[Harp-L] Mics for sale!

[chicago bluesman]

Hello all,

I just posted ten mics for sale on ebay, thought I would let everyone know.

Some of these mics are pretty special.  Of the ten mics for sale, six of them come from the collection of my dear friend, Barrelhouse Chuck.  You might be familiar with Chuck--terrific blues pianist and vocalist, produced some great classic Chicago blues recordings featuring Kim Wilson.  Chuck had a long and wondrous blues career.  He and I were close, lived near one another and I gigged with him around the Chicago area for a long time until his death in December, 2016.  Someone reading this email has to have been down in Chuck's basement--lots of blues artists made the pilgrimage at one point or another.  The basement housed a vast collection of Chicago blues memorabilia: photos, autographs, thousands of vinyl records, posters, a couple dozen pianos/keyboards, amps/other equipment along with the personal effects of many of the masters of Chicago blues who Chuck had known and performed with.  In most of the crowded little rooms were keyboards, small watt amps and harp mics, all plugged in and ready to go, primed for a bourbon-fueled little jam session.  For a non-harp player, Chuck was very knowledgeable about blues harmonica technique and blues harp mics.  He had examples of iconic blues harp mics and seemed to want working models of the more commonly used mics.  He had several JT-30's in a tribute to Big Walter, a couple of Slim-X's (photos of both Little Walter and Big Walter showed they used these mics at one time), a Shure 540S in a nod to Paul Butterfield mic, an Argonne AR 54 (favored by Big Walter at times) and a bunch of oddball mics.  He especially prized a gold Astatic 200 which had been co-owned by Big Walter and Little Joe Berson--that one isn't for sale.  Much of Chuck's blues collection migrated from his basement to my own, including the mics.

Here are the mics previously owned by Chuck that I've just put up on ebay:

--A chromed JT-30 owned by Chuck, recently serviced (August, 2020) by Greg Heumann of Blows Me Away Productions. It has an MC-151 element, new volume control and new screw on connector.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105438339 .

--A standard JT-30/Hohner bluesblaster owned by Chuck, recently serviced (August, 2020) by Greg Heumann of Blows Me Away Productions.  It has an MC-151 element, new volume control and new screw on connector.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105436485 .

--A terrific Shure 540S--the Paul Butterfield mic--which is in great condition.  The mic has been recently serviced (August, 2020) by Greg Heumann of Blows Me Away Productions, who installed a new volume control and a new screw on connector.    https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105381575

--A Shure 585 stick mic with volume control--I suspect Chuck had this in tribute to James Cotton, who liked to perform with stick/vocal mics.  This one has a screw on connector, delivers great tone.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105417629

--A metallic grey Astatic JT-30 with volume control and screw on connector.  This mic has a white label CM.  element.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105403572

--A Shure Slim-X crystal mic, in great shape, with screw on connector.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105350261


In addition to the above mics from Chuck's collection, I've listed four of my own mics for sale on ebay:

--A chromed Astatic JT-30 with a white label CR element.  I've had this mic for many years, gigged with it all around Chicago and all around the world.  I've owned many mics over the years--this thing really delivers, perhaps better than any mic I've ever played.  The chrome adds a little heft, but the tone makes it worth the weight.  A really special mic.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105425326

--An Ultimate Series mic from Greg Heumann of Blows Me Away Productions.  This is a great, near-mint mic.  It has a pin-hole-2-hot xlr jack (for a while I used it with a wireless rig) and the sale will include a compatible pin-hole-2-hot cable.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105332747

--An Astatic JT-30, modified, matte black finish, recently serviced (August, 2020) by Greg Heumann of Blows Me Away Productions, who installed a new screw on connector and new volume control.  This mic has a black label CR element.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105430011

--A Shaker mic, in very good condition.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/203105301480

Thanks for your interest!

John