What's New!

Enjoy the following videos where we try common professional blues harmonica bullet microphones through our 1959 Fender Bassman Reissue amplifier from 1990

Submission #4 - Mics & The Bassman: Introduction
Submission #4 - Mics & The Bassman: Shure CM and CR Elements
Submission #4 - Mics & The Bassman: Shure & Astatic Crystal and Ceramic Elements, Part 1
Submission #4 - Mics & The Bassman: Shure & Astatic Crystal and Ceramic Elements, Part 2
Submission #4 - Mics & The Bassman: Impedance Matching
Submission #4 - Mics & The Bassman: Kinder Anti-Feedback+ continue reading...

Today's the last day for KING OF SWING entries! http://www.bluesharmonica.com/king-of-swing

I hope everyone is getting in some family time, rest and not eating as much as I did today! Mercy! Some exciting things planned for the website next year. More on the Bassman Chronicles of course. Interviews are set up with Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Boy Arnold and Sugar Ray Norcia at the end of January. A George "Harmonica" Smith Artist Study on the chromatic. I'll start writing Theory lessons for the site and focus on that for the first half of the year... the second half of the year will be dedicated to Accompaniment Playing... continue reading...

Currently an Associate Professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi with a specialty in blues literature and culture, Adam Gussow was one of the first amplified blues harp players to make overbends a key element of his stylistic approach, adapting Howard Levy's innovations in the late 1980s in a way that helped usher in a new generation of overbend masters such as Carlos Del Junco, Jason Ricci and Chris Michalek. continue reading...

Students that have been on the site for a long time may have noticed higher video quality in the releases over the last three months. We've been using a new video codec that makes the file size a little bit larger, but is of higher quality. This new codec is also what’s needed to make the site viewable by portable media devices (such as iPod, iPad, etc.). All of the past videos are now reincoded and on the site to this new format. I suspect you'll find videos now and again that are incorrectly labeled... please let me know if you find any errors. continue reading...

Our 1990 Bassman hits the stage in our latest installment of the Bassman Chronicles!

The final two videos are now on the site for Joe Filisko's "18 Harmonica Insights." These two are on Holding the Harmonica and Hands. As you watch these videos you'll notice Joe has a different approach to holding for acoustic harmonica players. You can use the way I show you, or the way Joe shows you... whichever feels and sounds best to you.

18 Harmonica Insights Introduction
18 Harmonica Insights, #18 - Teaching
18 Harmonica Insights, #17 - Harmonica Care
18 Harmonica Insights, #16 - Great Players
18 Harmonica Insights, #15 - Repertoire
18 Harmonica Insights, #14 - Failing continue reading...

Join us as we change the tubes on our 1990 Fender Bassman Reissue Amplifier to make it come alive! Videos Include: 1990 Bassman Journey; Comparing Stock 1990 Bassman & Fully Modded 1990 Bassman; Bridging Channels 1 & 2; Tube Values; Changing Tubes on 1990 Bassman, Part 1; Changing Tubes on 1990 Bassman, Part 2; Before & After Tube Changes; Comparing 1990 Bassman with Tube Changes & Fully Modded 1990 Bassman

Join Mark Hummel for his insights into Little Walter.

The 1959 Fender Bassman Amplifier has been the standard for gigging blues harmonica players since we've had to deal with loud bands in the 1960's. Priced around ~$10,000, the originals are now collectors items and are no longer practical options. The 1959 Fender Reissue Bassman (originally released in 1990), though not the most friendly amplifier to play stock, can be purchased for a very reasonable price in the used market (~$700) and with some tube changes it can sound fantastic. continue reading...