After Leaving the Corporate World I've dived back into playing harmonica, coming across your channel was like hitting a lottery win!!! Thanks for all the amazing well laid out content, and your no-nonsense approach to harp playing. The Friday videos are killer content.
Jason, coming back to playing after retirement from the working world. I have been doing it since 74 and played in some bands. I heard you playing your setup a long time ago in some juke joint in Marietta, GA (bought a CD) and was very impressed. You are a great ambassador for harp players. Thank you for sharing this. And, whoever below says something about Little Walter, blah, blah, blah, either has never heard you play or does not play themselves or both.
Little Walter would be proud of your rig,Lee Oskar impressed me with his setup,you are whole generation ahead and I mean that artistically and literally!
I once wrote an article on frequency modulation for amping. It was based on the difference between organic sound vs digital as it pertains to how the ear and your brain works. The research was extremely informative and educational to me personally.
I'm a guitar player who's a pedal nut. My son is the Harp player in the family, and I'm dang proud of his skills. My son uses a small and specific pedal board. He has an MXR Six Band EQ, a Dunlop Echoplex, followed by a Wampler Fuax Mini Reverb, and then a Boss looper. I'm freak'in delighted that he really diggs his pedals and that you had this video on tap for him to learn from. Much appreciated big time. Also, your a hurricane on that harp, and I'm glad this planet has you show'in them how to git hot on harmonica!
I JUST noticed Seagull Merlin sitting next to your board! I love that thing. I built a bunch of cigar box guitars recently using that same diatonic fretting, and 4-string 3-course layout. Love it! I'm just testing out a few new pedal board configurations, and this video is one I keep coming back to to refresh my memory! Right now I'm testing out a Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 V2, with it's FX loop, and pushing the Sans Amp sound right to my mixer... very interesting options in there... Thanks, as always, for your great videos! Cheers Jason!
Awesome video. The best points are that the "rules" are made to be broken based on what sounds good to you, and that Sonic Stomp goes LAST. I need to up-size my board and power supply now.
Hey jay it’s Nate Vance. This is my landscaping tree work business channel. I’m subscribed on my other channel but just subscribed here too. Thanks buddy
Jason, as always very sound and great advice. You are like the Yoda of the harmonica world. I personally like compression before my OD, but that is just me. I have messed around a lot with modulation effects to find the best chain for them. I have Chorus, Phaser, Flanger and Rotary. What is really insane is that with certain harmonicas you get a totally different vibe and sound off the pedals and a different break up. For example with a Low F I get a much cooler sound using Flanger then Chrous or Rotary, because of the lowness of the Harmonica itself, compared to say an E harmonica where you have a much higher frequency and putting the chorus or Phaser before other pedals gives such a cool sound and better break up. But like you said it's all personal choice of what sounds best for your needs. Hope you are keeping well, and having fun down there in the Big Easy.
This is pretty helpful, I’m waiting on a new board with all my pedals sitting in a box. I’ll try your suggestions and see how it goes. Most of all I wanna get out back to playing!
Hi Jason,, in you opinion what paddle would you recommend a amateur harmonica player should buy?? This is a new adventure for me in regards to peddles. Love your channel and what lessons you have put out there, thank you very much, 👍it's a Hondo bass amp
Thanks for your response. I'm working on getting a bullet mic. But I have a standard sure 🎤 at this time, I would like to get a fender amp,.in the future. But right now I have a base guitar amp .
I calibrate the transmitter a tiny bit hotter than factory, and I run out of the unbalanced 1/4" input against the advice of the guy who sold it me. Other than that plug her in and go!
@Jason Wise I believe he thinks that using an impeddence transformer coming out of the xlr does a better job than the 1/4"...he told me why a few times...it was complicated... Impeddence is tough to understand, at least for me...I tried it and liked the other way better....I had been doing it that way for a bunch of years anyway so I just went back to it and everything has been chill ever since...if it's all wrong it seems to be working ok...who knows?
I tried your way and took out the xlr cable and Impedance converter . It sounds more rounded and less harsh( slightly less gain ) . Thank you so much . I’m very grateful for your advice .
Hey Jason, I'm having a hard time figuring out an order for my pedals. If you got a second, which order would you put these in? Or would you add or eliminate any.. -Shaker Mad-Dog Harp Mic. Lone Wolf Octive Lone Wolf Harp Break Lone Wolf Harp Reverb Lone Wolf Flat Cat Comp. electro-harmonix Soul Food Overdrive tc electronic Flashback mini delay -Fender Blues Jr 3 Amp Thanks man!!!
hey great stuff again !!! im gonna go rewire but what about a leslie ? i got an rotosphere an i run it with the octaver in the middle before delay n reverb
Nice! A Leslie or rotary type effect will be great just before or after an octavizer. My intuition tells me after... but definitely try it both ways and definitely before any delay or verb.
awesome Jason, I only use 3 pedals noise gate, boost, and delay. I would think by your pedals order I might find I get best results in that order first noise gate for antifeed back, boost, and delay last right?
I have never used a noise gate so I don't know...but the good news is there's only three pedals so it won't take too much experimenting to find it's right place for you!
Hello, Good Day to you Jason or when this finds you. You know and worked with Sugar Blue so you may know this from talking to Sugar Blue. I'm wondering what Electronic Foot Pedals did Sugar Blue use??? He use to use Electronic Foot Pedals but said he wanted to get back to playing the Harmonica. I know he used different foot pedals like distortion compression reverb and I'm sure he used the Boss DD3 foot pedal as most Harmonica players do. I need to make sure I get the right Pedals because some Guitar Pedals do not work for the Harmonica. I know some of Sugar Blues songs and I want to capture his sound so it sounds like the actual recording. I just play the songs organically with no Foot Pedals. It does not sound the same or have the same feel. If it sounded like the recording I think I would master the song better. What is being played back by me sounds different. If it was the same sound I would get the song down faster. I don't know if you have this Foot Pedal but I heard an organ sound someone was getting playing the Harmonica. It sounded pretty cool. I also have to know what order Sugar Blues Foot Pedals are in because I'm sure it will affect how the song sounds. I never knew that it may matter what order they are in and that it may affect how you sound until you mentioned it. Thank You for sharing this this helps knowing that. If you are not sure or you don't know maybe you can tell/show me Foot Pedals you would use/recommend to a cheive his sound. Thanks, Dana!
When I played with Blue he didn't have any pedals but he had a rack mount that he fed into the amp. That processor definitely included gain, compression and delay. Those are the main effects he used. There are SO many devices these days that contain all three of those in one unit. Unfortunately I can't recommend and one in particular as you can see what I use here. I would recommend joining the Harmonica Pedal Board Page and asking this question. Richard Hunter will Most likely have an answer. 💜
@jasonricci Here is what I found out about Sugar Blues Effects Foot Pedals. I asked Adam Gussow and he said... Hi Dana: I booked Sugar Blue one time, back in 2011, but I haven't spoken to him since, except the one time he emailed me as a result of seeing an email of mine in which I spoke proudly of my son--and he scolded me. So I removed him from my email list. I'm the wrong guy to answer your question. I just don't know. And if you emailed him, he would absolutely not tell you. He's very proprietary and protective of his whole thing, especially if you're white. Sorry I can't help. So yesterday nothing came up so today I found this on the interweb. It said this... Harmonica player Sugar Blue uses the Tonex pedal, which he models after the Boss MetalZone MT2. He also adds tape delay and room reverb to the pedal chain to make the harmonica sound like it fits the Metal genre. Some other pedals that can be used with a harmonica include: ToneCandy True Blue Harmonica Magic Pedal: This pedal is designed to enhance high impedance harmonica microphones. It can produce a deep, rich tone at any volume, and has bass and mid controls to help control the tone. Volume pedals: These can be used to cut hiss going to the amp. Noise gates and limiters: These can be used in the effects chain. Echo effects: These include delay and reverb, and should be used last in the effects chain. Considered to be one of the first harp pyrotechnicians, he uses awe-inspiring high-register runs, circular breathing and electronic effects on his harmonicas ...I thought I would share that with you. I hope this helps. Thanks for your feedback, Dana!
Cool video. I'm a guitar player as well as harmonica, and have just recently started my pedal board. I play a Vox AC-15 and pedal wise I have a Tube Screamer and a Wah pedal. Question for Jason - does the amp you play through change your pedal approach? For instance, if you were using my amp would you use your same pedals?
How do you deal with pedals that aren't True Bypass? I see people online use looper pedals to prevent buzzing so does that mean I would need another Pedal to prevent unwanted sound? (Mainly asking about the EHX Pitchfork) Also how much do cables affect your sound? And do you find a specific cable works best? Last question is playing wireless only worth it if you get the high quality stuff? Will my tone be affected by a cheap wireless cable?
I didn't even know the Pitch Fork wasn't true bypass. A few definitely won't hurt you. There might be tiniest amount of signal or high end signal lost but a lot of people like that. I think most the cables out today are pretty comparable. There are definitely noticeable difference but HOW noticable and for HOW much more money? ... Depends on you. I've been using rock board cables since 2019 I've had only one out of the many here actually die one me. I think my wireless is probably pretty old and most likely out dated. I'm not up to speed on what's out there now but I think the safest bet is to go with a name brand. Most are cheaper now then they were 20 years ago.
Jason, thank you so much for sharing your board and knowledge!! Do you think compression needed/worth it when playing on medium size amps? I have your signature mic, harpgear Double Trouble 18W amp, several LW pedals. Thank you much!
Hello Jason. I use the Harp Break (new to me) and the Harp Tone + for about ten years. Which would be your order ? Harp Break first or second in line ? I am not too whealthy so, what could replace the Harp Shield that is not too costly ? Thanks in advance and have fun !!!
Hmmm I would try it both ways!!! Have you seen my vid on getting loud without feedback? That would be my recommendation as the harp shield is cheaper than most other feed back fighters...
I'm not a fan myself of that road. It's just my personal taste. I don't think they sound as good as the real pedals, additionally I'm not sure you can stack and change the order like we're doing here, I hate the idea of the iPad rebooting, running out of batteries during a show etc and also it's not as cool. Haaaa!
Little Walter didn't need any stupid pedals.
Little Walter didn't need stupid RUclips either....Whatcha doing here?
@@jasonricci Chillax hoss You are a fantastic player as are others without pedals. That's my point.
Maybe the point is to not sound like every dude with a mic. and amp in the past... and present.
@@paulsalyers4421 Maybe i just like Jasons harp playing without compression.
The low quality mics and amps around back then aren't around now, so to get that Little Walter sound we actually do need stupid pedals
After Leaving the Corporate World I've dived back into playing harmonica, coming across your channel was like hitting a lottery win!!! Thanks for all the amazing well laid out content, and your no-nonsense approach to harp playing. The Friday videos are killer content.
Appreciate YOU! WELCOME BACK!
Jason, coming back to playing after retirement from the working world. I have been doing it since 74 and played in some bands. I heard you playing your setup a long time ago in some juke joint in Marietta, GA (bought a CD) and was very impressed. You are a great ambassador for harp players. Thank you for sharing this. And, whoever below says something about Little Walter, blah, blah, blah, either has never heard you play or does not play themselves or both.
Thank you 😊!!! Welcome back! ❤️
Little Walter would be proud of your rig,Lee Oskar impressed me with his setup,you are whole generation ahead and I mean that artistically and literally!
Great suggestions and rarely discussed THAT clearly in the harmonica wold. Thank you, Jason. Very helpful to me.
I once wrote an article on frequency modulation for amping. It was based on the difference between organic sound vs digital as it pertains to how the ear and your brain works. The research was extremely informative and educational to me personally.
I'm a guitar player who's a pedal nut. My son is the Harp player in the family, and I'm dang proud of his skills. My son uses a small and specific pedal board. He has an MXR Six Band EQ, a Dunlop Echoplex, followed by a Wampler Fuax Mini Reverb, and then a Boss looper. I'm freak'in delighted that he really diggs his pedals and that you had this video on tap for him to learn from. Much appreciated big time. Also, your a hurricane on that harp, and I'm glad this planet has you show'in them how to git hot on harmonica!
Thank you Millhouse Fan! 💜 😺!
@@jasonricci Don't stop. You got my kids attention. That's a great thing for all musicians to want in their life. Thank you again young Fella...
I JUST noticed Seagull Merlin sitting next to your board! I love that thing. I built a bunch of cigar box guitars recently using that same diatonic fretting, and 4-string 3-course layout. Love it!
I'm just testing out a few new pedal board configurations, and this video is one I keep coming back to to refresh my memory! Right now I'm testing out a Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 V2, with it's FX loop, and pushing the Sans Amp sound right to my mixer... very interesting options in there...
Thanks, as always, for your great videos!
Cheers Jason!
Kates learning it!
Awesome video. The best points are that the "rules" are made to be broken based on what sounds good to you, and that Sonic Stomp goes LAST. I need to up-size my board and power supply now.
Thanks for your input ! Keep on rocking in the free world!👍🏻🎸
Listen carefully! Can save you much time and gets you new ideas. Thank you very much for sharing this content.
Thank you my brother. Great to gain this gift of knowledge.
Thank you William for watching and the nice comment!
Cool video Jason! I don't have even half of those pedals but I'm starting to get some gear together and this will definitely help me!
I started with one.
You the man, Mad Max
Thanks a lot Jason.
Hey jay it’s Nate Vance. This is my landscaping tree work business channel. I’m subscribed on my other channel but just subscribed here too. Thanks buddy
huge help!!!
Jason, as always very sound and great advice. You are like the Yoda of the harmonica world. I personally like compression before my OD, but that is just me. I have messed around a lot with modulation effects to find the best chain for them. I have Chorus, Phaser, Flanger and Rotary. What is really insane is that with certain harmonicas you get a totally different vibe and sound off the pedals and a different break up. For example with a Low F I get a much cooler sound using Flanger then Chrous or Rotary, because of the lowness of the Harmonica itself, compared to say an E harmonica where you have a much higher frequency and putting the chorus or Phaser before other pedals gives such a cool sound and better break up. But like you said it's all personal choice of what sounds best for your needs. Hope you are keeping well, and having fun down there in the Big Easy.
Man thanks a lotphillyb!
This is pretty helpful, I’m waiting on a new board with all my pedals sitting in a box. I’ll try your suggestions and see how it goes. Most of all I wanna get out back to playing!
Man ! I hear you! Definitely try out all the different combination orders before you Velcro em down!
what song is at the beggining of this video?
Bro. Thanks so much!! You are the man!
Hi Jason,, in you opinion what paddle would you recommend a amateur harmonica player should buy?? This is a new adventure for me in regards to peddles. Love your channel and what lessons you have put out there, thank you very much, 👍it's a Hondo bass amp
It depends a little on what amp and/or mic you have or don't even! What you got?
Thanks for your response. I'm working on getting a bullet mic. But I have a standard sure 🎤 at this time, I would like to get a fender amp,.in the future. But right now I have a base guitar amp .
Jason, great video but I would have liked to see how your amp is set up as well.
Thanks
Michael Doc Dougherty
Hey Mike check this video out! This shows how I set the amp with or without pedals! Thank you!!! ruclips.net/video/fcPRbF-8agU/видео.html
Thank you so much for the video. Love my Jason Ricci mic .. How do you set up your Samson wireless transmitter and receiver 🌔😺
I calibrate the transmitter a tiny bit hotter than factory, and I run out of the unbalanced 1/4" input against the advice of the guy who sold it me. Other than that plug her in and go!
@Jason Wise I believe he thinks that using an impeddence transformer coming out of the xlr does a better job than the 1/4"...he told me why a few times...it was complicated... Impeddence is tough to understand, at least for me...I tried it and liked the other way better....I had been doing it that way for a bunch of years anyway so I just went back to it and everything has been chill ever since...if it's all wrong it seems to be working ok...who knows?
Thank you for your advice and thank you for your amazing music 🌔😺
I tried your way and took out the xlr cable and Impedance converter . It sounds more rounded and less harsh( slightly less gain ) . Thank you so much . I’m very grateful for your advice .
@@ieuanedge6070 wow! That's amazing! Glad to be of service!
what brand/make pedal box do you have here?
It's a pedal pad from topeka
What's a wireless?
A mic with no chord or wire.
Hey Jason, I'm having a hard time figuring out an order for my pedals. If you got a second, which order would you put these in? Or would you add or eliminate any..
-Shaker Mad-Dog Harp Mic.
Lone Wolf Octive
Lone Wolf Harp Break
Lone Wolf Harp Reverb
Lone Wolf Flat Cat Comp.
electro-harmonix Soul Food Overdrive
tc electronic Flashback mini delay
-Fender Blues Jr 3 Amp
Thanks man!!!
Email: jasonricci1@gmail.com
hey great stuff again !!! im gonna go rewire but what about a leslie ? i got an rotosphere an i run it with the octaver in the middle before delay n reverb
Nice! A Leslie or rotary type effect will be great just before or after an octavizer. My intuition tells me after... but definitely try it both ways and definitely before any delay or verb.
Sounds like you got it 👍!
@@jasonricci great! yeah ive had my shares of playing with wires ! i gotta say the harp break works magics with the flat cat !
awesome Jason, I only use 3 pedals noise gate, boost, and delay. I would think by your pedals order I might find I get best results in that order first noise gate for antifeed back, boost, and delay last right?
I have never used a noise gate so I don't know...but the good news is there's only three pedals so it won't take too much experimenting to find it's right place for you!
Hello, Good Day to you Jason or when this finds you. You know and worked with Sugar Blue so you may know this from talking to Sugar Blue. I'm wondering what Electronic Foot Pedals did Sugar Blue use??? He use to use Electronic Foot Pedals but said he wanted to get back to playing the Harmonica. I know he used different foot pedals like distortion compression reverb and I'm sure he used the Boss DD3 foot pedal as most Harmonica players do. I need to make sure I get the right Pedals because some Guitar Pedals do not work for the
Harmonica. I know some of Sugar Blues songs and I want to capture his sound so it sounds like the actual recording. I just play the songs organically with no Foot Pedals. It does not sound the same or have the same feel. If it sounded like the recording I think I would master the song better. What is being played back by me sounds different. If it was the same sound I would get the song down faster. I don't know if you have this Foot Pedal but I heard an organ sound someone was getting playing the Harmonica. It sounded pretty cool. I also have to
know what order Sugar Blues Foot Pedals are in because I'm sure it will affect how the song sounds. I never knew that it may matter what order they are in and that it may affect how you sound until you mentioned it. Thank You for sharing this this helps knowing that. If you are not sure or you don't know maybe you can tell/show me Foot Pedals you would use/recommend to a cheive his sound. Thanks, Dana!
When I played with Blue he didn't have any pedals but he had a rack mount that he fed into the amp. That processor definitely included gain, compression and delay. Those are the main effects he used. There are SO many devices these days that contain all three of those in one unit. Unfortunately I can't recommend and one in particular as you can see what I use here. I would recommend joining the Harmonica Pedal Board Page and asking this question. Richard Hunter will Most likely have an answer. 💜
@jasonricci I will look into joining the Harmonica Pedal Board Page and asking this question. Thanks, Dana!
@jasonricci Here is what I found out about Sugar Blues Effects Foot Pedals. I asked Adam Gussow and he said...
Hi Dana:
I booked Sugar Blue one time, back in 2011, but I haven't spoken to him since, except the one time he emailed me as a result of seeing an email of mine in which I spoke proudly of my son--and he scolded me. So I removed him from my email list. I'm the wrong guy to answer your question. I just don't know. And if you emailed him, he would absolutely not tell you. He's very proprietary and protective of his whole thing, especially if you're white.
Sorry I can't help. So yesterday nothing came up so today I found this on the interweb. It said this... Harmonica player Sugar Blue uses the Tonex pedal, which he models after the Boss MetalZone MT2. He also adds tape delay and room reverb to the pedal chain to make the harmonica sound like it fits the Metal genre.
Some other pedals that can be used with a harmonica include:
ToneCandy True Blue Harmonica Magic Pedal: This pedal is designed to enhance high impedance harmonica microphones. It can produce a deep, rich tone at any volume, and has bass and mid controls to help control the tone.
Volume pedals: These can be used to cut hiss going to the amp.
Noise gates and limiters: These can be used in the effects chain.
Echo effects: These include delay and reverb, and should be used last in the effects chain. Considered to be one of the first harp pyrotechnicians, he uses awe-inspiring high-register runs, circular breathing and electronic effects on his harmonicas ...I thought I would share that with you. I hope this helps. Thanks for your feedback, Dana!
I just have a stage 5 amp and a bullitini in my new kit. I'm fine with that.
Cool video. I'm a guitar player as well as harmonica, and have just recently started my pedal board. I play a Vox AC-15 and pedal wise I have a Tube Screamer and a Wah pedal. Question for Jason - does the amp you play through change your pedal approach? For instance, if you were using my amp would you use your same pedals?
Great question! Yes! With smaller amps I will use no pedals or maybe just a delay or reverb
...compression varies from amp to amp!
How do you deal with pedals that aren't True Bypass? I see people online use looper pedals to prevent buzzing so does that mean I would need another Pedal to prevent unwanted sound? (Mainly asking about the EHX Pitchfork)
Also how much do cables affect your sound? And do you find a specific cable works best?
Last question is playing wireless only worth it if you get the high quality stuff? Will my tone be affected by a cheap wireless cable?
I didn't even know the Pitch Fork wasn't true bypass. A few definitely won't hurt you. There might be tiniest amount of signal or high end signal lost but a lot of people like that. I think most the cables out today are pretty comparable. There are definitely noticeable difference but HOW noticable and for HOW much more money? ... Depends on you. I've been using rock board cables since 2019 I've had only one out of the many here actually die one me. I think my wireless is probably pretty old and most likely out dated. I'm not up to speed on what's out there now but I think the safest bet is to go with a name brand. Most are cheaper now then they were 20 years ago.
@jasonricci thank you for the quick reply!
Love you bro
Jason, thank you so much for sharing your board and knowledge!! Do you think compression needed/worth it when playing on medium size amps? I have your signature mic, harpgear Double Trouble 18W amp, several LW pedals. Thank you much!
No I don't think you need it on smaller amps!
Much obliged Jason!!!
Hello Jason. I use the Harp Break (new to me) and the Harp Tone + for about ten years. Which would be your order ? Harp Break first or second in line ? I am not too whealthy so, what could replace the Harp Shield that is not too costly ? Thanks in advance and have fun !!!
Hmmm I would try it both ways!!! Have you seen my vid on getting loud without feedback? That would be my recommendation as the harp shield is cheaper than most other feed back fighters...
@@jasonricci un gros merci !!! 🤟
Any opinion on using pedal simulator apps offered on IOS (iPad)?
I'm not a fan myself of that road. It's just my personal taste. I don't think they sound as good as the real pedals, additionally I'm not sure you can stack and change the order like we're doing here, I hate the idea of the iPad rebooting, running out of batteries during a show etc and also it's not as cool. Haaaa!
Jason Ricci Yep, pedals are pretty!
Did you hear the news, Peter Green passed away today.
I did not until now.
I dont like harmônicas pedals and dreds 😂
Don't worry they don't know.