New Hohner Blues Blaster Element
Hello Fritz! What do you think of the new Hohner Blues Blaster (JT30) mic element... compare to the elements they had around 5 years ago?
When did they do that? Can we order these elements by themselves?
QUE BUENO! Finally back ON-LINE!
Und zoh, the question deals with the iconic HOHNER BLUES BLASTER, now the single survivor of the ASTATIC JT-30 line of microphones that have played such an important part in popularizing amplified harmonica. ASTATIC (absorbed by CTI and then absorbed by OMNITRONICS) has fitted a number of variations of large format / large diameter (2" diameter) crystal and ceramic elements into their communications mics (JT-30's and T-3's being principal favorites) over the years. Yes, there were noticeable differences in physical detail, but they were generally high output units with that distinct gutsy sheetmetal-ripping edge they became famous for. It's been over half a dozen years since I heard from an officer at OMNITRONICS that the supply line for the MC-151 crystal elements (I believe he'd mentioned they were being produced in Austria) was about to dry up, go out of production. Rick Epping of Hohner was very interested in finding a replacement element in order to keep the HOHNER BLUES BLASTER in production. They (HOHNER) settled on a medium-format (1 3/8" diameter) crystal made in Japan, using a wider gasket to fit it to the mic's shell. Unfortunately, even raising the resistance of the HBB's volume control from 500K to over 1MEG couldn't put the bottom-end back into the HBB's response curve... OK, in brief: The original large format crystals found in the JT-30's and HBB's could sound scary-BIG when healthy (remember they ARE crystals); The newer medium-sized Japanese crystals sound extremely thin and nasal by comparison.
NOS and good used large diameter crystals ARE out there in ever-dwindling numbers. HAPPY HUNTING!
I have a 15 year old Blue Blaster and I am hoping someone could tell me if the elements were any good back then?
Regards
Hank
http://www.jt30.com/jt30page/jt30faq.html
and
http://www.greenbulletmics.com/DATING_the_ELEMENTS.html
Tons of other good info at the JT30 site.
Hank -and all BLUES HARMONICA Forum members...
"I have a 15 year old Blue Blaster and I am hoping someone could tell me if the elements were any good back then?"
The realistic answer is THEY CAN BE. At inception the crystal elements produced for the JT-30 and its variants (The Blues Blaster being a prime example) were loaded with potential: HI-Z, extremely high output, vicious response curve.The mercurial nature of the crystal element itself adds to its mystique, however. The variations in quality control and materials at time of manufacture, conditions of storage, manner of assembly and finally its use all contribute to this element's effectiveness and longevity.
That said, a general overview... After testing ASTATIC-related elements from every era of production (ASTATIC, CTI, OMNI-TRONICS) I will offer this admittedly unscientific and highly subjective opinion: Consistency of earlier production seems to have been more dependable, sonically warmer. -Again, these are crystals. There's no guarantee that even perfectly preserved NOS elements will perform as expected. Later production -perhaps the final five years of the large format crystal element- experienced a higher number of "stillborn" / DOA units shipped. Testing a dozen of the more recent NOS MC-151's could yield significant variations in output levels and response curves.
New or old, crystal elements need to be assessed on a case by case basis. Like that children's rhyme about the little girl with the little curl in the middle of her forehead: When crystals are GOOD, they can be VERY VERY GOOD -but when they're bad, they're horrid -or simply non-functional.
-Fritz
When the new version was first offered I ordered one from a wholesale house. It was very pretty, but there was almost no response at all. I traded it for another, and gee whiz - the same result. I called the manufacturer and they were puzzled, but told me to send it to them. I got it back with a note telling me they didn't see anything wrong - there was still little response. I called again and they said send it back - I did. In a few days I recieved a call from them - a very nice man who just said, "Thank you Bob." When I asked what I was being thanked for he told me they were in the process of determining how many of those mics had been sent out with a bad wiring job. Morale of the story - even a newbie like me can tell when something is really not right. You should always get what is promised when money is involved.
Thanks for the relevant input, Bob. This serves as an example of the phrase "QUALITY CONTROL". Even brand new off-the-shelf merchandise can suffer from flaws of imperfection in manufacturing or simple carelessness of execution in the assembly phase -as seems to be the case here. You'd think there would be a station on the production line bearing the title "FINAL CHECK" or more specifically "QUALITY CONTROL... Altho you might assume that buying new assures "freshness of product", CAVEAT EMPTOR / BUYER BEWARE.
This will dovetail into the discussion of the BLUES BLASTER's "OLD CRYSTAL / NEW CRYSTAL" dilemma: Some years back I'd found there were companies (primarily BRUSH DEVELOPMENT) that produced crystal elements for early hearing aids. Like everything else in my life, I tinkered and monkeyed with a vast array of these before moving on to another interest. Some of these elements sounded pretty good... Last week I remembered where they were stored, connected the dots with this discussion, and found that some are the EXACT SIZE of the "new" Japanese crystals being loaded into the BLUES BLASTERS and exhibit considerably more bass response! Yet another swap-source... -Fritz
I would either simply state I have changed to key I was in or that I have chosen to ignore some holes in favor of others to create a completely different sound.
Ron W.
Sorry - This was supposed to go to the music theory forum! Apparently I read the music theory question from David and then scrolled down to this one and answered David's question while at your forum. Are you confused yet?