i would just like to say that accoustic tone is very much related to amp tone . the bigger and lounder sound you have accoustically the bigger the amp tone. not only that but less feedback because the amp has more headroom when you feed it a stronger signal. The best way to get a good amp sound is to work on your accoustic tone. if it sounds good without the amp its gonna great with the amp. thats the secret of big walters tone . he sounded like that off the mic
True words. Thin, breathy tone just turns into LOUD thin, breathy tone when amplified. It's important to learn and polish acoustic and amplified tone.
However, if someone has good acoustic tone, I think it's an easier transition into playing amplified with good tone, than it is for someone who has never worked on their acoustic tone and has always played amped to fix the problem. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Last Edited by on Mar 08, 2010 12:16 PM
I've been saying that for years and the vast majority of players who have good acoustic tone usually have good amplified tone as well. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
crappy tone and playing shows itself loud and clear either way to a trained ear. The thing I see the most is players that don't have a relaxed command of the harp. It is like that piece is completely missing. That is the thing that guys like big walter and the other greats had in spades. Todays players tend to be technically frantic, and to my ears, lack groove and just that "I am the man on this thing" vibe. A few notes played right, and at the right time, bury that frantic technical stuff to my ears. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
Mic technique is an important factor to consider. Good acoustic tone does not gaurantee good amped tone. ---------- Mike Fugazzi vocals/harmonica MySpace YouTube Twitter Facebook Album Ordering
On a serious note. I learned to play harmonica acoustically. It was many years after that I began using an amplifier. At this point I enjoy amped harp playing, and have honed in on various mics and amplifier modifications to adjust the tone, or sound I prefer. However, When a song is being done very soft I like to accompany acoustically more than amped on occasion. The other thing about being able to play well unplugged is that while sitting around a campfire or walking down the street, amps are not realistic. Isay get your style acoustically first. The amp thing will take care of itself.
There is NO QUESTION that good acoustic tone is imperative to good amplified tone. Most of the time when we play amplified we want clean single notes to be heard and you must have good tone for the start. However a large part or PART of what we CAN do with amplified tone comes from mic technique as HarpNinja said. This is a whole NEW slate of effects we can get that can add huge thickness, bass, crunch, etc.
As far as I'm concerned, neither is a substitute for the other. You only need good acoustic tone to play acoustic. But you can have great acoustic tone and not know a thing about how to use your amp as a new instrument, not just a way to be heard.
Name the truly great amplified players that have poor or merely good acoustic tone. I'm betting you won't find too many. Good amplified players tend to have very nice acoustic tone.
Review Adam Gussow's top twenty list. They didn't all play amplified, but they all have one thing in common. Every one of those guys had killer acoustic tone.
Mic technique is an important factor to consider. Good acoustic tone does not gaurantee good amped tone.
True, but mic technique is easier to teach. So, if you have big acoustic tone and are willing to listen, you'll master a big amped tone pretty quickly.
