Hey all, just back from the 20th Harp Guitar Gathering, which was more fun than ever.
Before I begin: At the end of HGG19, we had a long discussion about Forums and the harp guitar. As you know, I shut down my Harpguitars.net forum some years ago. We all agreed FB sucks, half aren't on it, and (with the help of moderator Randall "Teleplucker" Sprinkle), agreed that this AGF HG section right here is not just the best, but the ONLY option going forward. To that end, my very first blog was this:
https://www.harpguitars.net/2021/11/...guitar-forums/
1 year later, the very first slide of my annual presentation on HG activity was that blog, and I asked for a show of hands from 50+ harp guitar FANATICS - how many use this Forum (Randall, you weren't in the room). TWO raised their hands (besides myself, and I don't frequent here, as I've got my own blog content and FB to worry about). My conclusion was that the true forum for that dedicated group was the HGG ITSELF, where discussion went on among us all weekend. Of course, that can only happen once a year. This is just an FYI.
AH, pickups! I myself am an acoustic-only player, and after 20 years of listening to players of every stripe plug in at our professional concerts, I still barely tolerate hearing the instrument plugged in. I am constantly thinking how great this composition or performance might be, but I can't tell because it sounds like muddy crap (and this from some of the best players). So, here I'll reveal that which won't be hurtful, but informative, and close with an eye-opening potential mindblower.
First up was a pre-Gathering concert at a large ex-church venue. Matt Thomas and Travis Bowman opened. These guys are two of the absolutely top virtuoso pros who have obviously spent lots of time and money on figuring out their rigs. BUT they were at the mercy of the "sound man" - a term I've come to realize usually means "some amateur musician who dearly loves BASS and prefers it REALLY LOUD." These guys are two of the best sub-bass muters out there, but you wouldn't know it. The intricacy of their seriously mind-blowing compositions and arrangements was often lost amidst the echoing space and high volume.
Now the Gathering, where their same rigs went through RANDALL'S system in two different large rooms. NOW these guys sounded fantastic. I knew this already, but: Randall spends a **** ton on his sound and that's what these instruments need. He also runs sound live from his iPad out in the audience real time, which helps tremendously. Still, 90% of the players sounded - not overly muddy - but way too mid-range-y. The volume was decent for the entire audience, and never overwhelming. To my ear, Matt and Travis were possibly the loudest, but by far the cleanest sounding players of the group, with fantastic separation between strings/notes, stunning linearity from the lowest sub to the highest neck notes and everything in between. It DID sound significantly "hyped" and not purely acoustic, but then that is what McKee and Dufour et al sound like on CD, as they blend their studio mics and plug ins. So "real" and "acoustic" but super-enhanced. This, they told me, was so that they could play stadiums (and have) and small little venues. They each have different pickup systems and outboard gear and I HIGHLY SUGGEST you give them a call and see if they'll share (they did freely with me).
We've sold some 400+ Timberlines now, and between that and hearing from other players of Dyers or Tonedevils, the simple doubled set up of K&K Minis (2 sets of 3 - don't bother with the bass variant) is BY FAR the simplest, workable, affordable system for pros and amateurs alike.
And yet, Randall and his system were about as good as you can get. So. why so much mid-range unpleasantness this last weekend?
More critical work and listening needs to be done.
I go down Sunday morning and my dear friend and spectacular player Kinloch Nelson was playing his Jim Worland-built Dyer through a Super Reverb at moderate volume. IT HAD THE MOST NATURAL ACOUSTIC SOUND i HAVE YET HEARD. HOW? He said he wasn't playing through a pickup. He had strapped to the instrument's low treble bout the Brunner "Muriel Super-Treble" unit, which has its own underneath pickups. The neck and subs were being amplified ambiently BY THAT. Of course, strumming those, they were 10 times louder than the guitar, so couldn't be utilized together, but we all instantly thought...is this a hint that pickups under the bridge may not be the best spot for these **** things? That they were instead near the edge (possibly near/over a low brace, I have no idea), which vibrates in a totally different way, and gives (this particular) instrument a fully dynamic natural sound from low to high?
I KNOW that mad-scientist Kinloch (check out my blogs on his HG conversions!) will be doing some experiments.... who else?
Well, I hope this little post covers me for a few months while I go off and play...
Regards, Sir Gregory