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  #1  
Old 06-12-2015, 09:54 AM
Soles Soles is offline
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Location: Elmore County, ID
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Default Trance Amulet questions

Hi all,
I'm not new to the forum but rarely post. I follow the Acoustic Amplification discussions a lot and found much good advice here.

I read Spruce's repeated posts praising the Trance Amulet M with interest because I've had a K&K mini installed in my SCGC D P/W M for many years, but don't really like the sound. Unlike most comments here about K&K, mine is not bass-heavy (even though the guitar is). Mostly, I find the K&K lacking definition (robs my great guitar of its character) . . . IOW it sounds kinda muddy to me. A good pre-amp makes it tolerable (Used all of these - PADI, Radial Tonebone, K&K xlr) so that's what I've done for years.

So . . . I've thought of replacing the K&K with the Trance Amulet M and ditching the extra pre-amp. Two questions:
A.) Since I run this through a mixer with adequate EQ/tone controls is there any reason to add the tone controls for the Trance Amulet M? Seems like extra stuff I don't need.
B.) Since the Trance Amulet has the preamp(s) inside the guitar will the added mass/weight adversly affect the tone of what is a very lightly build guitar (SCGC D P/W M)? This worry has kept me from making this move so far.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.
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  #2  
Old 06-12-2015, 10:17 AM
Petty1818 Petty1818 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Soles View Post
Hi all,
I'm not new to the forum but rarely post. I follow the Acoustic Amplification discussions a lot and found much good advice here.

I read Spruce's repeated posts praising the Trance Amulet M with interest because I've had a K&K mini installed in my SCGC D P/W M for many years, but don't really like the sound. Unlike most comments here about K&K, mine is not bass-heavy (even though the guitar is). Mostly, I find the K&K lacking definition (robs my great guitar of its character) . . . IOW it sounds kinda muddy to me. A good pre-amp makes it tolerable (Used all of these - PADI, Radial Tonebone, K&K xlr) so that's what I've done for years.

So . . . I've thought of replacing the K&K with the Trance Amulet M and ditching the extra pre-amp. Two questions:
A.) Since I run this through a mixer with adequate EQ/tone controls is there any reason to add the tone controls for the Trance Amulet M? Seems like extra stuff I don't need.
B.) Since the Trance Amulet has the preamp(s) inside the guitar will the added mass/weight adversly affect the tone of what is a very lightly build guitar (SCGC D P/W M)? This worry has kept me from making this move so far.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Your tone should not be altered by the installation of the Trance System. The preamp is in the output jack so it's not actually attached to the body of the guitar. Most people put the battery holder right where the neck joins the body so that shouldn't impact your tone either. The SBT's also seem to be light.

I personally would get the Amulet without the volume and tone controls. It's more affordable and you can easily eq with a separate di or mixer. Having the tone and volume controls on board is nice as it gives the user a quick option for changing the tone. I just like a more straight forward approach.

After trying the Trance Amulet M, I would say it's a very clear sounding pickup and would work well in any situation. The K&K has more bass which I tend to like but as mentioned, it's a bit too muddy for me. I think you will be very happy with the Amulet.
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  #3  
Old 06-12-2015, 12:27 PM
SpruceTop SpruceTop is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rochester, New York
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I recommend the Trance Audio Amulet M Dual Mono with the M-VT option as you'll likely not need further EQ down the signal chain other than what's on your mixer or amp. In fact, you can start with mixer or amp EQ set flat and use the M-VT to get the tone you want. Once set, it should remain pretty much stationary unless you switch from flatpicking/flatpicking strumming to bare flesh and nails fingerpicking or vice versa. Then you may bump the tone control a bit one way or the other. I'm assuming the Trance Audio Amulet M Dual Mono without the M-VT module will sound like the M-VT system with the M-VT module's tone control set to full treble, i.e., no frequency cutting, yielding full-frequency response. I don't like this tone as it's too brittle but talk about the guitar CUTTING through a mix of instruments! YIKES! Being that I've never tried the M Dual Mono system without the M-VT module, I don't know for sure if it would sound like my above characterization but if it does, then an external EQ device would likely be needed to adjust the tone to a player's liking but mixer or amp EQ may be sufficient to accomplish satisfying tone.

I think a phone call to Gary Hull of Trance Audio would answer any questions a player might have regarding the tone of a non-M-VT Dual Mono system and its requirements for external EQing.
__________________
Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom
Martin D-18/UltraTonic
Adamas I 2087GT-8
Ovation Custom Legend LX
Guild F-212XL STD
Huss & Dalton TD-R
Taylor 717e
Taylor 618e
Taylor 614ce
Larrivee D-50M/HiFi
Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi
Larrivee D-40R Sunburst
Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom
RainSong BI-DR1000N2
Emerald X20
Yamaha FGX5
Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2

Last edited by SpruceTop; 06-12-2015 at 12:39 PM.
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  #4  
Old 06-12-2015, 01:31 PM
SpruceTop SpruceTop is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rochester, New York
Posts: 12,337
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Let me add that the Trance Audio Amulet M Dual Mono system is modular in that if you buy the basic system at $279 and you can later add an M-V module or an M-VT module to the system if desired. Vice versa if you buy an M-VT system, you can remove the M-VT module and purchase the battery-harness to turn the M-VT into a standard M system. There may even be a way to remove the M-VT module and use the existing battery harness to power the unit. Another reason I would suggest buying the M-VT system is that it has a battery-warning light (the M-V module also contains this feature) that warns you when you have only a few hours of power remaining.

Trance Audio Amulet system Price List: http://www.tranceaudio.com/pricelist.html

Both the Amulet M Dual Mono and Amulet Stereo have onboard preamps with the Amulet Stereo being powered from an external power supply/mixing unit. The advantage of having an onboard preamp close to the transducers, regardless of the brand of SBT or other type of pickup system, is that there is less signal loss and noise introduction with the short pickup lead run to the preamp.
__________________
Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom
Martin D-18/UltraTonic
Adamas I 2087GT-8
Ovation Custom Legend LX
Guild F-212XL STD
Huss & Dalton TD-R
Taylor 717e
Taylor 618e
Taylor 614ce
Larrivee D-50M/HiFi
Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi
Larrivee D-40R Sunburst
Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom
RainSong BI-DR1000N2
Emerald X20
Yamaha FGX5
Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2
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