SuperBee
612 posts
Oct 03, 2012
5:12 AM
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My harp break pedal arrived yesterday. Just for laughs I tried it with my new Legacy 5watt valve head, through a pair of weber 8A100s. Worked pretty well. Totally unnecessary but I got a nice sound jamming along with JimiLee Band at low volume.
Tonight I tried it with the Deville. No good. The amp sounds much better and less feedback prone without it. I guess the thing is that I crank that amp to be able to hear it with the band so the harp break is just redundant. All it did was make the amp feed back at lower volume. The LW harp octave delivered a much better result and got the amp a bit louder than without it. I disconnected the break and put it away. I thought it may be useful as a bass boost, but it was more like a volume cut..
I'll try it with some different amps but at the moment I can't see an application for it with tube amps.
The main reason I got it was for use with pa, so I'll give that a go next time.
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MN
190 posts
Oct 03, 2012
6:50 AM
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I've found my HB it's very important that, if you crank up the drive knob, you have to simultaneously reduce the volume knob. And vice versa. One goes up, the other comes down. I haven't used mine with a big amp yet, just for playing through a PA. I love it.
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SuperBee
613 posts
Oct 03, 2012
4:18 PM
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Yeah I did find that with the drive/ volume. But the octave pedal gives a much better result with the amp.
I tried the amp with its built in distortion channels too. Far out! The harp break sounded very mild compared to that.
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rbeetsme
845 posts
Oct 03, 2012
5:41 PM
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This pedal is best used with a big amp or PA, get that tube distortion tone at lower volumes. But I find that mine works pretty well with all of my amps! My low wattage Champ clones benefit from a better bottom end, tone isn't appreciably better.
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Willspear
200 posts
Oct 03, 2012
6:03 PM
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The harp break is one of my favorite pedals
Really helps when stuck playing too low to break up a big amp. The trick is not cranking the drive. I find cranking it is grating.
The octave is a way different clip quality.
I use both though the break is more of an effect for me.
I use the octave as more of an amp voicing.
Last Edited by on Oct 03, 2012 6:07 PM
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Jehosaphat
307 posts
Oct 03, 2012
8:47 PM
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Bee are you playing through a Deville 410?
I've found exactly the same result re the Harp break into mine.
Not good, but the Octave is great ,nice cruncy break up on the Deville at low volumes.
But i am still having trouble 'taming' the Amp at higher volumes.
Took it to a rehearsal the other night and just couldn't compete with the bass and drums at the crunch level i like.By the time i got the volume enough to be heard(without feedback) i was basically playing through a Deville 410 valve PA at super clean.:-(
Be interested to know what settings you have found work for you?
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SuperBee
614 posts
Oct 04, 2012
12:44 AM
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J'phat, yep I have a hotrod 410. Running lower voltage on the preamp, a few resistor changes, lower bias on the 6L6s. Also using the 2 ohm tap from the OT.
Usually I am plugging into input 1, octave pedal in front of that. Using a CM mic. I plug my delay through the effect loop now.
I'm getting volume somewhere above 4, treble between 2 and 4, usually cut the mid right out and bass maybe as high as 8 but I actually don't get a whole bunch of response out of the bass pot. I did use a bigger cap to let more bass through and maybe that's a factor. I was hoping I might be able to get some more bottom with the break but no dice.
Oh yeah, the prescence I run up to about 4.
Our band has no guitar and has a very active bass, so I think there is no point me competing with that anyway.
Yeah I run this thing pretty hard and I really don't need the distortion from a pedal. The octave does as Will said. If we were playing nicely, as when we supported Peter Coombe at his kiddy matinee, I can see it may be useful. And with the pa of course. Just wasn't thinking clearly last night.
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MN
204 posts
Oct 18, 2012
1:18 AM
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Had practice last night with the band. Two guitars, drums and bass. As usual, I was playing through the PA. To be exact, Ultimate 545 mic > Lone Wolf Harp Delay > Lone Wolf Harp Break > PA.
I stumbled on a setting I really really like. It gives that punchy, almost trumpet-like Butterfield(esqe) honk. The key was cranking the volume all the way up, then bringing the Drive knob up to taste. Here's a pic of the settings. YMMV.
Last Edited by on Oct 18, 2012 1:28 AM
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SuperBee
643 posts
Oct 18, 2012
3:45 PM
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Interesting MN that you have the delayed signal going into the distortion pedal. Have you tried it the other way about? I put my delay last in the chain with the idea the signal being repeated is already processed, rather than processing a signal which is being echoed. Kinda thing. I doubt I've explained that clearly. Anyway, I find I have much better control over the echo with the delay pedal at the end.
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MN
205 posts
Oct 19, 2012
8:16 AM
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Truth be told, I hadn't thought about it. :-) I think I just grabbed the Harp Delay from my case first. I'm honestly not much of a gear guy. Whether via amp or pedals into the board, I'm just looking for a some grind, with punch, clarity and note separation. Plus volume (which is where playing into the PA works really well). Once I get the volume where I want it, I'll fiddle with the Delay a bit just to fatten things up a bit, then I leave it alone.
That said, I'm going to try your suggestion of putting the Delay last in the chain. Thanks for the tip.
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HarpNinja
2793 posts
Oct 19, 2012
8:30 AM
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Either order is correct. If you use an amp, the delay is textured by the amp in the same way. In general, though, distortions go in front. This isn't really being used as a traditional distortion, though.
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Mike
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SuperBee
644 posts
Oct 19, 2012
10:57 AM
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Hey yeah I've put em around both ways. Someone here talked about time based effects going last or in effects loop and it seemed sensible. When I did it I found my delay pedal was more responsive to the controls. Rather, I found I had more control over the delay effect in the output.
I wasn't saying its incorrect just that it can make a difference.
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Last Edited by on Oct 19, 2012 11:00 AM
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