A DEEPER DIVE:
After more than ten years of continuous development based on feedback (no pun intended) from many of the world’s greatest harmonica players, I’m happy to announce the all-new, completely reimagined Harmonicaster electric harmonica system. A true electric instrument, with steel reeds and inductive electromagnetic pickups.
- It has a vibrant and exciting native tone.
- You can play as loudly as you want to play without feedback. No more getting lost in the mix when the band is cooking. No need for noise gates, anti-feedback devices, or special harmonica-specific amplifiers. If you want to play through a Marshall stack, a high gain 5150, or Dual Rectifier, go head-on and turn it up to 11.
- It’s electronically compatible with any effects device or pedal that will work with a guitar or bass (including gain, wah, and modulation pedals that can cause feedback with a microphone), greatly expanding your tonal palette and stimulating your musical creativity.
- Key changes take just seconds. Harmonicaster harmonicas are color coded for instant key identification.
- Volume, treble, & bass controls right at your fingertips so you can do volume swells, vibratos, and tremolos.
- Compatible with right or left handed grips. Multi-contact PureTone output jack exits at the bottom of the control/pickup housing. You can use your choice of straight or angled cables, or wireless transmitters.
- Adapters available for magnetic racks and microphone stands.
- Available in a rainbow of colors for visual impact onstage.
- Bothersome breath sounds are eliminated.
- You can practice playing amplified through headphones without disturbing others.
- “Made in the Motor City, U.S.A.”* Every Harmonicaster is made to order, using a combination of the latest manufacturing methods, including laser cutting and 3D printing, and traditional craftmanship, like the 10-step process of hand sanding and polishing coverplates.
Most importantly, you can take the harmonica to musical places where it hasn’t been before. Imagine being one of the first musicians to get to play one of Leo Fender’s electric guitars or one of Laurens Hammond’s innovative new organs. If you’re an experienced player, the Harmonicaster is a new tool for your tonal toolbox. If you’re just starting out on the harp, the Harmonicaster can help you stand out from the crowd.
Don’t take my word for it. Jonah Fox at the Harmonica Revolution channel on YouTube published an unpaid, completely uncompensated review of the Harmonicaster that couldn’t be more positive.
New High-Output Neodymatic Lace Alumitone Pickups
Working with Lace Music Products I’ve developed a purpose-built version of their revolutionary, great sounding Alumitone pickup. At just 1/16″ thick and just 14 grams the Harmonicaster pickupt may be the thinnest and lightest electric instrument pickup ever made, thin enough to slide into our harmonicas, so you can play them just like any other harp with your favorite technique, pucker or tongue blocking, all bends and overblows included.
By embedding tiny but powerful rare earth neodymium magnets in our custom Lace Alumitone pickups we’ve quadrupled field strength at the reed, resulting in a 20dB increase measured two feet from the speaker of a 50 watt combo amp.
The two pickups (one for each reedplate) are mounted in a compact, lightweight housing that contains volume, treble, and bass controls located at your fingertips, a premium multi-contact PureTone 1/4″ output jack for connecting to an amplifier, and a switch to take the volume and tone controls out of the circuit for increased gain and a more transparent, brighter tone.
Change Keys in Seconds
Changing keys is simple and takes just seconds. Just remove the harmonica from the housing and replace it with another. The pickups slide into the harmonica and it latches securely into place, thanks to powerful, embedded rare earth neodymium magnets, and you’re ready to go. The basic package comes with one Harmonicaster harmonica in the key of A (standard Richter compromised tuning), but we’ll be offering additional Harmonicaster harmonicas in keys from Low F to High G. Special and custom tunings will also be available on special order. Harmonicaster harmonica coverplates and combs are color coded and labeled with key signatures so you can identify keys immediately, even on a poorly lit stage
Lightweight & Compact
The Harmonicaster is lightweight and compact. The Harmonicaster system weighs right around 200 grams with one of our Harmonicaster harmonicas. Compare that to 348 grams for a JT30 with a Marine Band and 424 grams for a Green Bullet with a Marine Band.
At just 33mm tall, the Harmonicaster is about half of the height of a bullet mic, and the housing is just a few millimeters wider than a stock harmonica, making the Harmonicaster ergonomically easy to hold. With a harmonica, the Harmonicaster system is 78mm deep, compared to a bullet mic alone at 79mm. The overall package can fit in your pocket, about the size of a Sony Walkman cassette player. Remember those?