Post by jbone on Mar 25, 2018 7:28:27 GMT -5
With some time on my hands I thought I'd post about my experiences with harps and mics. Ranging from straight through a p.a. vocal mic to purpose built mics that reproduce the best of a harp's sound.
Early on- in the 80's- I wanted to get a bigger volume and maybe get to play with some other musicians. I had yet to get on many stages. The ones I did get on were at little jam nights on the edge of town. I had heard my heroes sounding like a million bucks on records, out live, etc. and I noticed how thin my sound was. I thought if I amped up somehow my tone and chops would improve. Mistake. I had a lot of learning to do.
Next idea was to get a mic and amp setup of my own. I had no idea what I was looking for. At that time there was no internet or google or music forums. I did not know any harp players locally, I was too timid to actually ask for help with my playing or the topic of amps and mics, so I went on my own instinct. Which turned out kind of so-so. I had a salesman try and sell me an older Fender Champ, which I thought he was just trying to move some junk and I declined. A cute little Crate amp caught my eye. It was in a sort of crate looking cabinet and looked cool. Solid state, maybe 10 watts. I took the salesman's advice and bought a little lavalier mic to play through the Crate, and I was amped! Funny though, I still didn't like the thin dry tone I was getting. I talked to a guitar player friend and he recommended a delay box. Again, I could have gotten one of the old tape loop type boxes, pre-solid state, but Boss had put out the DD3 delay pedal, which was small and cool. So I got one to run between mic and amp. This was not a bad setup. My tone could be fattened up this way, but to my ear my heroes sounded so much better. What I didn't realize at the time was, I needed some serious attitude adjustment and a lot more woodshed time. After a time I sold off the Crate amp and the mic setup and got something else.
Now we get into tube amps. Early 90's after SRV had hit the scene, everybody was gaga for tube amps. By this time I'd gotten more information on what sounded so good. Vintage. Tube. I got a chance to buy a Fender Princeton Tremolo model, a 1963 vintage. I snapped it up for a very good price. To get the sound to the amp I went out and got a Shure Green Bullet. Originally these mics were for dispatch use, like at a taxi company etc. They were plugged into radios and p.a.'s all over America. With time and the advent of solid state sound gear, they got to be much more a niche item. Harp players found out they could get a very hot response from a tube amp or p.a. head. My Bullet really did warm up my sound when plugged into the Princeton. Now the next challenge was, that amp was about 12 watts. On stage at jams I was trying to be heard over drums, 50 watt guitar amps, big keyboard amps, and loud p.a.'s. Impossible, and the answer was a hard one. Since most amplifiers were built for guitar pickup frequencies, guitar amps were notorious for feedback when a different- hotter- harp mic was plugged into them. Higher watts did not mean bigger volume usually, it did mean loud annoying squealing on stage! And I did try a bigger amp with those results. I was continually drowned out on jam and gig stages. I tried several different mics and amps to solve this issue. I changed out pre amp tubes and tried other remedies which had so-so results. My best answer was a crystal element bullet mic, which produces a very good tone, with a replica 1959 Fender Bassman 4x10 amp which I had built by an amp guy up east. It was a very good combo. Sounded excellent and it would turn up "too loud" if needed. I kept it for a couple of years but it was heavy and I was not getting many gigs, so I sold it off. Along the way I tried several other tube amps but that was the best. I also got hold of, and kept for many years, a smaller tube amp, modeled after the Fender Princeton. It is a Silvertone 1482 model from about 1964. 12 or 13 watts, with a tremolo circuit, it's a great little amp. Not for the big 4 piece band sound, but excellent for the duo work I'm in these days. I've had one of these for about 15 years now and plan to keep it until the bitter end. In the harmonica arena there are these days, several amp builders who are dedicated to providing purpose built amps for harp mic frequencies. Many great choices. There are also some very cool small solid state modeling amps which can give very good harp results from what I read.
About microphones. I started out with a classic controlled magnetic element, which produces a very strong hot signal and is the same impedance as a tube amp. Very popular with harp players in the blues style. I also have had several crystal element mics which are a cleaner tone and very popular as well. The crystals are no longer made since solid state is so much cheaper over all, so these are getting hard to find and and expensive. I had a very good one similar to the Astatic JT30 model, which is considered to be most desirable. Also had some "lesser" models. If I were to round out my mic stable it would be with another crystal mic, but I have what I need. The one mic style left to talk about is those fitted with a dynamic cartridge. Before the advent of solid state components, and the Shure SM58 mic, one of its forerunners was the Shure 585. It matched impedance with tube amps by necessity. Its response was very good for both vocal work and harmonica. There are other mics like this but these were very cheap a few years ago and I got hold of a couple, which I use for some things. Another dynamic mic I just bought is from a dedicated harp mic company, Shaker, based in Arkansas for many years now. I recently got one of their dynamic models which does look like a pepper shaker! Light weight and simple tough construction make it a decent mic. It's a medium rated impedance so I need a matching transformer to get the most out of it. Shaker has several other models of mic built specifically to work well with harmonica and tube amps. Madcat and Maddog are two. They are made for a tight cup in the hand for better compression and effects.
Shure began making the forerunner to the SM57 model in the 60's as well. It was the 545 model. Unidirectional and dynamic, it is a versatile and fairly light stick mic. It could be used with an impedance matching transformer through a tube amp with very good results. I had a couple of these as as well.
Suzuki and others make very small pickup mics which can attach to a harp or to a finger for amping harmonica as well. These are usually for low impedance- solid state- amps and p.a.'s and give a very clean signal. Well suited if one plays with an orchestra, chamber music, opera etc.
I have not yet addressed playing Harp through a p.a. My early misconception about this topic was that, one could not sound "good" through a solid state anything. My view was very narrow at the time. Since harmonicas have been around longer than amplification of any kind, and since they are played in virtually every western music style and many others to boot, by necessity they had to be amplified in certain situations. Players adapted to what was available. Blues playing- cross or second position- is very expressive and benefits from some distortion from an amp and mic. Other styles do not, a clear clean sound is what's needed. Therefore, any amplification that produces cleanly has a huge place with harmonica in music. Another key lesson I learned is, even in the blues style, sometimes it's much better sounding with a clear signal that a distorted "jug of bees" tone. When I am playing live with my duo partner, I alternate between the p.a. mic and my harp mic/amp combo. Both definitely have their place.
This is only one guy's experience with amplification in its many forms. Harmonica- and playing amped live- has been an wild ride sometimes. But at the end of the day the benefits have far outweighed any frustrations or drawbacks and made my life much more satisfying.
Early on- in the 80's- I wanted to get a bigger volume and maybe get to play with some other musicians. I had yet to get on many stages. The ones I did get on were at little jam nights on the edge of town. I had heard my heroes sounding like a million bucks on records, out live, etc. and I noticed how thin my sound was. I thought if I amped up somehow my tone and chops would improve. Mistake. I had a lot of learning to do.
Next idea was to get a mic and amp setup of my own. I had no idea what I was looking for. At that time there was no internet or google or music forums. I did not know any harp players locally, I was too timid to actually ask for help with my playing or the topic of amps and mics, so I went on my own instinct. Which turned out kind of so-so. I had a salesman try and sell me an older Fender Champ, which I thought he was just trying to move some junk and I declined. A cute little Crate amp caught my eye. It was in a sort of crate looking cabinet and looked cool. Solid state, maybe 10 watts. I took the salesman's advice and bought a little lavalier mic to play through the Crate, and I was amped! Funny though, I still didn't like the thin dry tone I was getting. I talked to a guitar player friend and he recommended a delay box. Again, I could have gotten one of the old tape loop type boxes, pre-solid state, but Boss had put out the DD3 delay pedal, which was small and cool. So I got one to run between mic and amp. This was not a bad setup. My tone could be fattened up this way, but to my ear my heroes sounded so much better. What I didn't realize at the time was, I needed some serious attitude adjustment and a lot more woodshed time. After a time I sold off the Crate amp and the mic setup and got something else.
Now we get into tube amps. Early 90's after SRV had hit the scene, everybody was gaga for tube amps. By this time I'd gotten more information on what sounded so good. Vintage. Tube. I got a chance to buy a Fender Princeton Tremolo model, a 1963 vintage. I snapped it up for a very good price. To get the sound to the amp I went out and got a Shure Green Bullet. Originally these mics were for dispatch use, like at a taxi company etc. They were plugged into radios and p.a.'s all over America. With time and the advent of solid state sound gear, they got to be much more a niche item. Harp players found out they could get a very hot response from a tube amp or p.a. head. My Bullet really did warm up my sound when plugged into the Princeton. Now the next challenge was, that amp was about 12 watts. On stage at jams I was trying to be heard over drums, 50 watt guitar amps, big keyboard amps, and loud p.a.'s. Impossible, and the answer was a hard one. Since most amplifiers were built for guitar pickup frequencies, guitar amps were notorious for feedback when a different- hotter- harp mic was plugged into them. Higher watts did not mean bigger volume usually, it did mean loud annoying squealing on stage! And I did try a bigger amp with those results. I was continually drowned out on jam and gig stages. I tried several different mics and amps to solve this issue. I changed out pre amp tubes and tried other remedies which had so-so results. My best answer was a crystal element bullet mic, which produces a very good tone, with a replica 1959 Fender Bassman 4x10 amp which I had built by an amp guy up east. It was a very good combo. Sounded excellent and it would turn up "too loud" if needed. I kept it for a couple of years but it was heavy and I was not getting many gigs, so I sold it off. Along the way I tried several other tube amps but that was the best. I also got hold of, and kept for many years, a smaller tube amp, modeled after the Fender Princeton. It is a Silvertone 1482 model from about 1964. 12 or 13 watts, with a tremolo circuit, it's a great little amp. Not for the big 4 piece band sound, but excellent for the duo work I'm in these days. I've had one of these for about 15 years now and plan to keep it until the bitter end. In the harmonica arena there are these days, several amp builders who are dedicated to providing purpose built amps for harp mic frequencies. Many great choices. There are also some very cool small solid state modeling amps which can give very good harp results from what I read.
About microphones. I started out with a classic controlled magnetic element, which produces a very strong hot signal and is the same impedance as a tube amp. Very popular with harp players in the blues style. I also have had several crystal element mics which are a cleaner tone and very popular as well. The crystals are no longer made since solid state is so much cheaper over all, so these are getting hard to find and and expensive. I had a very good one similar to the Astatic JT30 model, which is considered to be most desirable. Also had some "lesser" models. If I were to round out my mic stable it would be with another crystal mic, but I have what I need. The one mic style left to talk about is those fitted with a dynamic cartridge. Before the advent of solid state components, and the Shure SM58 mic, one of its forerunners was the Shure 585. It matched impedance with tube amps by necessity. Its response was very good for both vocal work and harmonica. There are other mics like this but these were very cheap a few years ago and I got hold of a couple, which I use for some things. Another dynamic mic I just bought is from a dedicated harp mic company, Shaker, based in Arkansas for many years now. I recently got one of their dynamic models which does look like a pepper shaker! Light weight and simple tough construction make it a decent mic. It's a medium rated impedance so I need a matching transformer to get the most out of it. Shaker has several other models of mic built specifically to work well with harmonica and tube amps. Madcat and Maddog are two. They are made for a tight cup in the hand for better compression and effects.
Shure began making the forerunner to the SM57 model in the 60's as well. It was the 545 model. Unidirectional and dynamic, it is a versatile and fairly light stick mic. It could be used with an impedance matching transformer through a tube amp with very good results. I had a couple of these as as well.
Suzuki and others make very small pickup mics which can attach to a harp or to a finger for amping harmonica as well. These are usually for low impedance- solid state- amps and p.a.'s and give a very clean signal. Well suited if one plays with an orchestra, chamber music, opera etc.
I have not yet addressed playing Harp through a p.a. My early misconception about this topic was that, one could not sound "good" through a solid state anything. My view was very narrow at the time. Since harmonicas have been around longer than amplification of any kind, and since they are played in virtually every western music style and many others to boot, by necessity they had to be amplified in certain situations. Players adapted to what was available. Blues playing- cross or second position- is very expressive and benefits from some distortion from an amp and mic. Other styles do not, a clear clean sound is what's needed. Therefore, any amplification that produces cleanly has a huge place with harmonica in music. Another key lesson I learned is, even in the blues style, sometimes it's much better sounding with a clear signal that a distorted "jug of bees" tone. When I am playing live with my duo partner, I alternate between the p.a. mic and my harp mic/amp combo. Both definitely have their place.
This is only one guy's experience with amplification in its many forms. Harmonica- and playing amped live- has been an wild ride sometimes. But at the end of the day the benefits have far outweighed any frustrations or drawbacks and made my life much more satisfying.