Hey everyone and "At-Bose" people,
I am currently in the US Navy, getting ready to get out. I love the blues, I play the blues, I sing the blues, the Navy gives me alot of good material for it I just shelled out 2 1/2 grand for a Holland Amp, my last major toy befor I get out, is going to be a PA, go figure, I'm planning on a Bose, but I haven't seen alot of info related to blues harp players just, "We reccomend a L1 and possable one Bass unit" Whoa, lotta info here so, the first of my questions is this, A: How do I incorperate my amplifier into the L1, it boasts all natural as much as herbal essence, and grunge gut bucket harp isn't natural, it's "tooby, broken, electric" B: Is one truly enough to fill an auditorium that seats 400 people and be able to overcome the electric guitar, the drums, vocals, keys, and maybe an occasional screaming fan or would two give more volume? C: Are there any presets designed specificaly FOR harp? I don't play a standard Green bullet or crustal ball, I use a custome made mic that has a crystal element and one that has a ceramic element. D: Lastly, what is the warrenty on these, all I see is try it for 45days and if you don't like it, your insane, send it back A eight foot pole standing on stage is just begging to get knocked over, oooo, which brings me to my D part two question, How durable are these exactly, if it gets knocked over, is that it? 2000 dollars of money down the stage, is it the end? Will the super hero rise again to save the day? Well, thanks everyone. I know this is long, it's just alot of money for a sailor to be spending, want to make sure it isn't like a new pentium chip and needs to be out a few months till all the quirky ones go away. Thanks.

Cautious in the Navy

Ahoy there, Blues Sailor

Seems to me, everyone loves the blues. We love it here in Framingham too.

Here are some answers:

1. The concept here (the short version) is that each player uses one of these, including drums. And in so doing, everyone will hear THE MIX onstage and as it goes to the audience. This is a brand new experience for all of us. We never had this before. And so, it bascially puts us in the driver's seat, as artists, for the first time in the history of amplified music. This is not a "PA system". The system gives you a remote control that allows you to operate it from where you stand. You are captain of your own ship, finally, not at the mercy of "others out front". It's a sound system for your instrument(s) and your voice. I recommend spending some time on our website to read about this new technology, how to use it and how it can change your life as an artist. Go here:
http://www.bose.com/controller;jsessionid=AhVHSQaAqIPx2AifxgdQMjYQV2UZFMNmINtOKsKHu2qCOgPc1RdU!192839257?event=VIEW_STATIC_PAGE_EVENT&url=/musicians/index.jsp&linksource=centernav_img_musicians&pageName=/index_2.jsp

or type in "bose" on Google, hit "feeling lucky" and go to "products for musicians".

2. You can simply mike your Holland with an sm57 and bring up the level on the system. I don't know which one you have or intend to get, but I'd go with the 35w, not the 50w. Put the amp on the back line or backstage (away from your system so you don't get feedback) and try to aim it where no one is playing so that everyone can get the tone you want them to hear. As you will read in our description, this kind of amp (basically a guitar amp) is very intense and upper-midrange-heavy in front of it and dull and distant-sounding to the side, for very well-understood acoustic principles. If you need the tone that the amp delivers at higher levels, throttling it back with an "Airbrake" brand-name attenuator will reduce its level without changing its tone. There are others (Hot Plate, etc) but I am told from a trusted source that the Airbrake drops the level but not the tone. You want to do this, by the way, so that the sound you hear is all from the Bose system and minimally from the amp, which is a fountain of inconsistantly-distributed sound (they all are, at any price, not just the Holland).

3. If you havn't bought the Holland yet, I would take us up on the money-back trial, get a PODxt and try this out. This particular piece has amp distortion down. Play with the amp models. If you simply must have tubes and cones, even if it sounds the same or better, have at it. But this is a new day for "organic" players of electric instruments. So-called "guitar-to-tape" devices are used widely for your favorite commercial recordings these days, and they work equally well with our system. Really: check it out if you havn't bought the amp yet. Plus, you can sing thru it, sound hifi perfect everywhere and not affect your instrument's tone. This doesn't work with any other kind of amp.

4. You can play annoying loud with this system, even for 400 people. I mean, you can play "too loud" for many. There are always a few who, depending on their chemical makeup at the moment, will never be satisfied at any sound level you give them, but this is often at the expense of everyone else leaving your gig. Musicians are learning to play for most of their audience with this system (you can please most of the people most of the time, a good concept for artistic success). I think that's what you want. There is no more "how did we sound?" and "were we too loud?" with our new technology, because the players are in the same sound field as the audience. This is unheard of, yet as a deceptively simple concept it is the most artistically-correct of any complete amplified system for the musical arts.

5. The tall thin speaker (Cylindrical Radiator (TM) ) is built like a good hammer and is solidly captured in a steel mechanism that is part of a large-footprint electronics and amplifier package (750 real watts, not weasel-watts). Yeah, the case is plastic, but it's a truck frame on the inside. You can knock it over, but you have to make a pretty deliberate action to do this. It passes a bunch of tip tests for legal compliance but, basically, you won't ever knock it over. You can break it, but like tipping it, you won't. Have you seen the "Hell Boy" movie trailer where Hell Boy takes some monster by the tentacle-tongue, spins it around and throws it thru the window? That's what you'd have to do to break this thing. It's built for the pro. Actually, even then you might not break it. But you will treat it right once you hear how nice it makes you sound. You'll protect it like your harps.

So, when you get your feet on solid ground again, give this a try. Especially give the PODxt a good shot if you havn't purchased the amp yet. Also, try a smaller amp if you need a separate amp. Harp players have been really happy with Fender Blues Junior and the ilk. Get home safe, bon voyage. Let us know of your adventure with this. I think you're gonna love it.

Sure thing, Mr. Popeye. What I use is a Holmes Harp commander, right thru a T-1 match engine's channel, connected into one of the AUX channels of my Model I. If I don't feel like it, I'll just bypass the ol' A/B Box and go just thru my Octave splitter, eq pedal and Leslie effect. when the splitter and leslie effect are off, there's a more-than-decent breakup for harp. Miking amps, is cool, I suppose, too.

And, oh, yeah--I have 2 B1's.