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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Amp Tones
Amp Tones
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HarpNinja
3993 posts
Dec 22, 2014
8:03 AM
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My favorite recorded tones for rock are on the Blues Traveler album, Live from the Fall.
Here is a Youtube that should be pretty much the same rig and sounds like the album.
Now actual playing aside, what I like about the tones are they are crunchy, but have a very clear and tight bottom end with a very cutting high end. I don't hear a ton of mids. On the album referenced, there is definitely the use of two channels or additional gear to go from this tone to super distorted.
I believe he is using a Mesa Boogie head with a 4x12 cab with his rack gear. The volume knob on his mic is controlling the mix of a rotary speaker.
The closest thing I've come to to emulate these tones is actually a Zoom 100BT. I am assuming there isn't much compression or break up from the 4x12 cab as Mesa's tend to have pretty clean sounding speakers. I am also figuring that the head is 50-100watts and that a master control is creating the gain. This means it is mostly preamp distortion from 12axz tubes, hence that raw sound without much compression.
On the 100BT, I've used the Bass Booster (Xotic EP Booster model) for cleans. You can actually adjust the gain so there is some crunch. For the grittier tones, I've found the RC Boost (another Xotic clone that covers the gain of a couple of their pedals) to give the same raw crunch with a tight bottom and cutting highs.
IMO, the amp models sound overly compressed in comparison. The Joyo Clean Glass has a bit more compression too. A HarpBreak straight to PA gets very close too - if I use a dynamic mic. However, when it gets to high levels of crunch, it sounds a bit fuzzed out (which is a great effect in itself). Those pedals would probably sound better for recording than the Zoom.
In addition, the 100BT has a wealth of effects that let you create all the harp friendly sounds associated with rock harmonica - like octave, wah, delay, etc. In addition, there are trippy effects like the rack gear Popper has used.
Basically, I've come to the conclusion that a simple 100BT all by itself could cover any rock gig I'd ever do. It would take some tap dancing and it isn't near as flexible as a full rig, but it'd work.
I haven't been gigging this fall as it hasn't worked with the real world (so lots of experimenting with my rig). As I try to get back at it this winter, I am very confident in my current rig choice. I've currently narrowed it down to four pedals.
1. Zoom 100BT for clean and dirty
2. Zoom 70CDR for all modulation and time effects
3. Saturn Works Looper so I can have the 70CDR in an effects loop and cycle through effects on the fly
4. Strymon Lex for rotary tones
These are all used direct to the PA. I use a QSC K10 as a monitor and feed from that to the PA. I'd like to eventually move to a stereo rig with another K10 or two smaller speakers (but that is totally overkill, lol).
If I was doing a blues specific rig, I'd be using a HarpBreak, FlatCat and iStomp with the DM2 model. That sounds better for blues AND works better with my bullet mic.
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Mike
My Website
My Harmonica Effects Blog
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HarpNinja
3995 posts
Dec 23, 2014
6:59 AM
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Mike
My Website
My Harmonica Effects Blog
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stones
90 posts
Dec 23, 2014
2:28 PM
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the tone is typical blues traveler, I here that any where in a bar or crowd and I instantly know who it is.
I wonder if he could hang more stuff on himself, maybe a hammer or screwdrivers to go with the flash light, looks like a night stick on his right side ???
maybe it's not really Popper, but a roady tech back stage filling. lol
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