Aussiesucker
1159 posts
Jul 11, 2012
3:50 PM
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Has anyone any experience in using one of these amps & their suitability for harp? My needs are for home recording & a clean warm tone.
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HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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HawkeyeKane
1069 posts
Jul 11, 2012
4:21 PM
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Seems like a guy was searching for his first amp on here not too long ago and that's what he settled on. Can't for the life of me remember who it was, but he seemed happy with it.
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Hawkeye Kane
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isaacullah
2064 posts
Jul 11, 2012
4:48 PM
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I tried one in the shop once, and I directly compared it to a stock Epiphone Valve Jr., using the same mic. The Valve Jr. just blew the Bugera away in terms of tone. I was using a Low-Z dynamic mic with no impedance matching transformer, so both amps stayed pretty clean. It's *posssible* that the Bugera would sound "better" with a High-Z signal, but I doubt it would stay clean... If you are only doing home recording, why not just buy a tube preamp (like the Art Tube MP Studio) and just go right into your mixer?
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isaacullah
2065 posts
Jul 11, 2012
5:00 PM
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Yup, I thought I remembered a post on Richard Huter's blog where he endorsed the Tube MP. Here it is: http://www.hunterharp.com/a-very-low-cost-setup-for-recording-harmonica/
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Rgsccr
51 posts
Jul 11, 2012
5:26 PM
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Hi - I am the guy who posted the thread about buying a tube amp and ended up with the Bugera V5. While I wasn't able to compare it to others which were recommended like the Valve Jr., I am very happy with the amp. One of the best features for me is the power attenuator which allows you to go from 5 watts to 1 watt or even .1 watt (still quite loud). This allows me to turn the gain and volume up to drive the preamp and still keep the volume reasonable. I like the tone which can get pretty crunchy. The reverb works well and can be quite noticeable. If you didn't like the tone I assume you could switch out the tubes and speaker. I took the amp over to a friend's house who is one of the better pro harp player in the Northwest and he was quite impressed. He played it and compared it to a couple of vintage Fender Champs he has, and thought it compared quite well. All told I am very satisfied with the amp - fit and finish are very good as well.
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Aussiesucker
1160 posts
Jul 11, 2012
6:11 PM
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Thanks for all the input.
Isaac I went down the road of using an ART Pre Amp as suggested by Richard Hunter but was unable to get any benefit from it ie bypassing the pre amp was exactly the same as using it.
I purchased a Blue Yeti which is an unbelievable USB mic for vocals delivering a warm fat room filling tone however for the harp it reacts exactly the opposite with shrill thin tone. Fixes in Audacity only tend to bring in unwanted noise.
I do currently use a cheap Micro Cube plus my ART pre amp on a Fireball mic and record harmonica through the air via the Blue Yeti. Tone is a little better but I feel in order to get the Blue Yeti to kick in & deliver I will need to over compensate on tone from the amp. If that makes sense? For vocals I simply drop the Fireball down and go direct into the Blue Yeti.
Rgsccr, thanks for the info on the Bugera. Like everything else in Oz, particularly where I live, it is almost impossible to see, hear or compare amps and have to be ordered sight unseen. I will check ou the specs & prices on the valve junior.
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HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1868 posts
Jul 11, 2012
8:12 PM
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get a rp unit like a rp155 (89$) put the Hunter harp patches on $25 you all ready have the mic Richard Hunter recomends for it,The fireball,you can record direct if you want cause the rp155 is also a interface,Im loving my Hunter harp patches I bought today its amazing how well they sound and there are around 25 clean patches with various reverbs and delays,that would sound great through the Firball,That would sound great for celtic tunes,Tony Eyers , highly recomends them ,Im telling you they have the tone you want,And if the bluegrass jam you go to has a PA then your set ,No need to carry a amp as far as I can tell,Mine works great though my small PA,But he says any clean amp can work,But if you wanting one just for recording go direct with it as a interface,you can use your head phones as a monitor or speakers,and If i hadnt allready had a small PA I might of got just a powered speaker ,they have em for about $150 and have 100 watts and is about the size of a regular amp,Im loving mine,oh and you mentioned thinking about looping awhile back you can with the pedal,its not alot of juice but it gives a little;-)
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Hobostubs
Last Edited by on Jul 11, 2012 8:15 PM
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isaacullah
2066 posts
Jul 11, 2012
8:14 PM
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@Rgsccr: I'm glad to hear that you had better results with the Bugera than I did! I'm willing to bet that most of the issue was that the particular mic I was using at the time (a vintage Shure PE 57) just wasn't prob=perly matched to the input of the Bugera, and was better matched to the input of the EVJ. What kind of mic are you using with it?
@Aussie: I sad to hear about your experience with the Tube MP. I've been eyeing it for just this purpose, but I suppose it's just "too good to be true"! I'm working on getting my home recording setup together as well. I just scored an amazing craigslist deal on a used Alesis Multimix 8 USB (for $20!!!). That thing is just really cool: an 8 channel mixer with onboard preamps, phantom power, 100 digital FX, 3 band EQ on all channels, all kinds of sends and returns, and an integrated low-latencey stereo I/O digital audio interface on a driver-less USB connection... With the addition of that unit, the main thing I'm looking to acquire next are a couple of good condenser mics. What I really want is a two mic set up so that I can do true stereo recording of acoustic playing, or a near/far room mic set up for amped or multi-instrument recording...
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isaacullah
2067 posts
Jul 11, 2012
8:17 PM
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Hobostubs and I posted at the same time: I agree with him. The RP's are great! My Zoom G3 is also great... These will have more than enough tones in them for studio work... Before the Alesis unit I just got, I used my G3 as direct interface to the computer. The only thing that neither of those units do is allow for more than one instrument/mic to be connected at one time without and external mixer (which is what I was looking for when I found the deal on the Alesis mixer...)...
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====== I S A A C ======
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1869 posts
Jul 11, 2012
8:17 PM
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ive heard nothing but great things about the art pre amp,Tony Eyers has it on a list of good stage equipment on his site,And I have a recording buddy that swears by them and they are very cheap my next piece of gear is going to be one
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Hobostubs
Last Edited by on Jul 11, 2012 8:18 PM
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1870 posts
Jul 11, 2012
8:24 PM
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you say David that the Art pre amp dosnt do what your wanting,From my understanding they warm up a tone maybe even push it some if needed,But they dont add any effects,So you might not feel like its doing much ,but the hunter harp patches and a rp unit has alot of great clean reverbs and delays now you add that in the mix and It will have what your looking for Im willing to bet.
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Hobostubs
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Rick Davis
507 posts
Jul 11, 2012
9:02 PM
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A buddy of mine has the little Bugera amp. I've played it and it's pretty cool.
I wrote about in in the Blues Harp Amps blog.
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-Rick Davis
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1871 posts
Jul 11, 2012
9:02 PM
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It is a nice looking amp
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Hobostubs
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Aussiesucker
1161 posts
Jul 11, 2012
9:11 PM
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Hobo you are probably correct however I would not want to sacrifice not using my Blue Yeti which is USB direct & is fantastic for vocals. The Art pre amp only adds volume & seemingly has no effect on tone. I use the Art in line eg Fireball > Delay Pedal > Art Pre Amp > Amp then through the air to the Blue Yeti condenser mic. If I can beef up the tone for the harp I would be happier.
Initially I purchased the Art Pre Amp (which here is ca $100 ouch)to use as a mic interface in exact same way as Tony Eyers has set up. It worked but was only producing a weak mono signal. Mic direct produced much the same result.
Isaac & Hobo I certainly will look at the RP Unit & the Hunter Harp patches.
Thanks for the info.
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HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1872 posts
Jul 11, 2012
9:26 PM
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Im telling you I love mine allready,The Hunter harp patches,I did a write up it on the schools forum youll probelly see,Im just playing around with alot of options to work with right now;-)
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Hobostubs
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Rgsccr
52 posts
Jul 11, 2012
10:14 PM
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Issac,
I have two mics, a Shure PE 585 and a Red Howler, and both sound good (to me) with the amp. I just got an Astatic 200 Brown Bullet which I think will sound good with vintage Astatic ceramic element that the Harp Mic Shop is sending me. Of course, I never was able to compare it to other low watt amps so it is certainly possible that another amp might sound even better.
Rich
Last Edited by on Jul 11, 2012 10:15 PM
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isaacullah
2069 posts
Jul 12, 2012
3:17 PM
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Thanks Rgsccr! Good to know! :)
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Aussiesucker
1162 posts
Jul 12, 2012
7:06 PM
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I managed to track down a local supplier of Digitech RP155 and they have an amp room at their showroom to allow customers to try out gear. They are on the other side of town to where I am but I will go there next week with my Fireball & amp and try the RP155. Not having the Hunter patches I am interested to know what settings I should try to get a warm clean tone?
I enquired about the Bugera V5 amp & they said they sold the Vox 4W valve amp. They claimed it to be a lot more reliable than the Bugera with much the same specs. Price however is over $100 more... ouch!
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HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1873 posts
Jul 12, 2012
9:29 PM
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David I tried to avoid giving you a setting at (HA )cause,You allmost have to hear the Hunter patches to get a true evaluation of what the rp unites can do.
turn the 1st knob on your left to #20 or 21,that puts it on clean,then the second knob next to it can be put on 1-30 for various effects,that should dial you into the ball park of what Im thinking your looking for,But remember its set up for guitar,and the hunter patches turn it into a whole different tool,Trust me Mr hunter has a patch that will work for the kind of music that I know you like to play and a whole lot more for any other style,You might need to adjust the 3 and forth knobs to get the levels reduced if feedback happens the 3 rd is for effects level how much effect is being used,the 4th is the master
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Hobostubs
Last Edited by on Jul 12, 2012 9:34 PM
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isaacullah
2071 posts
Jul 13, 2012
9:51 AM
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I have a set of 14 patches for the 155 (translated also for the 150 and the 355) that I can send you for free if you end up going that route. Eharp and JohnnyHarp have both used them. JohnnyHarp recorded himself playing all the patches to the same backtrack and sent them to me. I can forward those to you if you want so you can hear what the patches sound like. I've got two patches in the set that were specially set up for clean acoustic playing.
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====== I S A A C ======
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1874 posts
Jul 13, 2012
12:11 PM
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I was going to ask you if I could try some of those patches isaacullah,I knew you had mentioned them on here befor,But when I went back though the archives on it,I ran into where you had moved to another effects pedal,And I got to thinking(I know thats Bad sometimes;-)You probelly might not have the old rp155 patches and didnt ask,I ended up getting the hunter patches for this weekend and Wow Im like man these things are great,But I know your pretty good at doing DYI stuff,So you probelly have a few good ones yourself
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Hobostubs
Last Edited by on Jul 13, 2012 12:11 PM
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isaacullah
2074 posts
Jul 13, 2012
1:05 PM
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I still have them Hobostubs... You can find my e-mail in my profile info. E-mail me and I'll send them to you. From what I understand, the Hunter patches are excellent, but hey, it can't hurt to have more, right?! :)
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====== I S A A C ======
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1875 posts
Jul 13, 2012
1:05 PM
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cool thanks isaacullah
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Hobostubs
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