Low hum on 59 Bassman
Danger, long question to follow...
Playing seriously for three years. Wanting to fatten tone watched Dave's 59 bassman series...awesome. Saving up the 800 bucks for a '90 reissue, found a 59 Bassman pedal from Boss for 80 bucks.
Know what? That pedal is pretty good. On my '76 Princeton it's replicating that 59 Bassman pretty closely. I'm happy.
HOWEVER, Dave mentions in that series about a low undertone that's produced by the Bassman when a two note combination is played. I know as harp players we want bottom but this is too much. It's a loud low buzz that really overtakes the whole sound.
Watched Dave's interview with Kim Wilson. In amp part 1 segment, I think he mentions this issue. He says he dials it out with the Kinder Mid Bass Cut. I looked that up and its 224 bucks. So here's the question, finally...
Is the Kinder pedal the only way to remove this frequency? 224 bucks to remove a single tone seems a little unfair.
Is there a different combination of knob settings on the gear I have to eliminate this? Turning the bass to zero on a Bassman seems counterproductive, and actually doesn't remove this tone.
All of this is probably unfair line of questioning because I'm talking about a pedal and not a real Bassman, but the underlying question is about tone and adjustments of frequencies. Thanks.
Hello Paul. Skip and I discussed this today... I'll be responding. The '76 Princeton is a great amp and doesn't need a pedal to sound good... think of it as a mini Bassman... but unfortunately not loud enough to do most gigs. So, the good news is you already have a great amp.
A single 10" speaker is not going to create a lot of bass. It sound like the pedal you're using is trying to pump more bass than the speaker is capable of producing. If you're still going to use the pedal, I recommend you use as little of the processed signal as possible (in other words keep the adjustments the pedal has for distortion to minimum), this may give you the coloration you're looking for without the unwanted side effects. And yes, turn down the bass (on the pedal preferably).
It sounds like you're following the site well, so you've most likely already found the Amps - What You Need To Know (http://www.bluesharmonica.com/amps_what_you_need_know). If not, in there you'll see the tubes I like to use on a Princeton. Also, Mics - What You Need To Know (http://www.bluesharmonica.com/mics_what_you_need_know). You'll get more tone millage from tube swapping, possibly getting a stronger mic (vintage Shure CM or CR for example) and no doubt time working on your technique and cupping of the bullet... this goes a log way.
Best wishes on your journey for great blues harmonica tone.
If you feel you would like to continue this discussion, please post it in my part of the forum. Thanks.