Re: [Harp-L] Pointing At The Moon!

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Kre Porter wrote:
<The very best harp-players, Jerry McCain, and James Cotton can play through ANYTHING
<and sound FANTASTIC!  I'm sure that at the REAL juke-joints, they laugh about the young cats 
<that come down with their fancy gear and STILL can't cut it!  Many, many many players would solve
<HALF their problems if they took a few hours to learn about basic mixer/PA settings and how to 
<at least get in the ballpark, with a a '58 or an Audix, etc.  I mean, it's like watching a retiree
<drive a newly-leased Porsche to listen to some of these cats think they can buy ... IT!
 
I agree 100% with 100% of the above.

<As far as amps go ... three rules.
<1) Find a tech who you trust, and buy them beer or food or otherwise make friends!

Agreed.

<2) Tubes, Tubes, Tubes.

Okay, this is where I get off the bus.  As I've said on this list many times before, tubes used to be the automatic default choice.  And they still sound great, and will sound great long after everyone reading this is gone.  But they're not the automatic default choice anymore.  Modern technologies work.  Most of the people reading this would be very, very surprised to know how many of their favorite records recorded in the last 10 years featured guitarists and bassists playing through amp modelers.  It's only a matter of time before harp players adopt that technology in large numbers too.  The sound and the price to performance ratio are both too good to ignore. 

Dennis Gruenling is one of the best blues players in the world by anyone's standards, and one of the most savvy players out there when it comes to amplification.  A few years ago, Dennis played through my Digitech RP200 while I tweaked a patch based on a Tweed Deluxe amp model.  Dennis told me that the sound that came out of that thing was better than many of the backline amps he plays through on the road.  And that's with a generation of the technology that's now well over ten years old.  If you can get something that sounds that good for less than $200, and carry it to the gig in a shoulder bag, why wouldn't you? 

<3) Soft sound-waves sound better than Greek mosaics, or SQUARE waves!
<    if in doubt, refer to number three.

?????  Where did those square waves come from?  Are you talking about driving the amp so hard that the waveform clips?

<Make the PA work for you, use your amp as a monitor.  Ron Holmes is right about that, especially on a strange <stage.
 
Word, no matter what technology you're using.

Regards, Richard Hunter

author, "Jazz Harp" 
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