FatBoy
Ok, I dont have uber gear yet, but I thought I'd post what I have so far. I am really pleased with the guitar, the harps are cool too, but I will upgrade them sooner or later. I just got them to get back into the swing of playing harp, and to have most keys available, and for that, they are perfect @ R400 for the set.
Guitar is a Cort MR 720F Electric Acoustic
Harps are Hohner Bluesband Harmonica set
Welll thats it for now, but not for long!
Mr-M
Nice Cort. I've played one of that model before and was pretty impressed with the tone.
The Bluesband Set looks like a good deal. I've been wanting to learn to play harp for a long while. Somebody recommended the Hohner Blues Harp to me but those are R300+ each, whereas you got a whole set of keys for R400. Do you know how the Bluesbands compare to the Blues Harp?
Any advice you could give a beginner wanting to start playing harp (I take it you have previous experience)?
Thanks.
FatBoy
Yea same here, I tried a Fender acoustic in the same price bracket, then picked up this baby and yea, was sold on the tone ?
Yea it is an awesome deal, especially for the beginner. The thing is with harps, that the more expensive they get, they are better quality yes, but they are a tad more difficult to play, especially bending notes. I have been playing for quite a while on a C harp, but the problem always was that I could only play along with songs that are in C. Now the awesome thing about this set is that it has all the most popular keys in there, so you can play along with a wide variety of songs.
The Blues Harps are very nice yes, but I have heard that the Hohner Pro Harp, or Hohner Marine Band is actually the one you want. Apparently the Blues in Blues Harp is just a marketing gimmick, not saying they are bad, but don't think that you need THAT harp to play the blues.
The Bluesbands are excellent for beginners, easy to play and cheap enough. Harps don't last forever though, after a while the reed get a bit wonky and it loses it's tone. With the expensive ones you can get replacement reed plates, but it's not worth it on these cheap ones in my opinion.
So my plan is to play these and replace them with Blues Harp, Pro Harp, or Marine Bands as they go off, the one's that go first should be the ones I use most, so I'll be getting new ones for the harps I use most.
Starting off I would suggest just get yourself a cheapish one, or if you can, get this set. Then just take an easy tune like Mary had a little lamb or something very basic. Take the harp and learn to play by ear. It is not the kind of instrument that you want to go into theory and all that with, much better to just pick one up, and suck and blow until you hear the note you want, then move on to the next note. Before you know it, your hands and mouth will sort of "know" where the note is, so you just let go and improvise. It really can be a whole lot of fun.
Start off pouting your lips, almost like when you are whistling. Then blow or suck on a particular hole, that is how you get a single note. When you open your mouth wider, you will blow/suck or more than one hole, that is sort of similar to a chord. You will sometimes hear a dull sounding note that doesn't ring clear. This is normally because you are not directing the airflow straight into the hole. It happens more on the lower and higher notes. Try pouting your mouth into an even smaller opening, and blow slowly, until you get the note right.
I hope this helps, if you have any further question please feel free!
I say again, the Blues Band kit is PERFECT for a beginner.
Mr-M
Thanks for all the advice Fritz! I've just bought a Hohner Silver Star (looks very similar to the Bluesband). They only sell for R120, so I was pleased to not spend a fortune. As soon as I get better at it I'm definitely going to buy a set of Bluesbands like you have.
I'll let you know how it goes.
FatBoy
Cool man, no problem at all! Sure thing, let me know how it goes, and ask away if you got any questions. I am by no means an expert, but I have been tinkering with harps for quite a while, so might be able to help.
Cheers and good luck!
FatBoy
Ladies and gentleman may I introduce to you all, Voxy Lady!
Got a message today from a local music store they had a special on the AD50VT, I got it for R3150. I was going to buy the AD30VT at the end of the month for +- R2500 so for an extra 600 I think I got an awesome deal on the 50.
Plugged my acoustic into her and oh my can she sing! Can't wait to fiddle some more, and more importantly, get my Tele!!
AlanRatcliffe
Congratulations! That is a good deal. Hmm... Vox & Tele is a magic combo.
Mr-M
Nice! I'm jealous. I paid R3600 for mine last year!
Congrats, hope you enjoy it and like Alan said, it will be magic with your Tele!
FatBoy
Thanks guys, I just cant wait! Must wait... must breathe...
FatBoy
Ok I am SO in love with me new AD50VT I had a friend take some better pics. Who needs a girlfriend anyway?
Riaan
Would love to hear her moan and growl....err... meaning I wish I could hear your Tele played through that amp ? Beautiful!
Reef
Nice pic Fritz ? Get your friend to take one of you with the tele in the foreground reflected in the grill cover. If you use that as your profile pic then loads of guitar playing girls would come arunnin'
FatBoy
Thanks guys! Yea good idea on the pic! I will most probably do that hahaha. Just waiting for stock of the Tele in the finish I want, I cant wait to hear her moan and growl either!! Hopefully it should be in the next two weeks. You can expect loads of pics hahaha
FatBoy
She is finally home!
I picked up my Squier Standard Series Telecaster about an hour ago, now if I can only get approval of this @^$%@$ website and take it live I can get to the part I have been waiting for, introducing her to Voxy Lady!!
Pics will surely follow...
FatBoy
Mmmm not so sure of the "setup" the music shop did on this one... Kept going out of tune, so I stretched the strings a bit, then retuned, stretched again and then the high E made some sort of pop sound and was way looser than it should be. Tightened it again, well tried to, I kept turning but the pitch never got to where high e should be, and then the string snapped.
Of course I didn't buy extra strings, I first wanted to check how the 9's it came out with felt. So now no more fondling for me tonight ☹ I really hope that the pop-twack sound high e made was just because it wasn't wound quite right on the tuner peg thingy...
To be continued.
☹ ☹ ☹
AlanRatcliffe
That's why you always put new strings on a new guitar... No way of telling how long it's been in a warehouse somewhere with the same set on. If it's the Fender Bullets, they're not great anyway.
The jump in tuning could be the string itself pulling loose from the bullet end, or slipping out of the hole of the tuner.
FatBoy
Lesson learned! Alan, any specific brand of strings you would recommend? And iirc you said I should go for 11's?
MiKeZilLA
Can't go wrong with Ernie Ball regular slinky's they .10's or the power slinky's which are the .11's
AlanRatcliffe
Ernie Ball or D'Addarios. 10's are a nice middle ground, but if you're comfortable with heavier strings from playing acoustic, 11's are nice to use and will give you a better tone.
MiKeZilLA
Quick question slightly off topic alan i remember a post ya did on changing strings on a floating bridge mentioning increasing the number of springs i've set the screws fairly deep on my G260 already and i'm currently using 0.10's would ya recomend increasing the number of springs from the two currently in there if i wanna try out 0.11's
