[Harp-L] Update on Boss FBM-1 '59 Bassman pedal

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I did a little more testing on this box today.  As expected, it sounds 
very good when coupled with a reverb or delay pedal.  The gain control 
makes it relatively simple to dial in a sound that's as crunchy as you 
like.  The box also sounds very nice with my Firestick electric 
strumstick.

A previous question to the list asked whether this thing could be used 
direct to a PA system.  I'm running it directly to a Peavey KB/A 100 
keyboard amp, which is essentially a self-contained PA, and it sounds 
fine--very little self-noise, plenty of punch.  It's big relief too to 
find that a mic plugged directly into the pedal input seems to work just 
fine.

I repeat that this box is a little pricey at $149 for a device that 
essentially does one thing.  However, the one thing it does is done 
well, its simplicity is bound to appeal to people who don't like to have 
to mess with a lot of dials before they get a good sound, and it's 
certainly nice to have something so small and light that runs on a 
9-volt battery (although adding a reverb or delay to the chain would 
complicate that a bit).

On another subject, I just bought a Zoom G1X pedal to test.  I haven't 
tried it with the harmonica yet, but it's working very well with my 
Firestick, and it's very straightforard to program it (although you 
can't save the patches to a computer afterwards--bummer).  The reverbs 
are much better than the low-end Digitech units, the delays are very 
good--the tape echo simulation in particular is really nice and 
thick--and the amp models, while limited, include a few that should work 
well with harp when I get around to that. For $80 new, it's a pretty 
potent little box, and it runs for 12 hours on a set of 4 AA batteries.

At this point, there's no question in my mind at all that amp modeling 
technology delivers value well beyond the price point.  At these prices, 
and with the choices out there representing various levels of complexity 
for the user, from simple to deep, I expect that most harp players are 
sooner or later going to have one or more of these things in their kit.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com
latest mp3s at http://www.broadjam.com/rhunter