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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Harp Attack once again ...
Harp Attack once again ...
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Martin
1061 posts
Sep 01, 2016
3:02 PM
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Still somewhat underwhelmed by the performance of my Harp Attack, I tried it with a Green Bullet.
Big difference.
Is this the general notion among you who use this pedal, that it requires a certain mic type, Bullets and whatever?
My Audix Fireball does precious little for me in terms of distortion, even if I go all in on the drive; the old Beyer dynamic was even worse.
Last Edited by Martin on Sep 01, 2016 3:02 PM
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ME.HarpDoc
186 posts
Sep 01, 2016
4:04 PM
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Martin
There's a good article by Greg Heuman of BlowsMeAway Productions blowsmeaway.com, that discusses microphones, elements, amps, etc.. The Audix Fireball has a lot of what's called "headroom". That means very little difference in sound/tone when cupped or uncupped. The Green bullet as well as many older vintage bullet mics, like the Astatic JT30 or a Turner, don't have that sort of headroom . Where the element is placed within the mic has an effect as well. So the Harp Attack will respond differently to different miss. If you don't like bullets as well as stick miss, The Shure 57 and 545 will give you pretty good response. Greg has his own element that sounds like vintage elements. Check out his site.
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Kingley
4043 posts
Sep 01, 2016
10:11 PM
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Not my experience at all. The harp attack sounds great and overdrives easily with every type of mic I've ever used into it. Crystals, ceramics, dynamic, stick or bullet, I get the same result.
How much overdrive/distortion are you after?
Can you get an overdriven sound going direct into your amp?
Maybe it would be helpful if you could pay examples of the type of overdrive harp playing you're trying to achieve. Or post some recording of you playing into the Harp Attack with the drive as high as you can get it.
My experience with the Harp Attack is that I never need to turn the drive higher than 9 o'clock. With that drive setting I can easily obtain a level of drive similar to Little Walters 'Rocker'. Which for me is more than enough drive, with any Hi-Z mic (or Low -Z with impedance converter) plugged into it.
It's also worth noting that both those stick mics you mention are Low-Z. Are you using an impedance converter with them? If not then you're not giving the pedal a strong enough signal.
Last Edited by Kingley on Sep 01, 2016 10:14 PM
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Killa_Hertz
1728 posts
Sep 02, 2016
4:45 AM
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I too am surprised that you have such issue with this pedal. The Harp Attack is one of the only pedals that I actually was Super Impressed with. Most other pedals leave me wanting in some regard. Either the effect just doesn't quite do what I want it to, or the pedal will create a solid state type processed sound in the mix. But the Harp Attack has a Nice Warm Tone and has a very big sweep on all of the Pots to give you a pretty wide range of sounds.
I think the Mic does have a Bit to do with it, but not as much as your thinking. As HarpDoc said The Fireball isnt the mic to use for distortion. It has far too much headroom. But aslong as you use a somewhat dirty mic that reacts well to cupping, you shouldnt have any problem getting almost any shade of sound you want. Vintage CR/CM mics are awesome, but I can get really nice sounds out of much cheaper mics. Like the tape recorder mics for example. ( Akai DM13, Sonotone CM11, Aiwa DM10, .....) So you dont have to have a high dollar mic to get a good sound.
Ofcourse you have to use the controls on the pedal in conjunction with the controls on your amp.
I think ( as Kingley Suggested) Sound samples are the best way to help you. Maybe along with your own sound samples, include a sample of a song with the sound your trying to achieve.
ALL (100%) on the drive is WAY too much. Atleast thats my opinion. It seems you are using all relatively clean mics. This may be a big part of your problem. It should sound good and warm, but may be the reason you can achieve that sweet spot your looking for.
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Martin
1062 posts
Sep 02, 2016
5:22 AM
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@Kingley. "Low Z"? Hm. There my technophobia raises its ugly head once again. Gotta check that out, it it´s a crucial factor.
I´ve been setting the pedal to max, but no particular joy in terms of distortion.
Thank you all, in a haste now but will check out all your tips.
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Kingley
4044 posts
Sep 02, 2016
5:37 AM
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Martin, it is indeed a crucial factor when using the Harp Attack. Low-Z is low impedance. Think mics like SM58 and SM57. Hi-Z is high impedance. Think mics like JT30, Shure 520. The Harp Attack wants to see a high impedance load. You can use mics like the Audix Fireball, SM58, SM57, etc with it. To do so though and have the pedal work as its supposed too. You'll need to use a low to hi impedance converter. Once you use a high impedance signal into the pedal, you'll find the difference in sound is huge. Both in volume, overdrive and tonal character.
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Harmonicatunes
178 posts
Sep 04, 2016
7:08 PM
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Echo the previous response. Get an impedance converter, for example the Audix one, available at http://rockinronsmusicsd.com/audix-inline-impedance-matching-transformer.html
The difference will be night and day. I played through a Harp Attack the other day on a loud blues stage, and loved it.
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
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