Harmonica Mic Shootout (What You Need to Know!)

This video will help you choose your first (or next) harmonica microphone. Watch this if you need a harmonica mic!
(FREE) Download the scale cheatsheet:
bit.ly/scalesheet
Give structure to your Harmonica practice with Harp Trainer, a scale training program designed to help you become a more confident harmonica player.
Click here: bit.ly/Harptrainer
Need a new harp? Here are my suggestions:
Using these links help support the channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
My favorites: Hohner Crossover: amzn.to/31H1hWE
Seydel 1847 Classic: amzn.to/3IzJNMm
Best Choice for Beginners: Hohner Special 20: amzn.to/339Js2N
On a budget? Try this! Easttop 008k: amzn.to/3pIgM8L
Need Amplified Gear?
Amps: Boss Katana Mini Amp (great for practice): amzn.to/3rNtANO
Stage V (best for performing): www.stage5amps.com/
Mics: Boya BY-M1(Cheap and distorted, like lead guitar): amzn.to/3IDQWLF
Shure Green Bullet (Large standard mic for blues): amzn.to/31JUyec
Bulletini (Small, great for blues): amzn.to/3rOR1Gz Sennheiser E835 (Great vocal mic with a clean sound): amzn.to/3pEVIzT

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

Learn about amps next: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqPFfniuoM1jbs0

[@stuffnuns]

The best clean tone mic I’ve used is the Audix Fireball. It has a volume knob like a good harp should have. The Fireball seems impossible to overdrive it. nice bottom on it, too.

[@AdamWestUS]

A very well done overview of our microphone options!

[@SergVergProduction]

Thank you for useful information! Very helpful

[@christophermccarthy6889]

Thanks Jonah 👍, Great review 👍

[@tigergaminggr8079]

Just today I was thinking about starting to play amplified and I didn't know what mic to use. You're amazing man, keep up the good work

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

Glad to help 👍✌️

[@FlowerdyPilllow]

Thanks Jonah, great info, very useful. Will be checking out your preference of the Bulletini! New sub right here! Keep up the great work! Cheers from Manchester, England

[@charlieburns1385]

Awesome thanks

[@andykhanhfantomasislive4885]

Amazing play ! a big like. Have a great day.

[@Dan-jl1fk]

Shaker original, Bulletini and Shaker Retro Rocket are my stage mics. All are very feedback resistant. Shaker original is very thick and balsy. Bulletini is a bit brighter. The Retro covers all ranges pretty well, depending on cup, and you can use all the hand effects. I use the little imp transformer. My other dozen plus mics are pretty much parked.

[@bocobocoboco]

I have used dynamic mics in gigs and they sound pretty good although they aren’t easy to hold so I used a mic stand and you are at the mercy of the sound guy to be able to hear yourself through the foldback. i got a hohner HB harmonica mic last year and used it at a gig a few months ago plugged into a fender guitar amp with really good results. it sounded great through the amp but most importantly I could hear myself on stage and could turn the amp up if the band got too loud. The hohner HB is a small bullet mic. Important point with the Hohner HB is it’s a high impedance signal, equivalent to a passive electric guitar, i.e. it’s a weak electrical signal that is designed to go into a guitar amp. I played harp at a gig a few weeks ago with my HB mic plugged directly to the mixer and it wasn’t good. It’s designed to use with a guitar amp. if you will be going direct to the mixer, use a dynamic mic.

[@spinnerone105]

Good review! Thanks for sharing your expertise. I have an SM57 and an attachable Bulliitizer. Excellent sound versatility at a reasonable price.

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

Yeah, they are good mics. That Bulletizer is cool; I never used my 57 much because of how annoying it was to hold, that would have fixed the problem.

[@RiceWithRamen]

I love that gritty bullet mic sound. I'm a slide blues player and I'm just getting into harmonica to get my one man band routine going. I was wondering how to get that sound, so thank you!

[@UltimateThief]

For amplified playing I use Jason Ricci lone wolf blues company mic with Harp Train 10 amp (lone wolf blues company too). Sounds amazing 🔥

[@benbalmer]

I play a Shaker madcat mic, doesn't sound great until I plugged it into a fire eye preamp, now my tone serves legal papers. I like other mics, but that's the only mic that delivers hand dynamics without losing that Amp sound.

[@hesam.harmonica]

thank for review, im using the fireball v for acoustic sound …and bulletini for blues , bulletini is best for small or big size of amps ❤

[@officialWWM]

That Lav mic sounds pretty cool!

[@jeemalsoknownasjimhawkins1294]

Jonah: Great video! I look forward to learning more from you when I start taking your private Zoom lessons this week. I have the Shure Green Bullet, but the volume knob makes it sound really scratchy. I look forward to learning as much as I can about all aspects of harmonica playing. Cheers.

[@officialWWM]

Sounds like the knob needs cleaning.

[@lenmcwilliams1058]

From listening to videos, the best sounding mic I've heard is the Suzuki Dynamic Harmonica Microphone HMH-200. It produces a clean clear amplified sound of the harmonica. I'm in the category you first described: I'll add effects I want on top of a clean sound.

[@tinsandwichwithhobomunchie648]

Good video I have nerve damage in my hands so it was hard to hold the Shure green bullet so I switched to the shaker it has a cool tone but I prefer the Shure battle plan has green bullet mic clips and now I'm back to the green bullet on a stand I hope you do peddles next

[@paulfeasey2695]

Good roundup - enjoying your vids. You don't mention Impedance Matching Transformers. I guess that is why your vids are easy watching?

[@nacoran]

It's not a great mic for most amp/mic combos, but I have a cheap Shure Prologue, basically a SM57 made on the cheap. It's got a power switch and really doesn't have a lot of volume, but my amp has two gain channels and by playing around with their settings I can get enough volume and basically dial in the distortion really easy. I've got a Bullettini, and it's a great mic, but it's so much hotter than the Prologue that the dial adjustments, even with everything turned down, are super small. With a weaker mic I have a wider range on each dial between distortion and feedback.

[@javierf55]

Im coming from the guitar, so I'm using my Shure SM58 workhorse plugged to a Fender Hotrod through a Shure A85F that converts the Balanced low latency signal, to an Unbalanced high latency one. Works perfect, even through my guitar pedals...

[@officialWWM]

I have some kind of Peavy bullet style mic thing. It was cheap and seems to sound ok. Im kinda keen to try some others though.

[@philnewton2011]

The Bulletini is the best harp make ever made. Greg Heumann is a master player and builder.

[@keesvanderlinden5753]

Tnx Jonah. I got the Sure sm58. It is good, but heavy. Also it is difficult to make a nice cub around the harp and mic together. I like to play clean single notes with no distortion. Gr Kees/ The Netherlands

[@joemazmo7981]

I've done exactly the same. Did you get a different mic to replace the Sure?

[@Cowdog1]

I've been using a MadCat...and sometimes a MadDog. I like a cleaner sound from my mic, because I can always add more distortion... it's hard to remove it. Cheers!

[@tshanahan22]

Thanks, Jonah, for the very informative video (as always). I bought a BOYA Lavalier Microphone (and a previous Lavalier mic before that) based on your (carefully qualified) video recommendation. Neither one seems to work when plugged into my Fender Frontman guitar amp. Sorry for asking a dumb question, but what am I missing? Should a Lavalier mic work when plugged directly into an amp, or is something else required? Thanks!

[@robb8773]

Great video. Where did you get that harp case?

[@licandres01]

Have you tried the Bone Daddy mics? Love how they don't give feedback 😊

[@jimkolter9065]

I have used a MicroVox harmonica mic and absolutely love it. It has a volume control on the power source but the mic cables break and I have not been able to find a replacement. Plenty of ads but no way to purchase them! Do you have a suggestion?

[@donpeer4477]

I have an SE large diaphragm and prefer it to the small diaphragm than you mention.

[@luckyman8265]

Jonah a masz jakieś propozycje na ćwiczenia szybkości grania?

[@harpdog123]

Dennis Gruenling would never play the modern shure green bullet. He's playing a vintage Green bullet. Pro harp players use vintage "controlled magnetic" bullets. Dennis Gruenling and Greg Heumann are good sources if you want to learn what a good harp mic is. The audix fireball is designed for a clean harmonica sound and will not distort like other microphones. You won't get that dirty compressed Chicago sound with and audix.

[@DennisGruenling]

This is true - perhaps it should be mentioned that in the video clip of mine pasted in here (completely out of context), I am playing a vintage Shure Green Bullet microphone that I rebuilt myself, all vintage parts. That is why it sounds like that. I would not use a newer Shure Green Bullet (520DX) and they sound absolutely nothing like the microphone I am using in that clip, or any of the vintage models in general. Plenty of vintage microphone demos of mine are online, but they are all vintage and each one is different, and they are not all heavy. Also worth mentioning is that the bigger size of the “standard bullet mics” that many beginners tend to shy away from (only due to not practicing with or getting used to them yet) lends itself to hand effects better actually 👍

[@davissimpson6336]

Have you heard of a Ev 606?? I have a green bullet.. should I drive an hour to get an EV 606?

[@3345646]

The boya from Amazon included a 1/4 inch adapter for my katana mini. Unfortunately the the included 1/4 inch jack didn’t seat completely on the 1/8 plug. So I returned it. Disappointed.

[@SKILLS2KILLS_QC]

Before watchin your vid i have to say i have the hohner HARP BLASTER hb52 from SE/HOHNER

[@SKILLS2KILLS_QC]

And i love my mic so versatile

[@mattolive2257]

Is the volume control nob going to piss off the sound guy at a gig?

[@tjf42193]

I just need a mic where I can switch between playing instrumental harmonica or mandolin and vocal spoken word.

[@stonkpuppets6393]

Do you happen to have a harp mic for sale at this time? I’m in the market

[@derekmorrison1973]

Can you help me with this please? I have mic for harmonica, looper, effects pedal and 1 speaker and have just purchased a cigar box electric 3 string to play along with or mixed. Does a mixer take in both signals and put them out as 1 combined signal to speaker?

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

Yep

[@karlpeter2285]

I have the Boya lavalier mic, it works great in my Boss katana amp but will not work in my little Honeytone amp

[@lynnglidewell7367]

I just used mine with a Honey Tone amp the other day. Feedback was an issue but if I turned the back of the Honey Tone facing me it did okay at lower volume. I didn't try it turned up because it would drown out the acoustic guitar players with me.

[@CaptainBluesharp]

What is the case shown in the background at 4:56? It looks awesome!

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

www.customharmonicacases.com/custom-harmonica-cases/the-sonny-boy/

[@CaptainBluesharp]

@@HarmonicaRevolution Thanks a lot!

[@HendersonvilleChiro]

Wouldn't the mic need to be wide enough to accommodate the size of the 10 holes for best harp sound. Am I correct in saying that appears the smaller mics will not "directly" capture all the holes (sounds) played on the harp?

[@StarQueenEstrella]

Not necessarily. With good cupping technique you will direct the sound straight into the mic. Additionally, you can get at least two different flavors of harp wah depending on how you move your hands.

[@RobertFisher1969]

No mention of impedance matching? If you’re plugging a low impedance (150 ohms) mic like a Shure SM58 into a high impedance (1 mega ohm) input like most guitar amps, you don’t just need an XLR to quarter-inch adapter. For the best results, you’ll want some sort of impedance transformer like the Whirlwind Little Imp. (You do have to check specs, though, because not everything with an XLR is low impedance and not everything with a quarter-inch jack is high impedance.)

[@swapandeb9375]

Can you suggest a good microphone for chromatic harmonica for live playing?

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

One of the ultimate series mics from blows me away productions. They are pretty small, have a volume knob, and don’t change the tone too much.

[@swapandeb9375]

Thanks for your valuable suggestion. I'm almost a regular follower of your videos. Ultimate series are not easily available in India even in online so far I've checked. Can you suggest for some other good one with volume control? How will it be if I go for Shure SM 57 or 58 for my Chromatic though they don't have any volume control knob?

[@jeremyalm9006]

Do you think the bulletini is better than the HarpBlaster?

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

Can't say. Watch some demos and compare! The bulletin has a very hot signal, which comes down to your preferences. Don't know too much about the Harp Blaster. I have seen one, but not tried it myself.

[@Panicagq2]

I love my bulletini - it's hot and bassy so it takes a little amp finesse, but it gives me a really fat tone with lots of control for subtlety or outright honk.

[@Benjamin-Grill]

Can I use my guitar's volume pedal if my mic doesn't have a volume control?

[@HarmonicaRevolution]

Yes

[@Benjamin-Grill]

@@HarmonicaRevolution Thank you very much!

[@keefmeister77]

Don't be afraid to go vintage. A typical 50,000 ohm Japanese mike from about 1960 would bury most of these mikes, they are often very small and super cheap. Even better would be a Shure Commando. This is less complicated and expensive than getting mikes with CR and CM elements. And avoid the 520DX like the plague.

[@brandonleroux6059]

I get echo whenever I use a mic and an amp. No idea how anybody gets good harp tone without pedals.

[@phildavis277]

I have a donner wireless adaptor plugged into my hohner blues blaster (the new one) and use marine band harps. No latency and sounds fantastic through my pignose. I use a danelectro slap back echo with my pignose and amp the pignose with a sm57 to the pa. Sounds awesome. An inexpensive setup (100 for pignose, 60 for donner wireless adaptors, 120 for hohner mic, 100 for sm57 and 20 for slap back echo.