Re: [Harp-L] Lone Wolf Harp break pedal and Sonny Jnr Super Cruncher comparison
LW Harp Break with power supply $163
RCF 310a (I use a QSC K10 which is overpriced) $549.99
I've used just the K10 with full bands - up to 10 pieces and have competed
with guitar stacks and bass stacks. If you are gigging, then odds are
there are vocals. Vocals require amplification through a PA and odds are
there is an extra channel to line out to for FOH sound. If there isn't, it
is a small enough room where a powered speaker will probably work turned
towards the audience.
I probably won't have one tonight of just the HB, but here is a clip of the
HB with other pedals straight into my mixer.
http://mikefugazzi.com/files/Blues_Pedals.mp3 The HB by itself sound a
bit rattier and has more highs.
I am NOT a super strong blues player, but paired with a bullet mic, I think
this is a very convincing sound. I played over most the harp and did some
tongue blocking, etc. The song is 5min long and even I get bored listening
after the first few turns, lol, but you'll get the point. The entire rig
was a HB into a Flat Cat into a MXR Carbon Copy into a BBE Sonic Maximizer
into a custom bullet from Greg Heumann (99S556 element).
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 9:31:14 AM UTC-5, Richard Hunter wrote:
>
> <MARK BURNESS wrote:
> <The "several hundred percent" price difference needs a bit more context
> really.
> <
> <The Harp Break (or any other pedal/modeller) needs an amp (an output
> section, rated in Watts, feeding speakers, whether it be <SS/digital/tube)
> to make any sound at all. An "amp" may be heard from the back line, or also
> fed through a larger amp/PA..but it <is a self contained unit capable of
> producing sound.
> <
> <Preferences vary, of course, but they are different things & need each
> other, rather than being independent, mutually exclusive,
> <entities/better/worse.
> <
> <If you sell an "amp" to buy a pedal/modeller, then you need to buy/have
> access to another "amp" to make that device audible.
>
> This is all correct, but it doesn't change the validity of the point: the
> "several hundred percent" figure is thoroughly accurate even when the amp
> is included. Here's the breakdown:
>
> Assuming you purchase everything new at typical discounted retail prices,
> an amp modeler (like the Digitech RP355 or the Lone wolf Harp Break) runs
> between $100-$200. (You can get a used RP355 easily at Guitarcenter.com
> for less than $100, which is certainly what I'd do, but let's stick to the
> normal retail price for new for an accurate comparison.) A Peavey KB2
> keyboard amp will run another $250; similar prices apply to mid-range
> powered speakers like the Mackie Thump (under $300) and Behringer B212D
> (about $250)--both well-regarded units with enough power for a wide range
> of gigs. The total for the setup is therefore between $450-500. (I
> suppose we can add another $20 for a guitar cable to connect the pedal to
> the amp, which you don't need when you're just running a mic to the amp.)
> So the total for an amp modeling setup that includes everything needed to
> gig (excluding the microphone, which is presumably the same price no matter
> what amp you're running behind it) is !
> between $470-520 (again, assuming you buy everything new, which I
> wouldn't).
>
> I bought my SJ Super Sonny at a considerable discount when Sonny was
> phasing out the Super Sonny in favor of the Cruncher and its newer
> siblings. Even so, the fully loaded cost of an amp modeling-based setup is
> just about 1/3 of the cost of what I paid for the Super Sonny. At normal
> prices, it would be about 1/4 the price.
>
> In short, there is indeed a "several hundred percent" (specifically,
> 300%-400%)price difference between an amp modeler-based setup and a
> traditional big harp amp. If you ONLY include the amp modeler--which is
> feasible if you've got access to a PA for gigs--then the difference is
> closer to 1,000 percent (i.e. a factor of 10).
>
> "Price" is only part of the "price for performance" calculation, and you
> can't compare rigs without comparing their performance in terms of volume,
> sound quality, etc., etc. I won't claim that my RP setups sound "better"
> than a Sonny Junior. I only claim that they sound damn good, and Ian
> Collard's side by side clips with an SJ and a Harp Break (not to mention
> the clips of Steve Baker, Marcos Coll, and myself playing through RPs at my
> site) obviously make the point. And that's just at the basic amp-plus-mic
> level. If you want to get freaky with your sounds--say, with the kind of
> FX that a John Popper or a Jason Ricci or myself use--then the price
> difference between a multi-FX box like a Digitech RP and a traditional rig
> augmented with a dozen traditional FX pedals on the floor is even steeper.
>
> Plenty of the people reading this have a good-sounding traditional rig,
> and I wouldn't advise anyone to sell a rig that makes sounds they like.
> (I've done that, and I have regretted it, every time.) But when you want
> to add a big pile of new sounds to your rig, the fastest and least
> expensive route to that outcome by far is an amp modeler/multi-FX device.
>
> I have no doubt that most harp players will eventually use amp modeling
> gear, as most guitarists already do. It is by far the least expensive route
> to a great amped sound. In every way that matters--price, sound quality and
> flexibility, ease of use, portability--the stuff just works. And in some of
> these ways, it is obviously far superior to traditional gear. I wouldn't
> put my Sonny Junior on an airplane unless I was ready to see it come off
> the plane in pieces--and that's even before we consider the expense of
> shipping an amp in an anvil case. But I can carry an amp modeler on board
> in my hand luggage, and when I get to the gig, I know exactly what I'm
> going to sound like: good.
>
> Final comment: I presume we know that there's a difference between a Lone
> Wolf harp Break and a Digitech RP. The Lone Wolf (and other single purpose
> amp modelers like the Tech 21 Blonde, the Boss Fender Bassman FBM-1 pedal,
> and so on) emulates the sound of an amp; the RP emulates the sounds of a
> number of amps, plus pitch FX, modulation FX, delay, reverb, etc. In other
> words, the LW is an amp modeler; the RP is an amp modeler plus multi-FX.
> The key advantage of the former is simplicity in operation (because it
> does one thing); the key advantage of the latter is the variety of sound
> and FX (because it does many things). (I do what I can with my patch sets
> to make the RPs easy to operate.) We're all lucky to have these kinds of
> choices. People talk a lot about vintage gear, but I can tell you for sure
> that the stuff we get now is better in EVERY, repeat EVERY way--better
> sounding, more durable, MUCH less expensive--than the gear we struggled
> with in the 60s and 70s.
>
> Thanks and regards, Richard Hunter
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> author, "Jazz Harp"
> latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://hunterharp.com
> Myspace http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
> Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick
> more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter
> Twitter: lightninrick
>
>
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