Can someone tell me the difference between these two pedals from lone wolf blues company Im still trying to figure out what kind of distortion I want for my playing
They have a great return policy; buy both and return the one you don't want. Okay, now kind folks will try to help you by attempting to describe sound in words -- a shaky proposition. Really, I think you need to hear how YOU sound through them. Listening to the samples on their site may help a bit. No offense intended. Added: their octave pedal will provide yet another type of "distortion" despite the name of the pedal.
Last Edited by TetonJohn on Nov 10, 2015 4:30 PM
I read a lot about these two pedals before i bought the harp break.The general feeling i found is that mainly Blues players veer towards the Break whereas guys who venture into other idioms as well tend to prefer the attack. Of course there will be exceptions to this but it is how i made my choice.(and it is a great pedal)
Last Edited by indigo on Nov 10, 2015 6:40 PM
Just an FYI, we're always open to discuss things directly via e-mail or phone.
The differences between the two seem slight, but the pedals really are worlds apart. Yes, both create "distortion" in the broadest sense, but the Harp Attack smoothly flattens and compresses the waveform as a result of overdriving the tube, whereas the Harp Break clips the top and bottom much more sharply with LEDs.
The Harp Break is a more noticeable clipping and the pedal is, in general, warmer because of the bass boost control. The Harp Attack is a little more versatile because of the single knob tone control that works like an amplifier's tone control.
I like the Harp Break to push an amp really hard and create a huge, freight train-like tone (think Jason Ricci). I like the Harp Attack to add a bit of extra dirt to a large rig (like a Bassman), to make a solid state rig sound like a tube rig or to go straight to the PA.
All said and done, there is no right or wrong answer; it's all personal preference. As Teton John mentioned, we have a 60 day return policy, so you can buy with confidence.
I hope this helps. ---------- --Nathan Heck Lead Technician, Lone Wolf Blues Co. customerservice@lonewolfblues.com
What one really wishes for here is a wall to wall test: both pedals, a few different settings and -- straight to PA. No Bassmans etc but straight to PA.
I had both pedals at one point. In fact, I bought the harp attack first and then after demo'ing the harp break at HCH, i opted to sell the attack and buy the break. The attack gives you more organic break-up and good if playing into a PA and want more of a tube like sound which is subtle. The break will give you any anount of distortion you want and will give you any amount of bass that you want. They are both great pedals but i prefered the break given the fact that i used it with a tube amp. and no longer paly into a PA.
Last Edited by blueswannabe on Nov 11, 2015 8:25 AM
@Martin...there are plenty of YouTube videos of both pedals going straight into the PA. I was going to post some clips, but Kingley beat me to it with some really good examples (I was going to use a Collard clip for the Harp Break, too).
@TetonJohn...there were multiple reasons. The biggest was stability within the circuit. The tube is highly microphonic, and we were unable to mitigate that (something we are fairly successful with in the standalone unit) in the Boogieman because of the different switching system. Also, using the Harp Break lowered the cost of the Boogieman, which is by far our most expensive pedal. We always try to make our gear as affordable as possible for harp players, but we never compromise on quality. ---------- --Nathan Heck Lead Technician, Lone Wolf Blues Co. customerservice@lonewolfblues.com
Last Edited by NathanLWBC on Nov 11, 2015 9:05 AM
I've owned multiple Breaks and Attacks. I much preferred the Break. It isn't microphonic, it is smaller, it is 9V (not 18), and it plays well with all of my mics.
Thank you Kingley and Nathan. I must say that still, I would appreciate a more "clinical" demonstration, with the same player, no band, a microphone and a PA, and then the various settings on the two pedals in order to get a fuller picture of what they do. I´m personally sitting on a fence if I shall continue with my RP or go for one of the LW gadgets.
You're welcome Martin. I doubt you'll find anyone doing a "clinical" demo like that online.
The Harp Attack and Harp Break can both be made to sound quite similar to each other. The Harp Break has a bass boost which the Harp Attack doesn't. They both add distortion/overdrive to your sound and both sound quite similar to using an amp.
Having used the Digitech RP pedals I have to say in my opinion and for my taste either Lone Wolf pedal is far superior to it. I like to get a Chicago style amplified sound and the Harp Attack does that for me. The Harp Break's distortion/overdrive sounded much more digital to my ear and reminded me of the way a Solid State amp breaks up. The Harp Attack sounds much more organic to my ear and reacts much more like a valve amp does.
I hear you Kingley. The distortion aspect is not that fancy on my RP 150 (w/ Richard H´s settings), that I have to say. Its usefulness has mainly been its versatilty in recording contexts; I´ve found it somewhat problematic live. I´m not primarily a blues player, and I thought for a while that I would be able to make my way without an amp but decided it was a no go. Nevertheless, a reliable pedal with a passable amount of dirt for the blues(ier) gigs is on my wishing list and I´ll look closer at the HA. Thanks. (No, the more "clinical" demo probably isn´t something that will turn up, unless the LW people decide it´s a good marketing strategy to provide such a thing. It would be very appreciated since you can´t find a LW pedal in any store -- at least not in bloody Sweden.)
I had a RP 255 with Richard's patches. Sounded great recording:
I found, though, that tweaking live was a challenge, and I did not like cycling through patches.
Hence, the pedal board used for the above LW video. My board looks different now:
What I love about the HB, is it works with 9v and any mic. It can be turned off and on with no added noise, and it is easy to adjust on the fly.
I can get lots of breakup with no feedback and keep the bass at 9 o'clock to make it modern sounding, or crank it for a warmer tone.
Currently, I use it as a distortion pedal. The Joyo Clean Glass mounted underneath is an analog amp sim set up to sound like a Blackface Fender. ---------- Mike My Website My Harmonica Effects Blog
Thanks Mike, The best all-round sound I´ve found on my RP 150 is Richard´s patch 1 (I think he calls it "Dark Champ" or something). I managed to add a teeny bit of distortion to that rather clean sound, and it was OK, but not wonderful. Also, I was extremely close to feedback even when gigging in a small room. But like you, "cycling through patches" is to nervous for me. If I may ask, why two Zoom Multistomp, and what do they do?
One is all delays and reverbs. The other is just octave down with auto wah. If I had to, I could live with just one. ---------- Mike My Website My Harmonica Effects Blog
@Kingly "The Harp Break's distortion/overdrive sounded much more digital to my ear and reminded me of the way a Solid State amp breaks up.".
I've had a similar result and like the Octave more -although it still has a digital sounding distortion but less so to my ears. "Duh"? Sure, and I am somewhat amp spoiled. That said, I have a question:
Which mic(s) with these pedals? Does it matter a lot? I use a 57 and don't currently have a working bullet style mic to compare.
The Harp Break wants a high impedance source: so the style of microphone i.e. bullet ,stick etc is irrelevant.It is the Element(cartridge) that puts out the signal that is important. I've used the H/B with C/M,DM and Crystal elements and using an impedance converter a Shure 57.They all sounded great.
Last Edited by indigo on Nov 12, 2015 9:23 PM
If I dare ask two more things on this topic: is the Harp Attack one sound and one sound only; or can you dial in discernible differences in the way it breaks up? (Just some small amount of distortion ... to quite a lot of it -- but at the same volume etc.) Also, how is the feedback situation when going through the board? Can I max it out?
In the clip I posted above, the drive was on the 9 o'clock position ( 1/4 the way on). So there is a lot of distortion to be had. It can be turned up to heavy distortion.
I've never had feedback problems with it in any PA and can get it really loud if needs be. I usually play with my volume half way up on the pedal and set the PA accordingly. That way I can turn up the pedal if the guitarists turn up during a gig and have plenty of volume to go at.
How about the Lone Wolf Harp Delay? I have this pedal and it seems to work well with all of my mics and my Bassman and a new-to-me/old amp head I recently got - a 12 watt Decca. What are the differences between my pedal and the others that have been mentioned? Also, I have a (sort of) related question that might be pertinent to other pedals in this discussion. As I said, the Decca is 12-14 watts and with the pedal attached it is loud enough for most of the venues I play in including a jam where the decibel level is usually over 100. I should have said, the amp is loud enough turned up about a third of the way. By contrast, without the pedal I need to turn it up to the max to achieve the same level. Is the pedal providing a boost? Thanks.
Lots of people like the harp delay. Harpsucker, Ron Sunshine, for example, and lots of people on this forum. Harpsucker did a youtube video called delay heaven. Watch that one.
Thanks blueswannabe I remember watching that video - it is excellent and informative. I'm just curious what others say about the differences between the various Lone Wolf pedals.
The main difference between your Harp Delay and the other pedals being discussed (Harp Attack and Harp Break) is that the latter two are designed to add some distortion either for getting an amp-like sound through the PA or for adding some distortion to an amp that you think would benefit from it. Your pedal just ads an effect, delay, to the signal, either in conjunction with the other two or on its own. Typically, you would not use the delay by itself to a PA, but you certainly could if you were looking for a clean straight-to-PA sound but with delay. I hope this helps.
Last Edited by TetonJohn on Nov 14, 2015 5:47 PM
I visited lone wolfs shop and Compared both of them side by side and liked the break better. I purchased it and couldn't live without it. Ps I just field tested their no 4x10 amp and loved it. If your looking for a 40 to 50 watt amp it's my favorite.
>>>>"What I love about the HB, is it works with 9v and any mic. It can be turned off and on with no added noise, and it is easy to adjust on the fly.
I can get lots of breakup with no feedback."
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I totally agree with this. The Break is very simple to use (not saying the Attack isn't; I haven't used that one), and sounds damn good. I never have any feedback issues using it, whether through an amp or the PA.
I own both and HarpOctave too I like them all and they all are different and I can live with any of them but like to have all three as every have its own pros and cons. In general HarpBreak have bass boost, slightly less highs and works great as "crunch" pedal. I prefer it for slow blues tunes for fat tone. It works great both to PA and any amp, but a bit better in front of tube amps. HarpAttack is sharper and brighter, I think it as my "lead" pedal (I can turn tone down and get bassy tone, but not as fat as Break). And it's better for faster tunes and higher holes. And it cuts through mix better for my taste. It's perfect to play through big solid state amp. It have widest dynamic range. HarpOctave is perfect to play non-harp-specific amp and it really helps to cut through loudest possible mix without feedback. It also works great in front of any other distortion pedal.
