[Harp-L] Amp for Guitar and Harmonica?

[j r]

Hey all,
Do any of you use the same amp for both electric guitar and harmonica? Or do you have any recommendations of what might work?
I recently got an electric guitar and I'd also like to start playing harp miced as well. I'm looking for a practice/small venue amp. I tested out a Fender Blues Junior on my guitar at guitar center, which sounded great, but after doing some research it seems the consensus is a Blues Junior should be modified before being used for harp. My budget is maxed at $600, with the understanding I may have to get a pedal or two on top of the amp.
I don't have any harp mics at the moment, in case that would be relevant to someone's response. I'm looking at getting either a bullet mic or a bottle o blues.
Also, I realize I will likely end up getting two (or more) amps eventually. However, budget-wise I'm hoping to get away with just one for a while.
Any suggestions appreciated.
-JR

[Eric Nielsen]

Hi JR,

When I played both harp and guitar in bands, I used a keyboard amp. It
works for a variety of instruments. At times, we even used it in lieu of a
PA during practice. Not sure of pricing; you'll have to check that out.

Eric

[Vern]

I use a predecessor of the Quilter 8”. It has a channel for the guitar with appropriate controls and a separate “clean” channel for a mic that I use for harmonica. It has reverb that can be assigned to either channel or to a mix of the two. I assign the reverb to the harmonica channel to “sweeten” it just a bit so that it doesn’t sound too harsh.

http://www.quilterlabs.com/misc/MicroPro-Brochure.pdf

I also use an AMT harmonica microphone on my harp holder.

I use a Hands-Free-Chromatic harmonica but the setup will work just as well with a diatonic.

Vern

[George Miklas]

Here is my amp. Fantastic all around sound. Fish man LoudBox Artist
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/fishman-loudbox-artist-pro-lbx-600-acoustic-combo-amp

--

- *HARMONICA GALLERY SALES* and *REPAIR SERVICE* ♫♪ New!* HOHNER*
Harmonicas <http://www.HarmonicaGallery.com/hohner> ♫♪ *HARMONICA
REPAIR* Done Right by George <http://harmonicagallery.com/repair> ♫♪ Used
/ Refurbished <http://www.HarmonicaGallery.com/contact>


- *GEORGE MIKLAS* Harmonica Performing Artist and Entertainer
<http://www.harmonicagallery.com/home1> and member of Old Time Country
Music Hall Of Fame (NTCMA.net) *HARMONICA WIZARD MARCH
<http://www.HarmonicaGallery.com/sousa>* by John Philip Sousa


- *SOCIETY *for the *PRESERVATION *and *ADVANCEMENT* of the
*HARMONICA **SPAH
*- <http://spah.org/>*a non-profit, membership organization dedicated
to serving the harmonica community. <http://spah.org/>*

[Russell Bradley]

I had a Blues Junior and ended up switching to the Pro Junior with much
better results.
Even guitarists prefer the Pro Junior.
One thing you would want to do is swap out the 12AX7 pre-amp tubes for
lower gain tubes like a 12AY7 or 12AU7 in order to minimize feedback.

[Richard Hunter]

Eric Nielsen wrote:
<When I played both harp and guitar in bands, I used a keyboard amp. It
<works for a variety of instruments. At times, we even used it in lieu of a
<PA during practice. Not sure of pricing; you'll have to check that out.

A moderately sized keyboard amp like a Peavey KB2 or one of the smaller Behringer amps with at least one 10" speaker and something like 45 watts of power will run $250-300. The next step up would be a keyboard amp with a 12" speaker and more power for something like $350 new. I wouldn't bother with any of the keyboard amps out there that are fitted with an 8" speaker--they're not powerful enough to keep up with a band, and they don't have a line out for when you want to put the amp output through a PA.

If you go with a keyboard amp, you want at least one FX device for the harp, and maybe one for the guitar too, since keyboard amps make sounds louder without adding the grit that most people want in a blues or rock harp (or guitar) sound, which your choice of mic suggests is the point. My choice would be a Digitech RP device loaded with my patch set for either, but there are plenty of other options for adding grit and grind to your sound. I would budget somewhere in the neighborhood of $100-150 for whatever you use for that purpose. Added to the amp, that means spending something like $400 for the full rig. That's a pretty good price for something that's useful for a lot of different styles of music, is powerful but lightweight, and can be used for gigs large and small.

For more info, see this:
http://www.hunterharp.com/whats-the-best-choice-for-your-first-amp/

Regards, Richard Hunter

[Rich Eisenberg]

Tubes are good for harp and guitar tone.
I've been using an epiphone valve jr.
I replaced the pre-amp tube with a 5150

[j r]

Thank you to all who have responded so far. The info has been very helpful and informative.
-JR

[jbro...@optonline.net]

I have a small Fender Champ tube amp from 1967 or 1968 that I carry to gigs and open mics. I usually plug my guitar into the P.A., but play harp through the Champ. I don't like being restricted by a sound guy who doesn't understand amplified harmonica.

[Burke Trieschmann]

I agree with George. The Fishman Loudbox Amps are great! I have an older model (Loudbox Performer Pro) http://www.fishman.com/product/loudbox-performer-2005-2011. Its been discontinued, but their current Performer model has more power and may be a bit lighter. You can still find the old model selling used on eBay and Amazon.

What is great about these amps is that they are really clean and translate the sound of the instrument(s) accurately. I use it as a backline amp at a local showcase/ open mic and it kicks out great sound on stage and also feeds the house system. I have to change instruments often for different groups and it has handled, vocals, harmonica, all kinds of guitars (acoustic and electric), keyboards, a real Irish harp with pickup, mandolins, uke's, and more. The eq is clean and the fx simple but useful.

It can cover being a whole mini PA for a small venue as a guitar/ (ch 1) vocal/ harp mic/ (ch 2) with the aux input available for an outboard mixer or other instrument. That allows it to act as another monitor source. The Artist and Mini models have less power, but are more portable and less drain on the wallet.

This might not be the best amp choice for a dedicated Trad. harp- tube amp tone or heavy distorted electric guitar. The key is its "clean" power.
However, you could run an RP 5xx with some of Richard Hunter's amp sims into the second channel for wide range of amp tones. Every time I've played a gig or run sound for a show with this amp in the mix, the performers always have positive feedback and the house/ sound mixers very impressed when I just hand them a mix feed or direct channel outputs from the amp for the house.

If I were looking today, I might consider the "Artist" model George mentions as its more portable, much lighter, and all the same features as the Performer with just a bit less power. You can view the whole lineup here.
http://www.fishman.com/products/filter/type:amplifiers

Cheers-

Burke Trieschmann- Audio Producer
Open Door Productions/ Open Door Harmonicas
www.opendoorprod.com/ www.opendoorharmonicas.com

On Sunday, June 21, 2015, George Miklas wrote:

Message: 9
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2015

From: George Miklas <harmo...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re:[Harp-L] Amp for Guitar and Harmonica?
To: j r <jr_par...@hotmail.com>
Message-ID:
<CAHfKht+CpX_htHdq-9uORna+...@mail.gmail.com>


Here is my amp. Fantastic all around sound. Fish
man LoudBox
Artist
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/fishman-loudbox-artist-pro-lbx-600-acoustic-combo-amp

George Miklas

[Burke Trieschmann]

My link to the older model in the previous message takes you wrong.
http://www.fishman.com/product/loudbox-performer-2005-2011

Should work. Apologies

[Buck Worley]

JR,
AB switch box to swap from harp to guitar. I am using a Memphis Mini amp which is set up for harp OOTB. So, I use a Boss 7 band EQ pedal to help dial in a decent Strat sound. The MM handles it well> The amp is small but I line out to the PA AND/OR use a powered monitor which when used with the line out gets loud for a 6 watt amp.
I am using Greg Hueman's Heuman Element in a JT30 shell with a volume control. www.blowsmeaway.com The MM and HE mic are very reasonably priced and these 2 units match up really well.
I hope this gives you some ideas and good luck man.
Buck

[Rick Davis]

J.R., this may exceed your budget a bit but it is worth noting. Bruce
Collins of Mission Amps modifies Fender Deluxe Reverb amps so that one
channel retains the great guitar tone and the other channel is specifically
for harmonica. I've heard these amp in action several times and the sound
is impressive. Dan Treanor plays one.

Another option is the Memphis Mini amp. Here is video of the guitar
through the little 6-watt MM amp: https://youtu.be/6Ch6AjWmS3A

-Rick Davis

[Brendan Power]

I did a gig in Munich several years ago with a local band, and they used a
Schertler David two channel combo amp for the whole group, with an extra
mini mixer to get more inputs. I was really impressed with the tone and
volume from such a small unit, and I subsequently bought the 3 channel
Unico. It's great, though I would have liked a dedicated mini-jack input and
digital reverb instead of spring. Here's the Schertler range:

https://secure.schertler.com/en_IT/shop/amplifiers



Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but probably the favourite combo
amp for guitarist/singers in Europe is the AER, in various models:

http://www.aer-amps.com/index.php?option=com_content
<http://www.aer-amps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=381&It
emid=100385&lang=en> &view=article&id=381&Itemid=100385&lang=en



The Lunchbox Acoustic is a great small solution:

http://www.ztamplifiers.com/products/lunchbox_acoustic.html#



So many good combo amps around these days, it's hard to choose!



Brendan

<http://www.brendan-power.com/> www.brendan-power.com

<http://www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic>
www.YouTube.com/BrendanPowerMusic