My harmonica gear – not ready

I mainly use Hohner Big River MS harps that I modify and tune myself. I like the MS (Modular System) concept that allows one to easily replace parts of the harmonica or switch parts between different types of MS harmonicas. I think the Big River sounds like the classic Marine Band, which I believe is due to the similar design of the cover plates. In addition, an MS harp is slightly larger than a Marine Band, which suits me better.

To the right is my harmonica case modified from a vintage briefcase. I use a kind of flat polystyrene in which I cut slots for the harps. In the upper row there is a complete set of Big Rivers ranging from low F# to high F, but organized according to an “open” Circle of Fifth.

In the bottom row there are four harps in country tuning: F-low-ct, G-ct, A-ct and C-ct (the first and last are Lee Oskar, the others are Big River). Then there are five in natural-minor tuning: Bb-nm, C-nm , G-nm , D-nm and A-nm (labeled in first position) and finally three in low tuning: D-low (Suzuki Manji), E-low and F-low.

To the left in the lid, there is an example of how one can pair different harps with the help of velcro straps. This make it is easy to switch quickly between them.

To the right in the lid, there is Hohner 12-hole CX12 (low C) that I like a lot – although rather moderate on chromatics.

Nowadays, I only replace the reed plates on my Big Rivers. This is only needed when a reed gets so bad (due to metal fatigue) that it can’t be retuned. I use MS brass reed plates (0.9 mm) that I buy from Hohner Spareparts.

For the tuning, I use a so-called 19-limit just intonation, see my page Theory of harmonica tuning, Section 2.4.

Currently I use two microphones (see figure).

• At bottom left: Audix Fireball-V (low impedance, RCA connector) which I use “hands-free” mounted on a microphone stand (see the figure at the top of the page).
• At bottom right: Hohner/sE Harp Blaster HB52 (high impedance, RCA connector) which I cup in my hands.

For a long time I’ve used various tube amplifiers (see next section). But due to back pain, I decided to try various pedals hooked up to small speakers or PA systems instead of heavy tube amps. I’m quite satisfied with the present pedal board, which I now shall describe.

• The Fireball is connected to the A-channel on a Morley ABY switch pedal via a Shure A85F transformer (low- to high-impedance).
  This small transformer is more sturdy than the Audix T-50 K transformer (also quite small) that I used before. The reason is that the latter comes with a cable that occasionally short circuit.
• The HB52 is connected to the B-channel on the ABY switch via a Cry Baby wha pedal, which I sometimes use.

1. From the ABY switch the signal goes to a Lone Wolf Blues Harp Attack drive pedal (red with black knobs).
   With the Fireball I use a high Volume and a small Drive and the other way around with the HB52. As for the Tone, I usually set it at 11 o’clock.

2. Next, the signal goes to Atlantic… (black with read knobs)
3. Finally, the signal is transformed from high- to low-impedance Samson DI-box… (blue) for further delivery to the PA

Most of the pedals are powered with 9 V-DC from a Harley Benton PowerPlant ISO-5 Pro power supply (mounted underneath the pedal board), with some exceptions:

• The Harp Attack drive is powered with 18 V-DC, also from the Harley Benton power supply.
• The Samson DI-box is driven with phantom power from the PA or from a 9 V-battery.

The pedal board and –tote (= carrier) is from Gator Cases.

Analogue amplifiers

In chronological order.

• Fender Champ 12 (black at right)…
• Fender Blues Jr (black at left)…
• Sonny Jr (tweed in the middle). The first version of this amplifier…
• Very small amp by LS (black in front of the tweed)…

Digital amplifier

• Digitech RP360 XP, which can emulate the sound from many types of analogue amplifiers and that I used during 2015-2020.
  Digitech has stopped updating the software which makes it difficult to use the RP360 XP.