BG>  I good friend is a blues guitarist. He has a Fender Deluxe amp, that is
 BG> close to falling apart at the seams.. He runs it almost wided open,
 BG> through a power attenuator and then hits the speaker after wasting much
 BG> of the amplifier's power into that attenuator, just to get the pushing
 BG> tubes to the edge sound that guitarists love. Nothing else does it.
 BG> About as opposite to traditional thinking in pro audio as one can get.
 BG> Blues harp players the same way... that have to use that Shure bullet
 BG> mic that they can cup in their hands around the harmonica... distorts
 BG> like crazy, but that's THE SOUND. After that, you can reproduce it
 BG> cleanly!
Of course, you would now expect someone like me to comment on how Fender 
became a distinguished market leader by initially producing cutrate product 
with deficient output transformers, making line level direct boxes 
impractical to capture that sound.  We could then compare notes on how much 
of the "Fender sound" is from those undersized xfmrs saturating, versus the 
speaker and box designs they used, and compare that to Marshall clipping 
distortion of solid state amps and heavily driven speakers.  ;-)  
We could then discuss Shure 55 Unidynes, of which I have one with original 
element in good condition, but rewired internally and with repaired internal 
shock mounts, and another with deteriorated element that might as well be 
used as a cosmetic shell for a condenser someday.  For comparison we could 
note the Mariah Carey album cover that shows a cord coming out the Z switch 
hole, an obvious hack job for someone on a high enough budget that she really 
could have found someone who did neater work and took the time to rewire a 
bit more true to design form.  
Remember the Frampton era and those guitar voice boxes?  Back then I was 
sometimes working with Jeff Peavar, the future guitar player for Mark Cohen's 
Walking in Memphis duet.  He went through a phase with those contraptions.  
How would anyone ever standardize their sounds among musicians?  
Terry
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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