In this video Nic Clark is playing my Mission Chicago 32-20 amp, with zero effects, not even delay. To my ear this is perfect amp tone: Warm and full with a bit of crunch. It gets some sag and sings with overtones, although that does not come across as well in the video as it did live.
The tone is not shrill and the grit is not ratty or overdone. It is not boxy or nasal or muffled. Perfect.
When I say "perfect" I mean it is my ideal harp tone. It is what I had in my head when I was helping to design and develop this amp. I know full well that amp tone is subjective and there is no such thing as perfect tone, but if you ever wondered what perfect tone means to me, this is it.
Please post video examples of your ideal amp tone.
(This was last night at the Mile High Blues Society Jam at Ziggies in Denver. In this video: Nic Clark, Bad Brad Stivers, Jackie Major, Tim Molinaro, and Mac McMurray.)
I was very happy with the pairing of a Masco MU-5 and a Kay 703 that I used in the video below. I've been claiming for a long time that smaller is bigger: that small amps, handled properly, give a big, full sound. Of course there are tradeoffs; I won't pretend that these amps, even miked through a good PA, will have the low-end ooomph! of an amp like the Mission. But they've got their own magic--and most people in a blind test would, I think, call this a big, full sound. (The metal garage door just behind the amps might be helping.)
Two brief addenda: First, we can't discount the quality (or low quality) of the videocam mic doing the sound capture. These amps actually have more low end than the videocam mic manages to record. Second, I played a live gig with this setup a few weeks ago, miking both the amps through the PA with Sennheiser e906's and asking the sound tech to turn up the low end on the harp channel a bit. There was a surprising amount of low end coming off these two small amps.
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2013 3:50 PM
I'm pretty partial to Charlie's mellow tones myself. I realize that a good deal of his tone is a result of his countless years of experience and practice, but he always seems to send chills up my spine. I assume he's using his Super Cruncher here.
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Hawkeye Kane
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2013 4:56 PM
"What amp is Kim Wilson playing? It looks like his Victoria Bassman."
Kim sold that Victoria Bassman -that amp is Kim's original 59 Bassman-it's ragged,but tons of mojo goin on there!
There are better views on other videos from that event-most of that tone is coming from the big Meteor amp,which is linked to the Bassman. The Meteor is miced into the house-brutal!!!
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2013 5:02 PM
"JD, I've heard Nic on lots of different amps. He sounds better on some than on others. I think this amp sounds ideal."
I got that, I just don't agree. I've heard those amps sound much more dynamic and not so distorted, and I think it was Nic playing the amp that time too if I remember correctly. I prefer amps for both guitar and harp to only break up when you are really pushing them. It's OK to be different.
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2013 5:25 PM
Oh my, Gruenlings Leslie Effect starting at 3:55 is something else. I had not heard that. Way cool. That must be collected, by me. Covet. The amp tone examples, regardless of the rig, have a thread throughout -serious tongue blocking. (respectfully, not Adam's primary weapon)
Thanks Frank for that Mikey Jr. clip. Thats the kind of sound I like. Some treble crunch. It's also Mikey's attitude, which has that crazy edge.
JD, that Muddy clip with Cotton is a great one for this thread. That's what I hear from Nic: deep Cotton tone and beautifully modulated vibrato. The amp serves his acoustic tone well, but most of us--95% of us--wouldn't sound like that on that amp, fine as it is.
Cotton's acoustic tone is the secret, not the mic or amp he happens to be playing through. Everybody who has played with him or seen him live confirms this. Cotton tends to sound best, in fact, through the (solid state) PA.
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2013 7:27 PM
First time i ever saw Kim do this thing was on a SPAH video around 1997. Then live around 2000 at the Byron Bay Blues Fest(Australia)with Kid Ramos, he had a huge Marquee of 20 somethings going ape shit..i was seriously worried that some of'em were going to damage themselves. 15 minutes,I timed it. Both times were 'better' than this one but for sure no one can do this like Kim.
For me personally the perfect amp tone is a Blackface Princeton Reverb. In bigger amps I think any incarnation of the '59 Bassman that's been well set up is pretty hard to beat. Of course though acoustic tone is the most important thing. The more you work on that acoustic tone, the better you're amps will sound.
"Cotton tends to sound best, in fact, through the (solid state) PA." I completely agree with you Adam.
I dig Nic, but thought the tone was too warm and chewy...in general, not just because that wouldn't be my ideal tone. I listened to the vids posted on actual speakers with the exception of the last post or two.
Even so, my favs were Carey Bell and Billy Branch, as that is what I'd strive for.
Kim sounds amazing in that outdoor clip. It is so fat an enormous! I like it because it is articulate and not overly warm or muddy. If I played blues in that style, I would be after that tone. The crunch from the gear with his technique is truly inspiring.
Adam Gussow's tone on Kick and Stomp is absolutely perfect. I don't know if that would be the case with a full band or not, but the tone on the title track is absolutely, without a doubt, perfect in every way.
Some Peavey or something. The best tone I ever heard was at the SPAH '10 Blowoff. Chris Michalek used his pedal board and RE10 through the board. I think he might have had a Boss OC2 as a compressor, but he didn't have any sort of preamp. The sound guy mixed it out front and in the monitors.
I have never been able to track down audio from that night, but it was absolutely perfect for any style of playing. I am unaware of any vids posted of him through a similar rig. I think most are with a Bassman or HG Champ.
Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet >> how the keyed harp being used will give tonal difference. An -F- or- D - or- Eb is going to sound different through an amp then when using a G -Bb or A etc...And some folk may make a judgement about whether they prefer how an amp is sounding based on what harp the player is using - without even realizing that link in the chain (high or low keyed harp) is helping with what sound they our attracted too, when making amp comparisons or preferences.
Last Edited by on Jan 15, 2013 2:34 PM
@ Frank "Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet >> how the keyed harp being used will give tonal difference. An -F- or- D - or- Eb is going to sound different through an amp then when using a G -Bb or A etc..."
Some amps will reproduce certain frequencies better than others but key is more a question of frequency, rather than "tone"...otherwise everyone would just play Gs & low Fs and sound awesome....and they don't. ---------- www.myspace.com/markburness
Hey Mark, I would take it a bit further. Don't just reproduce frequencies better, but the overtones can be in tune with the dominant notes in a song.. but maybe that is what you meant..
