Re: [Harp-L] Hammond B3 sounds

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Ken Ficara" wrote:

<I saw Paco Shipp play with Billy Joe Shaver the other night -- great <harp
<player with a wide range of styles. On a few songs he was using an <effects
<unit to get a sound that really came close to a Hammond B3. He's got <great
<tone and vibrato, so that helped, but any thoughts on what effects <might
<produce that sound? Something like a combination of octave and chorus? <I
<noticed he was being VERY careful to only hit single notes so I 
<suspected an
<octave doubler in there somewhere but I really liked that sound.

There are lots of devices out there that will do a Leslie-style rotating 
speaker effect, which is the characteristic component of a Hammond sound 
that you're talking about.  My Digitech RP200 (now selling for about $90 
at American Musical Supply) does a pretty good Leslie imitation, though 
it lacks the real sense of moving air that a genuine rotating speaker 
produces.  Line 6 produces a dedicated rotating speaker effect box for 
about $100.  I haven't used it, but Line 6 effects in general are very 
good stuff.

A phase shifter can also produce something similar to a Leslie effect, 
and it's a good sound in its own right, whether or not it sounds exactly 
like a Leslie. I use the Akai phase shifter pedal, which sells for about 
$35 new, and it works great with harp. I also like the phase shifter in 
the RP200; it's a somewhat darker sound than the Akai.  The RP200 allows 
you to put the cycle rate of the phase shifter under footpedal control, 
so you can speed it up or slow it down like a rotating speaker.

Finally, Craig Struble, just voted best harmonica player in Connecticut 
in the Fairfield County weekly poll, uses a real Leslie speaker.  It 
sounds great, but it's relatively expensive and heavy.  Motion Sound 
also makes a real rotating speaker device, which retails for over $1000, 
as I recall.

Regarding the octave doubler, this will certainly thicken the sound, and 
in combination with a rotating speaker effect should be very 
Hammond-like.  The Electro Harmonix HOG and POG devices are king here. 
Check out Hazmat Modine's web site, or some of Chris Michalek's clips, 
for examples of what you can do with those things--it is truly a 
monstrously big sound. Those devices sell for $300-400 new.  The 
Digitech RP200 will also do octave doubling, but not in multiple octaves 
at once (which is what the HOG and POG do).  Nevertheless, the Digitech 
effect works very well on both chords and single notes, throughout the 
range of the harmonica, and I like the sound of the octave-down doubling 
on it in particular. But you can't use the rotating speaker effect and 
octave doubler on the Digitech at the same time.  I suppose you could 
chain two Digitechs together, or follow the Digitech with a Line 6 or 
something similar.  In fact, I follow my RP200 with the Akai phase 
shifter (and a Yamaha reverb, but that's another story).

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com
Latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter