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From: "David Fairweather"
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 10:16:31 -0700
Subject: Amplified Playing

I've been playing Richter diatonic harp for over 30 years. But I must
confess that during that 30 years my experience playing amplified has been
very limited. When I was in bands, I never had the right amp or mike to
get "the sound" and, in those pre-Harp-L days, never even had the knowledge
to understand what I was doing wrong.

It's really only been in the last few months that I've played a few
amplified gigs with a decent setup. What a difference! And yesterday I
played a gig where the band I was sitting in with had a preference for tunes
in Bb, and B (actually B & C, but the band was tuned down a 1/2 step ala
Jimi Hendrix) causing me to use Eb and E harps, higher pitched than what I
usually prefer.

Wow! The combination of a good harp mic (Shaker Dynamic), rich distortion
(Real Tube Overdrive Pedal into Gibson Kalamazoo and Danelectro Nifty
Fifty), and high-pitched harps, had me playing stuff with such fluidity, I
was impressing my own self! And I got the best audience response I've ever
had in 30 years!

I've ordered a Portablues battery powered tube amp, which will allow me to
go out into the hills and practice my amplified playing where only the
coyotes will be disturbed. More to come!