[Harp-L] harp amps/guitar amps/keyboard amps, etc.



A keyboard amp is sort of like a mini PA and will be good for harmonica if the player wants a basically clean tone. An acoustic guitar amp is the same sort of concept, but may be more prone to feedback. These amps are typically solid state, but sometimes an acoustic guitar amp will have a tube preamp, which is nice because it warms the tone in a very appealing way. Keyboard amps and acoustic guitar amps are hi-fi (electric guitar amps are not) and often have both an XLR input and a !/4" input. Generally speaking, I have found that harp usually sounds better using the 1/4" input even if you need to use a transformer on a lo z mic to go into the that input.

Lately, i've been playing through an SWR Baby Baby Blue bass amp which is solid state but has a tube preamp which provides warmth, but not overdrive or break up. One 10" speaker (plus a tweeter which i turn off) and 3 band sweepable semi-parametric EQ which provides nearly TOTAL control over tone shaping. 120 watts that can get louder than you need or want and WILL NOT FEED BACK! Basically, a clean, thick, dark tone i find very appealing, and most of the musicians i play with seem to like. Very responsive to breath and mic handling technique which allows me to create distortion from the mic when i want it.

My other amps are a Fender Super Reverb RI and a Fender Princeton Reverb RI which are relatively clean tube amps but which can be pushed to get a little tube grit or a somewhat dirtier tone when desired. Both are also responsive to breath and mic handling techniques as most tube amps are. Tube amps have tube warmth and more "texture" in the tone which usually sounds pretty good for harp. All my amps have 10" speakers. I strongly prefer 10s for harmonica.

As most of us know, different mics sound different with different amps, sometimes dramatically so. Matching the right mic to the particular amp the player is using is a big part of achieving the tone/sound the player is after.

I listened to the video of the Clark repro Pro. I do not wish to sound disrespectful, but i find all the garbage between the notes very unappealing. Even if one prefers a dirty tone, all that indistinct garbage interferes with articulation and makes it next to impossible to maintain any sort of separation between notes if the player wants to play anything faster than eighth note runs, and may even make playing eighth note runs with articulate separation problematic. And the indistinct sounds created by ambient breath into the mic sounds unmusical IMHO. I personally don't like to set up for a dirty tone. But for those who do, it is certainly possible to get much "tighter" distortion without all that ambient noise.

JP






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