amps and mics
does anyone know a good decent priced amp and mic to buy with good sound i am fairly new to the harmonica and dont know what to get without spending to much
I'm looking at the Epiphone Valve Junior and jt-30 (blues blaster) for my first gear.
Its cheap and supposed to be a good starting amp and mic.
IMO, and the opinion of many pro players/teachers is to develope a good acoustic tone before you start blowing through an amp. If it sounds bad without an amp, it will sound a lot worse with an amp.
I don't know what you skill level is, but If you insist on going electric, get the cheapest set up you can find, because as your playing improves so will your urge to improve your gear/tone. A good sounding mic for the money is the Astatic Roadhouse $69, and a decent amp, Epiphone Valve Jr, or my favorite small modern amp is the Vox DA-5.
Check Youtube, there's a couple videos of the Vox with harp. It's a killer little amp!
Most of the best harp players that ever lived played on the street corners for most of there career before playing amplified.
Playing amplified is great, and takes a lot of practice to devolope good skills, but it's a good idea to have a solid acoustic ability before you take the next step.
i agree with harpoholic when he suggests working on acoustic tone first.
i, also, realize the desire to amp up. may i suggest a very budget set-up? a bottle-o-blues mic and a 'lil smokey amp.
you'll get a fairly dirty sound and spend less than $100 total. i use my smokey for a practice amp that i keep in the jeep for when the desire hits. i have used it at parties, too.
Hello JBooth12,
Why go cheap?
Save your coins as you're working on acoustic technique. I wish I would of done it this way, in retrospect.
You will spend money on lower end gear and than when you want to upgrade, those items do not have any residual value for you to sell or trade up.
My Opinion
Regards
Harmonica Hank
I'm not sure what "spending too much" means to you, but a couple of options you might look at:
For a low-end tube amp, you can look at the Fender Champion 600 5W, which I think is a good amp for messing around the house. It has a diode rectifier, but you can't really get much at the $150.00 range that will get beyond that.
David recommends the 15W Fender Super Champ XD. It's a hybrid all-tube, with some digital effects, and that ups the price to around $300.00.
As mics go, a good, cheap, entry-level mic is the Hohner Blues Blaster for around $80.00. It's essentially a JT-30 (for more info on JT-30's you can go to www.jt30.com), but has a crappy downgraded crystal that's good enough for learning. You can also try the Shure 520DX Green Bullet that goes for around $120.00. I believe they use dynamic elements and I've heard some say they have a fuller sound than the Blues Blaster (I haven't tried one myself).
Opinions again are like butts, though, everyone has one (I hope) so other's opinions may be different.
All of the above was written from the standpoint of assuming that you are just looking for a good practice setup. Stage equipment are another story.