The Harp Weasel?

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    Sold on my LC15 a while ago ... but had a 10" Jenson ... the HH fitted as standard was crap, and I believe i swapped to  12au7 in the preamp ... though it's been a while.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • You guys any pointers to a starting out kinda lesson, harp "kit" per se? Any good "fretboard" for harpists sites? I've always wanted to play since seeing Paul Lamb regularly as a young lad.. I've also now got a wicked looking amp for it (my selmer discussion - probably sounds like shit lol)
    Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    edited November 2015 tFB Trader
    Get a C harp, start drawing at the second hole (fnar fnar) and you are away (you are playing in G 'crossed harp')... lots of 'how to' its on u tube
    Concentrate on clear single note runs and slurs ... bending notes takes a while to learn, but it's simply a knack. I'm not great at blown bends, but drawn ones I can wail like a bugger at :-)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • Thanks Ash! Will do this week so... Btw I always loved this track, think it sound deadly but is it the equivalent of Steve via wanking for harp players? Awesome album btw if you haven't heard it....
    Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life
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  • NomadNomad Frets: 549

    I found this guy's series of lessons helpful...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddM5RlWSJ4E

    That's the first one. Work through them step by step.

    A C harp is good to get first because most online lessons use that - you can sook and blaw on the same hole and get the same pitch as the teacher. A D is handy for jamming to blues in A. I'm another Lee Oskar fan - Thomann's prices are pretty good if you're ordering a few or buying something else already (the 10 euro postage on one harp wipes out the saving). If not, just get down to your nearest music shop and buy one.

    I wouldn't bother with things like mic and amp for a while - needs a bit of research, and costs money that's arguably better spent on some decent harps. You also need to work out if you want to play acoustically (cleanly amplified, like for recording or PA) or overdriven for the Chicago sound ('crap' mic and small amp getting pushed for a low-fi sound).

    Bending is weird. I found various web sites that claimed to have the theory behind it nailed, full of diagrams showing tongue positions and mouth shapes, but it still took ages to get it to happen. As Ash says, it's a knack, and seems to be a case of doing odd things with your mouth and throat until it happens.

    There are forums out there, but I never bothered with any of them. They can be handy when threads come up in searches, though.


    Nomad
    Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    edited November 2015 tFB Trader
    I found draw bending came from dropping my tongue and opening my throat a bit ... then initially tilting the harp up a tad  helped ... god knows why :-)
    And you can spend a fortune on harp mics ... but the ones that are cheap as chips seem to work best ... I had an old WW2 tank microphone in black Bakelite for ages ... bought it for 50p at a boot sale!  Sounded ace ... till some bugger stole it at a gig :-( 
    DIY and harp seem to go together
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • NomadNomad Frets: 549

    The Superlux D112 clone/copy/style of the Green Bullet seems pretty good, and Thomann's price is excellent...

    http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_d112c.htm

    About 15 quid less than even Amazon. Demo here...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCf4qNEtu88

    Decent length of cable and built in volume control with a centre detent. Quite a heavy and bulky mic, though. I've been harbouring plans to recase the cartridge from a cheapy dynamic to get something that fits into the hand better.

    Nomad
    Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    Me, I like a good, big harp mic ... something to smack unruly punters over the head with :-)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • NomadNomad Frets: 549

    The Superlux will certainly work for that. :)

    Before I got mine, I thought it was a plastic case. When I picked it up, I realised it was all cast metal. Fixed cable as well, so you can give it a swing and get it back into action right away rather than have to go and find it when the plug comes out. ;)

    Nomad
    Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...

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  • My singer after years and years of harp sound issues, recently bought a new mic and a valve amp, been brilliant ever since, no feedback loads of power and a great tone, will email to find out details.
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  • http://www.harmonicas-direct.com/accessories/microphones-amps/harp-train-10-harmonica-amp Think this is the amp, great tone, sounds warm and fat with a tele too!
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  • The above site used to be based in Queensbury in Bradford.I bought quite a few harps from him...
    All good advice above about learning. ..just stick with it...
    hours of fun. ..In a sound proof room away from your loved ones....:-)
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  • so harp is a synonym for harmonica? confusing.

     

    I tried it a few times, could never bend a note which I really wanted to do (ala man with a harmonica) so I gave up.

    Is bending notes hard or is it pretty begginer?

    I'm not a McDonalds burger. It is MkJackary, not Mc'Jackary... It's Em Kay Jackary. Mkay?
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  • marktheharpmarktheharp Frets: 88
    edited November 2015
    I would say bending notes is the hardest. ..
    .and play in the correct key (called cross harp) when playing blues. ..
    straight harp is just playing the melody of a tune in the same key. ..If you want the blues sound, cross harp is your friend. I.e if guitar is playing blues in 'E' you need to be playing a harp in 'A'. To get the blues sound..
    I can highly recommend the book and cd called ' beginning blues harp by Don Baker'.
    Hopefully this link works?
    If not search above on Ebay, can be had for as little as £3.99.... This book is what started me off. ..:-)
    good luck with your quest and anybody else reading this.... us Harp players are a friendly bunch.....
    cheers Mark.
    http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=151873745286&alt=web



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  • Also to anyone who is in the Leeds/Bradford area and fancies a quick lesson I can show you how to start off... ;)
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    Mkjackary said:

    so harp is a synonym for harmonica? confusing.

     

    I tried it a few times, could never bend a note which I really wanted to do (ala man with a harmonica) so I gave up.

    Is bending notes hard or is it pretty begginer?

    Harp was slang used among early masters of the blues harmonica ... it sort of stuck.
    I equate bends on harp to picked harmonics on guitar ... a knack: once you discover how to do it you always wonder why you had difficulty in doing it,
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
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  • Cheers guys, I'll have a look for the Don baker book... A class musician himself! Looking forward to picking one up...
    Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    And listen to Little Walter till you absorb what harp 'should' sound like :-)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • Yes absolutely and don't forget 'sonny boy Williamson'..... <:-P
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