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Old 12-28-2016, 11:33 AM
drguitar001 drguitar001 is offline
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Default SM-81 vs JJB SBT

I do not know if I posted this here previously as I could not find it in the search.

About 8 months ago, I made a comparison of the Shure SM-81 vs the JJB SBT pickup. Recording was done simultaneously with no effects or EQ on either channel. I tested the two using an Alesis MultiMix 8 USB 2.0 as the preamp and digital converter. The room was not perfect for recording (mic could have sounded better) and I did not use a DI for the JJB SBT (piezos could have sounded better). The guitar was a Recording King RD-316 (Adi top/Hog B&S).

There are three comparisons; fingerpicked, flatpicked, and strummed. The first is a 50/50 blend, then just the JJB and finally the SM-81.

What do you think? Which would you be more comfortable with in a live situation? Which would you be comfortable with in a recording situation?

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Last edited by drguitar001; 12-28-2016 at 11:42 AM. Reason: Correction
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Old 12-28-2016, 05:06 PM
SpruceTop SpruceTop is offline
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Recording: Shure SM81
Live: in a typical live venue, JJB
Live: in a non-reflective surface, quiet venue, maybe both or just the SM81
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Last edited by SpruceTop; 12-31-2016 at 09:20 AM.
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Old 12-30-2016, 09:31 PM
drguitar001 drguitar001 is offline
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Thanks for listening ST, I feel similarly. However I'm not sure that the 81 would ever work well in a PA system of any volume nearby. I have used LDC mics occasionally when I need to be heard with the PA in a different room.

As I mentioned above, the mic recordings could have been better in a better recording environment. And the piezo would have sounded light years better through a decent DI and with a tiny bit of EQ. But for the recording it made sense to put nothing in the recording, pre or post, so apples to apples could be compared.
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Old 12-30-2016, 10:31 PM
akafloyd akafloyd is offline
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They all sounded about like I would expect. The piezo will also sound different through a PA than on a direct recording. Adding a little of just about any kind of microphone live will help, too - it doesn't need to be fancy. For your recordings I liked the 50/50 the best.
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Old 01-02-2017, 05:20 PM
drguitar001 drguitar001 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by akafloyd View Post
They all sounded about like I would expect. The piezo will also sound different through a PA than on a direct recording. Adding a little of just about any kind of microphone live will help, too - it doesn't need to be fancy. For your recordings I liked the 50/50 the best.
Thanks and thanks for listening! Folks seem to regularly ask if recording through their onboard pickup is a good idea, and frankly I don't think so. However, acoustic guitar pickups definitely have their place in live performance, both in feedback control and ease of use.

i recently played with a bluegrass trio and we used just one condenser microphone to amplify all of us and our instruments. The sound through the PA was very nice and the blend was perfect. However, the PA we were playing through was in the next room, so the chance of feedback was zero. I'm not sure we could have gotten away with that setup with the PA nearby.
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