Re: [Harp-L] Pedal for clean tone through tube amp?

[Timothy Kane <hawkeyekane@xxxxxxxxx>]

Neil wrote:
"Does anybody know of an effects pedal to clean up the tone through a tube amp? I'm playing through a Fender Blues Junior. I play diatonic blues stuff mainly using the Fat switch.

The aim of the pedal is for playing jazz chromatic through the Blues Jr. I currently play chromatic with the Fat switch off. The clean tone on the amp is ok, but would be nice to clean it up a little more. The chromatic tends to emphasize the higher tones than the diatonic does."



Neil,

First off, what kind of mic are you playing on? If you play your diatonic on a bullet, then the close cupping is gonna result in further dirty tone due to the compression of the sound in close proximity to the element. If you don't have one already, you may want to consider an Ultimate 58 from Greg Heumann. For years, Toots Thielemans played his chromatic on a 58, and he recently swtiched to the Ultimate so he had volume control close at hand as well. You can see his technique in this video of him and Jaco Pastorius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__WTZNkU06A&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
This alone will help clean up tube amp tone for a chromatic. But if you want something even cleaner, I'd look into a DigiTech pedal. I use an RP90 myself, and that would probably get you where you need to go in terms of adjusting the EQ to the point of your desired cleanliness. But if you want something a little more versatile for other harp applications, go for an RP155. 
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RP155
 
This model, unlike the RP90, is USB accessible, and as you've probably seen here on harp-L, Richard Hunter has devised about every possible patch a harp player could want for the RP series.
 
http://www.hunterharp.com/
 
Hope this helps.
 
                                                            - Hawk