David's Tip of the Day: Amplified Tone - Cupping

In the cupping lessons on the site I teach you the ways in which to achieve a very tight cup by closing off all air leakages. This is for both acoustic hand techniques (hand tremolo, wa wa, etc.) and for holding a bullet mic.

In regards to playing with a bullet mic through an amplifier, be aware of the fact that some amps you need to cup tightly to get it to respond in the way that you want, and sometimes cupping too tightly achieves a tone that's way too muted and bassy.

I just recorded the Music Theory Lesson 6 with John Garcia last week and when playing through my Masco ME18 (thanks Mark and Skip) and my 2x12" cabinet from MegaTone Amps (thanks Dale and Mike), it was SUPER bassy and tubby if I used a tight cup, like when I play through my Bassman. So, life's easy with this rig, I relax my cup and let the amp do the work.

The final lesson... listen to your sound and evaluate if it's too muted and bassy. Remember, too bassy and muted equals a harp player you can't hear on the bandstand.