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My Current Harp Case
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MindTheGap
1538 posts
Apr 29, 2016
4:13 AM
Here's the latest incarnation of my harp case. It's about convenience of setup and getting a variety of sounds. Three genuinely different sounds available:

1. Joyo American Sound (now rehabilitated and back in use after the speaker bypass mod) + DM-13 for a sharp, brittle, raw and distorted sound. For the wild harp sound as in Johnny Sansone backing Samantha Fish :) https://youtu.be/d_99kZ4DW5Y

But also the harp sound in Bo Diddley's Pretty Thing https://youtu.be/OUJgll0RiHE

2. Harp Break + DM-13 for an uncompressed, straight harmonica sound, either clean or a touch of grit.

3. Harp Break + Bulletini for the more compressed, cupped, refined sound.

Then the delay for either no-effect; slapback; long-repeats for funky and trippy. Splitter to take an output to PA and/or small amp. Seydel belt bag with the main six harps in. Open, plug in, and play!

(of course I have another load of bags with everything else in, spare harps, leads, toolkit, drum key, sticks, cat food, parts of the PA, but we don't talk about that mess...)






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Last Edited by MindTheGap on Apr 29, 2016 5:10 AM
Killa_Hertz
1209 posts
Apr 29, 2016
5:32 AM
Lmao ... last night i put together a case just like this. I kid you not. Mine had no bulletini (jealous)

Im tired of having a cluttered desk. Im getting some velcro tonight to finish it. I'm going to put my lm386 cricket pedal in there With a built in speaker for on the fly playing. I'm also looking into a joyo american. They re nice pedals.

Anybody know a good power supply that had both 9v and 18v for cheap? I've been looking on ebay, but the cheap ones I'm kinda cautious about.
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MindTheGap
1539 posts
Apr 29, 2016
6:27 AM
No Bulletini...? But surely...oh dear, awkward :(

I wonder what you'll make of the Joyo if you get one. It's a strange beast. You may think: it's just a fuzzbox, why do people like this???

Yes 18v is a problem. That was a deciding factor in getting the Harp Break over the Harp Attack. Practical stuff. One of my sons uses a Digitech pedal, which has served him well. But it uses an odd PSU, and spares are expensive. Whereas I can us a common-or-garden 9v supply and daisy chain.

That Seydel bag, with the addition you suggested to keep the harps apart, has really proved itself. Just works and it's super convenient in a busy situation. Maybe even ultra-convenient.

"Wave goodbye to bobbing-up-and-down misery. Say 'so long' to 'where did I put down that A-harp?'"

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Favourite Threads

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Apr 29, 2016 6:32 AM
Killa_Hertz
1213 posts
Apr 29, 2016
9:04 AM
I told you. I love those seydel cases. Ive upgraded to a 12. But I still use the 6. They are just super compact. Cant beat em.

I have seen some pretty nice videos of the JOYO.
Its too cheap not to try. Why do you say fuzz box?

Power source. I may just get a low profile surge protector. I have a daisy chain for my 9v pedals. so I would really only have 2 plugs. Thats not too bad.
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MindTheGap
1541 posts
Apr 29, 2016
9:19 AM
Fuzzbox - because there is a lot of gain available, and with a microphone rather than a guitar it's easy to saturate it, and then you end up with a rather dull buzzing bee kind of sound.

Look where I've got the gain in the photo - below 9pm, and that's for my wild-crazy-harp-man alter ego. I must make that input attenuator.

To get the 'champ' voicing, the voice pot has to be around 3pm and that would boost the gain even more, so I can't use it with a Hi-Z mic like the DM-13.

It's that bypass mod that brings it alive, IMO. Although I keep forgetting to borrow an unmodded one to verify that.

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Apr 29, 2016 9:21 AM
Killa_Hertz
1216 posts
Apr 29, 2016
9:55 AM
How bout a VC on the mic. Would that do the trick.

If not maybe just get an XLR to 1/4" converter and use the 57.

Wonder if this would fix it.

Either way i gotta try one now.
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MindTheGap
1542 posts
Apr 29, 2016
10:11 AM
Yes, I used the pylepro with XLR-1/4" cable (i.e. no transformer) to record some of those samples in Martin's thread, and so got a much less saturated sound than he was getting. However, to the get the 'scratchy' sound I like I prefer the DM-13. The pylepro/57 is a bit full and round, if you know what I mean.

There's a VC on the Bulletini, but you have to set it quite low, and remember where it's set.

We've been here before I think, that's why Lone Wolf are selling their attenuator - plug and play.
Killa_Hertz
1220 posts
Apr 29, 2016
1:31 PM
Right. Your stuck on the dm13 now too huh? I love that mic.


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SuperBee
3659 posts
Apr 29, 2016
3:55 PM
What's the 4th connection on the splitter? And how do you daisy chain your power supply?
When you call this a 'harp case' I expect to see harps...I've been caught out here before...to me this is like an effects pedal board in a case. Names, roses, etc...
Which is not a bad idea, I've not seen it done by anyone else...I think the lid would annoy me but that could be worked around.
MindTheGap
1545 posts
Apr 30, 2016
12:04 AM
Yes I keep coming back to the DM-13. I think it's only me that describes these things as having a 'voice'. All other descriptions of mics I've read are about how much bottom end they have, how hot, or how 'dirty' they are (which as I've said I don't think is quite right). Anyway I think the DM-13 has a nice 'voice'. Whereas the SM57 doesn't really have a voice in the same way. But I have relatively few mics, so I'm not really qualified to speak on it. I know what I like and I like what I know.

Yes, the lid isn't ideal, but the case only cost £4 and I'm not sure there is an alternative. If I removed the arm things, I don't think hinges are set up to open right out.

As for the splitter, well... are you sitting comfortably...It's for two things...

1. If I use straight ended jacks, the chain of effects and jacks gets too long to fit in the case! If I use an impedance matching transformer too, it gets even longer. So, borrowing the idea from other pedal boards, it's a junction box so I can use right-angled patch cables.

2. It has an extra socket on the output side, which is the splitter part. So I can take an output both to the PA and to a local amp if I like. I can use the amp either as a monitor, or switch the pedals off and use it conventionally, for those in-flight A/B experiments.

This works so well, that I'm considering Version 2: a junction box with vertical inputs and a mic attenuator input socket.
SuperBee
3667 posts
Apr 30, 2016
4:06 AM
Sorry, I'm sure I'm being dense, but the 4 connections:
Signal in
Signal out (say, to pa)
Signal out (say, to amp)
Um?

And still sorry because I must be having a really strong thick attack, but what's it got to do with using right angle cables?
Killa_Hertz
1226 posts
Apr 30, 2016
4:35 AM
Im having the same issue bee.

It is a good idea myg to have options like that. I had a very similar idea, but i was going to install 1/4" sockets in the case for a main out, etc. Your idea seems alot easier ... lol.

As far as the lid. .. im working on a way to hinge the whole board outside the case. My idea thus far is to put the pedals velcroed to a piece of sheetmetal on a frame (similar to this)


Like that only more compact. Then hinge it somehow so that it can pull up and out of the case. That way can stomp all the buttons as normal.


As for the space. Try something like this mtg ....



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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Apr 30, 2016 4:35 AM
MindTheGap
1546 posts
Apr 30, 2016
4:54 AM
The right-angled patch cables into and out of the effects chain (as well as between, of course) saves some space out each end.

The daisy chain is simply a cable extender that has a 9V inline barrel socket, and three right angled plugs. e.g. Daisy Chain, although that one has straight plugs.

kHz thanks, they look good. Only thing is these pedals are all different shapes and so the sockets don't line up, either vertically and horizontally. There are flatter right-angled cables available (called pancake or lollipop or something like that?). Yes, I was looking at mounting sockets on a side plate, but that involved a lot of DIY, cutting chopping etc, and the junction box is a simple solution.

It's true I can't easily actually stomp on these pedals like this, but I don't do much of that anyway.

Junction box is:
mic into (1) which is connected to (2) right-angle patch cable into the delay.
output from effects into (3) which is connected to (4) to PA and (5) to Amp.

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Last Edited by MindTheGap on Apr 30, 2016 5:09 AM
MindTheGap
1547 posts
Apr 30, 2016
5:12 AM
Yes, it's 'Pancake Patch Cables' for the slimmest ones.
SuperBee
3670 posts
Apr 30, 2016
6:08 AM
So the splitter box actually has 5 connection points?
I could/can see only 4

Ok, the daisy chain...couldn't quite see that in the photo but now I can make out what I'm looking at...
MindTheGap
1548 posts
Apr 30, 2016
6:17 AM
Yes, 5, the other one is right next to the yellow cable.

Even better would be to have another splitter output to take the raw mic signal off the amp. So I could have processed signal into the PA and unprocessed signal into the little tube amp.

I think I'd have to actually label the sockets in that case ha ha. If only I'd kept that dymo labeller from 1970.

I'm conscious that in a previous post (about Sonny Blake) I was eulogising about keeping it simple :) But as they say, all the 'simple' equipment then was potentionaly harp-friendly (lo-fi Hi-Z mics and tube amps and tube PAs).

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Last Edited by MindTheGap on Apr 30, 2016 6:20 AM
SuperBee
3672 posts
Apr 30, 2016
6:45 AM
Oh yes I see the space for it now.
I'm trying to remember... I played a gig where I plugged my amp...no my mic into DI and split signal to amp and PA so I could hear my amp and FOH was the engineer's problem.

Last Edited by SuperBee on Apr 30, 2016 7:13 AM
Killa_Hertz
1243 posts
May 01, 2016
7:40 AM
Yes ive been messing a bit having two amps. One with dry signal, one with effects. Or one with harp attack only, one with delay,etc. Also i did three amps. One dry, one full effects, one with octave pedal. It gets real crazy. But im just playing around.

I can't wait till i move and can set up a real sound room. I need a computer to process all this stuff.

You can get some really great effects going. Make the harp sound like something totally different.


Mtg they make many different shapes if they dont all line up. Ofcourse for the ones that have inputs on top you could still use patch cable, but it would still Dave alt of space.





There are many variations,but this is one example. Check amaxon.
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MindTheGap
1557 posts
May 01, 2016
12:38 PM
That's interesting ta - I'll look around. Having a fixed patch plug like that would actually be very useful, as it would stabilise the pedals in the case. All the sockets are at the side.

As I say, I'm myself currently exploring the 'harmonica sounding like a harmonica' vibe. Rather than making it sound like something else. But all good things are valid.

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Last Edited by MindTheGap on May 01, 2016 12:39 PM
Killa_Hertz
1248 posts
May 01, 2016
1:55 PM
I ordering the first ones i posted for mine. Yea the harmonica sounding like a harmonica is definitely cool. But ive yet to explore the other routes. Ive been using my zoom multi stomp alot for diffetent crazy effects. Octave, pitchshift, para EQs, tons of fun effects. But i can just as easily switch it off and have a normal pedal setup.

When i get mine to the point where it looks presentable ill share some pics.
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