Re: [Harp-L] Re: 59 Fender Bassman reissue

[MundHarp@xxxxxxx]

Mike, I AGREE... In an ideal world!
BUT
I have played SO MANY GIGS with rubbish sound men.
Then you NEED at least 30 or 40+  (GENUINE) watts just to get heard ON  
STAGE! (more than that, feedback is likely)... It might be a 5 killowatt  PA!   
  However... The sound man can simply... EXCLUDE you  from the mix.
When the sound man cuts you off, and you have a 5 watt amp?
You are up there on stage, but NO ONE can hear you. NOT EVEN  YOU!!!!!
I've BEEN there... 
Your choice.
Don't go there.
OK... While I was based in the Philippines I didn't even HAVE an amp  
there... So I just used the PA... The same in the 'States last year... NOT  IDEAL!
BUT...
At least, playing through a substantial "on stage" harp amp... there is at  
least a CHANCE of the audience HEARING your music.
5 watt tube amps are GREAT for recording... BUT... They leave too much OUT  
OF THE HARMONICISTS CONTROL to use on a regular basis, on stage, except in 
a  parlor venue scenario.
Unless you have a GREAT "sound man"...
Your mileage might vary...  Just my opinion....
 
John Whiteboy Walden
Just now, in England.
_www.johnwalden.com_ (http://www.johnwalden.com) 
_http://johnwalden.freevar.com_ (http://johnwalden.freevar.com) 
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/26/2011 9:02:31 P.M. GMT Daylight Time,  
mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx writes:

I am  totally sold on going ampless or only using small amps.   I  kept
trying and trying, but the key factor, for me, was picking up  a
powered PA speaker.  IMO, the quality and price of great PA gear  is
what makes this a more workable solution.  I can do with a powered  PA
monitor what it took a kind sound guy, passive monitor, amp, mic,  and
DI all on my own.  I can even mix everything at the speaker and  send a
lineout to the FOH PA.  Super easy to use - less complicated  than many
amps - loud, feedback friendly, the list goes on.

There  are savings to be had too, but assuming that is a wash, pedals
and a  powered speaker are the way to go!

Mike

On Oct 26, 9:55 am,  Richard Hunter <turtleh...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Mark Burness  wrote:
> <Richard wrote: "That said, in 2011 there are alternatives,  some of 
which offer more power and flexibility at a <lower price and with a  smaller, 
lighter footprint, and an increasing number of players are beginning  to 
outfit <themselves with those alternatives. " Rick's poll was conducted  in 2011, 
I'm not sure what has happened in the <months since to  significantly 
change his data?
>
> When I wrote this, I had in  mind multiFX and amp modeling platforms such 
as the line 6, Digitech RPs, etc.  A number of pros are using this gear in 
performance, and my patch sales  show that the pace of adoption is 
increasing over the last 12  months.
>
> <"The Bassman sounds great for blues, but modern  players increasingly 
need to play more than blues." A bassman <is rated at  45W RMS, or 50W RMS 
with a solid state rectifier, this is the power it  potentially makes when 
<relatively clean...as with any 45 or 50W amp. It  doesn't know or care what 
genre of musc you play...it just <reacts to what  goes in. It's not genre 
specific.
>
> The sound of a harp through  an overdriven tube amp is closely associated 
with blues and rock.  Saying  that it's not genre specific ignores the fact 
that most players go for that  setup precisely because it works well for 
amped blues and rock, right out of  the box.  Most jazz chromatic players, to 
take an obvious example, don't  go for a Bassman (and definitely not for the 
Green Bullet that usually  accompanies the Bassman onstage).
>
> <There are, of course,  alternatives, but as a pick up & go, pretty well 
self contained package  (you're gonna <have to mic up through a PA 
sometime), a tweed bassman is  hard to beat...the RI makes that package rather more 
<accessible to the  masses than a handmade 45/50W amp.
>
> It's a good setup.  We  apparently agree that it's not the only setup.  
An amp modeled setup with  a mid-priced amp modeler (about $200) and a 
powerful keyboard amp or  self-powered PA speaker (such as a Peavey KB3 or Mackie 
Thump) would run about  $500-600 new, is as loud and easy to set up as the 
Bassman (and a little  lighter to carry), and does a lot of things that the 
Bassman can't do  (beginning with straightforward stuff like delay and 
reverb) without  add-ons.
>
> All this by way of saying that in 2011 the default  setup is not 
necessarily a big tube amp (or a little tube amp).  Of  course that setup works; 
it's been refined over 50 years, and it'll keep  working for lots of music.  
But it's not the only game in town anymore  for harp players who want to get 
loud.
>
> Regards, Richard  Hunter
>
> author, "Jazz Harp"
> latest mp3s and harmonica  blog athttp://hunterharp.com
>  Myspacehttp://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
> Vids  athttp://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick
> more mp3s  athttp://taxi.com/rhunter
> Twitter:  lightninrick