[Harp-L] Re: Hohner Hoodoo Box 5W amp and Madcat shaker mic or Ultimate mics



It really depends on needs and budget.  Are you just jamming at home?
Will you use it live?  If you use if live, can you mic it?  What style
of music?

IME, the VHT Special 6 is a FANTASTIC investment if you are looking
for a small amp.  I have one along with a HarpGear HG2, and you can
dial in the VHT to get painfully close to the tone of the HG2 with
some simple and affordable mods.  I've used both live with full rock
bands, but miked and with a monitor.  I tried using the VHT with a
blues band, but it probably should have been miked in most rooms -
worked for my own monitoring, though.

I love the sound of a good dynamic mic like the SM57 with a small
amp.  I think a small amp plus dirty mic gets to be too dirty even for
a lot of blues playing.  If you are playing mostly at home, things
like the Fender Mustang and other tube hybrid or digital amps are an
ok route.  They often have headphone jacks, but you'll want to get a
nice pair of headphones if you go that route.

For years, I've been a proponent of using smallish rigs for live
playing.  I also sing and have fronted my own full bands.  This has
lead to investing in solid PA and monitoring gear making it really
easy for me to control what I hear and volume.  For the last year
plus, I've used either a VHT Special 6 or HG2 as my amps.  Now, for
the most part, I go totally ampless.  I've gigged with Tech 21 Sans
Amps with great results, but have moved to the POD HD500.  I am not
going to lie.  The HD sounds GREAT and can do more than I'll ever
need, BUT there is a steep-steep learning curve.  That being said, the
tone of the HD's and even the Zoom stuff has been really impressive.

I know Richard loves the DT stuff, but it appears they are moving a
different direction with modelling after having fallen far behind
competitors like Line 6, Axe, and Zoom regarding options and quality.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't go that route...I am just saying there
is a lot out there to check out before making a decision.  The DT was
pretty much ruled out from the start for me because I liked the HD
tone better and found it more flexible for live playing and switching
sounds.  It is also still being updated regularily - including an
update last night.  In fact, this week they are releasing another
update that will include a studio pre amp as well as a bass amp.

The key with ANY of this is to really know what you want and need.  I
started from day one loving John Popper and Blues Traveler.  I don't
really play like John, but I love the flexibility of his rig and use
of ambient effects as well as modulated and filtered harp sounds.
When I started playing harmonica about ten years ago, there was very
little info on his rig.  It was also very expensive to put a rig like
that together.  Being that I always sang, I always wanted to just go
through monitors as much as possible.  I spent years and thousands of
dollars buying and flipping gear looking for efficientcy and
flexibility (really, I've never been an amped tone snob, it has always
been about size, volume, and feedback more than anything).  From day
one had I been able to run a pedal board through powered speakers,
that is the only way I should have gone.  It just took that long for
technology and access to make their way to me.

Now I can load in in one trip...I throw my pedal board over my should,
carry a 1000w 129db powered monitor in one hand and my gear bag
(harps, mics, cables, and DI's) in the other.  At home, I have a "man
cave" but two small children.  I can play in the evenings through
headphones and record direct to my laptop all night long without
waking anyone up.

I had a Bassman Ltd, HarpGear 50, and the like.  Dialing in a tone was
never an issue unless it was me sucking, but the size, weight, and
volume were way overkill for me even when I was gigging every week.



On Feb 14, 7:33 am, Sridhar Rajagopalan <sridha...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Thinking of pairing the Hohner Hoodoo Box 5W amp with a Madcat easy to
> grip Shaker mic. Now is this a good idea? The other thing I wanted to
> know was if the Ultimate 57 or 58 mic would work with this amp? Any
> pointers in this direction would be highly appreciated




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