Re: [Harp-L] Pedal help

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Maurice Thaler" wrote:
I am using for smaller gigs a Princeton Reverb (1972) which works great and
needs no help. But for gigs in larger rooms with louder guitar to keep up
with, I use a Bassman reissue. I have modified it slightly by using less
aggressive preamp tubes. Before I did that, it was 3 is too soft, 4 is
feedback. Not a lot of room for adjustment. At any rate, the amp sounds
great, but it is so clean that it needs something to add some crunch to the
sound.
***

Mike Fugazzi recommended that you consider changing the Fireball V for a different mic, and in my opinion that's the first thing to try.  The Fireball is a very adaptable mic, and I generally get the sound I want from it with my amp modeling setups, but when I want maximum blues in my tone I use a Shure 545D or a Bottle o' Blues.  The 545SD is a more flexible mic, i.e. it does more than a Bottle o' Blues, but then it costs more too.  In any case, I'm sure that if you search the Harp-L archives you'll find plenty of information on this topic. If the archives don't answer your question, Chris Richards of Twin Tone fame (http://www.harmonicaplanet.com/) is a contributor to this list and a very reliable source of information on microphones; both comments apply also to Greg Heumann at Blowsmeaway.com.  

Other posts on this thread have recommended a Lone Wolf pedal, and I'm sure that this solution also will give you as much crunch as you can use. The price of a Lone Wolf Harp Attack is a little higher than the price of a Shure 545SD, and about 2 times the price of a Bottle o' Blues mic. I'd contact Randy Landry at Lone Wolf to see which of his pedals he recommends specifically for your needs. 

Whichever way you go--mic or pedal--you're looking at something less than $150 if you buy new at retail prices, and I have no doubt that this problem can be solved.

Regards, Richard Hunter

       

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