or synthesizer that makes a harp sound
>like an electric guitar, organ, or other instrument?
>
>Thanks in advance.

Hi,
  If you put the modified Dan Echo first in your chain of effects you won't
experience any drop out from any of the other pedals.  However that's not
always ideal.   
  One of the roles the Harp Commander (as you're probably aware) is to
match the impedance of the mic, for this very purpose.  Before I got my
HCs, I used to use an old guitar preamp which did a very good job, and I've
hung on to it - but the HC offers a lot more that I wanted.  
  The Kinder AFB+ also provides microphone impedance matching.
  The LR Baggs preamps are very good for a clean warm tone, and give you
some EQ control.  They sell slim belt clip models.  One of these would do
the job very well too.

  Mike Curtis describes a circuit you can build at home that will match the
impedance of your mic, put this at the start of your chain of effects, and
you won't lose tone.    You can read what he has to say here.
http://www.coast2coastmusic.com/diatonic/amplification.shtml
Scroll down and you'll find a quoted email where he includes instructions
and a diagram.  If you're on a budget and unable to do this sort of stuff
yourself...  Ron Holmes has been very god to me in the past, and built a
few specific gizmos for me at a reasonable price that work really well.
Perhaps you could try asking him nicely if he can put together something
simple like the above.

As for sounding like other instruments, there are some R&D projects going
on out there, but nothing has hit the market yet.   I got some interesting
effects using the Line6 POD 2,  one sample can be found here:
  http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/~gigs/playong.html
the sound bite referring to "Jimi Hendrix".
  However due to it's technology, it's muffled, and has a harsh quality
whatever the setup.   The Digitech range have been getting a lot of
attention on Harp-L of late.  The Behringer V-Amp 2 is another contender
(FYI the X-V-Amp is has an extremely difficult interface).  It might be
worth looking into the discontinued J-Station which is still supported, but
only available second hand - the technology was bought and used by
DigiTech, in their now discontinued Genesis range, and is incorporated in
their current GeNetX? range of products.
  There are various popular amp companies putting out hybrid amplifiers
with that sort of thing built into them, so something else you could
investigate.
more here
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/amplified.html

   If you're interested, the rig I use is a bullet mic or Shure 545SD into
Harp Commander, into DigiVerb reverb pedal, and plug that into what ever
will make noise - at home its usually a small mixer and out through
headphones or the stereo.  At a venue its out through the PA.
  http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/ampdmyrig.html
Cheers,
-- G.