[Harp-L] Re: What's so bad about micing to a PA?

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In my opinion, micing an amp to a PA is troublesome and error-prone. If the amp is a small amp and the sound tech gets it wrong, you have nowhere to go--you'll either be inaudible or feeding back.  That's leaving out the fact that any mic will inevitably color the sound of the amp, which may or may not work for you.

The best solution--again in my opinion, and excluding options like an amp modeler into the PA or a bigger amp--is a well-designed line out on the amp.  That means a line-out that takes its signal from the amplifier stage, not the preamp. If you don't have one of those on your amp--which you don't if you're using a Kalamazoo, for example--you might consider having one installed by a competent harp amp tech like Ron Holmes.  It'll probably cost about $100, which is not bad if you really like the sound of the amp.  It's certainly less expensive than buying a bigger amp.

Or just mic the amp and take your chances.  It'll work until it doesn't.  You might want to carry a decent vocal mic or a Fireball V in your case as a backup, in case you have to run straight to the PA when micing the amp doesn't work.  I'd rather do that than run a bullet mic into the PA.

Regards, Richard Hunter


 

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