[Harp-L] Re: amps for beginners?

[Garry Hodgson <harp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick Davis wrote:

> Seriously, where is it written that a new player cannot learn good 
"chops"
> and good habits while dabbling with amped tone?
...
> But it is equally silly  to suggest a new player
> will be somehow ruined by buying a small tube  practice amp
...
> And more importantly, when does the new player get permission to 
start using
> an amp? 
...
> It seems wrong-headed for us to demand that all blues
> harp students play only acoustic music.

nobody has said they cannot, nor have they mentioned "permission".  nobody
said a new player would be ruined by buying an amp, nor did they demand
that all blues harp students play only acoustic.  dial down the
rhetoric a notch.

in my case, i found it a distraction.  and while some may have limitless
resources, in terms of time, money, and attention, i do not.  money i
spent on gear early on would have been better spent on harps in more
keys, or on instruction.  time spent fiddling with said gear would have
been better spent practicing technique.  and i believe i would have made
better choices when it did come time to gear up, with more experience
under my belt.

the OP asked "is there any reason for a beginner to get an amp?"
bill hines offered a good one: to avoid learning bad habits that
will need to be unlearned later.  you offered others, the positive
feedback of hearing "that" tone early on, or the negative feedback
of hearing your mistakes amplified.

it's all about tradeoffs.  everybody's got to make their own.