Sounds Great!

Last night, I took the Harmony/DeAarmond rig out to Dannys and played a short set of Lightnin' tunes (Baby Please Don't Go, Trouble in Mind, Goin' Down Slow) and the sound was great! The guitar was tuned a half-step down and plugged right into the PA system. We got a clean, loud sound with just a hint of retro overdrive. Hot dog!

Arthur Fowler played a fine set as well, culminating in an amazing acoustic version of Voodoo Child that garnered shrieks from the crowd. Man, he can play!

Ready for Prime Time?

I tested the new setup (Harmony 000 and DeArmond 210) against a Lightnin' Arhoolie CD from the late 1960s, and the sound match was nearly spot on... loud, almost electric sounding, with a hint of overdrive.

I took the setup over to Brian Daw of Daw Violins (www.dawviolins.com), and he was able to lower the action on the Harmony a touch, reglue the bridge (so he could put some heavier strings on it), and he rewired the DeArmond with new cabling and a strap-jack in the body.

The next test will be bringing it out to play in public, which I think I'll do at Danny's tonight.

We Have the Pick Up!

I was able to grab a DeArmond pickup on eBay. I think it's a 210 of the newer ilk (from the late 1960s), based on the lowered B string pole piece (below the plasic cover). It looks like it's been rewired at least once, but quite some time ago.

Last night, I put it in the Harmony guitar and did a quick test, running it through my PA system directly. It has a very nice, meaty and loud sound with a little built-in over drive that sounds nice. I'll need to do some sound tests against a few CDs, but I think we may have close to a good set up.