Shoot...I guess it'd depend on the rig. Whatever could give you the most distortion I suppose. Like a lead channel or an overdrive switch. But that results in feedback with the higher gain of course. ----------
Well, if it's playing ZZ Top that you're specifically interested in, you might wanna give this a look. James Harman is playing with them here, but he isn't trying to make himself stand out or overly distorted. ZZ Top music is, after all, mostly blues when you get down to its heart and soul. And it sounds like James is just trying to give a balanced fill to the mix in the old school manner.
I thought you meant playing harp on something more heavy metal rock oriented like Black Sabbath or Judas Priest.
If that were the case, then yes, the idea would be finding a balance between your volume and gain (which aren't the same thing), and your EQ/tone settings, to where they give you the sound you're looking for. But as I said, gain isn't volume. It's the amount of preamp voltage applied to the instrument/mic. And too much of it can cause feedback in relation to the distance between your mic and the amp, much more so with a microphone than with a guitar. So play around, but keep your surroundings in mind. ----------
Hawkeye Kane
Last Edited by on Jan 10, 2013 12:52 PM
Harmonica to alot of classic rock is fairly straight ahead heck I was playing in a band doing stooges covers and harp works well. It's just not ripping12- 24 bar solos like a straight ahead blues.
If you want to play with lamb of god or something it's a whole other vibe.
I saw Paul Butterfield in 1970 doing "everythings gonna be alright" blues song but they were hard rock-in it.horn section etc. PB was plugged into 2 twin reverbs ,he must of been turned all the way up `cause he was getting overtone feedback like a guitar player... Ican still hear it, too cool.......of course his mic was 545...
I hardly hear James harmonica on the video;) It's not kinda play I expect to play.
Well, to be honest I'd like not to be limited by blues scale only. I want sound like hard rock bands of my lovely 80-90th: hard, easy arranged commertial hard rock. Don't replace guitar, but add overdriven sound to it.
