[Harp-L] Wet Box



Like some harp players I found stock pedals tend to thin the tone coming from the amp and make it more difficult to hear on stage when
the rest of the band gets cooking.


Last winter I posted that I traded in my Concert amp for an all original 65 Deluxe Reverb. I'm not big on using the reverb channel but the guitarists in the band insisted that I add some effects since they use reverb and pedals. The reverb on my particular DR is lame. Maybe a bad tube. I haven't checked it yet.

Anyway, it gave an excuse to rig a variation on an old 2 amp setup.

After some experimenting I had a harp buddy build a special cab for me that houses a Gibson GA-5 Skylark chassis, Yamaha Reverb processor and 2 Weber PQ8 speakers. The cab was made to the overall dimensions of the DR but the size of a piggyback head. It is covered in black tolex with grille cloth matching the DR. I set the DR on top of it giving an overall height close to a Super on wheels. The processor is accessible from the front panel while the Gibson volume pot is accessible from behind the rig which is no big problem.

I attached a 1/4 inch female plug to the DR speaker (extension speaker plug could have been used as well) which plugs into a direct box. I then run an xlr to 1/4 plug out to the reverb processor. The processor is set on one of the 10 delay settings with custom tweaking between the wet/dry setting. The processor is then plugged into the GA-5.

Btw, you can also do this by sending a signal out to a PA, but I wanted to have complete control over the setup from my spot on stage. You can also do this by bringing a small amp to a gig and running a pedal between the direct box and small amp. I like my setup because 1) it fits the same footprint as the DR without taking any space on stage, 2) My GA-5 cab is in good shape and I want to keep it that way if I ever sell it. 3) everything is in one neat package. Just plug and play.

The setup allows me to play the ballsy dry channel on the DR while using the "wet box" as I call it, for effects. I can dial in as much thickness in the effects as I want, the volume of the effects and the ratio between the DR and "wet box." Since the GA-5 is a dirty little amp it compliments the DR rather then detracts from it.

I only use enough slap and reverb on the delay that it can be heard when no one else is playing but adds just enough presence to the tone when the full band is playing.

The result is that it helps to bring the overall harp sound on par with guitarists who don't have to give up tone when using effects.

mike




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