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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Kalamazoo amp
Kalamazoo amp
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hvyj
2747 posts
Aug 17, 2015
2:59 PM
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Yesterday was the last Sunday jam at the venue we've been jamming at for about the last year and a half. Anyway, this tough looking guy comes in and wants to sit in on harp. Very nice guy as it turns out and he has a little Kalamazoo amp. I offer to let him use my Peavey Delta Blues but he politely declined. Me and the other musicians in the house band are afraid this is going to turn out to be another ear piecing feedback experiece so I suggest that he line out to my amp. Again, he politely declined but asked if he could use my 545 Ultimate to mic his amp through mine. Of course I agreed and turned off my pedal board boxes except for the delay which he asked that I leave on. He got out his bullet mic, plugged in to his little Kalamazoo and hung my mic over the front speaker grill of his little Kalamazoo . And the band started to play.
What a nice sounding little amp. Very pleasing TIGHT distortion and NO FEEDBACK. By "tight" distortion I mean that you could hear the edges of each note. Very articulate, and well defined. Not at all harsh and not just a bunch of distortion that blurs the separation between the notes. Plenty of crunch but no unmusical slop. Not really my thing, but a very nice and musical tight distorted tone and timbre--AND NO FEEDBACK!!!
The guy played ok, but pretty basic and nothing special. However, he was having fun, and we encouraged him to stay up for a while, not only because he was so cordial and respectful but also because his little rig '( much to our surprise and relief ) sounded pretty decent and, most importantly, DID NOT FEED BACK. Not what I would call a big boy amp, but very serviceable under live performance conditions with drums and guitars (and a keyboard). What a pleasant surprise.
Last Edited by hvyj on Aug 17, 2015 3:21 PM
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Barley Nectar
886 posts
Aug 17, 2015
4:02 PM
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Too bad it's the last jam. Great that it all worked out. I really don't understand why you are surprised by the excellent tone and lack of FB. Any small tube amp will sound good if not pushed. By micing, the Zoo was able to operate in it's sweet spot. The Peavey was doing the big work. The visiting player, although basic, has knowledge of live sound and applied that knowledge well.
I, like you, am not a fan of 5W amps on stage, with a full band but it can be done well...BN
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99
47 posts
Aug 17, 2015
6:36 PM
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Imagine that!! A harp player asks to sit in with a band and the world does not come to a screeching halt.
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hvyj
2748 posts
Aug 17, 2015
7:11 PM
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@99: It was an open jam. There were also sax players guitarists, drummers, bassists, vocalists, electric violinists and keyboard players who signed up to play as well as 3 other harp players.
@BN: the reason I was surprized was because, with one exception, any other time a harp player had brought in a small amp there would be major feedback problems. The one exception was a Memphis Mini lined out to my DB. But in any other set up, including being mic'd to the PA,
the MMs that were brought to the jam were feedback generators.
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Barley Nectar
888 posts
Aug 18, 2015
6:48 AM
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Sounds like a good jam, why is it over?
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hvyj
2749 posts
Aug 18, 2015
8:27 AM
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Short answer: Football season. The venue is essentially a rock music venue, but has big TVs and a decent pro football crowd on Sundays during FB season. The guitar player in my blues band talked the owner into having post game blues in a jam format and put together a group of compatible players with relatively strong improv skills. He was such a well regarded musician and promoted the jam so effectively that we drew really well. And we were probably the hottest blues oriented jam in town, with the band being strong enough to handle non blues material if that's what anyone who sat in wanted to play. We drew so well the owner gave us a raise. Then the guitar player moved to Florida and at the jam we replaced him with 3 guitar players who would rotate and we still drew consistently well. But during FB season the music would drown out the 8 o'clock NFL game. I dunno, but maybe the FB crowd spends more than the music crowd. Also, the drummer who took over as leader didn't have the smoothest business interaction with the owner. He's trying to find us new home at different venue, so we'll see.
Last Edited by hvyj on Aug 18, 2015 8:51 AM
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hvyj
2752 posts
Aug 19, 2015
9:45 AM
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True story: went to a jam last night. It's not a blues jam, but an everything jam which includes blues. I am always allowed to set up my amp (usually my Princeton Reverb RI-- it's a smaller venue) and play whenever I want. Of course i try to use good judgement and I'm not shy about laying out. Anyway, a harp playing refugee from the defunct Sunday blues jam comes in with his Memphis Mini. He doesn't line it out or mic it. The amp sounded GREAT! A little less volume than would have been optimum, but no feedback. Go figure...
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