I'm in the market for a very versatile amp. Here's the situation:
I play harmonica and acoustic guitar and am picking up an electric guitar.
My no-name harmonica amp is on its last legs, and I know a lot of harpists use a Line 6 POD or Behringer Vamp to get their harmonica effects, so I'm probably going to go with one of those along with an amp to replace it. Obviously, it will need to be able to do electric guitar too.
So I'm thinking that maybe I should get either a flextone (expensive) or an behringer LX210 (cheaper, but no where around has them to try out). Both will have plenty of power for anything I'll ever need to do. I'm concerned that they won't sound all that great when I do need to amp my acoustic. Just how good are the amps and cabs themselves for acoustics?
Maybe I would be better off just going with a very small PA system or acoustic amp hooked up post the effects processor? I'm really not a gear hound, and I'd like to keep it reasonably priced, reasonably small and compact. Hence the appeal of the flextone and LX210--all in one packages that won't need much fiddling to get hooked up and going.
One other possibility is a Roland Micro Cube, which has settings for microphones and acoustics but it seems likely that I'd outgrow it pretty fast. But is its settings for mics and acoustics really that different from what you would get out of the other two.
Any thoughts appreciated. I actually can try out the flextone and roland, but the behringer is nowhere to be found around here.
Most of the Harp players I know use small watt all tube amps. Especially older ones. Say like a early 60's Gibson. They sound great with a harp or guitar. You can always add effects post your tone.
joe
Most of the Harp players I know use small watt all tube amps. Especially older ones. Say like a early 60's Gibson. They sound great with a harp or guitar. You can always add effects post your tone.
joe
Or maybe a Fender Champ (good luck finding one), or maybe a Pignose.
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Doesn't the Flextone have a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 model? That's sure to be VERY clean for certain things. I don't know if it has 'Tube Preamp' like on the PODS, but that might be really good for putting acoustic guitar through. As far as the harmonica, probably one of the small blues amp models, and for electric, take your pick. I only ever tried a Flextone (the first model) at a rehearsal hall, and it was...pretty nice. I have a POD now and love it - even for bass guitar.
I *think* you can get a pretty good overdriven Chicago blues style harmonica sound. That, I think, would be the hardest to get. Acoustic and electric should be easy to do with a Flextone. Part of that harp distortion is the mic too.
Sounds like you're busking or doing one-man shows or something?
As far as PA's; there's those one piece units now - more for conferences and stuff - but they're easy to take around, have 2-4 channels maybe. But with it being more 'hi-fi' and clean, that's where something like a POD would come in handy to dirty things up when you need it.
Best
ha i own a fender champ...... little thing is awesome
we had a harp player in a band at one point he was an old guy but he was awesome he used fender blues junior.... 15watts all the bite u need and sounds good on electric and i don't know personally but i'm guessing a acoustinc would sound good too.
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