The Harp Weasel?

OilCityPickups · October 2015

My other main instrument ... well, guilty pleasure is blues harmonica :-)

Ever since the days I played in 'the Jukes' with Pete Hoggman ... the guy who did the 'My Boy Lollypop' harp solo ... I have been fascinated, and gigged many times as a harmonica player.

Have always chewed the fat with other harp men about amplification, effects, being drowned out v drowning out the guitarist lol ...

viz · October 2015

Call that a harp? This is a harp

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab217/Vizzage/Mobile Uploads/image_zpsbqp5dozf.jpeg

OilCityPickups · October 2015

'Hey boy ... take that big Welsh piano from between your knees ... '

Much respect for harpists ... I mean ... anything over six strings and I'm 'rubber ducked' :-)

viz · October 2015

I can't get anything out of it tbh, no matter how hard I blow.

Sassafras · October 2015

Yes, I absolutely love blues harp but never gigged one because I'm not as confident on it as I am on guitar. I got into it mainly from listening to Captain Beefheart and then Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf and most of those other blues legends.

OilCityPickups · October 2015

Sassafras said:

Yes, I absolutely love blues harp but never gigged one because I'm not as confident on it as I am on guitar. I got into it mainly from listening to Captain Beefheart and then Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf and most of those other blues legends.

Blues jams are the way to get your playing into shape. That and concentrating on tone over noodling about. 'Hoggie' imparted the wisdom to me that a few considered notes with the right 'attitude' beat trying to be a one man band. Over playing is the enemy of good harp.

marktheharp · October 2015

Yes harp is my main instrument. Hence my fretboard name

Ash, what brands do you use?
I have a few suziki folkmaster (really nice harps. A nice B flat Lee oskar (for my Ryan Adams stuff) a few Huang and some hohner pro harps.Also a few cheapies.
I have a shure green bullet but find it too big ..

OilCityPickups · October 2015

You have to have hands like catchers mitts to work a 'Bullet' I find ... I have yet to find my ideal harp mic ... though I have a sawn of sixties telephone mouthpiece that does rather well :-)

I love Lee Oskars due to the big old reeds and holes, I find I can bend the nuts out of them without my head imploding. Not really tried Suziki's much ...

Pro harps are good but I seem to blow em out in five minutes. I adored Huang ... can you still get em and where? Cheap as chips, at least they used to be ... but good I used to find.

Sassafras · October 2015

I use Marine Bands mostly. Would you recommend the Lee Oskars over them?

I was given similar advice about not over playing by a mate of mine I used to jam with and it definitely helped take the pressure off. I was able to concentrate more on the 'attitude' and feeling.

OilCityPickups · October 2015

I hate the wood combs on some Hohners ... swells and catches your lips. I also find the reed plates are tight and gunk up really easily. I soak my harps for volume and bendability ... and have been known to spit vodka through Marine bands to clean em out!

Kee Oskars seem to take more blowing in ... but also seem to last longer. Big old chambers need puff on some of the lower tuned ones.

marktheharp · October 2015

Is the telephone mic similar to an old crystal element mic... (probably the sort of thing I need)... yes I have pretty small sausage fingers!
The huang harps I bought in Germany for about 5 Deutsch marks, when i lived there,many moons ago!

marktheharp · October 2015

The Lee oskars are very good you certainly get what you pay for!

OilCityPickups · October 2015

marktheharp said:

The Lee oskars are very good you certainly get what you pay for!

Love the fact you can get all the parts for em ... if you blow one reed plate out you can just bang a new one in and truck on.

And yes a phone mic seems to have the right 'distortion curve' ... sixties and seventies phones are cheap enough on the flea bay ... they look cool too.

OilCityPickups · October 2015

What amp are you using Mark?

marktheharp · October 2015

Sassafras .I would say in my experience I really love the 'suzuki folk masters .I have 4 that I use regularly and they were about £18 which is cheaper than marine band and I prefer them. I only have one Lee oskar and it really is superb. But the old' huang silver tone deluxe' used to be ridiculously cheap, but not any more and even though they are Chinese, there is some affiliation to hohner brand, if I remember correctly. ...
I also have a couple of 'BJ. blues' which were about £8.and they are perfectly adequate. .. For anyone reading these posts I would recommend getting a 'C harp . And get a copy of 'Don Baker blues harp book and cd. .. that is the only thing you need and obviously take yourself off in to a field somewhere or a soundproof room :-)

marktheharp · October 2015

Ash, with regards to harp and amps. .. I pretty much play acoustically (straight into a standard mic) bit of reverb. I have 11 different keys and pretty much jam anything from rock, country, indie, folk , reggae. If I have the key I'll play it, played with a lot of different styled musicians. . I have dabbled in the blues and just played through an old korg a ax1500g. Or just put it through a digitech screaming blues with a Morley volume pedal. . I have also recorded and did a local radio spot thru my zoom ms70cdr on a particle verb setting,totally wet. ...sounds like a choir of angels, get a lot of people asking 'what the hell was that'. ..In a good way. ..
For anyone who is interested if you type in 'THE MAN by MOOD ELEVATOR' on YouTube.
And also 'Mark the harp -ryan Adams come pick me up. ...:-)

Sassafras · October 2015

Never tried the Folk Masters. £18 is reasonable. I'll give them and the Lee Oskar a go.

marktheharp · October 2015

The folk masters are slightly smaller than marine bands and such like. I would say if you're serious. ..i haven't found a better harp than Lee oskar, pretty much the pro standard but I believe they are tuned slightly sharp. ...

OilCityPickups · October 2015

marktheharp said:

The folk masters are slightly smaller than marine bands and such like. I would say if you're serious. ..i haven't found a better harp than Lee oskar, pretty much the pro standard but I believe they are tuned slightly sharp. ...

learning to retune a harp is a worthwhile thing https://youtu.be/rflrvFRlvt8

marktheharp · October 2015

Wisdom.
Just sent you a message Ash <:-P

OilCityPickups · October 2015

This looks like an interesting project for a harp amp ...£85.00 from Thomann ... all valve, Would need a little 10" speaker cab ... and perhaps it's preamp valve changed for one with less gain ... always better for harp amps

Jeremiah · October 2015

Spent quite a lot of time learning to play the harp because I thought it would be a good idea to have an instrument I could play without amplification as I don't much like acoustic guitars. Eventually realised I don't really like harmonica either, unfortunately.

OilCityPickups · October 2015

Jeremiah said:

Spent quite a lot of time learning to play the harp because I thought it would be a good idea to have an instrument I could play without amplification as I don't much like acoustic guitars. Eventually realised I don't really like harmonica either, unfortunately.

Cats hate it

Drew_TNBD · October 2015

@Viz - How do you even get into playing the harp? Looks amazing!

viz · October 2015

I think you have to be a demanding teenage girl to start with, that's what we found anyway. Then find a harp teacher and just do the grades and do school orchestra etc. The strings are colour coded and you can use the cam pegs at the top to raise certain strings by a semitone or tone to get different modes in whichever key you want. This is a starter harp. On proper ones you have 7 pedals rather than pegs at the top.

Drew_TNBD · October 2015

viz said:

I think you have to be a demanding teenage girl to start with, that's what we found anyway. Then find a harp teacher and just do the grades.

lol, ohhh right. It's not yours, your daughters??

viz · October 2015

Yep

randomhandclaps · October 2015

My boy's bed time album -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y10wA0tdu0

Sassafras · October 2015

Drew_fx said:

@Viz - How do you even get into playing the harp? Looks amazing!

It's a good idea for beginners to buy a harmonica.

Listening to harp players is a good start to get the feel for it and to realise that it's a very expressive instrument. As Ash says you shouldn't over play it, just concentrate on the sound and not so much on the notes.

OilCityPickups · October 2015

Thanks for the derail guys ... happy to return the compliment

viz · October 2015

Howdy, Stranger!

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The Harp Weasel?

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