SMaxwell
14 posts
Mar 27, 2009
3:03 PM
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I noticed today that Musician's Friend has Honeytone mini amps on sale for $19.95... almost bought one but saving for a Microcube.
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tookatooka
165 posts
Mar 27, 2009
3:24 PM
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Funny, I've been looking into Honeytone amps also but I found there are different types. One of them is only suitable for playing into earphones so be aware what you may be ordering.
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When I'm not blowing, I'm drawing.
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SMaxwell
15 posts
Mar 27, 2009
3:28 PM
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This looks like it's the real deal, the N-10 Model Here is the link - I think I'm gonna go ahead and order one.
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/-HoneyTone-Amp?sku=481850
The model E-15 is the earphone one.
Last Edited by on Mar 27, 2009 3:34 PM
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Aussiesucker
215 posts
Mar 27, 2009
3:47 PM
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Do a bit more of a search. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is. There is info on the web where the amp & the company are rated as unreliable. However if you are buying from a reputable retailer close by then it should be ok. If you get a dud and have to freight it away for repair or replacement then savings are lost.
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tookatooka
166 posts
Mar 27, 2009
3:52 PM
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Hi Aussie Musicians Friend looks a big reliable outfit so should be fine. I'm tempted and have emailed for shipping costs to the UK.
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When I'm not blowing, I'm drawing.
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MJ
15 posts
Mar 27, 2009
4:07 PM
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Here is an interesting link with information regarding the Honeytone Mini amp. It sounds as if the amp is not bad for $20 plus shipping. I have a couple of 9v mini amps that I use as bench amps for quick testing.
http://www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica/honeytone.html
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Jaybird
76 posts
Mar 27, 2009
4:31 PM
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I bought one of those Honeytone N-10's and after a few days of use I realized it was a piece of crap. The 9V battery does not last long, you need to plug it in with an adaptor if you're going to use it alot. You can't get a clean sound out of it, only distorted, which some people actually like.
As SMaxwell stated, you are considering a Micro Cube, then I highly recommend you get one, it's 100x better. Which is what I got after unloading my Danelectro on eBay.
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2009 12:30 AM
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MJ
16 posts
Mar 27, 2009
4:54 PM
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After thoroughly reading the article in the link I posted on the Honeytone I think I will agree with Jaybird as to taking a pass on the Honeytone.
There are 7 modifications that were done to the stock minitone before it was passable. If you love to tinker then it might be fun. If it's an amp you can use and enjoy that you are looking for, you are, in my opinion, better to save a bit longer for the Micro Cube. I owned a Micro Cube once and it has a lot to offer. It may be hard to wait till you have saved up for the better product but instant gratification is not all it is cracked up to be.
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tookatooka
168 posts
Mar 27, 2009
5:33 PM
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On reflection looks like the micro cube is the way to go. Thanks.
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When I'm not blowing, I'm drawing.
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SMaxwell
16 posts
Mar 27, 2009
8:48 PM
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Ok, I talked myself out of it (you guys helped). I had it in my cart and was 3/4 of the way through the checkout and decided to keep the money in my account and wait another paycheck or two and get the microcube. I have a Champ, which I really like, but the Microcube loooks like a cool amp to mess around with. I also wanted to have a battery powered amp for ...well, I don't know yet, but maybe someday I might have a need for it!
Last Edited by on Mar 27, 2009 8:50 PM
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Maciekdraheim
21 posts
Mar 29, 2009
11:22 AM
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About HoneyTone. I like if for electric playing. In this clip I use that little monster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwGiIhBM4JE&feature=channel_page
Yeap, the battery lasts for only few hours so I bought an adapter, but the tone is really nice to my ears.
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jonsparrow
2 posts
Mar 31, 2009
8:32 AM
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i just picked this up yesterday after seeing your video. not bad for a little amp. only payed $19 at guitar center. its got some nice tone an you can crank up the over drive an get alot of distortion. it cool to play wit when your just chillin an you dont want to play super loud on a regular amp.
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Maciekdraheim
22 posts
Mar 31, 2009
12:22 PM
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Glad that you like it! I do not use the o.drive control at all. I get all the distortion just from a mic and amp's volume control. It's loud enough for me to practice with electric guitar and piano as I did today.
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Miles Dewar
277 posts
Mar 31, 2009
8:56 PM
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That's pretty cool. only 20 bucks
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---Go Bears!!! (Richard Dent for Hall of Fame)---
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jaymcc28
27 posts
Apr 01, 2009
9:42 AM
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While on the subject of small, inexpensive practice amps, does anyone know anything about the smokey mini-amp? How does it compare to the Honeytone micro?
I have a couple of guitar amps and an old mic at my house but I don't play through them much because I'm just too lazy to pull them out, hook them up, etc. I thought that if I had a small practice amp and mic (bottle o' blues, maybe?) I might be more inclined to pull them out now and then.
Thoughts?
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jonsparrow
12 posts
Apr 01, 2009
10:23 AM
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i donno about that amp but save your money an build your own mic. you can build your own for under $10. of course you cant compare it to a nice shure or a bullet style mic, but as for spendin money on a bottle 0' blues mic, you can make the same thing very easy.
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jonsparrow
15 posts
Apr 01, 2009
2:49 PM
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oh ya an the best part about this amp is the battery it comes wit. :)
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isaacullah
141 posts
Apr 01, 2009
3:06 PM
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The "smokey" amp is the biggest rip off of harp players that anyone has tried to perpetrate. The circuit has been around for years, known variously as the "Ruby", "Little Gem", or "Noisy Cricket". It uses as it's base a small 1/2 watt amplifier IC, the LM 386, which goes 2 for $2.50 at Radio Shack.
You can build one yourself that will have way more tonal diversity and better specs than the "smokey" version for under $10. $15 if you have to buy an enclosure. Here's the link to some very detailed and easy-to-follow instructions on how to do the radio shack DIY version: http://www.beavisaudio.com/projects/NoisyCricket/
I've built two of these. They sound great, but don;t expect them to be SUPER loud.
Yeah, and build your own mic too. Search the internet for "i-mic", and you will find plenty of instructions and pictures of these easy to make harmonica mics. The Bottle of Blues is essentially a gussied up i-mic. I've made several. They are super easy,a nd sound great.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Last Edited by on Apr 01, 2009 3:10 PM
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Hollistonharper
58 posts
Apr 01, 2009
3:48 PM
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I bought a bottle o'blues mic and a smoky amp from Jim McBride, who posts here I think from time to time, as well as on the bushman forum. I like the mic a lot, I think it contributes distortion to your sound but mostly I like it because it is light and easy to hold, makes it easier to shake the harp like little walter. I'm the farthest thing from an expert on amplification but my sense is I will continue to use it even after I upgrade my gear.
The smoky amp is ok, it does what it is advertised to do. It's loud for it's size and it highly distorted although I can't say it gives you that chicago sound. But it's really basic and you need a mic that has a volume control. It's inexpensive and a step up from being a toy.
Probably good for people like me who dont have the time or skills or inclination to Do It Yourself like Isaac. It's not a ripoff IMO but you get what you pay for.
Last Edited by on Apr 01, 2009 3:54 PM
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djm3801
71 posts
Apr 02, 2009
6:37 PM
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Jim is a good guy. For those who do not want to be bothered with parts and construction, this is a good device for the money. I have a Green Bullet and, while it is a classic, it is heavy as hell. Bottle o blues is very light in comparison with a very nice sound.
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isaacullah
147 posts
Apr 02, 2009
7:18 PM
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I have no doubt that the bottle of blues is a good mic. But since I build my own, I know how much it actually costs to build this stuff. Even without a "real" shop and bulk product order discounts, I can build a mic EXACTLY like that for less than $5 using tools any homeowner would own anyway, plus a cheap soldering iron and a few easy to get parts.
The plastic body is a "McCormick" brand spice bottle, which you can get with nice holes (shaker holes) already "predrilled" in the cap. These cost something like $2.50 at the grocery store, but you get to keep the spices so the bottel is practically free. Just decant the spices (I like the mesquite grill seasoning!), wash the bottle, and scrub off the lable. You then drill a 5/8" hole in the base for the jack, and a 1/4" hole in the body for the volume potentiometer (or leave this off. Buddha, for one, does not believe in them, and it will save you money and time).
A 1/4 guitar jack costs ~$0.75, a good quality pot costs ~$1.50. These parts can by gotten at RadioShack or ordered online. Solder them up with a short length of hookup wire (I ues shielded wire because there is no metal body to block EM interference), and screw everything in it's right place.
Now the only potentially high cost is the element. I don't know what element is used in the real bottle of blues, but I use Japanese CR elements that are meant to replace burnt out elements in modern Astatic CB microphones, and are equivalent to those used in the "new" bullet type mics. I get these for $2.50 a pop on e-bay. Slightly better quality new elements elements will cost between $5 and $25. Most of these CR elements seem to be the perfect diameter to wedge in the neck of a McCormick bottle. I use a single wrap of elactracl tap around the diameter of the element to use as a "gasket", and it wedges very tightly in the neck of the bottle.
Now is the Bottle of Blues worth the price? At $49 each, if it's a $25 element in the Bottle of Blues, it's probably worth it to most folks. If it's a $5 element in it, then you have to start wondering. I personally don;t want to take a fifty dollar risk on something I'm not sure of, so I build my own. Other folks will consider the service of providing these mics worth the money, so to them it still is worth it no matter what. One has to make ones own mind up about this stuff. If I was to sell my "clone" version of the Bottle of Blues (I'm not going to), I'd probably charge $15.
Also, if you do it yourself, you can always switch out an initially crappy element with a better one as and when you come across one.
BTW. I think that the painted Bottle of Blues mics are really cool. I also prefer a light weight mic like this one.
Oh, and you can hear how my Bottle of Blues clone sounds in some of the videos on my YouTube channel. You'll have to look thru them to see which one s i use it in, as I use a variety of mics.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Last Edited by on Apr 02, 2009 7:29 PM
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oldwailer
641 posts
Apr 02, 2009
11:49 PM
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Isaac, I have a mic question for you--I put a pot into my green bullet and made it into a 1/4" jack for a guitar cord and it seems to me that I lost a lot of the edge from the mic when I did that. I now have to use my mixer to amp up the signal to drive my Hog 30 to max--and I used to be able to blow it out just plugging in direct.
I used a 2.5K Ohms, Clarostat Potentiometer, because I looked it up online and that seemed to be the recommended pot--do you think the pot should be changed to a higher or lower ohm one?
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MJ
21 posts
Apr 03, 2009
7:37 AM
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oldwailer, You should be using a 100k linear taper pot in that mic for best results.
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oldwailer
643 posts
Apr 03, 2009
9:01 AM
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Thanks MJ--I found that there are 100k "Linear taper pots'" and "potentiometers" and "100k Dual linear taper pots." What does the "dual" mean? And which one is the one I want?
Sorry to be a pain here--I just don't want to do it wrong again. . .
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Jim Rumbaugh
22 posts
Apr 03, 2009
9:50 AM
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@Oldwailer
Back in my electronics days, about 1970, a dual pot was 2 potentiometers piggy backed on each other. Think of stereo and a pot for each channel.
Linear taper meant that if the pot was set mid way, you would measure 1/2 the resistance. An adio taper took into acount the non linear way we hear. I don't have enough experince to tell you wich taper to use, though my gut reaction is linear. It just effects how "touchy" the knob is.
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RyanMortos
127 posts
Apr 03, 2009
1:12 PM
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Wow, Id really like to watch a 'how to' to build that Isaac. On second thought, I see where you reference a way to google more info, thanks.
When you guys refer to the Micro Cube amp are you talking about the Roland's Cube?
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~Ryan
PA
Ryan's Tube - Containing [0] uploads and counting...
Last Edited by on Apr 03, 2009 1:16 PM
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isaacullah
149 posts
Apr 03, 2009
1:51 PM
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OW, yeah 2.5K is too tiny for a green bullet. Really, the best tone will be achieved with a large value Pot. I recommend you to use 1Mohm, but 100kohm would be the MINIMUM. If you think about how the pot works as a volume control, you will understand. The pot works like an adjustable voltage divider, sending some signal to ground. As you ramp up the resitance between signal and ground, more goes through to the output, and vice versa if you turn down resance to ground, more will shunt to ground. A resitive connection to ground also affects the input impedance of the next stage. Most amps will have a 1meg or higher input impedance, often set by a 1meg resitor to ground right after the input jack. If your mic has a Volume control, it will be in parallel to the input impedance setting resistor in your amp. This will have the net effect of lowering the overall input impedance of your amp, which is a bad thing if you are trying to feed it a hot signal. Using a small value Volume pot greatly increases this effect since 2 1mohm resistors in parallel equal 500kohms, but a 1mohm resistor in parallel with a 2.5kohm resistor is a lot lower (like 2.4k or something). That will really suck your tone.
As for the linear and double thing, Jim was spot on in his answer.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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isaacullah
150 posts
Apr 03, 2009
1:55 PM
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Note that I just saw on the Bottle of Blues site that he uses Dynamic elements. Still doesn't say WHICH dynamic element, but at least we know what type of element he is using. I imagine that the elements he uses are probably inexpensive, but maybe he uses high quality Shure elements or something. I don't know.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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SUNDOG
62 posts
Apr 03, 2009
3:57 PM
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Honeytone AMP = Good Gadget Love mine...
r,
Neal aka: SUNDOG
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jonsparrow
24 posts
Apr 03, 2009
4:08 PM
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the mic i made is out of a pill bottle an i used a Dynamic element from a shure mic. cant tell you what model cause only the element was givin to me.
heres a pic of it. you cant see it but the volume controll comes out of the cap.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/jonsparrow/imic.jpg
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MJ
22 posts
Apr 03, 2009
4:43 PM
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If you are using a CM (controled magnetic)dynamic type element, which is what the Shure Green Bullet is, stick with the 100k linear pot. If you are using a crystal element, Like a Blues Blaster, then go with the 1 meg-5 meg pot.
The duel pot is just as Jim Rumbaugh says, piggy backed. Stick with the single.
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jonsparrow
26 posts
Apr 03, 2009
9:00 PM
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whats a pot?
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oldwailer
644 posts
Apr 03, 2009
10:27 PM
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Thanks for the info guys--I ordered a new 1 meg claristat--will change to a 100k if that doesn't work--fortunately, they're cheap. . .
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MJ
23 posts
Apr 04, 2009
9:45 AM
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Pot - short for "potentiometer".
Potentiometer - a variable resistor. It usually has three terminals: the two end terminals, across which the entire resistance appears, and a third terminal, the "wiper", which moves to a different spot on the resistor as the shaft is turned. In this manner, the resistance between the wiper and one end terminal gets smaller while, at the same time, the resistance between the wiper and the other end gets larger. This allows the potentiometer to be used as a variable voltage divider, for use in attenuators, such as volume controls or tone controls.
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jonsparrow
32 posts
Apr 04, 2009
10:42 AM
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oh ok. i donno wich one im useing. i just grabbed the only one they had at radio shack.
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isaacullah
153 posts
Apr 04, 2009
12:29 PM
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Here's a couple links on how to wire up you potentiometer properly. These will help you greatly:
http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm
http://www.bcae1.com/potentio.htm
Cheers,
Isaac
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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SMaxwell
22 posts
Apr 04, 2009
7:48 PM
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isaacullah - Any chance we could get you to make us a video on how to make a McCormick mic.? I am completely non-technical, but I'd give it a go if I had a parts list and a step by step demo!
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jonsparrow
36 posts
Apr 04, 2009
10:21 PM
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i might make a how to vid on makin an i-mic if i can find some money for parts.
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isaacullah
157 posts
Apr 04, 2009
11:39 PM
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I'll do a mic vid. I've actually been meaning to do one. I have plenty of stuff lying around. I'll try to get it done sometime mext week, and I'll post it here when it's done.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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oldwailer
646 posts
Apr 04, 2009
11:49 PM
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That'd be great to see a vid on mic making--I've made two of the imics--they both work, but not worth a crap. I think I used mismatched components--probably the $.75 dynamic elements were just too cheap to do the job. . .
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jonsparrow
49 posts
Apr 05, 2009
3:57 PM
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i found the package for my potentiometer.
resistance: 10k ohms +-20% tolerance
rated power: .05 watts
sliding noise: <47mV
switch rating: 3amps 30VDC
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tookatooka
178 posts
Apr 05, 2009
4:07 PM
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Could someone tell me what the difference is between an i-mic and an ordinary mic please. I'm confused by this.
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When I'm not blowing, I'm drawing.
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jonsparrow
50 posts
Apr 05, 2009
4:39 PM
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i-mic is home made.
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MJ
25 posts
Apr 05, 2009
5:08 PM
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jonsparrow, a 10k pot may be wrong for a mic volume control. Try at least a 100k
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jonsparrow
51 posts
Apr 05, 2009
5:50 PM
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wut is the differnce?
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MJ
26 posts
Apr 06, 2009
8:27 AM
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jonsparrow, I believe you will get a better frequency range with the 100k pot. I suggest that you buy a 10k and a 100k pot, test the difference and see which your ear likes best. You can use jumper wires with alligator clips for a fast solder free test. The i-mic page recomends a 10k pot, but most harp mics use 100k-1meg pots. There s a reason for this, and I think you will hear it.
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jonsparrow
54 posts
Apr 06, 2009
9:41 AM
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ok. well i dont need to buy that 10k cause im allready useing it. i built my mic weeks ago. but i will try a 100k cause i do wanna make more mics. thanks for the info.
Last Edited by on Apr 06, 2009 9:42 AM
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