Re: [Harp-L] Holmes Harp Commander

[Jay Thompson <jay.jmt@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well....this is really subjective so I probably won't comment on the quality
of the tone except to say that it suits my playing. My band plays all types
of blues. What I like about it is that I can add grind without adding much
gain at all. Therefore, I can change the level on every song to match the
style of the particular song without changing the volume very much. I'm not
a technician by any stretch but I believe this gives the HC it's feedback
resistance. So far I've had no problem with feedback even when I'm very
close to the stage monitors even though I use very HOT Shure CR elements. At
home I've tried it with vocal mics such as an EV635 and I've found that I
can get a really nice tone although I've not tried this at a gig. I've found
the HC to be very "touch sensitive" as Ron Holmes describes it...very much
like a tube amp. I just tried it as mic interface to record to my computer
and it seemed to work well for that, too, although I need to become a better
"engineer".

I've had 2 previous models of the HC which I used primarily for back up and
situations where I was sitting in with other bands or traveling by air. I
always got compliments for my tone when I used them but they didn't have the
"touch sensitivity" that allowed me to shape my tone as this unit does. As I
said previously this preamp is forcing me to reevaluate my stance on tube
amps in general as I own some great harp amps and just the idea of using
something besides a tube amp seems like heresy so it really is somewhat of a
grand experiment! It really feels pretty good to try something outside of my
usual box!

All the best to everyone,
Jay


On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 9:30 PM, David Brown <nonidesign@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Any comments on the "drive" feature that is new to the HC4 and is supposed
> to add a tube amp overdrive and grit to the tone? I am particularly curious
> as to how it sounds compared to other effects for a similar purpose, such
> as the Lone Wolf Harp Attack.
>
>
>
> On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 6:58 PM, Jay Thompson <jay.jmt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> I've been experimenting with the latest version of the Harp
>> Commander...the
>> Four. So far, I really like it. I've got great amps and I usually take one
>> and set it on stage on standby but I've used the HC4 exclusively for the
>> last few gigs with really good results. I've been pleasantly surprized by
>> the quality tone and freedom from feedback even when running it through
>> the
>> stage monitors. The experimentation is forcing me to think through my
>> belief
>> systems about what works for harp. I've been a die hard tube amp guy.
>> All the best in your search for THE tone,
>> Jay
>>
>> --
>> Where words fail.....music speaks.
>>
>
>


-- 
Where words fail.....music speaks.