Harmonica Players?

[mcrawfordmusic]

I was just wondering who else on here plays "Blues Harp", or any style of harmonica in fact. What genres do you play? What harmonicas do you use? What mics and amps do you play through? Show us some pics if you want!

I mainly play Blues and Country, a little bit of Reggae and Rock too.
I play Hohner Blues Harp and Marine Band diatonics and a Hohner Chrometta Chromatic harp. I've also played Lee Oskars, Suzuki and a number of 'cheap' brand harmonicas.
I play through an old SM58 into an Epiphone Valve Special combo.

Your turn!

[Shakin-Slim]

I play Hohner Blues Harp's in a blues band as well as singing in the group. I also have an old Hohner Chromonica 64. Got one of them since hearing Toots

[Rudreax]

Harp was my second love after cello, helped me transition into bass actually.

I've had a number of weird but awesome experiences and because of that I've played lots of stuff. Blues, rock, metal, jazz, pop, video game music, hip-hop...you name it I've probably at least tried it once. Right now I'm involved in a world music ensemble in my school, learned how to solo over a minor blues in 5. Can't wait for next semester for everyone to get back so we can start again.

For specific harps...I play the Hohner Chromonica for the world fusion, an assortment of 10-hole blues harps for rock and blues, and an XB-40 for jamming with other people.

Never got so serious that I got my own amplification gear for it. By the time that could have happened, a bass fell into my hands and I haven't let go since.

[bassbully]

I play the standard hohner blues harps and Marine bands mostly with a harness or whatever while playing acoustic guitar and writing my songs...folk..country.
I love playing harp and its so cool to have one in the car or my pocket to play anytime , anywhere.

[TMBTC]

I plays Blues.... with Lee Oskar Harps played through a Hohner Blues Blaster Mic on a small guitar amp with just a touch of overdrive.

[JimInMO]

Hohner Special 20's and Delta Frost's here. Mostly blues and some country. Shure Unidyne 545 mic. Don't have a special amp for harmonica. Usually go through the pa using a SansAmp Paradriver DI for tone shaping. Probably better choices for tone control but I use the SansAmp for guitar and sometimes bass too.

[jvollrath]

I play bass and harmonica at the same time a lot. Alt-Country and Rock. I use Marine Band harmonicas.

www.chase56.com

[chuck3]

I play bass and harp at the same time as well. Either with the BG or the upright, doesn't matter. We are an alt-country/rock/blues group with guitar-bass-drums-vocals, so we need the "fills" and some solos in maybe 30% of our tunes. I use standard Hohner blues harps plus some Lee Oskars for odd keys or minor blues.

[cnltb]

I have a couple( larry adler and meisterklasse ,as well as little lady,all Hohner) ,but don't really play them much.
No time really.

[mpm32]

Another singing, harp playing bassist here; something you don't see a lot of, used to blow people's minds.

Here's a vid, they put the studio track over the live performance, you can see where they didn't sync it - lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7YiQri9J0g

[mcrawfordmusic]

I think its an art in itself to be able to play bass and Harmonica at the same time!

[eddievanbassman]

I play rock and blues stuff, got a couple of Hohner blues harps.

[PurpleDrank]

I double on bass and harp, but not coordinated enough to do it at the same time.

I play Hohner blues harps through either a Shure Green Bullet (520DX) or a '70's unknown model Monarch high impedance mic. My amp is usually a mic'd up 5W Gretsch G5222 (basically a Fender Champion 600, but covered in tweed, which is obviously better for the blues) I love the sound of a cranked low watt amp with a tiny speaker trying to tear itself apart.

The only problem I have with this rig is the lack of any tone control, so I sometimes also use a sansamp paradriver in front of it for tone shaping. In my laziness, I plugged the paradriver into the aux in on my Shuttle 3 combo at practice so I wouldn't have to lug the harp amp. With some drive dialed in, it's a pretty good and responsive sound. Sounded good enough actually, I've been recording direct with it lately.

[Bard2dbone]

Originally Posted by mcrawfordmusic

I think its an art in itself to be able to play bass and Harmonica at the same time!

I tried it for a while. But apparently I suck.

I tried to use the same method of getting the hang of harp that a friend of mine did. He got a neck frame and played it while commuting. He got pretty good.

I tried it too. I didn't get good.

[mcrawfordmusic]

Originally Posted by PurpleDrank

I love the sound of a cranked low watt amp with a tiny speaker trying to tear itself apart.

.

Yeah i love it too, the sooner a speaker breaks up, the better the tone for Chicago Blues. I'm looking into buying a fender Bassman in the future though.

[mcrawfordmusic]

Okay guys,

Who is your Favourite Harmonica player? and what is your favourite tune by that artist?

[mcm]

paul butterfield and sonny boy 2 are two of my heroes.

[mcrawfordmusic]

For me its James Cotton and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Love all of em though!

[PurpleDrank]

Originally Posted by mcrawfordmusic

Yeah i love it too, the sooner a speaker breaks up, the better the tone for Chicago Blues. I'm looking into buying a fender Bassman in the future though.

Nice choice. Too big for the stages I play, but I'd love to have one anyway as it's a classic.

I love Big Walter Horton and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Adam Gussow is great for a modern harpist. That guy has some serious groove, very musical.