[Harp-L] Trials & Tribulations of Equipment and SUCCESS

["Bernie Clarke" <bclarke1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ladies & Gents of Harp-L

Since I've just finished some work two hours before the deadline, I thought
I would take the free time to finally write in about how my own quest for my
ultimate harp rig has worked out.

I have been gigging steadily for 18 years and when I started, I was happy to
have an amp that I could get any sound out of.  I was lucky, though.  The
first harp mic I ever bought was a hot 80s vintage Blues Blaster that would
stack up to ANY JT-30 ever made.  I just happened to be a really good one.
I had a Bassman RI that sounded real good, but the bass player was always
bitching about me being too loud.  Then one day, I was in a pawn shop and
found a Silvertone 1432 for $50.  I brought it home and plugged in.  I liked
it.  I really noticed it at my next gig.  Finally I had an amp that had
great tone at a reasonable volume.  I could hear myself and I could mic the
thing so that the audience could hear me.  Since then, I have amassed over
35 amps.  The best ones for harp (no particular order) RI Bassmans, a
Tremolux that I had a custom open-back cab made with two alnico Mojo-Tone
10s, Danelectro Centurions, Danelectro Explorers, Silvertone Twin-Twelve
(combo), 64 Princeton, Premier Twin 8, Silvertone 1432, 1482, Harmony 410
and some others.

After all these years, my gear started to wear out.  The Blues Blaster
didn't sound as good anymore. My main gigging amps were getting flaky.  I
had mixed and matched so many mic shells and elements that I couldn't
remember which were the good ones anymore.  I didn't like the way my gear
sounded anymore.  As it turns out, nothing was wrong with my amps, it was my
Premier reverb unit that was sucking the life out of my tone.  Note that the
Premier 90 reverb makes EVERYTHING that you plug into sound better.  It
never occurred to me that it was the culprit.  It seemed to be working fine.
I put the reverb on the "repair" shelf and decided that I needed a great
sounding, dependable "baseline" rig.  Soon thereafter, I caught Mississippi
Heat and heard Pierre Lacocque blowing through his Cruncher - sounding
magnificent!

Anyway, around Christmas I decided to take Gary O. up on the Cruncher
special.  I bought it and right out of the box I was impressed.  It sounded
great, but still at the gigs, I was having trouble.  Things were good, but
not great.  So I went back to the drawing boards and started checking my
microphone.  I was using a vintage 520 element in a Turner shell.  I want
through my collection of elements and found one that sounded good, so I put
that one in and away I went.  I had a gig that night and finally, things
were shaping up.  The next week, a friend of mine knocked the mic off of my
holder onto the floor and the element died.  F**k!  So I decided to bight
the bullet (pardon the pun) and shelled (oops, again) out $250 to Chuck
Gurney for a vintage black label 520 element and you know what?  Now I have
a absolutely fantastic sounding rig.  I added a used Danecho pedal from Ebay
and I tell you - this setup is magical.  I crank the amp up much louder than
before and play easier.  My harps are going to last much longer.  The
articulation comes through clear as a bell.  I spent the dough, but now I'm
really happy with the sound.  More than that, I now have the "gold standard"
to compare all other mics and amps to.

I've had a lot of great amps and mics over the years, but I can honestly say
that Gary and Chuck provide the best of what you can get without literally
years of trial and error, money and luck.  Save your money for their
offerings and in the long run you'll actually save money by not becoming a
gear-aholic like me.

I'm just a happy customer of Gary and Chuck but they can contact me off-list
if they feel compelled to send me money, a Sonny Jr. 410, extra elements,
whatever...


Bernie Clarke
Bernie Clarke and the Rhythm Sharks