My First Custom Blues Harp Mic

Sorry for the non-mandolin content, but it is blues! Reality is that I've been playing blues harmonica since I was a kid. Learned from an old blues player in Arkansas how to bend notes and it was all downhill from there. Truth be told, I'm not great, but I enjoy it, and that is what really matters.

After listening recently to Blind Mississippi Morris down at BB's on Beale Street a number of weeks ago, I decided I was going to buy a good blues harp mic, so I could play amplified. I got lucky and found an old JT30 that someone had already done some customizing to. He had added an Amphenol connector and a volume knob. Unfortunately, he did both jobs wrong....

So, I got it home, and played on it, and it sounded/sounds awesome! As mentioned above however, when I opened the mic, I found a wiring mess.... I decided to clean up all the wiring and fix the Amphenol connector which he had simply drilled through and essentially eliminated the need for..

After figuring out the correct wiring for the connector and fixing that, I went after the volume pot wiring and the grounds. Finally, all of that was correct, and I could spend some time on paint!

I sanded the whole mic down to bare metal, and then primed it. A light sanding later, and I was able to airbrush on several nice coats of House Of Kolor Pavo Purple. Some good metalflake in it, so it really looks cool!

 

When the color was laid, I was able to go in with several light coats of clear, followed by one nice wet coat of clear. After all that was done, I buffed the whole thing out and waxed it. I'm really proud of the result as it turned out quite nicely.

 

I also ordered a new knob for the volume control, and put a new 'silk' in behind the grill. I cut that from an old cycling jersey which no longer fit me.

 

Most importantly, the thing sounds great, and I can make some pretty good sounding music on it.

 

 

I'm currently playing the mic through either my Vox DA5 or my Stella Cigar Box amp. Both actually sound pretty cool. The Stella setup is crunchier, but simpler, and the Vox has reverb and delay which sound good while playing blues harp.

 

Lots of fun! 

 

 



 

Cigar Box Mandos

I've been collecting a few things to build myself some Cigar Box mandolins. I have some neck blanks and some boxes.

While searching the web for more info about building one, I came across this website and this vid.... Pretty fun stuff.

Another Stella Amp!

Well, my wife liked my little Stella Cigar Box Amp so much that she suggested I make one up for my brother-in-law for his birthday. He plays electric guitar and electric uke pretty regularly. He also has a habit of playing in his truck between jobs.

For this one, I found a slightly larger box. That gave me an opportunity to make a slightly nicer arrangement inside the box for the components. Everything fit much more nicely inside his than my first one. I also improved the positioning of the knobs and jack. Finally, I used crushed velvet for the background behind the speaker grill.

After getting everything shaped as I wanted it, I sprayed the enclosure with several coats of nitrocellulose lacquer for longevity and shine.

The little amp sounds great. Slightly different tone than mine, likely due to the very different style box.

Most importantly, my bro-in-law likes it :)

 

 

 

Stella Amp Completed and Rockin!

I finished the little Stella Cigar Box amp on Sunday afternoon and have been rockin' it ever since.

The little amp really is fun. Big tone from such a simple and small package. Thats exactly what I was going for. I'm still getting used to the controls, as they are a bit different than most amps I've worked with. The results are similar, they just behave a little differently.

Mostly, I've been playing it with the volume and trim all the way up, and with the gain up until it starts to feed on itself and buzz out. Back it off just one hair under that level and its got a great gritty tone.

A couple other interesting details about it - It responds differently to the Moongazer MG4 humbucker that I have installed in my BluesBird. Different than my VOX and different than my Crate. The amp also is more responsive to different attacks of the string with the pick. More responsive than both my other amps.

The other fun element to this amp is the way it reacts to a harp microphone. I play harp through an Astatic 335, and with this amp, the tone is really good. Great for jamming in the garage.

I'm extremely pleased with the little thing!

 

 

Stella Amp Quick Progress

This morning I went to work on the Stella as the little ones took a nap. I followed the 'Build It' link on the Stella amp website and made quick work of the board. This was my first time soldering this much on a circuit board of this type.

I had no issues and everything was/is exactly as described. I used a soldering pen just right for the job and was able to solder up every connection without an issue.

I've left the pots loose for the moment so that I can plan out how the circuit board will mount in the amp housing (cigar box!).

You can see a set of dice in the box that I plan to use for the knobs on the box. Should be quite cool looking. Now I need to find out where and how large to drill them to make them into knobs.

 

http://www.crazybutable.com/projects/stella

Stella Amp

I've wanted a truly portable (tiny) amplifier to use with my BluesBird, so I began looking at the different cigar box amp circuits out there. The 386 chip setup seems pretty good, but I wanted something I actually had to build myself. The Ruby fit this bill, but I could not find a US supplier.

In the end, I found the 'Stella' amp circuit. It is a true kit. Runs off 6-12 volts and is pretty impressive overall with a gain, volume and trim pot.

I ordered my kit and found a good cigar box to house it. I think it will turn out pretty nicely.

I'll do my best to keep the blog updated with my progress on building the amp. Wish me luck!