The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Acoustic Amplification

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #46  
Old 12-07-2017, 08:08 AM
varmonter varmonter is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: The heart of Saturday night..
Posts: 3,645
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by AxeDude View Post
I still have the Barcus-Berry pearl dots on the saddle of my '73 D35. In fact, when I had an updated UST pickup installed, the shop left about 1&1/2" of the leads which are still hanging inside. I have seen dozens of pickup systems come & go over the years. Electronics are changing at an exponentially. If you read the forums, the options- and opinions- are nearly endless.
Many of us live in remote areas where we don't have the ability to sample all of the different guitars, pickups, preamps, effects, PAs, mics etc. So we read reviews and take our chances ordering on line. Believe me it is a PITA to have to send anything back for a refund or exchange. I try my best to make informed purchases, but in the end- you pays yer money and take yer chances. Chasing tone is kind of a disease. Trying to describe sound to someone can be like describing colors to a blind person. Good luck in finding your perfect guitar, and guitar pickup.
This is generally where I am at as well. I live
Rural and the nearest store is about an hr away
And it is a gc. So it's limited in acoustic stuff.
I mostly do research here and buy online. It is
a bit of a disease.. ha.... no cure.
Reply With Quote
  #47  
Old 12-07-2017, 08:33 AM
vinnie1971 vinnie1971 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 70
Default

I agree, mic’d Up is the best way to get the tone - even if you have to work with the problem of feedback.
Reply With Quote
  #48  
Old 12-07-2017, 10:16 AM
Monsum Monsum is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 473
Default

'All pickups stink'

I know what you're saying.
I've spent so much time and money to get that satisfying tone but I'm still not happy with the results.
Here are pickups and preamps I've tried so far, mainly after reading recommendations on forums or guitar websites:

LR Baggs Lyric - not bad, like a weird sounding microphone. There is a forum member who uses the Lyric with the most natural sound I've ever heard. I wasn't that successful.

LR Baggs Anthem - affected too much the unplugged sound, and it wasn't as natural as expected, it sounded to me like a good piezo pickup.

LR Baggs M1 passive - didn't have high hopes but actually sounds pretty good through a right preamp (Red Eye), although it's still only a magnetic

K&K Pure mini - sounds good until you start strumming and then I can't tell much difference between this and a good under saddle pickup.

Fishman UST pickup with the Aura Spectrum Preamp - sounds very phasey, went through many images but couldn't find any natural-sounding one.

TC BodyRez - improves a little but all I can hear is some smiley EQ with a touch of compression, which can be achieved by other means.

iRig Acoustic Stage - definitely more natural than others, but prone to feedback (even with the feedback canceller) and seems to fragile in live setting.

Behringer MIC200 - preamp on budget but surprisingly good, I like it the most with the bass voicing EQ on acoustic.


I don't want any dual systems inside my guitar, I prefer passive pickups. One day I'll try the Tonedexter but it's not easily available in Europe.
Reply With Quote
  #49  
Old 12-07-2017, 12:34 PM
martingitdave martingitdave is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Chicago
Posts: 11,283
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsum View Post
'All pickups stink'



I know what you're saying.

I've spent so much time and money to get that satisfying tone but I'm still not happy with the results.

Here are pickups and preamps I've tried so far, mainly after reading recommendations on forums or guitar websites:



LR Baggs Lyric - not bad, like a weird sounding microphone. There is a forum member who uses the Lyric with the most natural sound I've ever heard. I wasn't that successful.



LR Baggs Anthem - affected too much the unplugged sound, and it wasn't as natural as expected, it sounded to me like a good piezo pickup.



LR Baggs M1 passive - didn't have high hopes but actually sounds pretty good through a right preamp (Red Eye), although it's still only a magnetic



K&K Pure mini - sounds good until you start strumming and then I can't tell much difference between this and a good under saddle pickup.



Fishman UST pickup with the Aura Spectrum Preamp - sounds very phasey, went through many images but couldn't find any natural-sounding one.



TC BodyRez - improves a little but all I can hear is some smiley EQ with a touch of compression, which can be achieved by other means.



iRig Acoustic Stage - definitely more natural than others, but prone to feedback (even with the feedback canceller) and seems to fragile in live setting.



Behringer MIC200 - preamp on budget but surprisingly good, I like it the most with the bass voicing EQ on acoustic.





I don't want any dual systems inside my guitar, I prefer passive pickups. One day I'll try the Tonedexter but it's not easily available in Europe.


I agree 100% with all of these characterizations. Glad to know our European friends are just as dissatisfied with pickups. ;-)
__________________
"Lift your head and smile at trouble. You'll find happiness someday."
Reply With Quote
  #50  
Old 12-07-2017, 03:19 PM
KevWind's Avatar
KevWind KevWind is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Edge of Wilderness Wyoming
Posts: 19,878
Default

"""I got them stinky picup blues ............from my head down to my shoes """"
Got my feets right on the ground............ but just can't get THAT sound"
__________________
Enjoy the Journey.... Kev...

KevWind at Soundcloud

KevWind at YouYube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD

System :
Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1

Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Ventura 12.2.1
Reply With Quote
  #51  
Old 12-07-2017, 04:49 PM
BluesKing777 BluesKing777 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 3,517
Default

"That Sound".....


Problem is 'that sound' emanates from all over the guitar, front, back, side, neck - to disperse in the air around us...and it does that very nicely in my little music room...and a few grains of imagination could be added to make that pretty well perfect. (The room is full of a lifetime's musicalia.)

Move to my front room and the same guitar sounds very different. If I go outside, it is different again. If I play in front of my computer screen, I get the sound reflections straight off the big screen I have.

So, like most, I prefer the sound of my guitar through a decent mic - trouble is in a noisy joint where everything is louder than your guitar, the mic on the guitar through the monitors causes feedback. Bad fee-----eeee-----edback - like everybody screaming for help and to turn it off type feedback

And one of my best sounding pickups is the Fishman Rare Earth Blend with the internal mic, where I get a fantastic sound at home with about 70% mic and 30% Rare earth pickup for bottom end...but put that guitar in front of a monitor.....BREEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH Back where we were!).

So one way of getting what I use without the monitors causing feedback is for me to.......lose the stage monitors! (FOR SOLO PERFORMERS - duo, trio, band way more tricky). Turn them off. Turn off the speakers facing you and use headphones or in ear monitors from your best sound source - amp...personal mixer...acoustic gadget processor! Send the sounds out to the front and no feedback - so you can use any mic or pickup you want.... You just have to look like a DJ with headphones or a person with hearing aids with the In Ear Monitors!



BluesKing777.
Reply With Quote
  #52  
Old 12-07-2017, 06:52 PM
Doug Young's Avatar
Doug Young Doug Young is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Mountain View, CA
Posts: 9,879
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
This is generally where I am at as well. I live
Rural and the nearest store is about an hr away
And it is a gc. So it's limited in acoustic stuff.
I mostly do research here and buy online. It is
a bit of a disease.. ha.... no cure.
This is a situation where I'm not sure being in a rural location is any more challengeing than being near lots of guitar stores. You can go in and try some of the stock systems, Taylor ES and so on. But the pickups most discussed here either aren't available in regular stores, or if they are, there's no way to audition them in *your* guitar. The best you can do is read about them, listen to online demos, maybe find a buddy who has one if you're lucky, and hope that your guitar will sound the same as theirs. There's so much variability that until the pickup's in your guitar, with you playing it, thru your amp, at your gig, you have no idea how it will work. So mail order works as well as anything else, because we're all sort of flying blind on pickup purchases.
Reply With Quote
  #53  
Old 12-07-2017, 07:49 PM
BluesKing777 BluesKing777 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 3,517
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Young View Post
This is a situation where I'm not sure being in a rural location is any more challengeing than being near lots of guitar stores. You can go in and try some of the stock systems, Taylor ES and so on. But the pickups most discussed here either aren't available in regular stores, or if they are, there's no way to audition them in *your* guitar. The best you can do is read about them, listen to online demos, maybe find a buddy who has one if you're lucky, and hope that your guitar will sound the same as theirs. There's so much variability that until the pickup's in your guitar, with you playing it, thru your amp, at your gig, you have no idea how it will work. So mail order works as well as anything else, because we're all sort of flying blind on pickup purchases.



Well, you know, if Doug Young is unsure and flying blind - there is no hope for the rest of us! I mean, trouble....Doug has surely played every pickup combination on this planet! But as we speak, some geek may just have invented the acoustic guitar pickup to save or take over the world!


BluesKing777.
Reply With Quote
  #54  
Old 12-07-2017, 08:05 PM
AxeDude AxeDude is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Black Hills of SD
Posts: 143
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BluesKing777 View Post
"You just have to look like a DJ with headphones or a person with hearing aids with the In Ear Monitors!



BluesKing777.


-gives me a great idea! Next time I play in a noisy place where people aren't really listening, I'm going to use headphones. -Have a double shot of Jack with a Bud. -Wear dark shades. I'll sit sideways to the audience- and groove to the music. ( Keeping a close eye on the clock for break time). -FOH can hear my guitar sound with no stinking pickup ruining my tone!
Reply With Quote
  #55  
Old 12-07-2017, 08:32 PM
AxeDude AxeDude is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Black Hills of SD
Posts: 143
Default

Unbelievable! I recently bought my wife a new Taylor Mini bass. Today I was trying to tune it with the built in tuner. Typical red led when you're sharp or flat- green when it's in tune. The green spot can't be found. It worked fine up until today. Checked the batteries. I tried all the natural harmonics, etc. It's FUBAR. The rest of the preamp works fine through an amp. Unfortunately, I had thrown the packing box away.
Here we go again [emoji12]
Reply With Quote
  #56  
Old 12-09-2017, 07:08 PM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 13,538
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Young View Post
This is a situation where I'm not sure being in a rural location is any more challengeing than being near lots of guitar stores. You can go in and try some of the stock systems, Taylor ES and so on. But the pickups most discussed here either aren't available in regular stores, or if they are, there's no way to audition them in *your* guitar. The best you can do is read about them, listen to online demos, maybe find a buddy who has one if you're lucky, and hope that your guitar will sound the same as theirs. There's so much variability that until the pickup's in your guitar, with you playing it, thru your amp, at your gig, you have no idea how it will work. So mail order works as well as anything else, because we're all sort of flying blind on pickup purchases.
Well said from the man who knows. All of them have their "goods" and their "bads."
If you are really, really serious about amplifying your acoustic sound, better to lower your expectations and find your own center.
__________________
Nothing bothers me unless I let it.

Martin D18
Gibson J45
Gibson J15
Fender Copperburst Telecaster
Squier CV 50 Stratocaster
Squier CV 50 Telecaster
Reply With Quote
  #57  
Old 12-10-2017, 12:37 PM
Groovekings Groovekings is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 64
Default Echoing Howard Emerson

Chiming in from Canada here. I'll echo what Howard said. My best acoustic tone is a passive Schatten SBT into either a Fishman amp acting as preamp/di or an outboard pre/di. I have mine in a 17 year old Seagull Artist Rosewood Spruce. Sounds like a dream. However when I'm playing noisy pubs etc I don't use it - feedback issues and other problems. I revert back to my Seagull Performer with Godan Q1T under saddle. Yes it's quacks but it cuts through and no feedback issues. The choice of pickup depends on the environment and what you need at the time. Cheers
__________________
Ross & MacCall duo
www.facebook.com/rossmaccall

2015 Larrivee OM40 WL
2015 Seagull Performer Mini Jumbo Q1T
Fishman Loudbox Mini
Yamaha DBR10 powered speakers
Behringer XR12 digital mixer
M Audio Bass Traveller headamps with Shure IEM's
Reply With Quote
  #58  
Old 12-10-2017, 01:13 PM
stephenT's Avatar
stephenT stephenT is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: GA & MN
Posts: 4,655
Default

I've tried a bunch, always go back to a Sunrise>buffer box.

I've play playing though a Shertler Jam 400 for the last 5 yrs and w/ the Sunrise it's the best plugged in, useable sound for me.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Acoustic Amplification

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:27 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=