Diggsblues
253 posts
Mar 26, 2010
4:23 PM
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One thing I've found is that diatonic and chromatic
harmonicas have a whole different sound in regards to
effects and amps and mics. The sound you get for one
may not translate to the other and be a whole different
vibe.
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MJ
149 posts
Mar 26, 2010
5:20 PM
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As I mentioned in my earlier post, I only use one pedal at a time with a minimun setting to sort of wetten up my sound. I prefer to be able to get the sound I want under any circumstance. Even if I have occasion to play with a setup that is not mine, I can feel comfortable.
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shanester
145 posts
Mar 26, 2010
5:24 PM
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Effects are for babies and little girls. I do not use effects.
I play my harmonica like a big, macho man or a strong, healthy woman, buck nekkid.
My tone is superior to all, and if you want, we can go at it on skype at a time of your choosing (subject to availability in my busy schedule) and you will be schooled brutally in the art of harpitude.
Make sure your spouse, domestic partner, girlfriend, boyfriend or whatever is there because I want them to watch...
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http://www.youtube.com/1shanester
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boris_plotnikov
60 posts
Mar 26, 2010
7:53 PM
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If you use a lot of effects it'll better to use big amp. I still use 15w 10' copy of Pro Jr and sometimes I even prefer to plug to some big solid state amp.
Ev630
Yes, harp attack, harp delay and sonic stomp let me not to take my amp with me as I can make any sh*t amp sounds good. If I use my amp of choice (Yerasov GTA15r, russian copy of Pro Junior) I don't use harp attack, I use Boss EQ to boost some specific frequencies (bass and upper mids).
XHarp
Boss HR-2 is Boss harmonist pedal. It adds one or two intervals to your tone. Jason Ricci used the same before he bought Micropog. I use it only as an octave pedal, but it's possible to add all intervals from one octave down to one octave higher.
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http://myspace.com/harmonicaboris
Last Edited by on Mar 26, 2010 8:14 PM
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captainbliss
8 posts
Mar 27, 2010
3:19 AM
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"Do you use effects?"
Nope. Don't use an amp, either.
Just use whatever vocal mic ("free air" or cupped, depending on band / volume levels / mood) the venue has if totally unplugged (my preference) isn't an option.
xxx
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shanester
146 posts
Mar 27, 2010
10:54 AM
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My tone - got lots of soul
Yo' tone - like a toilet bowl
My tone - is like the horns of heaven
Yo' tone - from 7eleven
My tone - makes the ladies wiggle
Yo' tone - produce muffled giggles...
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http://www.youtube.com/1shanester
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shanester
147 posts
Mar 27, 2010
5:38 PM
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(sniff) No one wants to play with me. OK, so maybe my tone's not so great but it's MY tone and I'm special!
And I'm learnin' how to use my amp 'n' stuff, too, you'll see...
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http://www.youtube.com/1shanester
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jbone
301 posts
Mar 27, 2010
9:19 PM
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i'm a straight into the amp guy. many years ago when i got my first harp rig- not having any idea what would sound good- it was a ss crate II amp with a small lavalier type mic. dry as a bone. i then got a boss digital delay peadl to wet it up a bit. those items found their way out of my hands at some point after i got my first tube amp, a '62 princeton tremolo, and a green bullet mic from pre-80's.
i wouldn't mind trying out a delay pedal but i really like it as simple as possible. with the bassman's superior tone already, and i haven't even gone to better tubes yet, i'm not in a hurry to try a delay peadl there. whith the smaller but still fairly tone-y silvertone, maybe. i also have yet to upograde to a better speaker on that one, i swapped the original 12" for a ceramic speaker i'd gotten a deal on about 7 years ago when i first bought it and it's worked well that way. but maybe a pedal.....
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mrdon46
34 posts
Mar 28, 2010
8:51 PM
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Interesting thread, I seem to go back and forth--lately I've been playing dry and loving it, but I have a pedalboard (LW Harp Octave, Boss OC-2, Maxon AF-9, Boss AD-3, LW Harp Delay, Sonic Stomp) that I use as well. Actually, I was just playing with it earlier tonight, trying to decide what I liked best--I think it really comes down to a combination of the song, my mood, the mic, the amp, the room acoustics, maybe the alignment of the planets....since the amp I use most often has 2 separate preamp tubes, I decided I'd keep my pedal board plugged into one and a particular crystal mic that sounds great all on its own plugged into the other (grid leak), so I'm set for whatever.
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Kyzer Sosa
246 posts
Mar 28, 2010
9:52 PM
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jon, you probably spent 900 bucks on your pedals, so perhaps you should have just bought the $1000 amp in the first place huh? lol...
i plug directly into the PA and love the way it sounds.
its better than my little bullshittn' assed fender frontman i have.
i MIGHT consider a delay, but that's about all Kyzers' interested in. the rest of that crap just seems like little boys wanting to be grown up with their big boy toys, and letting their wallets get in the way of their lack of practice.
I know pros (some of em) use it too. but it just seems a bit excessive.
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Kyzer's Travels
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oldwailer
1160 posts
Mar 28, 2010
10:19 PM
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How do you guys decide what pedal to buy first and what you think would sound best? Is it all just buy some thing and try it to see if it works? Seems like that could be expensive.
Do music stores let you just try shit out?
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Kyzer Sosa
247 posts
Mar 28, 2010
11:13 PM
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yes they do oldwailer. Jut go in and look around. In a music store, theres no shortage of dudes looking for something to do to kill time.
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Kyzer's Travels
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jonsparrow
2632 posts
Mar 28, 2010
11:15 PM
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"jon, you probably spent 900 bucks on your pedals, so perhaps you should have just bought the $1000 amp in the first place huh? lol..."
ya but im bad at saving money.
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boris_plotnikov
64 posts
Mar 28, 2010
11:17 PM
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1. Buying - trying - selling if dislike or leaving with me if like
2. Trying in the music stores
3. User reviews here and at harp-l and at harmony-central.com (not for harp, but evrything about reliability)
4. Facts of using pedals by known players like Jason Ricci, Chris Michalek.
If pedal have a lot of knobs it usually possible to find at least one great sound (if pedal is not noisy).
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http://myspace.com/harmonicaboris
Last Edited by on Mar 28, 2010 11:19 PM
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Ev630
203 posts
Mar 29, 2010
12:36 AM
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Good strategy, Boris, and adaptable. For me, I'd change Michalek and Ricci to Wilson, Guyger, Estrin, Cotton, the Walters and Sugar Ray.
;)
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boris_plotnikov
65 posts
Mar 29, 2010
1:15 AM
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I think, any modern player on any instrument must have the ability to play more than one style. If I play stright blues, I don't use octaver, long delays, however I like using phaser while playing accompaniment for guitar solo. Like here
It's SM57 to LW HarpAttack to LW HarpDelay to PA. Not perfect tone for the whole tune (very strange trebly PA, no amp + Zoom H4 don't take a lot of bass), but note my playing behind guitar solo from 1:35. It sounds cool a bit like hammond-organ. Why not using this effect?
But if I'm playing some sort of fusion music, classical blues tone can't fit it enough.
So if I play some sort of classical music I avoid using effects and amps at all like here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_C_McDNELk
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http://myspace.com/harmonicaboris
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MP
114 posts
Mar 29, 2010
4:38 AM
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i dig a 1980s ibanez CD10 delay champ. nothin' fancy. 3 knobs. small. analog in and analog out. very warm room sound and it doesn't eat up batterys.
it can even turn a pignose into a force for good. (well, almost)
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MP
115 posts
Mar 29, 2010
4:57 AM
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i remember watching johnny mars with tons of pedals and a line mixer. i asked the guy next to me what he thought and he replied," nothin' goin' in but a lot comin' out."
i like the 1980s IBANEZ CD10 DELAY CHAMP. analog in, analog out. very warm room sound. doesn't eat batterys. doesn't sound cartoonish.
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hvyj
242 posts
Mar 29, 2010
6:36 AM
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IMHO, the best effects (if one is using effects) are those that respond to playing technique, so the player can interact with them, instead of just using them as sound effects.
IMHO, the same goes for amps. The best amps respond to playing technique and don't just increase volume and/or mask tone with a lot of distortion.
But, of course, it all depends on what a player WANTS to sound like for the particular style of music being played. Sometimes I use a pedalboard full of gizmos, sometimes i use no outboard effects at all.
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HarpNinja
324 posts
Mar 29, 2010
7:27 AM
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Why can't I get to page 2? When I click on it, it "takes me there", but it is the exact same as page 1.
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Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
MySpace
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
Album Ordering
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HarpNinja
325 posts
Mar 29, 2010
7:27 AM
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Lol, my post doesn't come up for me either, so if you are replying to that, I can't read it. :(
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Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
MySpace
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
Album Ordering
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Tuckster
451 posts
Mar 29, 2010
9:16 AM
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Oldwailer Delay would be first on my list to get. Actually my list stops there. It depends on how you want to "color" your sound. The pedals Jason uses are harp friendly. Check out his Y-T vids.
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isaacullah
907 posts
Mar 29, 2010
10:25 AM
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"i MIGHT consider a delay, but that's about all Kyzers' interested in. the rest of that crap just seems like little boys wanting to be grown up with their big boy toys, and letting their wallets get in the way of their lack of practice. "
This can be true I suppose, but isn't that why we are all buying so many harps and amps and mics and shit too? I mean, if you aren't an actively playing professional musician, then spending any money on more than an average set of 7 OOTB harps could be considered as such "hubris".
Obviously, this is not MY opinion. I'm just pointing out that it's hard to draw a line between the accumulation of pedals and the accumulation of other gear.
Personally, I think that if you have a sound in your head/soul that you want to get, and that sound NEEDS effects (or a specific amp, mic, tremolo harp, minor tuned harp, whatever), then you NEED to own those effects. Why spend all your time "preparing" by playing in a style you don't really see yourself wanting to play in? Yeah, get some chops. But also, start playing in the style YOU want to play in, and do this AS SOON as you can do it.
PS. I think Boris' approach is right on. I didn't lay out hardly any money on effects (other than a $15 delay) until I KNEW what I wanted. And even then, I bought a multifx pedal, which gives me that $900 dollars worth of effects for only 1/10 the price.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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congaron
734 posts
Mar 29, 2010
10:34 AM
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"How do you guys decide what pedal to buy first and what you think would sound best?"
Easy, I just look at what's free and use it.
I had a guitar modeler by digitech, a 100 watt amp with 2 12 inch speakers in it, and some basic vocal mics laying around. I sprung for a valve junior head at a local music store and canabalized the rest of the gear to make my harp rig. So now I have a 100 watt stereo guitar amp out of it cabinet trying to justify the cost of a lady luck speaker for my rig so I can put it back together. Haven't done it yet..might not. Problem is, it sounds great for guitar too with the valve junior head and the speakers..lol.
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hvyj
243 posts
Mar 29, 2010
11:29 AM
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I agree w/Isaacullah. It's all about re-creating the sound you hear in your head.
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MJ
152 posts
Mar 29, 2010
11:39 AM
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I wouldn't worry about those sounds....they're only in your head.
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krisalis
15 posts
Mar 29, 2010
11:42 AM
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SInce I got my valve junior, I've not wanted a single effect. Hot Shure element thru overdriven class A amp - best effect I could wish for. Before that, I used to like reverb, octave and a rotary simulator.
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