Re: [Harp-L] ART Tube MP for PA re-send

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard wrote:
> After I read Jonathan's message, I tested my Tube MP with my 
> Astatic JT-30--a pretty common blues mic--into my Peavey KBA-100 
> keyboard amp, which is essentially a self-contained PA amp. I got 
> a very harsh "barking sound" on notes that were hit hard, not 
> very usable.

John K. wrote:
> My 2 cents on the Tube MP for PA.  I haven't tried it in awhile 
> because I ruled it out for that purpose some time ago -- seemed 
> too clean even though it has a tube in there.  I think it warms 
> things up, but it is clean -- designed for recording even vocals 
> I think.  

Excuse my ignorance here: I don't own an ART MP, but I do use tube 
preamps into solid state amplifiers pretty much exclusively, though 
I don't use traditional "blues harp" mics, and am not necessarily 
going for that "Chicago sound".  But doesn't the MP have adjustable 
input and output levels that would essentially let you overdrive (or 
NOT overdrive) the unit, to adjust for the amount of tube warmth or 
compression or distortion you want?  I know some of ART's other 
units, like the TPSII (a rack unit) and the Studio V3, have a 
feature called "Variable Valve Voicing" that lets you adjust the 
amount of tube signal relative to clean solid state signal, 
independent of the input and output levels.  

-tim