NiteCrawler .
288 posts
Apr 21, 2014
4:09 PM
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Hey Folks,I,ve been listening to alot of William Clarke lately and figured I,d ask if any one knows if he blew through custom harps or stock.I know I,ve read that Rod plays stock and just wondered if William played through customs before they became really popular.I,m thinking he might have done some personal mods but was just wondering out of curiousity if any body knows. We all know that the Big Bill could down right blow the livin, you know what out of that Big/little 10 holer.
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Frank
4178 posts
Apr 21, 2014
4:27 PM
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I heard he said custom harps were for sissy's when he was given one and smashed it off the concrete outside a little blues bar :)
Last Edited by Frank on Apr 21, 2014 4:31 PM
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GMaj7
399 posts
Apr 21, 2014
5:08 PM
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Yes.. I think he was extremely particular about FLAT COMBS..
So I've heard..
maybe...
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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NiteCrawler .
289 posts
Apr 21, 2014
5:12 PM
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@Frank, your just a wealth of knowledge.How are your cukes coming along?
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Buzadero
1189 posts
Apr 22, 2014
7:06 AM
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"I think he was extremely particular about FLAT COMBS.."
Bill Clarke was a machinist, by trade. Very critical about brass combs.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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MP
3165 posts
Apr 22, 2014
11:29 AM
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I saw a photo of his amp w/ a lot of harps on it. Special 20s and MS types. They looked pretty beat up.
Didn't see any MBs w/ single forward screws which would indicate a Sleigh or Filisko. There used to be three name guys. Those two and Rupert Oysler. Rommel never had as much visibility as those three and I don't know much about him other than I have a tool he made. There were others but they mostly worked on chromatics. If you were to name them most harp players would probably say, who?
Custom harps and customizers don't have a long history of popularity.
The internet has made them much more visible, therefore more available. It wasn't long ago that kudzu got his first custom built by harpwrench.
My knowledge is pretty much second hand stuff.
I remember the first time I saw an ad for "custom marine band harmonicas" by joe filisko.
it was in the 00s. correction- Nope! it was 98 in late march. I hated MBs and thought he was some kind of crank to offer what i considered the worst harp made for a big chunk of change.
How wrong I was.
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Last Edited by MP on Apr 22, 2014 12:44 PM
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tmf714
2530 posts
Apr 22, 2014
12:20 PM
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MP
3166 posts
Apr 22, 2014
12:34 PM
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Yep! that's the picture!
So, of all things,, I once attended a harp player party in honor of Jim McGlaughlin.(sp) Incredible player, world champ. He looked like a skinny David Crosby w/ a pot belly. He tried to teach me how to OB and failed, or more correctly, I failed. :-) He gave me a CD and a harp w/ his name on it. (why does Hohner give out Chinese junk harps in honor of great players?)
His set was brass Filiskos. Ugly as sin and on par w/ than the brand new Seydel 1847s some guys had. I didn't like the 1847s. McGlaughlin made his harps sing but I still had my reservations about this Filisko guy.
If memory serves, I believe the cover plates were brass also.
Anyway, I now belive Filisko; and as Sleigh was his partner in developing the Filisko method I give him 1/2 credit, are as important to the advancement of the diatonic harmonica as Howard Levy is to the OB/OD player.
As a general rule of thumb. Most of the greats never even tried custom harps before the late 90s to present.
Hell, Kim Wilson never tried a minor tuned harp till the late 90s. It was a Lee Oskar. I know, I was there.
PS Bill Clarke used to put CRs in his Astatic Biscuits if the crystal was dead. ( they usually are). He's the reason I often use a CR Biscuit. Great combo!
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Last Edited by MP on Apr 22, 2014 12:49 PM
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1847
1721 posts
Apr 22, 2014
1:19 PM
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i.ve never seen bill use a biscuit mic
not saying he hasn't, just that i have never seen it
you can't get his sound with a controlled reluctance
especially on the big 64 chrom.
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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MP
3167 posts
Apr 22, 2014
1:32 PM
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@ 1847-
I was told this by Pete Sheridan, author of "the Quest for Tone in Amplified Blues Harmonica." when Pete was in California he befriended Clarke.
Also that he was using a giant Fender 6/10 combo amp.
Like I say above. Most of my knowledge is second hand.
Now that you point it out- Pete is the reason I do that.
We traded and bought/sold each other all manner of mics.
Pete would drive 80 miles so we could hang out in my music store practice space and play w/ amps and mics and pedals.
As far as tone goes. Clarke used to use an echoplex he would carry himself so nobody would break it. Later he used a floor pedal delay. This is a big part of his sound. Crystal mics, a great analog delay ( Ibanez CD-10 is fantastic!)and a large tube amp are the way I would go if i wanted to mimic the Clarke sound.
A hot Astatic 101, Shure R-7, or brush crystal are my choices.
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Last Edited by MP on Apr 22, 2014 2:07 PM
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tmf714
2531 posts
Apr 22, 2014
1:51 PM
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I own one of Bills mics-its a Shure Green Bullet shell with a Ceramic element-Bill used a bunch of different mics,but he did prefer the ceramic elements-
Last Edited by tmf714 on Apr 22, 2014 1:52 PM
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tmf714
2532 posts
Apr 22, 2014
1:55 PM
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Bill and Mitch Kashmar both used one of these back in the day-Fender Super Six Reverb-rated at 100-135 watts with 6 10" speakers-basically a Twin Reverb with 6 speakers-wonder if this is where John Kinder got his idea from?
Last Edited by tmf714 on Apr 22, 2014 1:58 PM
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MP
3168 posts
Apr 22, 2014
2:08 PM
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Never had much luck with ceramics but I understand that Jerry Portnoy likes them too.
It seems most players try all kinds of different gear due to all manner of reasons. Sometimes it's money or lack of it. Sometimes they like to tinker w/ stuff.
Lately I'm back to using a brush crystal in a biscuit. Though i used crystal JT-30s for years I don't think a bullet shell
has much if any noticeable effect on tone.
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Last Edited by MP on Apr 22, 2014 2:21 PM
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Frank
4181 posts
Apr 22, 2014
2:31 PM
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Wonder if Mitch and Bill used that amp on "Horn Of Plenty" ? :)
Last Edited by Frank on Apr 22, 2014 2:34 PM
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1847
1722 posts
Apr 22, 2014
4:01 PM
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check out the bill board
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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1847
1723 posts
Apr 22, 2014
10:47 PM
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is that a 585 on top of the bassman?
look like a well worn rusted, trusted friend.
is that the elusive biscuit mic sitting next to it?
or is it a bullet, hard to tell from the picture.
the echo was a large part of his sound
safe to say with adam gussow as well.
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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harpoon_man
51 posts
Apr 23, 2014
4:34 AM
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@ 1847: Thanks for posting that version of "Early in the Morning"...have always loved that song but never heard the Clarke version until yesterday.
Does anyone know the story on the parade/billboard at the end??
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MP
3169 posts
Apr 23, 2014
10:56 AM
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@ 1847,
there are two Astatic JT-30s (possibly JT-30-Cs, C for ceramic), One Astatic 200 chop ( Annie Raines favors this mic w/ the stand still intact).
The stick mics could be Shures. 585s? it's anyones guess but the one on the right looks like my fav stick mic which is the Shure 533.
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1847
1724 posts
Apr 23, 2014
1:21 PM
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nice bottle of wine at 2:11
ripple... my favorite.
that permanently cements bill,
as a bonafide bluesman right there...
in case any one had any doubts!
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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CarlA
494 posts
Apr 23, 2014
1:36 PM
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I wonder if Matthias Hohner played custom harps??
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MP
3172 posts
Apr 23, 2014
1:38 PM
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"nice bottle of wine at 2:11
ripple... my favorite."
It may or may not be true but I believe he's been seen to down an entire 44oz. bottle of Colt 45 in one epic
blast immediately before kicking off the first set.
"I wonder if Matthias Hohner played custom harps??"
He certainly did! he liked to have his name and visage engraved or even embossed on the cover plates of his gig harps. Big ego or
what!?
It's a sure fire way to tell if you have a Mathias Hohner
custom harp.
Hell of a player!
I saw Little Matt Hohner and the Lederhosen Blues Band quite a few times. Once it was a double bill w/ The Seydel Solists.
Matt only drank German beer for some odd reason. After the gig I asked him what he thought of the Lone Wolf pedal and he responded in an outlandish language. Couldn't understand a word he said. Musta been drunk.
EDIT- it was Old English 800 not Colt 45
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Affordable Reed Replacement
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Last Edited by MP on Apr 30, 2014 4:18 PM
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NiteCrawler .
290 posts
Apr 23, 2014
1:50 PM
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@MP Good Lord,I missed out on a fine piece of tail back in 74 when I was 16 after banging down two quarts of Colt 45 malt licka,I rehabbed after that nite and stuck with domestic lagers after that.Lesson learned; the hard way.
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MP
3173 posts
Apr 23, 2014
2:13 PM
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Sorry to hear of your loss NiteCrawler. :-( I've done the same w/ Country Club Malt Licka.
I think it's a teenage rite of passage.
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Affordable Reed Replacement
Marks Harmonica Tune-up
Click user name MP for contact info
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1847
1726 posts
Apr 23, 2014
8:49 PM
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I own one of Bills mics-its a Shure Green Bullet shell with a Ceramic element-Bill used a bunch of different mics,but he did prefer the ceramic elements-
bill had his own sound...
while all the other street racer's were sitting at the light
in their jaguars with a 350 chevy motor
he pulls up in a mild mannered chevy... with a jaguar motor
he'd be in the next county by the time they hit 2 nd gear.
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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1847
1742 posts
Apr 30, 2014
7:45 AM
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bill was a marine band player
i am looking at his amp
and i see special twenty's
i can imagine him heading to a gig
needing a new harp, stopping by guitar center
only to find they do not have a marine band in "Bb"
and him having to use what was available.
has that ever happened to you?
the rusted mic on the left was his vocal mic.
it must be rusted from years of old english 800
being spit on it.
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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