Pedal/ Preamp thoughts
Hey all;
I have an Alamo amp that I use for live performances. It's big, so it works well in terms of me being able to hear myself on stage, and it's been pretty good about not feeding back. But the only controls on it are volume and tone, no gain control so I can't really overdrive it and even with a tight cup around the mic I can only get a little bit of grit out of the tone. What are everyone's thoughts on pedals/ preamps? I'm also going to upgrade the mic I've been using, which may also help out with this issue.
Hey! Thanks for the insights! That pedal might be just what I'm looking for. I've been messing around with two overdrive pedals (a buddy of mine owns a used guitar shop and he lets me take gear home and try it out), one is the Sweet Baby by Joyo, and the other is called Tube Man by Nux. I go back and forth with both of them, but one problem is that both of them cause feedback if I put any more than a tiny bit of overdrive on them. So may be better off going with something made specifically for the instrument.
The mic I've been using is something I got used, I don't even know the brand of it, my buddy had it at his shop and threw it in when I bought the amp from him. It's gotten the job done up until now, but I'm super psyched because I ordered a Hohner Harp Blaster and it's arriving tomorrow!!! I have a show coming up in June where we're playing the entire Allman Brothers Live the Fillmore East record, and i'm doing the Tom Toucette parts so trying to get that to sound right. And use this F harmonica, which comes with it's own challenges, that 4 draw half step bend is no joke to start on, and he does that a lot.
SSSmith:
The Allman Bros. show sounds like a ton of fun! And re that F harp, years ago David Barrett told me that if I carried my F around all day and from time to time tried all of the bends up and down the reeds, eventually bends on ALL other keys would be easy-peezy. And he was right. Good luck with that 4-draw bend!
Yeah, I've been doing that, actually! I'm finding that everything with the F harmonica has to be softer, and with really delicate bends.
Yeah, I've been doing that, actually! I'm finding that everything with the F harmonica has to be softer, and with really delicate bends.
SSSmith:
Give some thought to Lone Wolf's Harp Attack pedal. https://www.lonewolfblues.com/collections/effect-pedals/products/harp-attack-v2-1
I have a "don't lug the amp around" pedalboard I use frequently at a local jam, with just a TC Electronics Echobrain delay pedal, Version 1 of Lone Wolf's Harp Attack, and Lone Wolf's Little Red DI box (powered by a mini MXR brick that has one 18V output, and a couple of 9Vs). Re the issue you raise about hearing yourself on stage, the sound tech just runs me directly into the board out of my DI box, and I'm gradually learning to hear myself better and better in the monitors. (My preference is playing through my Lone Wolf HarpTrain 10, set up at right angles to one or the other of my ears, used as my "personal" on stage monitor while it's either mic'd, or the direct output is run through a DI box and into the house system.)
Anyway, Lone Wolf promotes the Harp Attack as a way to add a lot of "dirt" and great tone thorugh a solid-state amp. Might be just the trick to run into your Alamo.
Add to that: Randy Landry and his staff at Lone Wolf are all great folks.
Curious: What mic are you using?
Ukulele Rob plays Hohner™ harmonicas customized by Kinya Pollard, The HarpSmith™