[Harp-L] Fwd: Using the AFB+ undercalibrate

["jkuzloski" <jkuzloski@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Brad Hatfield" <BHatfield@...> wrote:

When I first bought the AFB+ I didn't like it either. It ate up my tone too. As a matter of fact, it sat unused and on the verge of being sold for the first year and a half that I owned it.  Now I love it. One thing to keep in mind is the further down you can keep the knobs on the left and right, the better. My left knob is at 9:00 and the right one is at 2:00. In my opinion (and others I've read) anything past 2:00 on the right knob and you're tone will suffer. Here's something else to keep in mind. Let's say, for example, the amp you're using starts feeding back when the volume is at 6 WITHOUT the AFB+. When you hook up the AFB+ your tone will sound dampened when the volume is between 6 and 7. However, when the volume is between 7 and 8 while using the AFB+ you're tone will be killer. I guess what I'm trying to say is to experiment with higher volumes. IMHO, your best tone is going to come when you're on the verge of feedback whether you're using the AFB+ or not. I'm thinking that the clipping and brittleness you're hearing might be low batteries. In my experience, the batteries don't have to be low in a AFB+ to affect you're tone. When the batteries in my AFB+ go bad I take them out and use them in my wireless. Lastly, make sure the AFB+ is calibrated correctly. 

Hope this made sense,
Brad

-I just wanted to add that apart from keeping the left knob at 9 and the right knob at noon (I find that usually works just fine -- bumping them up a bit if necessary), I think the calibration knob can be moved counter clockwise from the "instruction position" to get a cleaner sound if desired. (If your mike is really hot, however, you'll get the blue light to flicker even with the calibration knob all the way down.)  Just my experience.  Also, on another subject, I've used it first in the pedal chain and been very happy with that.
--jk