Video of the Week 1 December 2010: Jason Ricci Live
Here’s a live performance from one of the modern blues and rock harp masters, Jason Ricci. Jason starts the performance without amp or effects here, and his tone is simply wonderful. The device used to record this performance went into overload when Jason started playing…
New amped blues patches for the RP355/350
I realized yesterday that I hadn’t done any patches for the GS2101 Saturated Tube Preamp amp model on the RP355/350, so I cooked a couple up. This amp model has a very hard, raw sound. I coupled it with a Bassman 4×10 cabinet model, and…
Video of the Week 24 Nov 2010: John Popper with the Allman Brothers Band
Recorded at Jones Beach 31 August 1990, John Popper live with the Allman Brothers Band on the Sonny Boy Williamson classic “One Way Out”. Popper solos around 4 minutes in. The recording is unfortunately cut off in the middle of the piano solo, but that’s…
RP Tip #5: How to connect the RP to everything
Connecting the RP to other gear, like your amp and your mic, is really pretty simple. You don’t need a preamp between the mic and the RP; the RP is a preamp. You don’t need a direct box between your RP and the amp or…
There’s new stuff on our downloads page
New solo acoustic pieces to hear and buy, new solo electric stuff to hear and download–the hits just keep on comin’! Check it all out on our downloads page.
Back to one RP (and a looper)
I’ve stripped my setup down to an RP355 and a Digitech JamMan mono looper for a little while. On the one hand the sounds are less complex, but on the other it’s easier to focus on what I’m playing, as opposed to building complex tones…
Video of the week Nov 15 2010: Boris Plotnikov Does Russian Rap with Vinnebago
Here’s one of my favorite harmonica players worldwide, Boris Plotnikov from Yekaterinburg with his killer band Vinnebago. I don’t speak Russian, let alone Russian rap, but you can tell there’s a lot going on in this performance.
Gear Review: Bottle o’ Blues mic
The Bottle o’ Blues (also known as BoB) mic has a very distinctive sonic character–in particular, lots of low frequency response, with a reduced high end. The mic’s element breaks up strongly when the built in volume control is maxed out, which makes it a…
RP Tip #4: Dealing with hardware failures
There are basically only two kinds of moving parts on an RP: the expression pedal, and the up/down footswitches. There are a couple of ways these break down that have easy fixes. The expression pedal can break down when the nuts that hold it in…
Check Out Clint Hoover on “East Side”
I acquired a copy of the latest CD featuring Clint Hoover, Reynold D. Philipsek’s “East Side”, at SPAH in August 2010, and had the chance to listen to it all the way through on a long drive last night. Here’s a quick summary of the…
