Re: [Harp-L] Approaching Jason's Tone...

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mojo Red wrote:
<John 'Cisco wrote (in an honest effort to sell a really nice HarpGear harp amp):
<>>If you want an amp that takes pedals very well and want to approach the tone of <Jason Ricci then this little guy is for you....
<
<John, I hate to point out the obvious, but a good amp and a few pedals is not <going to make anyone "approach the tone" of Jason Ricci. I can attest to this from <direct experience. 
<
<On a few occasions over the years I have been invited to sit in for a song or two <with Jason and his band at various and sundry gigs. And I actually played right <trough Jason's rig... using his exact same pedals and settings, his exact same <amp/amp ton/vol settings, his exact same mic... and not moments after he'd just <played... with his exact same band members. 
<
<I have good tone, but my tone ain't Jason's by a long shot. No siree. Even playing <through his rig, my tone did not "approach" Jason's.  Jason's tone has very little <to do with his rig. He just plain, flat-out has great tone, and it's a tone all <his own. 
< 
<I bet that HarpGear amp sounds great, and no doubt it works well with pedals.... <but maybe that last bit is a bit of an oversell. 

I had the opportunity to listen to and play with Mark Hummel and Curtis Salgado at the Harmonica Blowout Hummel organized in Modesta CA in January 2009.  Both Hummel and Salgado were using the same model of Meteor amp. Both had great tone, and both tones were very, very different.

I think we can take it for granted that great players have their own sound, whatever gear they're using, and I don't think the original poster implied that the Harpgear amp was going to make the player sound just like Ricci.  I don't think it's overselling the amp to note that it's Ricci's rig--certainly it's an important tool for what Ricci does onstage. And if someone wanted to sound like Ricci, which is some trick if you can do it, then using similar gear would probably be helpful, though it wouldn't be the place to start.  Practicing 4-6 hours a day for 5-10 years would be the place to start.  But while you're doing that, it would be good to have a great amp to work with.

I think we're very lucky to have Sonny Juniors, Harpgears, Meteors, Wezos, Marbles, etc., not to mention people like Ron Holmes and Chuck Gurney, out there right now.  It's a hell of a lot easier to get great gear for harp now than it was 20 years ago, that's for sure.  Did I mention that the harps are better too?

Regards, Richard Hunter

 

author, "Jazz Harp" 
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter
Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick
Twitter: lightninrick