Volume was about 7 and the mic volume was at about 3/4. It does not come accross from the video but the gig was realy loud. Got a massive headache today as a result :)
It is 1210 config. Bryan is great. I wish there would be a manual for it. It took me a while to find settings I like. Rick learn to make customs yourself, it is not that difficult.
Sounds great and great tasteful playing Leonid. Was that at the Coach?Can ask how much you paid in £'s for the amp in total including shipping and customs taxes?
Last Edited by on Feb 04, 2010 9:03 AM
I always wear custom fit hearing protection with 15db reducers. They still allow all the frequencies to come through at a reasonable volume. Just wish I had used them earlier in my life.
Well... The club was a mid size and I do wear high end ear plugs. But I agree the volume has to be lower. It just the amp sounds so good when you drive those tube hard
Later in the night I played through the HG50 which Leo kindly let me and I have to say it was the best sounding amp I've ever played through...just lovely and well worth the money.
A HG50 on 7 is just plain stupid volume even for a mid sized venue.
Do yourself a favour and either get these guys to turn down or stop playing with them. I guarantee you will end up with serious hearing problems if you don't.
If these guys are playing a slow blues at that volume I hate to think what it's like when they play a fast shuffle or a boogie.
In my honest opinion people that play at volumes like that in a pub do not give a crap about the audience and to be brutally honest they don't give a stuff about musicianship. It's simply all just one giant self inflating ego trip.
If I owned that pub they wouldn't be back again that's for sure.
It wasn't actually that loud. The MC who runs the jam is very strict about volume as the pub is in a residential area so the volume has to be tightly controlled. If anyone is playing too loud they soon get told.
When playing through Leo's amp I and the other harp players used the volume control on the mic to keep the volume down.
Oisin - Here's a suggestion that could be worth trying next time at the jam. Most mics I find only sound their absolute best when the volume pot is fully open when playing solos. I think you would all find it's much better to turn the amp down and then the mic up. Give it a try and see what you think.
There is a dilemma for you. I agree the mics sound the best when turned up so as the amps. I personally prefer when the amp is cranked up and volume is controlled via mic. I don't know... Further more If I open volume on the mic I cannot turn the volume of the amp past 3, it start feeding back like crazy.
Here's a suggestion. Throw all the drummer''s sticks in the trash and hand him a set of brushes. Volume is often controlled by the fool in the tin shop.
In my opinion 3 on a HG50 is plenty. It's more than loud enough. I think you are losing so much tonality by not using the full potential of the mics element.
One thing you will also find is that most pro players run large amps around 3 and usually only around 5 if playing outdoors. Most will then mic it up into the PA to get the sound out front to a decent level. If you can't play your amp at 3 and be able to hear yourself on stage then there is something seriously wrong.
I use a Fender Princeton Reverb which is never higher than 4. Never been in a situation where I can't hear myself or get good tone. Lots of times I'll play it straight off the stage and it's more than loud enough. When I play at jams with stupidly loud guitarists then I just mic it up. I use a bullet mic with no volume control and never have feedback problems.
If you can hear yourself above the guitars and the amp still feeds back at say 4 on the volume then I think you may need to look at your cupping technique and also the tone settings on the amp. I did notice that your treble and mid settings are pretty high. That could also be the cause of feedback problems.
I disagree, The seting I used are the same as Jason's on Harpgear website. Also, one of the reasons I bought this amp is that I don't want to mic it. I think the sound I get is not bad but of course I will keep on experimenting.
The recording is not that great quality, but to me the amp sounds muffled. It is better at the higher notes, but gets muddy on the low end of the harp. You might try the BBE optistomp, that should clean things up a bit. Also, keeping your mic volume set higher will help. If you absolutely want that cranked sound but not so much volume, a load attenuator (weber live mass) could help you there.
Those old tweed circuits (and custom harp amps that are based on them) flub out on the bass if you crank it too much. Just pull the bass back a hair if you think that's an issue.
