[Harp-L] To Gear Or Not To Gear

[Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I saw a post yesterday by someone who says gear is not insignificant in the 
scheme of things.  (Sorry friend, I already deleted your post and I do not 
recall who you are.)

Well, I'm one of those boneheads who buttons alot of my posts with "It's 
not about gear."  And yet I've been raving about my Suzuki Fire Breath 
harps because they have improved my sound and technique.

What gives?

Well, I think the reason I insist on repeating the dreaded It's Not About 
Gear reminder is because too many new players get caught up in the gear 
before they can play much at all. It's like a skier who has gone down the 
Donald Duck slope a couple of times and now goes out and buys $4G worth of 
--- well, gear.

Worse, it also reminds me of people who want to write screenplays, so they 
go out and buy seven books on the subject, read two of them, go out and buy 
a screenplay formatting program, take a course, buy some more books, go to 
a ton of movies ("research") and never quite get around to actually writing 
a screenplay.  Getting caught in the gear scene too early is a great way to 
put off getting good forever.

(Off topic: If you want to write screenplays, write for at least a year, 
and finish several screenplays, before you look at a single book on the 
subject.  That's when those books become helpful.)

I had an amusing trick that got me work on a number of occasions.  That is, 
until fairly recently I used funky, busted up cigar boxes to carry my harps 
in, and when I'd show up to do something for a guy I hadn't worked for 
before, I'd make sure he'd see that.  It always elicited a comment, as in 
"So and so, (his usual harmonica player) has this elaborate harmonica box 
that cost a month's pay and really looks cool."  I'd say, "Yeah, I like 
those."  It's true, too, I do.  But then I'd play and I'd naturally play my 
best, and if that gave the producer the impression that I was a better 
choice for harmonica player than the other guy, the producer'd look at that 
box and get the message that it isn't about the box it's about how you play 
what's inside.

Heart-warming as that homily is, it still says It's About The Gear, of 
course.  I just used ugly, funky ol' gear, the cigar box, to increase the 
contrast between myself and the guy who was competing for my grocery 
payment.  (I now use a small, gorgeous little metal box that held four 
expensive steak knives bought by my wife.  It holds 12 harps and looks 
chic.  I'm not a savage, after all, though you couldn't tell it by looking 
at me.)

And I don't doubt that the exact right mic and PA or amp improves your 
presentation, if you've got something to present.  Hell, I play a great 
1970 Martin D-18 and STILL lust after a thousand better acoustic steel 
string guitars.  And I'm pissed as hell that I can't get a Suzuki 
Firebreath in B for a project that needs it, even though I have other B 
harps.  Believe me, people who say stuff like "Hemingway didn't need a word 
processor" do not get invited over to my backyard.

And I have to presume that most of youse guys and goils who have questions 
about amplifiers and pedals are excellent musicians for whom the right 
answers will kick it up a notch.

But I STILL think it's important that crabby dudes such as myself keep the 
notion of It's Not About Gear in the mix for those newer players who read 
these posts and get the idea that gear is what's going to make them a good 
musician.

So I'll stick to my guns and split the difference at the same time, 
whatever that means.  Advice to newer harps players: learn how to get 
beautiful single notes, learn how to play great melodies, learn how to 
swing.  Then the best gear will do you some serious good.