These aren't a better "deal" than the Lone Wolf preamps, but I picked up a blonde for $150 to use as a harmonica recording preamp. It is an analog amp emmulator that ranges from Blackface to Tweed.
For those into Fender tones, it is a very harp friendly pedal. I'll have some clips soon. I used it straight to PA and it had great tone and low feedback. I was very impressed with the sound and the ability to go from clean to dirty. The eq controls are very harp friendly. It can act as its own DI for going straight to the PA. I plugged right into a QSC K10 and had a fabulous Fender 1x10 comb that made my beloved VHT sound like crap, lol.
I had no problem getting things loud and bassy. I also could dial in a lot of cut and bite. It got way dirtier than I would use it for. I actually was trying to cop the tone from Jason Ricci's studio version of Afro Blue and got crazy close..granted, I didn't have the post production clarity, but compared to live clips of his playing, it was 90% there with just one pedal.
This weekend I had about 30min to really let it rip with my PA...totally giggable and very easy to set up! The stock "clean" setting is a perfect Blackface harmonica sound. I think the EQ is great for harp as it can add or subtract. In otherwords, I started with the treble at 12 and could dial it in or out. With a lot of amps you go from zero to too bright and the control is useless.
There was so much bass, I was getting bass feedback before squealing. In fact, I left the bass at 12 and could feel it through my whole body on a C harp.
FWIW, I tried recording it with my Zoom H4n as an interface and it was ok. I have to use headphones for monitoring at home, and the Zoom just isn't set-up for real time monitoring. What I heard live was too different than the playback and it was too difficult to dial in a tone and go. I need super ease of use and don't have time to waste.
I realized I wanted an actual audio interface, so I got a M-Audio MobilePre yesterday in hopes of having some clips for today. Alas, the Pre and the Pro Tools SE had problems on my computer, which it shouldn't have had. An extensive internet search left me regretting the buy. I will return it promptly tonight. My issues were related to the system crashing randomly on playback and a strange hiss - all of which, I later found, has been well documented by users with no real resolution.
I also had problems with the 1/4" line input not having a good enough DI and gain control to not clip a clean signal from my M13.
I then called Musiciansfriend, who had their labor deal extended through today. I got my first pick, the Mackie Onyx Blackbird for $135! They are usually $199. I didn't have a good DAW, hence the M-Audio purchase, so I picked up Cakewalk Sonar for $75. They should be here this weekend and I will make clips.
Total bummer as Pro Tools SE was easy to use and I had a really cool loop going. Playback only worked 50% of the time and I was rebooting, etc. Very frustrating. The Mackie is a MUCH better unit for recording, but had it worked right, the M-Audio MobilePre would have been good enough for me. :(
The "new" rig is going to cost me nearly $100 more, but I think it will be well worth it in the end. The preamp is actually stellar for a sub $500 unit and it comes very recommended from gearslutz.com. SONAR has lots of great video demos and I think I could start using it right away. I really appreciated that SONAR and Mackie had very complete user manuals in comparison too. ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
Nice playing,with some jason ricci's licks ,and the "blonde" seems to sound good.Thanx for the sharing. ---------- http://www.youtube.com/user/cafeclopeaddicted?feature=mhee
I picked up a Joyo clone of this pedal and was wondering if anyone had any advice for the settings. Where do you set your controls? Seems like the Character, Level and Gain knobs have to be set rather specifically to avoid feedback issues. Any info would be appreciated.
Last Edited by agarner on May 16, 2018 11:38 AM
I use the Joyo American Sound regularly. I don't seem to have feedback issues with it using any of my amps (all are tube and less than 15 Watt). If you turn up the Gain you will need to turn down the Level most likely to avoid feedback.
This pedal has been discussed lots on this forum before so do a search to see more discussions. ---------- MBH member since 2009-03-24
You will get feedback. No matter what you do (except perhaps för buying an efficient feedback resistence pedal), if you want to step up on the "Voice" or "Drive" settings on the pedal -- while maintaining some volume -- and make it sound interesting, you will get feedback. All the time. A sad fact of life for harmonica players.
