[Harp-L] Amplification : AMP Vs P . A . Was Big River harps

["Hurricane Ramón" <party_man1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Excerpt .

 Jim French axed :

" My band (The Mudcats) split up last Fall and have been jamming around with all kind of groups and am about ready to forget using my amp as I am finding the P.A. A truer representation of the Harp sound. I have found that most bands sound men can get monitor eq and volume levels to suit me rather quickly without holding up the show. I'm curious as to other readers reactions. keep turning blue,

Jim French "

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Hurricane sez :


To amp or not to amp that is the question . Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous P . A . dudes and fans ......

Or to take amps modelers against a sea of Paul Butterfield purists ,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; to be able to heard above that stinking lead guitar player . No more;

heh heh heh .......

Hello Jim :

It's a touchy argument that has no definitive one single answer  .....


However , a P . A. can make you sound so great when the sound tech ( otherwise known as the P . A . dude ) knows his stuff , knows what kind of EQ. makes for a fantastic sound with the appropriate FX mind you .

However again ...


Some times a personal amp gives you more control to shape and design your sound to a " tailored finish " . An amp gives you the best monitor of yourself overall , but has it's disadvantages when not miked properly if the P . A . dude doesn't have a " DI box on your amp's power amp output ( or if you amp has " pre " sends and returns ) to the snake and then to the mixer or a mic that can reproduce your amp's sound correctly .

Perrrrrrrrrrsoanlly :

I like the best of both worlds so my amp has pre sends jacks I use when applicable . In a recording studio environment I look at the material to be played and figure out what sounds best or sometimes I am told what is desired and I do it whether it's an un amp sound or a amp'd sound ala Paul Butterfield , James Cotton , Sonny Boy(s) ..... So I think ya'll get the pic :)

What's on the horizon now a days :

After reading about the new tube amp builders here in the forums I am a privileged man to be lucky enough to find here on the net , I want a Meteor , or a Sonny , or anyone of the new tube amp designs that are geared toward the harmonica madmen cause these amps have a beautiful wicked sound .

After also reading what other pro peers in this forum who have begun to use these new amp modelers I began to research these as well and find that some are really universal and cross over really well into the amp'd department of amp sounds  like the afore mentioned harmonica legends we all love and sometime in our lives try to emanate . 

Amp modelers are really great and have now established themselves to the point of them becoming more and more common for guitarists  live shows and studio work and now I see as in the case of harp players getting Fender Bassmans ,( I used a Marshall twin 12 60 watt killer amp )  and other vintaged ( now today not when it started :) amps ( I have a old Gretsch from the 40's and a 50's Gibson Skylark ) , they are also gravitating towards amp modelers  ( like Richard Hunter , Randy Singer and others ), just like the first amp harp layers when they jumped on guitar amps and made history ( lil Walter , James Cotton to name a scant few ) and blew the minds of many a guitarist .

Me :

I just want to be clear on this fact :

Tube amps rule over all 

But 

Beside my tube amps I have purchased a GNX4 guitar amp modeler(s)) / FX unit(s) ( ya'll know what I mean FX= stomp boxes ) , digital 8 track recorder & it sports a really cool midi drum machine to help you set the timing on a recording ( and then drops off so when you want to refine your recording you can have a real drummer listen to the " groove " and timing and then record your drum track live ) , this unit is not for the faint of heart , it takes a lot of studying the " manual " which is good but , it's not a cake walk either when learning just what this bad boy can do . The url below is it and it's not cheap .

< http://www.digitech.com/products/GNX4/index.htm >

So Jim , that's my take on this and I see a reflecting trend of this too by many other musician whether they are guitar players or harmonica players . So far it appears harmonica players are in a gradual stage of realization on these new " toys " for bad boys while on the other had guitar players ( especially those who have a computer ) are jumping on this modeler band wagon issue big time , there are many brands of these units out there and have different prices , some as little as $200.00  . Below is the unit and is listed at $329.00 , but I see them online for $200.00 .

< http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioBlackBox-main.html > 

Good luck on what your after in sounding as good as you can be .


Sincerely :

Hurricane Ramón 


Aka :

Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxx

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