Cavalier Green
3 posts
Feb 08, 2010
12:38 PM
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I have both the Shure Green Bullet (made in , yes , Mexico)and a Hohner Blues Blaster. I have an incredible amount of breathiness coming through each one. Is it technique, and what can I do (besides practice ,practice, practice, or is it something else in the construction of the mic that can be improved. Any help with this or insight and tips on playoin these mics is much appreciated. I also need a few tips on tuning an amp for " THE SOUND". Low gain, pre-amp, post gain, huh? I don't have a classic amp, just a Peavey modeling Vyper that does some pretty good distortion but I get a ton of feedback.Of course knowing that it is more the player than the amp or mic. Thanks ,
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barbequebob
448 posts
Feb 08, 2010
12:44 PM
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Since they both are omni directional in their pickup pattern (picks up in a 180 degree pattern), the most likely culprit is your technique more than anything else. I'm not a fan of the post, pre or all othis other crap and prefer simple plug in and play.
Another thing to remember is that any harp mic is FAR hotter signal than a guitar signal is and whaterver guitar signal is, the harp signal HAS to be often considrably lower, and a big rule of thumb is turn the treble WAY down or totallly off because what's right for guitar is often not right for harmonicas.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Cavalier Green
4 posts
Feb 08, 2010
1:04 PM
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Thanks Bob, I'll try it out. Any ideas on how to practice to get that breath sound out of there? I'm guessing my lips are not tight enough on the harp.
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barbequebob
450 posts
Feb 08, 2010
1:19 PM
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The simplest but also the most challenging to learn for the average player is to use less breath force when playing and generally that eliminates the problem, plus the tone improves and you blow out a lot fewer harps too.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Cavalier Green
5 posts
Feb 08, 2010
1:24 PM
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Well you guessed that right. Blew one out last night. Reed came right out. I will have to work on tone and breath control and try not to out-blow the guitar and bass. Which I never will.
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Oxharp
138 posts
Feb 08, 2010
1:31 PM
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Hi Cav G.
why dont you put up a sound bite so we can have listen to your breath sounds and give a more precise answer to your question. It may just be your amp settings.
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Bluefinger
59 posts
Feb 09, 2010
2:02 AM
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Maybe your tone is not very loud all together. Like on every instrument it's important to get a clear, strong and loud tone. Otherwise you will have to turn up your amp much louder to achieve the same output and unwanted noise like your breath will be amplified much more. With electronical equipment this is called the signal to noise ration.
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If it ain't broke you just haven't fixed it enough ...
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jbone
275 posts
Feb 09, 2010
10:08 AM
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one thing to consider also: acoustic playing and tone. how is yours? if you get that down first, then figuring out how to put it in a mic/amp will be a breeze. and yes you have to have a tight seal between lips and harp in any case. wow, i haven't physically taken a reed out in a lot of years. that's way too much air and maybe way too cheep a harp.
but i also wonder what kind of harps you're using? the cheepies are notorious for not having a decent seal between covers and comb, and between reed plates/comb. and the reeds themselves are often made much thinner and more brittle in cheep harps. i've also gotten brand new harps that had loose screws holding the reed plates on the comb.
about the mic and amp. if you're happy with what you can get out of it, so be it. but to me it sounds like a crappy element or 2 going into a sold state amp. the elements shure put in the later versions of green bullet do have a "lesser" element than what is considered to be ideal for harp response. same with the blues blaster. those elements were chosen because the maker of the mics got them cheap, not because they sounded good or respond well.
as for that amp, i have not heard of it but if it's a solid state amp you may have an impedance mismatch between mic and amp. this can contribute to feedback. if it was me i'd try out some vocal mics like a shure sm57 or 58 and others that are low impedance mics. conversely if i could afford to, i'd get a better element into the mics i had- high impedance like controlled magnetic, crystal, or ceramic- and start looking at tube amps to blow harp through. but that can all come much later after you get your style of playing and chops sorted out.
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