How to Choose Your First Harmonica Amp (Any Budget)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- In today's lesson, I will show you how to buy your first or next harmonica amp. If you've wondered "What harmonica amp should I buy?" Then check this video out and decide today.
(FREE) Download the scale cheatsheet:
bit.ly/scalesheet
Give structure to your Harmonica practice with Harp Trainer, a scale training program designed to help you become a more confident harmonica player.
Click here: bit.ly/Harptrainer
Need a new harp? Here are my suggestions:
Using these links help support the channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
My favorites: Hohner Crossover: amzn.to/31H1hWE
Seydel 1847 Classic: amzn.to/3IzJNMm
Best Choice for Beginners: Hohner Special 20: amzn.to/339Js2N
On a budget? Try this! Easttop 008k: amzn.to/3pIgM8L
Need Amplified Gear?
Amps: Boss Katana Mini Amp (great for practice): amzn.to/3rNtANO
Stage V (best for performing): www.stage5amps.com/
Mics: Boya BY-M1(Cheap and distorted, like lead guitar): amzn.to/3IDQWLF
Shure Green Bullet (Large standard mic for blues): amzn.to/31JUyec
Bulletini (Small, great for blues): amzn.to/3rOR1Gz Sennheiser E835 (Great vocal mic with a clean sound): amzn.to/3pEVIzT
Do you already play amplified? Let me know what your setup is!
I did my research and found the Orange Crush 35 or the Fender Champ 40 are great for those who can’t afford a vintage Gibson tube amp like me. Bought the Orange since I already play guitar thru the Fender. Not quite the William Clarke tone I aspire to but pretty darn close.
Jonah, I'm considering the Katana (the Japanese character that looks like a K means strength) Mini. A reviewer on Amazon says you also need a Roland SPB power adapter (make sense?). Also, Bulletini not available. I have small-med hands. The Sennheiser looks long and heavy, will it work? I want a wireless set-up if possible.
I'm 73 yrs old. I played 69-72 and stopped until now, so I'm trying to learn riffs, etc. I could bend even after 50 yrs.
I'm sure you are busy, but this vid was especially useful, so any reply is much appreciated.
Back in the day I played records until they wore out by Butterfield (my idol) and Lee Oskar (He played for War). The only book on blues harp then was by Tony Glover.
Thanks for the vid. Just a bit of clarification. Solid state amps are not digital. Both solid state and tube amps are analog. Some solid state amps will have some digital processing, but it is not accurate to refer to solid state as digital. Solid state amps use transistors, resistors, and capacitors, while tube amps mainly use vacum tubes as the backbone of amplification, but valve amps also contain resistors and capacitors. All are analog circuitry. A hybrid amp might have any or all, and may also have digital convertors, and do some digital processing. A quick google search will show the difference between solid state and digital.
Just got back from the music store with my Boss Katana Mini. Boy this thing sounds good, I'm going to take it out busking tomorrow. Well, busking is a loose term here, since I live in the UP and there are not likely to be a lot of people where I'm going. Either way, I'm headed into the public to annoy with surprisingly loud harp sounds with my new portable amp. Thanks for the recommendation.
Hey, Jonah! I just bought a Jason Ricci Signature microphone based on your recent review. I love the sound it produces, and that with my Hohner HarpBaster gives me the best of both worlds. I was looking for the right amp, and realized I had a Boss Katana Mini that I bought years ago, but never used (I bought it for my guitars, but use Fender Princeton Reverbs), so I brought it out of the closet and it works awesomely well. You just saved me a lot of money! Next, I am going to run my microphone through my Fender Rumble Studio bass amp to see how that sounds. Thanks for doing this review for us! Cheers.
Good advice. I like the little boss amp myself. Great sound for such a small amp and easily portable
Another portable option is the amp I use a lot, because it's one most guitarists already use anyway. The Yamaha THR series.
Hello Jonah, Wow ! Great video ! awesome explanations. 👍👍👍💕😘 Have a wonderful day.
Jonah, can you talk about the various models of Pignose Amps and their suitability for us harp players.
You Definitely just sold me in the Stage 5 amp!
Excellent video! Thanks mate 😊
For home use, the Roland Cube LITE (possibly no longer made), sounds really good on the clean voicing (JC120 tone), yet still has a good degree of distortion. It could be mic'd up for live / studio work. Great sound though.
Here's a partial list of the amps I have owned: silverface Fender Champ; Gibson BR-6; Kalamazoo Model 1; Hurricane V8; Fender Champion 20; Holland Westside 35; full-size Meteor; and Bassman Reissue. My favorite by far is the Bassman Reissue - the sound quality, responsiveness, warmth, breakup, bass response, and power just make it a feast for the ears. The only amp I've ever played that I liked better was a Victoria 35210 that I tried out in a music store in Little Rock in probably 1999. I passed on that one due to the high price tag of $1,100 - dang, I wish I could buy one for that now! I also have buddies who have a Texas Crude amp and a Sonny Jr 4x8, both of which sound excellent. Also, I have regretted selling every amp I have ever sold...so if you have an amp that's not total garbage, by all means don't sell it!!!
Great help for home practice,the Boss sounds great for the price. Thanks
Big jump up price wise to stage 5 but well worth it I think. I cannot decide between the Taylor or Shelist model. Love the dirty Taylor sound but the Shelist model seems more versatile, cleaner and middle of the road to suit various purposes. Tough choice.
The katana mini is very interesting it would be good to make a video with it and another one to see the nuances if you can test the NUX Mighty 8BT I'm leaning towards it, big hugs.
BTW Love that Bass...
Don't forget refurbished Kalamazoos!!
I have a pig nose and a mini katana and I love them both but tend to favor the katana and Hohner harp blaster mic and if I need to be louder I use the 1/8 output on back of the katana and a 1/4 adapter plugged into my 30w fender frontman bass amp and it sounds pretty good for a few hundred bucks
Hi Jonah! Thanks for inspiring us! Keep doing your great diversification videos!
What is your OPINION about “Boss DR01s Rhythm Partner”? Can it be a good “partner” for harmonica’s players as well?
New follower
I would add the VHT Special 6 to the list of great amps for harp. For myself I need versatility and a range from super clean to dirty, so I'm giging a Roland Blues Cube Artist.
Lovely
I'd like to see you do more gear giudes
I'm using a champ 600 with Weber speaker and I am tech beefed up the circuit board using the first issued blues blaster with mc151 elements Crystal trying to get more crunch any suggestion on a affordable pedal
Hey Jonah, I just got a Lyx Pro 40 w and the Joyo American Sound pedal, but the amp is way too loud for my use. What inexpensive small amp do you recommend considering I'll be using the Joyo, tube or solid state?
I have a ibenez GTP10 Guitar Amp I use for my electric guitar and electric ukulele.
I'm not sure if one of your suggested harmonica microphones would work with it.
It's a small Amp for home but not tiny like those portable ones that run on batteries.
So it's basically like the next size down from my husband's bug bass Amp.
Now there isn't many guitar centers close to where I live.
Just one place in particular.
I'm not sure how big their selection is. It's a small city after all.
So I'm not sure if they will have the same kind of microphones and the smaller portable amps or you were showing.
But I am glad to know that certain microphones don't blend well with certain amps. So I'm not sure what to go with that will sound the best together.
What kind of microphone are you using in this video?
I mean it sounded really nice to me. And so did the mini Boss amp. Besides that smaller boss Amp, what other amps or larger amps do you play with that microphone?
Perhaps it will point me in the right direction and I can check it out.
Also I'm looking for a comfortable but sturdy harmonica rack that isn't so tall like the hihner flex rack because even some men with longer necks than ne said that rack was far too high.
But it was very sturdy and that's what I want in a neck rack. Also the part where you place your harmonica wouldn't damage your harmonica and scratch it up.
But the height of it has kept me from buying it.
Now I heard a K& M harp rack damaged somebody's harmonica
So I'm staying away from that also.
But I did see a farmer sidenote holder and it's very nice and sleep looking and has a magnetic harmonica holder but it only works from certain harmonicas.
And I've only got a hohner special 20 harmonica.
I might later get a hohner crossover, or Lee Oskar, or hohner Golden Melody.
But I don't know which ones work for this farmers side note holder.
Do you know which ones would work?
The harp holder looked so much more easier to wear and put on.
Less bulky.
Also you can buy add ons and even have the option of attaching a 2nd harmonica to play.
I've never seen a harp holder like this one.
And I'm leaning toward it. But I do worry if I was to play the harmonica too hard, would it not be sturdy enough to allow me to maintain a strong grip on the harmonica?
You can watch a short video about this holder.
I can't seem to find it anywhere in stock and it's just not popping up easily.
If anybody can share a link to a page with one being g sold in stock I would greatly appreciate it.
I heard for beginners buying their first harmonica rack. Be willing to pay atleast $50. Instead of paying $20 for a harp rack only to realize your mistake and go back and buy the more expensive one.
So any suggestions anybody has for me I want it to be a good quality mid range in price rack.
I don't expect much from the cheap ones.
Have you ever looked into mics for Bass Harps? recommendations?
Been watching your channel trying to catch up on some techniques and stuff for harp players. I don't deal with many in the studio but i have a couple of sessions coming up where I know I'll have a couple of guys in blowing. Just wanted to throw something out there, and no offense, but solid state amps are not "digital".
Some amps (both tube and solid state) have digital modeling or effects, but the amplification part of circuit is still analog.
The difference comes in with how the tube interacts with the speaker (kind of works 2 ways... could almost say it breathes with the speaker) and the harmonics that the tube generates versus how a solid state amplifier just drives the speaker (one way street kind of thing). Many people find the harmonics generated by a tube amplification stage to be more pleasing, and we get colorfully descriptive words like "warm". Newer modeling technology has been better able to approximate the response of tube driven amps and, in many opinions do a good enough job when combined with the rest of the perks and options that a modeling amp brings to the table. (vs a tube amp... weight, maintenance to name a couple).
Other than that, keep up the good work and thanks for the info! :)
How do I connect to the positive Grid spark amp. With the BOYA BY-M1 mic 🎤?
Hey Jonah, When you were playing through the Boss Katana Mini at 3:07 were you playing through any pedals? If so what pedals and if not what setting on the amp?
Howdy, Brother! So, that sound / tone you have at 00:19 in this video, it sounds amazing. But that little Katana amp doesn't have reverb. In my ears, I heard reverb... did you use a reverb pedal? Or, was that just the Katana built in delay. Cheers! Awesome video.
It’s the built in delay, at some settings it sounds more like reverb
Stage5 👍🏻
Blackstar 5 battery 3 watt amp OR Boss Katana mini 7 watt
I got the boss katana mini and the fender champion 40 both are good for me but I also want the pignose hog 20
The hog 20 is on my list tube powered isn't it ? I was busking with an old jazz guy Barry Pyne and he brought one out one day I plugged my Shure 540s pistol grip wired for low Z and really liked the way those worked together
@@Southside_Slim no mate. I got a pig nose hog 20. No tubes.
What do you know about the Monoprice Stage Right 5 watt amplifier? I watched a video here on UA-cam with the person playing harmonica with this amplifier.
What settings do you like the most on the Boss Katana Mini? I have a Shure Green Bullet and find the crunch to be too crunchy, have been just playing on clean with a lot of bass and gain. You?
I usually run the middle channel with the gain low, high bass, low treble and mids. Pedals also make this amp shine. Little reverb and compression helps a lot.
What reverb and compression did you use ? I usually run clean setting and crank up the gain volume full bass3/4 mid less than half and treb even less and delay level all the way up and only thing I mess with after that is time knob and volume on my mic
@@Southside_Slim I think he uses a donner compression pedal. It’s in another of his videos on UA-cam. A slow blues.
For a wireless rechargeable amp what do think about the Yamaha THR?
Seems good to me but I haven’t tried it. If there’s a guitar store locally that has one you should bring a mic and try it out there.
A Solid State Amp is not always Digital, it can also be an analog AMP with Transistors instead of Tubes
I intend to take your course and would love to take a private lesson, but I'd have to add 30% more for the rate of exchange in Canada and that makes it about $80. So, online courses it is for me. But, can you tell me if you have a video on sound. I can play individual notes, chords of course and bend, and can manage a vibrato, but I don't get that wonderful sound most blues h players get.
Hey Barry,
First of all, sorry about exchange rate issues, I can't do much about that, it's just how it is at the moment. As far as your sound and tone go, it's a combo of your embouchure, techniques, articulation, and dynamics. I'll make a video on it sometime soon, but for now...
Some tips:
Keep your mouth nice and open and your tongue done most of the time (when you are not bending). That will help your regular blow/draw notes sound nice and open.
Also, tongue blocking sounds nicer than puckering by default, because there is more open room in your mouth, so there is room for the sound to resonate. Puckering players usually need to improve their embouchure over time in a more significant way. Diaphragm breathing helps too for both embouchures.
Finally, try to subtly use a techniques like glissandos and hand wah. Anything that adds textural or rhythmic complexity while staying in the groove and key sounds nice.
ANY decent BlueSMAN should already be sleeping with his landlady.
1.This way you can play as loud as loud as you want thru your Sonny jr- if anyone complains- you know you WONT be the one leaning up against a Lampost .
2. The rent (if there is any will be cheap)
Always whenever possible Sleep with the LandLady Always unless of coarse Your sleeping with her Daughter
@@Southside_Slim Right you are!!
Hi, Jonah, Q U E S T I O N - Every now and then I play the harmonica (mostly chromatic) for an audience generally numbering around 50 persons in a roughly 300 sq. ft. area. The harmonicas are loud and clear WITHOUT a microphone or amplifier. My QUESTION is: Is there any amp that would actually improve the quality of the sound, including the echo, etc. --- or you would say that AMPS DO NOT ENHANCE THE QUALITY BUT JUST THE VOLUME? Thanks so very much and best of continued success to you.
They definitely affect the quality. I’m not sure that amplified tone is better per se, but it is characteristically different. Pedals can change that even further.
you can use an Amp simulator for overdrive
Hi Jonah. I have purchased the Boss Katana mini. What settings do you use on it
I use either the clean or crunch channel, and not the heavy distortion. if I’m getting feedback, I always go back to clean. From there, boost the bass all the way and cut the treble and mids a little until you’re happy with the sound. This also really depends on your mic, but the EQ advice should be the same. The onboard effects are decent, but for anything better you’re gonna need some pedals.
I have the Pig Nose... it's cool, but there's no danged reverb or anything else. It sounds dead to me. Dry, if you will. Right now I'm using a ZT LunchBox Reverb. It's freaking awesome, but I can't use batteries. So, I'm looking for a good battery operated amp. The Roland Micro Cube has become a unicorn. Cheers!
I love that amp and blew out two of them
Can you use a boss katana 100 for harmonica too?
Yes!
Whats on your board ?
i use Behringer B112D as my "amp"
would you recommend some for busking?
The katana mini is perfect for this. Decent tone and runs forever on batteries.
EN UN AMPLI VOX 10 ?
looking at the Street cube 2, have you tried one yet?
Me too but dang $500
@@Southside_Slim true but high resale value, there is a reason a 10 year old amp goes for $350, but might not be the best sound for a harp
@@a3xloser last week I took delivery of a Mackie proFX12v3 mixer and a Boss multi stomp pedal with a few tube amp models on it but haven't had much time with it yet ,doctor stuff and pain in the way, what little messing with I have had with the pedal I think I'll like it more after I've learned how to tweak it better it gets overwhelmed running an amp model and other effects on the same chain at same time but I'll use the verb and delay on the mixer next instead of those on the pedal and just use the amp model on the pedal,and add from there I'm still playing through the Fender Frontman solid state amp until I save enough for a Harp train or something similar
//thanks for trying,Jonah, re sound, but am totally lost. As for your lessons, the best for me, a Canadian, is to go for your 4 lesson deal. See you after vacation and when my new harps arrive.
sounds good 👍
Doesn’t seem that Stage 5 amps are available anymore
Thanks for bringing my attention to this, it looks like they’re still in business, but maybe they’re having some supply chain issues. To anyone reading this comment in the future, I would still check out their link and see if they are available.
Can these amp be used with guitar? Being a av noob
The small ones can, the boss one sounds pretty decent. I would be hesitant about the pig nose. I learned the hard way that you shouldn’t amplify guitar through the stage five amp. It sounds pretty good but the high frequencies are really boosted, and it damaged my hearing for a couple months. For most amps though, yes they can be used for both.
I have a 150 watt Fender Amp (tube) from 1966. I can shake the window sash with this bear. Comes complete with tremolo & reverb pedals. I need advice for a mike, however...
Also have a Vox wah-wah pedal. Could this be incorporated into
playing the harp as well? Bet it'd be pretty funky!
I have one sitting right here I blew out playing harmonica through it
I use a bottle o blues mic and I play through a pig nose amp
How do you like the Bottle O Blues?
@@HarmonicaRevolution I really like it it's comfortable I've tried a few other mics and this one seems the most comfortable to me and has great tone
@@JLee-bi4es The comfortable thing is a big part. I don’t know how people get used to playing those big bullet mics.
@@HarmonicaRevolution I totally agree
H I , J O N A H (and other harmonica enthusiasts and pundits) - Q U E S T I O N S & S U G G E S T I O N S --- Hi, there! Thanks for your extremely generous provision of uploads on UA-cam, thus helping immensely both beginners and even advanced DIATONIC HARMONICA PLAYERS. HOWEVER, in my decades of playing harmonicas (diatonics but mostly chromatics) I have discovered that almost NEVER have I bought a chromatic harmonica almost all of whose reeds played optimally OUT OF THE BOX. This fact applied less to the diatonics (generally, my favorite diatonics are the LEE OSKAR SERIES (especially because they come in so many tunings). I have received via online orders or purchased directly in stores three or four of the exact same brand and model of harmonicas on a couple of occasions and discovered that not all three played alike OUT OF THE BOX. One needed more than half a dozen reed re-adjustments, another even more while the third was simply PERFECT OUT OF THE BOX! Your tests were on different keys for the harps (some keys sound better generally. After test after test, I've found that the Ab minors sound generally better than A or G minors in the Leo series, for example). I've found that $100 + diatonics are not necessarily superior in playability and tone versus those in the lower-priced range (i.e., around $40-50). I've found that in recent years some Chinese-made chromatic and diatonic harmonicas (especially Kmise, Easttop, and obviously SWAN, for example. SWAN harmonica manufacturers have been in the business longer than almost every manufacturer in the world!). I, for one, have almost NEVER bought a brand new harmonica (esp. chromatic) that I went on to play OUT OF THE BOX. I have in recent years fallen in love with the valveless-design, one-reed-per-hole chromatic harmonicas (not the Hohner Educator, though, which is a great beginner's chromatic), but the Easttop valveless-design one-reed-per-hole SWAN, EASTTOP, KMISE, ETC., ALL OF WHICH ARE Chinese brands. BUT, AGAIN, I have found that two or three of the same exact harmonicas (especially chromatic) can occasionally end up being somewhat different in workmanship, consistency, playability, even tone, and/or volume! Even Hohner, for decades I was wondering why the Marine Band was made with nails and rivets instead of screws for convenient maintenance and durability rather than being almost disposable instruments...until Hohner finally woke up and resorted to screws on the Marine Bands, the Chrometta chromatics, as well as the Chromatic 270's.... Over the several past decades I myself (over three dozen correspondences to Hohner to use screws on those instruments) and perhaps tens and tens of thousands of others pleaded with the pioneering manufacturer to upgrade those instruments.... Thanks for reading my thoughts here - and I have also raised some questions, and made comments and suggestions in the Comments sections on UA-cam in reference to harmonicas....
Sorry, as an engineer, I have to pick nits ... solid state does not mean "digital", especially as far as amps are concerned =)
It’s just a way to explain it. Solid state amps derive amplification from transistors vs tube amps from vacuum tubes. I understand it, that’s just how I communicated it.
Fellow engineer here that has managed electronics projects for going on 30 years. I've had this argument many times with EEs up to the Ph.D. level who tell me that they are making an "analog" amp, but since I know better, I ask probing questions and always discover that it is in fact "digital" pulsed width modulation (PWM), with the "analog" really being the integrating effect of the speaker's inductance. The modulation frequency is just supersonic so we don't hear it, so is it really analog, or is it digital? I'd argue digital. I do know that there are true analog amps out there because I have burned up plenty in testing before I gave up and let the engineers do it the efficient way.
@@marlinguidegun1657 I'm just a mechie by education, but I've studied solid-state audio amps as a minor hobby. I'm willing to be proven wrong, but I don't think I am =)
We're looking here at taking the analog output from a microphone and boosting the voltage and current to levels appropriate to drive a speaker. There's likely no digital stage in there at all unless the effects are being produced digitally (which I doubt). In any case, the digital output is almost certainly of too low a voltage, and not enough current capacity, to drive any kind of speaker. Even at only 5W, the current to the speaker is something like an ampere. Almost no purely digital signals can achieve anything like this without at least a FET or somesuch on the output.
Look up Class A/B amplifiers. They take an analog signal and produce an analog output, using only passive components and op-amps working in their linear range. They are therefore purely analog. The "amplifier" stage of these solid-state amps are very likely something along these lines.
@@crisdunbar4753 sometimes yes, often no. I’m not so much disagreeing with you as saying that much of what is termed analog is in fact switching based rather than linear. In fact, I used to have debates as to what linear really means, as the term is over used. Peace, brother.
@@marlinguidegun1657 Ditto, thanks for keeping it civil. I always worry these discussions come across as argumentative =)
For my own edification, would you be able to point me to information, or at least search terms, on the type of "digital amplification" that you're talking about? Such a thing would have possibly made one of my hobby projects much simpler!
Ta much.
Trump plays harp
Mutes with his wattle
@@fuzzprobe stfu you wouldn’t know a fascist even if one starved you to death
4:20 NO, NO!!! PLEASE!!!!!! Transistors are also ANALOG!!!!! So the solid state amps (which are made with transistors) are also ANALOG! ...but also can be digital if the signal is converted to a digital (0/1) signal, as in the case of a computer!! Which is completely unnecessary in most cases! The real difference between the two is that the transistors are cleaner with the sound characteristics (less own overdrive... etc) and the production is simpler in the case of the transistor, which is why the part is cheaper! (there is more I can say but my post is too long already...) Furthermore: The most known studio preamp is made with transistors and is FULL ANALOG! It's the Neve 1073. So that "analog magic" is only in the characteristics in the work of the tube, and amplifies the signal differently than the transistor! NOT because the transistor would be digital! So the tubes have a warmer sound... as you mentioned. The digital technology has arrived into the amplifiers' world with the modeling amplifiers. (you mentioned but in an incorrect way) But the amplifying part of the modeling amps is also ANALOG!!!! The digital part is only the EQ and the Effect part because it is simpler to program and fits in a smaller space.
And the "Guitar amps" part of the video (from 6:48)... my god... A Bassman doesn't sound like that... That sound is so far from a real one! It looks like you've never played it before. Unfortunately, this video also "joined the group" that makes me hate youtube! I thought you would use real amps in the video... Sorry man, you deserve a dislike! My friends and I call people who speak inappropriately about a topic: "they studied at youtube university"... So please don't be one of them! You have to check the details carefully before producing a video! But in the last part of the video you say something important!! It's best to go with your own microphone and try several amps!