December 22, 2005

Here’s a hot amped harmonica setup for $450 (or less)!

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V-Series V58 Guitar Combo

The V58 is a 5 Watt Class A amplifier. It ships with a 12AX7 tube in the preamp stage. You’ll need to pull the preamp tube and replace it with a 12AU7 tube, which can be bought from Musician's Friend or a number of other dealers for $7-$20, depending on which make you buy. (I bought a Groove Tube for about $10.) The preamp tube can easily be accessed by disconnecting the wire leads to the speaker, removing four Phillips head screws, and pulling the amp section. It takes about 10-15 minutes. The 12AU7 tube gives the V58 a smoother and more controllable distortion, and turns it into a great little harp amp. You might also pick up a 12AY7 or 12AT7 tube while you're at it, and give those a try. They're a bit hotter than the AU7, and may work better for you if you've got a relatively low-output mic. Either way, It’s well worth the $10.

The V58’s 5 watts are not enough to play even small clubs. With the addition of a 1/4” instrument cable, you can use the V58’s line out to connect it to a hi-Z input on any PA system. Once you’re into the PA, you can get as loud as you like (or as loud as the soundman will permit), and the V58 can be used to control the tone. It works very well, and it’s very easy to do.

You might also consider spending a few bucks to put metal corners on this amp all the way around; the case is made of particle board, and it's not as durable as plywood. (They had to cut corners somewhere to get the price down that low.)

We've just (January 2001) been informed by one of our readers that the Crate's line-out also functions as an effects loop(!). Take a TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) to stereo-TS (tip-sleeve) cable and plug the TRS end into the line-out jack on the V58. One of the TS jacks now plugs into the input of your effects chain, and the other into the output. Voila! Your effects are now running between the preamp and amp stages of the V58. If you use this setup, you'll need to figure out a different way to get the signal from the V58 into your PA (or other large amp). We recommend taking the output from the speaker cables and running it into a direct box, which you can then connect to a PA using either an XLR cable or a 1/4" guitar cable. Hosa and Peavey make direct boxes that allow you to switch the input between speaker and instrument settings; you can buy a cable at Radio Shack that has banana clips on one end and a male 1/4" jack at the other. Attach the banana clips to the connection ears on the V58's speaker, and plug the 1/4" jack into the direct box (with the input set to "speaker"). This is less feedback-prone than mic'ing a small amp onstage, and you'll get the output from the V58's amplifer stage, which is preferred by many players over the preamp-only output that you get from the line-out jack.

The effects: The V58 has no built-in reverb, and you’ll need either a reverb or an analog delay to get that blues sound. Good inexpensive reverb choices include the ART FX-1 and the Alesis Nanoverb, both of which sell for around $100 new from Musician's Friend and other leading mail-order musical instrument dealers.

Alesis NanoVerb 18-Bit Digital Effects Processor

You may also wish to try a used reverb; we've had good luck with the Yamaha R-100, which is very compact and lightweight, has lots of good reverb sounds, and sells used for $50-$60. A used Lexicon MPX100 runs about $100-$150, and it's perfectly suitable for home studio work as well as onstage performances. (In late 2002, Electronic Musician magazine described the MPX100 as the best value available in any hardware processor.) As always, try before you buy to make sure that a used (or new) unit works well and has the sound you want.

There are plenty of stompbox analog delays by vendors like DoD, Ibanez, Boss, etc. that work very well for blues, and most of them sell for well under $100 (some as low as $40). We really like the Digitech X-Series delay unit, which is a "modeled" delay that reproduces a variety of classic delay effects.

DigiTech XDD DigiDelay Digital Delay Pedal

One thing working in your favor here is that blues mics like the JT-30 and Green Bullet don’t have much in the way of high-frequency response (that’s why they sound so good on blues), so the relatively restricted high end on stompbox analog delay pedals is not an issue. With the exception of modeled delays like the Digitech, avoid digital delays if you’re after a blues sound; the sound they produce is too clean for blues. (Check out Harmony Central’s web site for great info on these and other effects processors.)

The Mic: for blues, use an Astatic JT-30 (note: Hohner sells this mic under the name “Blues Blaster”) or a Shure Green Bullet. These will run you between $80-$100 new at any of the mail order stores that cater to harp players (we’ve got some listed on our harmonica links page).

For rock, a decent vocal mic such as the Shure SM-57 or 58, or even a relatively inexpensive vocal mic such as the Electrovoice MC300 (my personal low-cost favorite), will do a very good job.

Shure SM57 Instrument/Vocal Mic

The Shure mics are used by many pros, including Rob Paparozzi and Clint Hoover. Entire albums have been recorded using only SM-57s! These mics run between $40 - $80; if you can, wait for a sale. Be SURE to try any mic before you buy it; we recommend that you go to the store with money in hand and try every mic in your price range, preferably through the amp that you’re going to use the mic with.

By the way, my current favorite rock and blues mic is the Labtec AM-22, a mic designed for use with a computer. It costs about $8 new. Here's the secret: mics optimized for speech -- which is what the old Green Bullets and Astatic JT-30s, and the Labtec, were designed to do -- sound great with harmonica. If you decide to check out a Labtec, you'll definitely be better off using a 12AT7 or 12AY7 preamp tube in the Crate.

That’s everything. Here’s the bill, assuming you got the stuff new at or near the low end of our price ranges: