waltertore
1696 posts
Nov 30, 2011
3:07 PM
|
I got a danelectro honeytone toy amp today. Here is my first attempt with it. I ran an akg d58 mic through a beer can cooler on my harp rack (stock big river in A). the d58 is real small, only a couple inches. It fits in the cooler real nice. I think I can get some good sounds out of this little stuff. More to follow....
1st attempt with a honeytone amp
link to more recent experimemts with this amp
----------
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,800+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Dec 02, 2011 4:55 PM
|
ReedSqueal
213 posts
Nov 30, 2011
3:09 PM
|
Walter, you could play through an old gym sock and still sound good!
----------
Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy.
-Dan Castellaneta
|
clamsharpplayer
131 posts
Nov 30, 2011
6:18 PM
|
Walter I jammed along with you on that one. Thanks
|
waltertore
1697 posts
Nov 30, 2011
6:27 PM
|
ReedSqueal/clamsharpplayer: Thanks! I enjoy these cheap little experiments. the beer cooler cost $1, the amp $20, the mic $30, the big river $20, and the rack $8. The forever quest for high dollar-custom amp, harp, mic, etc, is something I never have persued. My guitar is a made in korea stock tokai copy of a 335 ($400). John Hall gave me a shopping bag of delta frost so I pretty much use them. I still have some marine bands lying around from when I endorsed them and got them a bit cheaper than retail. IMO if one has music in them it can be made to sound good on basic gear. I put my money into gear that can accurately capture the sounds of my instruments. Making music is easy. Capturing it accurately is much more difficult.
I was always amazed at how great the old blues guys use to sound on usually cheap funky amps and instruments that were tired, and or cheap. The white guys had all the fancy amps and guitars= the holy grails. Yet the old guys blew them away. Walter
here are some from tonight:
link to the songs
abstract rack harp
when a bluesman goes evil
different
jello shaking hips
abstract rack harp
----------
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,800+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Nov 30, 2011 7:02 PM
|
HarpNinja
1948 posts
Nov 30, 2011
7:08 PM
|
Is that a Puck stompbox? Do you like it?
----------
Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
VHT Special 6 Mods
|
waltertore
1698 posts
Dec 01, 2011
3:14 AM
|
I never heard of it. I found a demo on the net and watched it. I wish my drum rig could be so small for live gigs! Unfortunately I thought it sounded bad. They have yet to make a gizmo that replaces real drums for me. I not only dig the live sound of them, but also how they feel on my feet/the look. It also is a great challenge to run them on my feet and keep beat while my voice, harp, guitar, keys, are going. I imagine a real drummer is playing. That allows me to let my feet do their own thing.
The down side of being a real instrument 1 man band is - hauling a bass drum, snare drum, drum pedals, ride cymbal, guitars, harps, guitar amp, keyboard, keyboard stand, PA, mic, mic stand, cds, by myself is a major operation. I am getting to old to be hauling all this stuff around. It is not inspiring anymore unless the gig is a really good one.
I use a double bass pedal to work a real snare and bass drums. I attach either a drumstick or brush to the snare. For these songs it was a stick. This stuff is on my left foot. On my right foot I use a bass drum beater pedal with a stick attached and it hits a ride cymbal. These new era journies with looping is a great thing for those it interests but it is too structured/thought involved for me. It is like being with a real band where once things are laid down it is like being on railroad tracks. Using real instruments lets you change things instantly without thoughts. That is what turns me on.
I aim to make my drums sound like they do on a 50's era recording. they are in the backround. the voice and harp are way on top and the guitar in between them and the drums. I am about the groove of the songs/stories and keep the percussion present enough to add but not detract. This is the mix I have used onstage for decades. It was born of only having one mic for vocals/harp on probably 95% of my gigs. It is the old school style I started with playing the small black blues clubs around the country. I would sit in with some of my rock friends and was always amazed at how much gear they had, soundmen, roadies, etc. It never appealed to me because I never made enough money to have that stuff! Walter
----------
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,800+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Dec 01, 2011 6:12 AM
|
HarpNinja
1949 posts
Dec 01, 2011
6:53 AM
|
I thought maybe the hockey puck looking thing in your pic was one, but now that I am on a computer and not a phone, I can see it says "chocolate wedges" on it.
Just curious as to what it was. Thanks
----------
Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
VHT Special 6 Mods
|
waltertore
1700 posts
Dec 01, 2011
7:08 AM
|
Harpnija: you are perceptive! walterharp sent me a homemade tie clip mic. The battery for it is in that box. I used that picture to show the harp rack/beer cooler set up. It is a cool sounding little mic but it overloads when in the beer cooler. The akg 58 is a studio console talk back mic- used when the reocording engineer wants to talk to the musicians in the studio area. It doesn't overload when compressed in my hands or the cooler. It is well built and no bigger than you thumb joint. New they are around 100 or so I think but used they can be had for 20 bucks. The harp on these recordings went through the akg 58 and the honeytone. The guitar went through the princeton reverb. That puck thing sounded no better than a cheap homemade stompbox to my ears. Walter
----------
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,800+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Dec 01, 2011 7:11 AM
|
waltertore
1705 posts
Dec 02, 2011
6:36 PM
|
I did a little of this and a little of that and here is what I got. Not a bad sound IMO for a $20 toy amp. I am off to a guys house tomorrow that started building tube amps in the mid 50's. He is a interesting character to say the least. He loaned me one of his creations and I am returning it and will check out more of his stuff. But as of tonight the honeytone is the amp to beat and at $20 it will be tough to beat it! Walter
link to the songs
been a loner most of my life
my music sells since I took to murder
why Im the best
Baby let me sleep it off tonight
highway cruising time
to my friend roy buchanan
fancy rings, fancy clothes, cadillacs
----------
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,800+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
|
ianharpo
80 posts
Dec 03, 2011
2:13 PM
|
Never mind all that Walter .......where'd ya get those funky suits, man?
|
waltertore
1707 posts
Dec 03, 2011
3:05 PM
|
I use to ask pimps where they got their clothes starting out, and when I moved to Texas I found a black preachers wife in austin make my suits. It was her calling from the Lord and she liked the materials I brought her.
When moved to Ca, I had my BBQ partner from Louisiana and an ex pro football player get my suits when he went back to louisana to visit. here he is
Lately I have bought them online. I have heard there is a cool shop in columbus ohio(30 minutes away) but I don't have any gigs on the calendar to justify buying anymore. I learned from the old bluesmen how big an impact sharp suits, jewelery, cadillacs, have. I sung a song about it yesterday on the link below. Walter
----------
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,800+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Dec 03, 2011 3:08 PM
|
