Re: [Harp-L] TB versus LP

[Rick Davis <bluesharpamps@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sonny, this topic will endure forever because people have a tendency to
defend their own choices (and their limitations).  If I had a nickel for
every time some self-appointed harp guru told me I MUST play only TB, I'd
have enough money to buy a new set of MB DLX harps.

It's the same with amps.  If I had a dollar for every time some
self-appointed harp guru told me I MUST NEVER buy an amp until I sound like
Tom Ball (who never uses an amp), I'd have enough money to buy an SJ
Cruncher!

There was a Harp-L poster a few days ago (I apologize for forgetting who)
who said harp players could never get good tone through an amp because they
are hearing their own acoustic tone while playing, since the harp is closer
than the amp to their ears.  (!)  Wouldn't the same be true of anyone
playing semi-acoustically through a vocal mic?  In fact, wouldn't it also be
true when playing 100% acoustic, since none of the listeners have the same
proximity and angle to the harp the player does?

There are good reasons why so many top players choose specific amps.  Gary
Smith and Charlie Musselwhite have chosen your Cruncher amp.  We could argue
that they could get good tone with two Dixie cups and a string, but
they insist on playing through specific amps to get the sound they want.
The amp becomes part of the instrument.

A good tube amp is a living, breathing thing.  I wheezes and moans and
sweats and has its own odors and moods.  You can lean into it, coax
sweetness or grouchiness from it.  When you finally "get it" you can balance
on that narrow edge of sonic bliss between clean tone and various colors of
compressed crunch.  The ability to control that; to dip skillfully into the
amps different natures, is virtuosity.  It adds a texture (and a challenge)
that acoustic playing just cannot offer.

TB vs Purse.  Amp vs Acoustic.  I play all four, and all the combinations,
and I love the tone.  But I am foremost a lip purser and an amplified
player.  I've been doing it for more than 35 years, so arguments proffered
on the Internet are not likely to change the way I play or the way I teach.
But the topic goes on and on and on...

-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
http://www.bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/



On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 6:38 AM, <SONNYTONE@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Don't you all think we have run this into the ground, I mean, what else is
> there to add. When I mentioned Mitch Kashmar as someone who plays 100% TB,
> do
> you not think I know that probably hundreds do the same thing? I have
> played
> next to Dennis G. at the Masterclass and he was very kind concerning my
> playing  and I just love the way he plays along with everyone else that
> people  felt
> some needed to mention. Continue on if you must, I just think all has  been
> said on the topic.
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