A jam - a bar we used to play at reopened the other night so there was a celebratory jam. Me with a couple of different people. I'm soloing at the start of the video. Next harp solo at 3:10, another solo at about 8:15. The camera lady was in front of the amp so you can hear it pretty well - but you could hear it well anyway throughout the room - I listened while a friend played and it really cut through, sounded great.
I'm really fascinated to see how physical you are in your playing - mouth, lips, cheeks, throat, perhaps other regions not visible to the casual observer. You're working hard.
----------
Last Edited by on Sep 14, 2010 10:59 PM
I know how it sounded, but I has serious. I mean if it's a kalamoo. what speaker? What mic? I know you sell a couple different versions. I was thinking about getting one of those shortend 57's with bulletized thing.
Sounds good. Seems like playin' harp in a band is a lot like playing bass. You've got to dial it back a bit and just kind of fill in until you solo then you can really cut lose. That's something I had to learn to do when I went from guitar to bass. My "Guitar Brain" wanted me to play a lot, like I'd do on guitar but I had to re-train my brain to simply fill in the background and lay down the beat more then the melody. Sounds like the same with harp, add a little bit here and there to fill out the sound of the band. Great tracks, I'm going to bookmark em' so I can watch all of em' later on. ---------- Harps: Suzuki HarpMaster in C (on order) Hohner Big River in A Hohner Hot Metal harps in G, A, C, D,and E
Todd I believe that I read something about an amp with that name. I don't fallow that stuff much. I've been using amps that I customize myself or have built from scratch for the last fifteen years. I also used the same mic for about the same time. So I'm not Hip to the last and stuff. I like building amps so I would never buy anything or BIG $$. I started playing harp in the 80's. Weren't any custom harp amps then! I bought some books and fucking up amps untill I got it right. It was fun learning how they work and how to taylor the sound to suit a style. Also Gibson made an amp called the avenger in the sixties! So it may have seemed like a stupid question, but I'm just not familiar with new equipment!
The amp is a Sonny Jr Avenger - see www.sonnyjr.com - its a 45W amp with 2 8's, a 10 and a 12. It breaks up like a small amp, projects well into the crowd and has lots of power. I wasn't NEAR its max volume on that night.
The mic is a BlowsMeAway wood mic with CR element and stealth volume control. ---------- /Greg
I knew it! Agian excuse my ignorance. I just liked the sound quality of it. It had nice compression without getting dirty or muddy. Some amps when they start to breakup they loose there clearity. He wasn't driving it to hard either, but it sounded good I thought!
Yeah, I am a bit of a smartass..although sometimes I admittedly border on the opposite end of the spectrum...
I love playing thru the Sonny Jr.-I would have to imagine that the Avenger is a real beast. It's on my 'covet' list, along with one of Greg's wooden mics, one with a custom grille containing my initials, of course. With turquoise inlays, too. I'm dreaming, so I might as well go big. ----------
Crescent City Harmonica Club Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
Sounding good Greg! I really like the sound of that amp? Let me know, if youre going to head there on Sunday. I may drop in and if you are going to be there, Ill travel light. :)
@Chromatic - you're right - I wasn't using full cup much - the room was very muddy in the mid bass and bass region. I actually turned the bass down a bit from where I normally keep it. Plus the Avenger breaks up so easily you actually have to cup a little lighter in general except when you want a really broken up short chord for a chug or an accent.
@Joe - First one was Vicky Henry, second one was Cheryl Thirwall (I think that's how she spells it.)
FYI the guitar player near me is Vince Caminit who is my friend and the guitar player in my band. ---------- /Greg
i hear some Mark Ford/Andy Just influence, along w/ all the other usual suspects. there is a particular acending run you do from the 1 blow that is very MFish. nice work!:) ---------- MP hibachi cook for the yakuza doctor of semiotics superhero emeritus
In my opinion I have always never really gotten into Sonny's amps because i never got into the tone but to be honest this amp has some serious tone and I think this is his best work ever.
@MP - Thank you - I wasn't conscious of it but Mark Ford is absolutely one of my harp idols.
@Joe - thanks for correcting the spelling of Vince's last name - it is indeed Caminiti.
@Zack - I've owned 3 Sonny Jr amps. Every one has had killer tone. Any time I had the opportunity to A/B it with another amp of similar size I did - never heard anything in the same power/speaker/power range that sounded as good. But most of his amps do require good mic technique to get good tone. The Avenger in the hands of a beginner sounds terrible until you turn the treble all the way down, unbridge the bright channel neutering it, turning the bass all the way up. If I play through it that way it sounds like geese farts on a muggy day. ---------- /Greg
@Zack - That amp sounds good because Greg brings good skills to the table. There was a time when I didn't dig Sonny Jr's amps. The more time I spent with them, the more I appreciated them. I bought a Super Sonny from Greg. It's a killer amp, but you've gotta supply the tone.
I was reminded of this on Tuesday night. John Nemeth dropped into a local jam on Tuesday night. He used my amp and sounded great. Last week, Hummel dropped into the same jam. He used my amp and sounded great.
There were other players who don't have John's or Mark's skills. They didn't sound as good.
I should state I always thought they sounded nowhere near where they could sound (they always just weren't there) but this one seems pushed so easily. Charlie Musselwhite used one today, was a great sound, not a sound I would want personally, but it had that vintage tone.
@zack hi zack hey im not the smartest guy in the world but i saw your name on the harp gear cite so im thinkin maybe you have a few i have my eye on the 2x10 35 watts was wondering what you have bty did you like charlie live and your a damn fine player i have a sj1
Last Edited by on Sep 14, 2010 10:59 PM
