528hemi
449 posts
Sep 09, 2014
6:58 PM
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Who would you choice who is still alive that has the best harp tone?
I would choose Steve Guyger.
528hemi
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Frank
5252 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:18 PM
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Easy one... Paul AKA Komuso - is the God of Tone!
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Ted Burke
183 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:43 PM
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Adam Gussow, honestly. He has great riffs, phrasing, lots of ideas from different sources he delved deeply into, and he is able to bring them together not blended really, but rather as something seamless and pure, something naturally expressive. His mastery of tone has much to do with that, blending the gratifying edges of sweet and sour; his tone is ebullient, exclamatory, horn like like the old James Brown band, but there is a very fine lyric element in when he plays longer runs and gets up to six draw and above. There it gets clarinet like , with a well rounded, snaking sound. What Adam brings together and what he constructs with the euphonious, endlessly pliable tone is Master Class stuff.
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"I don't play too fast. You're listening too slow."
ted-burke.com
tburke4@san.rr.com
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Komuso
409 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:44 PM
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No, not me! But anyone who uses a new micro x factor gibblewhitz furnfahfer pedal is probably going to be up there!
I'm more like a minor diety from hell when it comes to tone.
Even Satan told me to gtfo of his boxcar.
In fact my tone is so thin I use it to slice sushi for dinner!
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
Last Edited by Komuso on Sep 09, 2014 10:34 PM
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Harp2swing
156 posts
Sep 10, 2014
2:14 AM
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I purchased a new micro x factor gibblewhitz furnfahfer pedal just last week, these pedals are fantastic!
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atty1chgo
1117 posts
Sep 10, 2014
3:30 AM
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With very much and all due respect, this topic is the most subjective of all.
What type of tone are we talking about? Is it the "Chicago" Little Walter tone, or the overly distorted and OVERLY worshiped on this forum tone (but NOT by me)? Is it the amplified tone Jason Ricci was, and sometimes is now (I say sometimes because he has gotten more diversified acoustically and is trailblazing with different tones) famous for? Is it Sugar Blue's distinctive tone, or Adam Gussow's immediately recognizable tone? Is it Lee Oskar's brilliant tone? Is it the magnificent acoustic tone of Phil Wiggins and/or Annie Raines?
Really now folks, this is a preference issue above all others. But if we are going PREFERENCE OF PLAYER and VERSATILITY, it has to be Billy Branch.
Billy uses a Peavey Special 130 solid state amp from the early 1980's (heaven forbid!) and an Electrovoice 635A street broadcast interview stick mic (more blasphemy for 99% of players here) with no volume control. He uses a single old Boss reverb pedal and a old Boss octave pedal as his rig. He does not use "white label" and "black label" elements (I thought I was talking about SCOTCH WHISKEY for a moment). Yet no professional gets more tone of any kind out of his playing. He can distort the sound, he can give you the dirt without gizmos, he can play acoustic, he can play through the PA, he can give you the clean Carey Bell tone, he can play like Cotton, or Big Walter without using the equipment as a crutch. His tone is never manufactured, save perhaps when he hits the octave pedal, while on chromatic harp or diatonic.
Billy Branch is the master of tone. He can do it all without the gimmicks. His expression through the harp was learned from four masters DIRECTLY - Big Walter, Carey Bell, James Cotton, and Junior Wells. And he articulates through the harp in so many different ways, whether high or low register, and like no other.
Last Edited by atty1chgo on Sep 10, 2014 4:42 AM
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sean
7 posts
Sep 10, 2014
2:18 PM
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Dennis Gruenling
Sean
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Honkin On Bobo
1250 posts
Sep 10, 2014
2:27 PM
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This guy.
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harpdude61
2131 posts
Sep 10, 2014
3:40 PM
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Acoustically speaking Phil Wiggins is amazing.
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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BronzeWailer
1442 posts
Sep 10, 2014
3:46 PM
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At Honkin On Bobo. FB is awesome! Never gets old. He was on the other night and we watched him even though we have the DVD.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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Sedandelivery
23 posts
Sep 10, 2014
9:04 PM
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I would have to go with Paul Oscher. Love his amplified sound.
Also, he doesn't get mentioned here much (not sure why) but I saw Andy J Forest down on Frenchmen St. back in 2011 and man, his Bassman was absolutely howling! Best sound I've ever heard in person.
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Ugly Bones Ryan
112 posts
Sep 11, 2014
7:51 AM
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Adam Gussow, Jerry Portnoy, and James Cotton. Adam is progressive yet still more traditionally "bluesy" than guys like Jason Ricci and Sugar Blue. James and Jerry both played with Muddy Waters and while they both have very different styles, they sound very traditional stylistically. Even when Jerry plays Lullaby Birdland he has that downhome blues tone.
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Frank
5279 posts
Sep 11, 2014
8:09 AM
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DoubleJ
75 posts
Sep 11, 2014
8:46 AM
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aaty1 is right. We have to divide this into categories.
How about:
1 acoustic
2 traditional amplified (Chicago style)
3 modern amplified (pedals etc.)
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Frank
5289 posts
Sep 11, 2014
4:51 PM
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dougharps
730 posts
Sep 12, 2014
8:03 AM
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I don't know about "#1 undisputed" as I have not heard all the other players in person on good nights, and if I had I doubt I could distinguish the small differences via my recollection, which is not reliable.
But the best tone I have personally ever heard live, both amplified and acoustic, was Deak. I have heard many great players, with great tone, but Deak is the best I have heard in person.
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Doug S.
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colman
319 posts
Sep 12, 2014
8:15 AM
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I heard JAMES COTTON 45 Years ago in a little club ,and he honked,growled,spit,kissed and any other sound available.on the harp,and i haven`t heard any one have a fat ass sound like dat`...
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Frank
5295 posts
Sep 12, 2014
8:30 AM
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If anyone reads this 1000 years from now - Please know, that this declaration from me is all the proof needed... that Yes, [DEAK HARP] is Officially and "without a doubt"- hands down the #1 (undisputed) blues harp tone Winner. And this achievement includes the prestigious title of #1 (undisputed) blues harp tone Winner > throughout the entire world...congratulations Deak - you honkin madman :)
Ps...so sorry to the rest of the contestants, but there can be only ONE Undisputed TONE Master...
Again, Please - lets hear it for Mr. Deak Harp,
The Crowned King of all Tone, amped, acoustic, whatever kind of tone there is... Deak is the Undisputed Ruler of it Period!!! :)
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 12, 2014 9:26 AM
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