New Pickup from Go Acoustic

[conecaster]

Originally Posted by Marshall

That being said; I played a 3 hr gig last Friday, and went to an open mic last night and got a GREAT sound from the guitar and pickup going through a NUX Optima Air pedal into the house PA. The overall character of the guitar sound was terrific. And I had people comment on it last night. Plus I let another guy with a regular piezo pickup go thru the NUX, and it helped his sound. But not as good as the Go AA. Paul McG and I are communicating and he assures me we'll get the weak string problem worked out.

All I can say is I do installations here on a weekly if not daily basis. We test our components before shipping them. We have installers both professional as well as novice having good success.

I just discovered that a client/friend in texas was involved In a session this week with the fabulous Milo Deering. For those unfamiliar Milo has toured for years with The eagles, Don Henley and Vince Gill, did the steel on Lee Ann Rymes "Blue"

Milo got to work out 3 goaa systems and left his Martin to be equipped with Goaa.



My client will install it for Milo, he has done about 5 to this point.


This is milo with his daughter who is also fantastic.

https://youtu.be/4gwhAS1Q3pc?si=6iOG40pa0FWBpqxy

[BDiamond]

Resurrecting this thread because I'm considering getting this pickup, but I'm concerned about the installation, and the additional holes that have to be drilled in the saddle slot. I also want to be REALLY convinced that the sound, feedback rejection, etc. are all going to be worth it.

Marshall, any update on recent GoAcoustic experiences? What are your thoughts on the mic? Have you sorted out any string balance or installation issues? The additional drilling of holes makes me nauseous. Your soundcloud audio sounds great, but it's hard to tell how conclusive that is.

I wish GoAcoustic had a more in-depth demo/comparison to listen to (for steel-string). The youtube videos are helpful, but the majority are for nylon stringed guitars, which in my opinion are a lot easier to amplify and get a great sound out of.

I'm also curious about the use of a plastic saddle. I know this is a hotly debated topic, but if there is any question as to the better sound transmission of bone over plastic, I may as well take the better one. Ya know?

[Marshall]

I have 2 guitars with Goaa. The one with the sting balance issue is waiting for a new saddle from Paul. He shipped it over the weekend. It should come any day now. Then I'll go back in and do the re-install.

My other guitar (1957 J50) with a Goaa is doing quite well. I had an important solo song to do in a large church service on Maundy Thursday. I did Johnny Cash's "Hurt." Just me on guitar with a little piano backup on the choruses. I used the J50. It's a pretty naked guitar part. And it went very well. I wish there was a recording of the service, but that system was down. So, I have nothing to show anyone.

Anyrate, when everything is worked out it's a terrific amplified sound. I run it through a NUX Optima Air into the house. But I listen thru headphones at home and the signal by itself (no FX) is very good. Good enough, really. But I do try an IR for a piezo pickup that makes a slightly better sound, so I go with that.

It's a very tricky install for a regular guy. I can do it now. But it's much more involved that anything else I've done. So beware of that.

The drilling of holes in the saddle slot is nothing to be concerned about, in my book. Every piezo UST drills a hole and nobody bats an eyelash over that.

PS - If you lived closer, I'd invite you over for the re-install so you could see how it goes.

[BDiamond]

Thanks, Marshall. Any thoughts about what the mic adds to the sound?

That would be cool to come check out the install, thanks for the invite! But yeah, looks like Boston to Chicago is probably not worth the drive.

I also had a nice Easter church gig that I was hired to play for (doubly interesting as that is not my particular faith). I didn't plug in, however. There was a podium mic picking up everything, and it was me on guitar a vocals, and other guy singing. Beautiful vocal harmonies and a really challenging guitar part that I managed to get together in time.

The hesitation I have about drilling holes in the saddle slot is that there is already the one hole at the end, and now that would be two additional holes. And the first one isn't getting used.

[conecaster]

Originally Posted by BDiamond

Resurrecting this thread because I'm considering getting this pickup, but I'm concerned about the installation, and the additional holes that have to be drilled in the saddle slot. I also want to be REALLY convinced that the sound, feedback rejection, etc. are all going to be worth it.

Marshall, any update on recent GoAcoustic experiences? What are your thoughts on the mic? Have you sorted out any string balance or installation issues? The additional drilling of holes makes me nauseous. Your soundcloud audio sounds great, but it's hard to tell how conclusive that is.

I wish GoAcoustic had a more in-depth demo/comparison to listen to (for steel-string). The youtube videos are helpful, but the majority are for nylon stringed guitars, which in my opinion are a lot easier to amplify and get a great sound out of.

I'm also curious about the use of a plastic saddle. I know this is a hotly debated topic, but if there is any question as to the better sound transmission of bone over plastic, I may as well take the better one. Ya know?

I am happy to install it for you. Clients ship to me here in Nashville regularly.

There are 2 holes required for the cables that carry 6 signals to the preamp.

Feedback resistance was a must for my needs as a guitar maker. Since 1999 I have been making and providing high vol stage guitars to numerous artists.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xUx...w?usp=drivesdk

This video Below demonstrates feedback resistance.

This is a first time reaction to GoAA by a Winfield winner. I have never met Shane except on the phone.

Our system is a sound system. Its not just another pickup.

It offers adjustable string balance,

Individually compensated inputs for each frequency range of the strings and

A differential summing circuit to phase odd and even inputs.

The mike circuit is a 7th input and it is summed out of phase with 3 strings to fight feedback.

GoAA features better clarity, touch sensitivity and dynamics.

You are welcome to contact me through my site, Mcgillguitars.com

[BDiamond]

Hey Paul, thanks. I've seen that video with Shane Adkins before, but this version had a little more of his commentary, so thanks for sharing.

I would love to just be done thinking about pickups, and hopefully yours would be the one to do that.

Any thoughts as to what the microphone is adding to the sound? And any thoughts on the plastic saddle?

I will be thinking this over and will contact you, thanks Paul.

[Marshall]

Here's my latest update: Paul sent another saddle. I took the guitar apart and hooked up the new saddle to the original preamp. Still no signal from the "A" string when the Mic is turned off. When I boost the Mic, I get an "A" signal, but it's weaker because the wheel mixes the Mic with the piezos and there's no piezo for that string. Paul says he'll send me a new preamp. That'll mean going inside and doing the whole install all over yet again.

At the same time I ran my other J50 with a Goaa, and my Nick Lucas with a Skysonic pickup, and my GS-min with a Powertap Earth pickup through their paces and thru my NUX Optima Air. The NUX allows me to use a headphones out to listen to the pickups and the FX without an amp and room effects. All of the pickups benefit from some IR programming. Some unexpected but terrific results turn up. By that I mean things like Program 15.T-314 E-MAG works best for the Goaa, and pretty well for the Skysonic Mag too. The Skysonic Mag and the Powertap Earth both work best with 11.T-814-PIEZO or 6.J15 PIEZO. Whodda thunk it?

The final results are excellent though. I think teh J50 with Goaa and NUX is the best. But the NL with the Skysonic and the NUX are just about as good. The GS-Mini with PTE and NUX is quite acceptable, but a little under the other two.

I will follow through with the replacement Goaa preamp (when it comes) in my Eastman guitar. I believe that will be a great sound when the A string is fixed. It already is great, but there are a couple songs I do regularly that I need that string to stand up to the others.

My takeaway from all this, is it's not an install for a regular guy. Even an experienced one. Paul has the ability in his shop to get it right the first time. Other trained installers probably too. But it's 2 or 3 times more complicated than any other install I've seen. And it's very difficult and time consuming to chase down any issues to get it right.

The results are still excellent once it's worked out.

[Marshall]

As a quicky update, I played the J50 with the Goaa and the NUX pedal at a nice brew-pub open mic tonight and it sounded terrific. Pretty much perfect.

[Marshall]

Originally Posted by BDiamond

Thanks, Marshall. Any thoughts about what the mic adds to the sound?.

Forgot to answer that part.

The mic adds a lot of airiness, or natural sound. But if you turn it up full (which represents 50% Mic/Pickup) it can get feedback with stage monitors. I keep it a little less than halfway which gives you maybe 20% Mic with the pickup. The mic is not boxy sounding like some internal mics.

[BDiamond]

Thanks Marshall. I'm in communication with Paul now about sending my guitar to him to install the pickup. Your thoughts on the difficulties installing yours were very useful, and I'd much rather have him install it, though shipping the guitar makes me anxious. Those who do it regularly say there's nothing to it, but still.

[Marshall]

Paul sent a new preamp. I installed that and all strings sound proudly. Through headphones, this is a very good sound; especially when I apply an IR in the NUX. I'll take it out in the next few days, but this looks like it's working VERY well.

I'll send the original preamp back to Paul so he can figure out what might have been the issue with the missing string sound. It's always possible that it could be something I did that caused the problem. We'll see how that goes.

[Marshall]

Played the guitar out on Thursday evening. Sounded terrific. I think even the low hum I had before is gone. Clean great sound.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Marshall

Played the guitar out on Thursday evening. Sounded terrific. I think even the low hum I had before is gone. Clean great sound.

Great news! Glad you had a good set.

[conecaster]

Originally Posted by Marshall

Forgot to answer that part.

The mic adds a lot of airiness, or natural sound. But if you turn it up full (which represents 50% Mic/Pickup) it can get feedback with stage monitors. I keep it a little less than halfway which gives you maybe 20% Mic with the pickup. The mic is not boxy sounding like some internal mics.

Because of the phasing of the summing circuit, mike feedback its best addressed by inverting phase at the amp or control board. Some amps do not have a phase switch.

In audio engineering the XLR mike cables allow phase inversion to best address mike feedback.

The GoAA system basically does this by inverting signal at the source. This can cancel body cavity hz by inverting the frequency through the preamp.

So, in my shop I always hold the guitar, ringing with a chord, in the face if the amp and hit the phase button to determine the best phase for that guitar.

Its a moving target.

The legendary Hawaiian guitarist, Kapono Beamer played at an event recently. He used a very unusual tuning and it was the first time he experienced any feed back using our system. He visited my friend in Hawaii who installed it for him, to show him the issue. As he showed the cycling to him on a specific chord my friend pushed the phase button and the feed back was gone. Kapono was amazed.

[Foxrunstudio]

I just installed a GOAA ES2 replacement in my Taylor 912ce 12-fret and made a YouTube video of the step by step. At the end of the video I play the same chord progressions with thumb, pick and fingerpick style comparing them directly to direct audio from the beginning of the video before I removed the ES2. I found the installation to be straightforward and was pleased with the end result. I'm keeping the preamp mounted in the sound hole for a few days just to make sure I don't want to tweak the settings. I also tried to show the feedback rejection compared to my Guild D-25 with an LR Baggs pickup at the end of the video.

https://youtu.be/rO85s9pc1H4?si=7klHDJ0EjcYLd1d3