[Harp-L] RE: Harmonica and effects

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

Robert,

When I saw Sugar Blue in the 90's he was using some sort of rack  
mounted preamp and an Alessis Quadraverb into a Mesa Boogie Mark,  
(one 12 with an on board equalizer),  wireless.  I'm pretty sure the  
Quadraverb gave him the sound you are talking about.  When i saw him  
last year he had a new Mesa Boogie with 2 speakers and no EQ.   
Wireless again, but no effects.  I talked to him about it, and said  
"When I saw you the last time, you were using a Quadraverb."  SB said  
"Yeah, but now i don't."  And it was clear there would be no further  
discussion on the subject.  Incredible performance, btw, to a not  
very large crowd.  Really impressive show and  a high energy hard  
rocking band.  Knocked me out. Well  worth the 2 hour drive, and  
price of admission, and then some.

Once upon a time when i was more into effects than i have been lately  
i would use an Alessis Quadraverb GT for everything.  It's a guitar  
specific version of the Quadraverb that  has an analog preamp in it  
with a compressor and some other effects in the preamp, plus a  
complete Quadraverb.  It was not a very good piece of equipment for  
guitar, but it's GREAT for harmonica. Much better for harp than the  
standard Quadraverb. No longer made, but they can be found on eBay.

Go direct into the board or into an amp (not all amps seem to like  
it, though. It does not sound good with my Super Reverb, for example,  
but it sounds great into my Princeton Reverb and most other amps I've  
used).  But actually, it sounds so good, you don't lose ANY tone  
going direct into the board, which is what i would usually do.  Great  
basic tone for harp.

Anyway, you can set it up to get the Sugar Blue sound you are talking  
about, using the detune parameters, although i never did.  Depending  
on what mic you use, the rotary sound makes the harp sound like a B-3  
through a Leslie.  Set it up for a Chicago overdriven sound or a very  
clean sound if you want.  Like how Lee Oskar sounds on the War tune,  
"Gypsy Man?"  No problem.  Playing jazz and want just a little reverb  
or delay?  Got it.  Want to sound wild through a Ring Modulator?  Got  
that, too.  Want to sound like a Green Bullet going into a Princeton  
Reverb without carrying an amp?  No problem.  How about a hot Astatic  
going into a Champ?  Can do.  How about clean, thick and warm with  
some ambient delay?  Yep.  How about clean with a little overdrive to  
put a hint of grit in the line to give the clean sound some balls? No  
problem. Etc, etc., and on and on. No harmonizer and no pitch  
shifting like a POG  or HOG, though.  But just about anything else  
you want, if you to take the time to program it. (It's best to use a  
preset and modify it).

90 modifiable presets and 10 open programs (100 total--more than  
you'll ever need, and probably even enough for Fugazzi). Midi  
controllable. Select programs with a Midi pedal if you want.  But, i  
would just use 4 or 5 programs and I  used a sustain pedal for an  
electric piano plugged into the "advance" jack to to rotate through  
them.  You can program the range of programs you can rotate through.   
Bypass is not true bypass and changes volume, so i just played  
through the effects all the time, and set up a program for my basic  
sound.  It' s rack mount.  Bolt it into an Odyssey shallow rack bag  
which has a pocket  the AC transformer, connecting cord (I use a  
Monster Jazz cable which is time aligned) and footswitch will all fit  
in, and you're totally portable. Easy to carry and easy to set up

If you think the Quadraverb GT not as good as I'm describing, you're  
right. For harp, it's probably better than my description.  Every  
musician i've ever played with while using it was completely blown  
away by the tone  (NOT just the effects, the TONE.)  And they all  
were pretty impressed with the rotary sound, too. Btw, depending on  
the rest of your rig, you may need to reverse the direction of the  
rotation to get the desired organ effect.  The device does require   
programming, but for the most part, it's pretty intuitive.

i may get it out this weekend to go sit in with a friend's rock  
band.  I stopped using it a while ago for no particularly good  
reason, and i do miss the rotary sound effect. And it's very quick  
and easy to set up and plug in, which keeps life simple and avoids   
that part of Murphy's Law which says that the more gear you have, the  
more problems you have.

FWIW.

	JP







I tried to get the Sugar Blue sound with small amount
of pitch-shifting to create a standing wave, plus
distortion, and EQ, but nothing came respectably close.
I DO love the intensity of his sound which demands its
place in the mix beside any guitar! Anyone accomplish a
good replica?