Hello again,
Something else about pickups I forgot to mention.
On the larger harps (like the Downhill or Otway) the twin pickup heads of the K&K Twin worked much better than the traditional single headed ones I tried. Both pickup heads feed into a single amp plug and covered all the harp's range so nothing was left out or weak. Also the annoying "strong spot" sound of normal pickups is much lessened.
On the Queen Mary copy I've played, a single headed pickup worked just fine, probably since the sound board is closer in size to guitars, which these things were originally designed for!
Chad
To: clairseach@...
From: chadmcanally@...
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 21:36:48 -0600
Subject: RE: [clairseach] Re: Electric Harp
Hey there all,
Despite really disliking having to amp my harp, I've been forced had to in order to play large, loud spaces. Alas silence is no longer observed when the harper plays in modern times!
Finding a workable solution has proved a process of trial and error. Kortier's harp pickups work very, but I disliked the idea of having to permanently add hardware to the sound of my instrument. After trying several different types, I ran across the "K and K Big Twin" pickups. I've used these for the last few years with surprisingly good results. They deliver a very clear sound with nominal distortion. They were very reasonable as well.
For smaller venues, like coffee houses or churches, I've ran my harp through a small guitar amp. When playing in larger venues through a PA system I had the best luck with using a compression box. It was is a extra piece of equipment but well worth it. This boosts the signal to a great strength and is significantly reduces feedback which is a real problem when micing up an type of harp.
I think I remember that David Kortier offers a really good transducer pickup as an alternative to Piezo pickups which I heard good things about.
Chad
To: clairseach@yahoogroups.co.uk
From: ramserpent@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 11:10:32 +0000
Subject: [clairseach] Re: Electric Harp
Cheers for replies folks.... all is good with me and I hope you guys are all doing well too!
Thanks
JP
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