INSTRUCTIONS
The HARMONICA HONKER is a high-quality, hand-mounted, battery-operated microphone system with an electronic sound modifier that will simulate the sound that the pioneer harmonica players got from their microphone and amp systems.
To use the HARMONICA HONKER, simply plug the quarter-inch phone plug into your amp or PA system input just as you would any other microphone. The electronics box may be tucked under the handle of an amp. For Beltpack models, plug your jumper or cable into the connector as necessary. Put the rubber microphone unit over your third or fourth (pinkie) finger of your right hand, with the foam pop filter towards you, the volume control to the back of your hand and the cord hanging down. This is a suggestion for diatonic. For chromatic you may want to put it on a finger of your left hand. (Whatever works...). You can easily seal your hands to form a resonant chamber and the microphone will not get in the way of your playing style.
Turn the HONK control on the electronics box until it just clicks on. This is "CLEAN". Here, the HONKER will let you play with a clean, pure, straight-through sound and may be used as you would any other tiny, high-quality, weatherproof cardioid microphone. (The HONKER may also be used for other acoustic instruments - like jaw harp or ocarina for example.) As you turn the HONK control towards "FULL HONK", you hear more of the electronic HONK effect. You can set the HONK control to any level you like. The little volume control knob on the rubber microphone body works backwards, so that turning it to your right will raise the volume when it’s facing away from you. The dirtiest HONK is obtained with this volume control at maximum, but is useful at most any setting. The switch at the "CLEAN" end of the HONK control turns the unit off to prolong battery life. The HONKER can be used with any high impedance amplifier or device.
Set your amp or PA level with the volume on the ring mic all the way up and the HONK control at "FULL HONK". You can then use the mic vol. control to lower your volume at the "Cleaner" settings.
The new PRO Model Honker will stay "ON" for several seconds after it is switched off. You need to be aware of this because if you're not looking, the only thing that tells you that it's OFF is the detent click at the counterclockwise end of the HONK control. If you turn the control down to CLEAN and don't click it back on if you've gone too far, you will suddenly get real quiet in about 5 seconds.
The small holes below the foam pop filter are an important part of microphone acoustics. If all these holes are covered up by your hands or get plugged with dirt, the microphone will tend to feed back. If these holes do get plugged, carefully clean them with a toothpick. There is a piece of the windscreen material through each of them, so try not to pull it out.
Your HONKER comes supplied with a long-life LITHIUM battery that will power it for many, many hours (like - 4 hours a day for a year-and-a-half). To replace the battery in the electronics box, remove the four screws at the corners with a #1 Phillips, unsnap the battery and replace it with a 9 VOLT ALKALINE (or better yet, LITHIUM) transistor battery. When replacing the cover screws, rotate them backwards gently until they "click" into the old threads and then tighten until just snug. Don’t overtighten. The HARMONICA HONKER has been built to be as rugged as possible but it should be treated with the same care you would give to any microphone or music accessory.
HONK ON!