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From: Mike Curtis
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 12:27:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Bullet Mods

On Fri, 18 Oct 1996, Pete Brunelli wrote:

> At 09:20 AM 10/18/96 +1000, you wrote:
> >Harpers,
> >
> >Thanks for your very practical advise about my Clicking CX-12. Here's
> >another poser for you: I have a Fender Blues DeVille 212 amplifier
> >which I use with a Sure Bullet. The amplifier has two inputs - high
> >impedance and low impedance. The Bullet has been modified to be
>
> Doc,
> Are you sure that the inputs are marked for impedance and not tone response?
> Fenders often have a "high" input which is like a "bright" channel input.

I'd also be really surprised if a guitar amp has high and low impedance
inputs. Maybe a portable PA, but it would use an XLR for the low-z. My
guitar amp (Music Man 112RD, made when Leo Fender owned Music Man, and
very much "Fender" looking and sounding) has a high level and low level
input (high has more "gain" - or "makes the signal stronger" - than low).
This is done to accommodate different guitar pickups. Humbuckers are much
higher output than single coils - sometimes vastly so. I've seen separate
preamp inputs that are either bright or normal, too. Still, impedance is
always high on guitar amps.

> >balanced low impedance (straight out of the box it was dual high/low).
> >So what would be the optimal configuration to get the best sound with
> >the least feedback? High or low impedance input on the amplifier?
> >Should I de-modify the microphone back to dual high/low?

It's easy enough to experiment, but I have found personally that high
impedance works best with guitar amps. If you still have a lot of
feedback problems, try the "low" input on the amp. You might be
overdriving the preamp.

IMHO the BEST anti-feedback "trick" is to develop your tone. Your volume
will increase dramatically, you can run the amp volume MUCH lower for the
same speaker volume, and consequently feedback becomes MUCH less of a
problem. I've seen amp-mic setups used by good harp players that worked
great. But when a newbie tried it, it fed back constantly, and the
harmonica was almost inaudible unless the band played pianissimo (VERY
softly). Yes it's THAT drastic. If your harp is loud to begin with, you
don't need all that much gain, and consequently you're not sitting on the
verge of feedback all night.

Another "trick" is to run less distortion. Distortion results from
increasing amplifier gain (and susceptibility to feedback) but NOT
increasing overall volume. If you like a dirtier sound, a tightly cupped
JT-30 running into at least one megohm can provide a "pre-distortion"
without the feedback.


-- IronMan Mike Curtis
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