[Harp-L] Alternatives to an Amp (was Holmes Harp Commander III)

[Glenn and Debbie Woodhouse <gwoodhouse40@xxxxxxx>]

I have stumbled across an "amp-less" and affordable setup that I am very happy with.  Struggling with the typical feedback issues I was getting with Hi-Z mics and vintage tube amps, Richard Hunter, "master of alternatives to traditional amplification", suggested I incorporate a guitar EQ pedal into my rig and use it to "dial-out" the offending frequencies.  I went with the MXR108 10 band pedal ($120 shipped off of e-Bay or major guitar gear web sites).  Immediately this solved my feedback problems but also gave me greater tone shaping capabilities than I could get with the Bass and Treble controls on my vintage amp.  The MXR pedal also has a gain control, allowing my to add a bit of crunch to the CM if desired.  It has a volume control and a hard wired bypass footswitch.  Finally, it is built like a tank with a cast enclosure and heavy duty footswitch. Now, here is the "amp-less" part.  I also play with a DanEcho pedal (also built like a tank!).  I have setup a stage case that house my harps, my mics, the two pedals, and a power strip to run the power supplies for the two pedals.  Everything is cabled together and plugged in ready to go as soon as I plug in the power strip cord and the "instrument out" cord to an amp or PA.  Because the studio where we have weekly practices is up a flight of stairs I decided to leave the amp at home for practices and plug my stage case directly into the PA to save my back.  The results were surprisingly good.  Good warm tone and a touch of crunch as desired, and of course no feedback.  So for the last few months when practicing and performing in smaller venues I have just been playing my mic->DanEcho->MXR108 combo right into the PA.  I have had several folks, including fellow harp players, approach me after a performance complimenting my tone/sound and asking me about my amp.  To their surprise, I just show them the pedals.  For outdoor gigs and larger venues I will play this same rig into my amp and then into a mic'd cabinet with Weber Vintage series speakers.  In this case I can crank things up a bit more and really drive those tubes and speakers getting a bit more punch and creamy distortion.The MXR108 does not provide low-to-high Z conversion or auto feedback control.  As room acoustics vary, you may have to tweak the frequencies on the EQ pedal to find the feedback "sweet/sour spot" to dial down. So this is a long winded way to say that for about $220 for the DanEcho plus the MXR108 you can conquer feedback, get a great tone with some gain and volume controls, and have some great delay/slap-back effects to run directly into the PA (or keyboard amp, or ......). Glenn Woodhouse P.S.  I credit the DanEcho as part of the tone equation beyond just the delay effect.  I have heard a few posts referring to the "tone sucking" qualities of this pedal.  There are impedance modification services out there for this pedal but I am playing it unmodified and feel it enhances/warms my tone.  I do not hear the tone sucking problem.  I know that Gary Onofrio recommends the un-modded DanEcho with his Sonny Jr amps.  This may be more of an issue with lower impedance mics.> -----Original Message-----> From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On> Behalf Of robert mcgraw> Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 6:30 AM> To: GaryB> Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Holmes Harp Commander III for Sale> > > I've heard of these before but can it really sound as good as like a >> > > Sonny jr or something like that or is it something in between PA clean> > and a custom harp amp. Please enlighten me.---No, the Harp Commander> does not sound as good as a Sonny Jr or really any good amp...but it> does sound pretty good and it's a lot easier to carry :-)> WVa Bob > _________________________________________________________________> When your life is on the go-take your life with you.> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/115298558/direct/01/________________________> _______________________> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l> > > > ------------------------------> > _______________________________________________> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org> Harp-L mailing list> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l> > End of Harp-L Digest, Vol 63, Issue 2> *************************************