[Harp-L] harp amps/guitar amps/keyboard amps, etc.

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

A keyboard amp is sort of like a mini PA and will be good for  
harmonica if the player wants a basically clean tone.  An acoustic  
guitar amp is the same sort of concept, but may be more prone to  
feedback.   These amps are typically solid state, but sometimes an  
acoustic guitar amp will have a tube preamp, which is nice because it  
warms the tone in a very appealing way.  Keyboard amps and acoustic  
guitar amps are hi-fi (electric guitar amps are not) and often have  
both an XLR input and a !/4" input.  Generally speaking, I have found  
that harp usually sounds better using the 1/4" input even if you need  
to use a transformer on a lo z mic to go into the that input.

Lately, i've been playing through an SWR Baby Baby Blue bass amp  
which is solid state but has a tube preamp which provides warmth, but  
not overdrive or break up.  One 10" speaker (plus a tweeter which i  
turn off) and  3 band sweepable semi-parametric EQ which provides  
nearly TOTAL control over tone shaping.  120 watts that can get  
louder than you need or want and WILL NOT FEED BACK!  Basically, a  
clean, thick, dark tone i find very appealing, and most of the  
musicians i play with seem to like.  Very responsive to breath and  
mic handling technique which allows me to create distortion from the  
mic  when i want it.

My other amps are a Fender Super Reverb RI and a Fender Princeton  
Reverb RI which are relatively clean tube amps but which can be  
pushed to get a little tube grit or a somewhat dirtier tone when  
desired. Both are also responsive to breath and mic handling  
techniques as most tube amps are. Tube amps have tube warmth and more  
"texture" in the tone which usually sounds pretty good for harp.  All  
my amps have 10" speakers.  I strongly prefer 10s for harmonica.

As most of us know, different mics sound different with different  
amps, sometimes dramatically so.  Matching the right mic to the  
particular amp the player is using is a big part of achieving the  
tone/sound the player is after.

I listened to the video of the Clark repro Pro.  I do not wish to  
sound disrespectful, but i find all the garbage between the notes  
very unappealing.  Even if one prefers a dirty tone, all that  
indistinct garbage interferes with articulation and makes it next to  
impossible to maintain any sort of separation between notes if the  
player wants to play anything faster than eighth note runs, and may  
even make playing eighth note runs with articulate separation  
problematic.  And the indistinct sounds created by ambient breath  
into the mic sounds unmusical IMHO.  I personally don't like to set  
up for a dirty tone.  But for those who do, it is certainly possible  
to get much "tighter" distortion without all that ambient noise.

	JP