Patrick Barker
188 posts
Mar 02, 2009
9:05 PM
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I just happened to run across this on guitar center's website:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Astatic-by-Hohner-JT30-Roadhouse-Harmonica-Microphone-271320-i1435849.gc
Anyone know what's going on? Is this just another low quality gag like Hohner's Blues Blaster or is this an actual valid jt-30 with an element similar to the legendary MC-151's? I thought jt-30's were only sold used these days from older times.
Edit: also on musicians friend:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Astatic-by-Hohner-JT30-Roadhouse-Harmonica-Mic?sku=271320
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
Last Edited by on Mar 02, 2009 9:08 PM
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isaacullah
70 posts
Mar 02, 2009
9:47 PM
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Musicians Friend IS Guitar Center (also Music 123 and a host of other "different" web and bricks and mortar stores). It's not surprising that they all of a sudden have "exclusive" access to a product like this. I'd be cautious about this. There is absolutely no info about the element at all in it's description. We have all heard about Hohner's recent forays into this kind of stuf (Hoodoo hand, and Hoodoo Box). It's probably not worth the money, but you never know until some one shells out! I guess you can tell it probably won't be me :)
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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MrVerylongusername
183 posts
Mar 03, 2009
1:45 AM
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Best price I've seen so far is $69 which almost makes it worth buying to replace the element. I'm praying to all the Gods of the harp that they've finally come up with a halfway decent element in these, but I'm pretty sure it's the same old Jap Bluesblaster reissue one.
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LIP RIPPER
35 posts
Mar 03, 2009
4:01 AM
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YOU CAN RETROFIT THESE WITH A NEW GASKET AND CHOICE OF VINTAGE ELEMENTS. I PUT A 99B86 IN MY BLUESBLASTER AND NOW HAVE A NEW MIC W/VOLUME AND A VINTAGE SOUND FOR LESS THAN $200.
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jbone
30 posts
Mar 03, 2009
4:33 AM
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this is a low imp element if i'm not mistaken. no big name vendor is resurrecting the crystal or cm element for mass consumption that i have heard of. hence they probably put a dynamic elemtn in these mics. i'd also be wary of the volume pot if it has one- may not match a good high imp element.
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MrVerylongusername
184 posts
Mar 03, 2009
4:53 AM
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No. It's definitely hi-z, but probably lower than the 5 Mega Ohm MC151s of old. If it was low impedance the cable ought to terminate in a male XLR. Specs for the cable are here and states it's hi-z. Looks like the XLR end might be a screw on mini-XLR.
I agree that it's unlikely we'll ever see the MC151 back in production, but hopefully the guys at Hohner (I don't think Astatic have anything to do with this mic) have heard the negative comments about the BB reissue element and have come up with something better.
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harpslinger
1 post
Mar 03, 2009
6:36 AM
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There are a lot of old weak crystals out there, I have a couple of Shure R7's and a few Astatics. I have one very good old Astatic also. I just can't seem to give up on the idea of somehow trying to replace the salt crystal. They made them once how hard can it be to make and replace the crystals in these elements. If anyone has any ideas on how to get the most out of an older weak crystal could you please advise.
Thanks
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MrVerylongusername
186 posts
Mar 03, 2009
6:43 AM
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Look on the harp-l archives. There was a discussion on this last year. The gist of it was that usually the actual crystal is still OK, but it needs reattaching to the mic diaphragm. The guy claimed to have a pretty high success rate. I've got a weak Astatic element in my bits draw, but I never got round to trying the method. Nothing to lose though really - it's not working well enough now so if I bodge the job what have I lost? Maybe one day I'll have the balls to try it.
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harpslinger
2 posts
Mar 03, 2009
1:17 PM
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Thank you MrVerlongusername,
How would I find that post? I am brand new to this forum. In fact I thought I was starting a new post when in fact I was responding to this one. I am really interested in finding out who it was that had the advice on reattaching crystals.
Thanks
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MrVerylongusername
187 posts
Mar 03, 2009
2:22 PM
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Harp-l is an email based discussion forum. There is also a google hosted copy of the discussion. I found the post about repairing crystals here
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Patrick Barker
189 posts
Mar 03, 2009
2:33 PM
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Ok, so I emailed Hohner about the jt-30, and here was the response:
"The JT30 Roadhouse is the same as the Hohner Blues Blaster except for the finish. Astatic makes them both"
So I'm guessing it was a marketing thing to get harp players to buy a "jt-30" rather than the not-so-good reputation of the blues blaster
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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isaacullah
74 posts
Mar 03, 2009
7:10 PM
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Yeah, that's kind of what I thought... It seems Hohner is taking some interesting directions lately vis-a-vis it's customer base. They seem to be really going after the novice, uninformed blues harpist who has tons of disposable income. The price raising and release of moderate quality but more competitively priced products (bluesbender, hoodoo amps, mics, and now this mic) makes me more and more apprehensive. I think more and more informed intermediate-level harpists are going to think twice now before buying hohner products. I'm not saying ALL their products are bad (far from it!), but the recent trend in their business plan makes at least me think that I'm no longer their target market. So, I'm left to find a purveor who still thinks I'm worth catering to, and at least as far as actual harps are concerned, that's now Seydel for me.
As far as harmonica electronics are concerned, I can't afford any of the commercial offerings, so I learned to build them myself, and in the process have come to discover how much these things ACTUALLy would cost to make ie. how much I pay for the components vs. how much we are charged for the complete product. Some are worth it (for example, the gresch amp Adam suggests to buy), and some are not (i think the Hoodoo amp falls in this category, as well as the new "jt30" mic)
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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Scoltx
32 posts
Mar 09, 2009
4:18 AM
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It's on for $49 US on Musicians Friend Stupid Deal of the Day, right now.
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Scoltx
33 posts
Mar 09, 2009
3:49 PM
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I know it's probably not the greatest mic, but maybe someone might of been able to snag one for the shell and cable at that price.
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