#31
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Doug,
Very nice video!! The idea/goal behind the TD is a "mic sound" without the "mic"...."my acoustic sound, only louder"! How does the TD compare to say a Grace Design preamp (Alix, Bix or Felix)? I've read many reviews raving that Grace Design preamps can also successfully achieve the "my guitar acoustic sound...only louder". Just curious?!? |
#32
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#33
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Doug,
Super great insight/info...thank you! |
#34
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Just saw someone mention in-ear monitors on another thread, and was struck by a thought. I've tried using in-ears, I have a very good custom set, but I've always hated it - with a pickup, the guitar can sound good thru the speakers, out in the room, but the direct sound in earbuds/in-ears is just so bad in most cases that I don't want to play, which isn't helpful. But as I've been messing with ToneDexter, I've spent a fair bit of time listening thru the in-ears, ear-buds, or just headphones, and more often than not, I end up being distracted by just playing and listening to the nice sound. With TD and a bit of reverb, listening thru headphones is really fun. Just one of those little side benefits I hadn't thought about until just now.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#35
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#36
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Right now, it's 2 different setups. With Felix, I have a stereo/dual source setup, which is nice. I hate to lose that, but ToneDexter, mono, also sounds very good. I sort of wish ToneDexter was just a effect box (and small...) that I could put into the Felix effects loop. I could do that as-is, but it'd take up a bit more room on the board.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#37
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One odd thing though - I find I have become almost too accustomed to the K+K pure mini sound. It's very clear and punchy and balanced. Sometimes when I hear the tonedexterized signal it can seem a little weird at first. Then I start playing and 20 minutes goes by.
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-Gordon 1978 Larrivee L-26 cutaway 1988 Larrivee L-28 cutaway 2006 Larrivee L03-R 2009 Larrivee LV03-R 2016 Irvin SJ cutaway 2020 Irvin SJ cutaway (build thread) K+K, Dazzo, Schatten/ToneDexter Notable Journey website Facebook page Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. - Leonardo Da Vinci |
#38
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I've used TD in live settings since late April, w/ a K&K Collings...a combination that I've enjoyed (especially in a low volume solo or duo setting). I've used this combination in a trio and the "wheels came off the musical cart", meaning I couldn't use my trained wavemap at a higher volume (I got a weird "hollowness" to the sound and feedback). I understand this problem has a lot to with the type of pickup.
I recently switched to a Maton guitar, which doesn't seem to play nice with a TD (totally different pickup system). The Maton pickup is very nice so I'm not too concerned. I still use the TD because I play banjo and fiddle. Doug's mention of using the TD in the effects loop of his Felix is interesting to me (even if he was just joking!). Last gig I needed more volume out of my banjo, so I used an open slot (bypass) mode on my TD, which worked, but I was bummed that I couldn't use a trained wavemap. I realize there's a learning curve to the TD. I've used a lot of different mics and settings with the TD, so I'm still exploring. I have had the most luck using a Shure SM81. I'm just wondering if running it almost like an effects pedal in the loop of Bix would better suit my higher volume needs, not sure....just some thoughts! |
#39
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#40
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Even though I've been playing through PAs and amps for years, I've only used standard UST pickups. It seems the the demos are all with very high end pickups rather than "normal" types. (I'm sure someone will correct me on that overly-simplistic statement )
So my question is will this device work with say an LR Baggs element or some other more main stream UST? I also have an MXL 770 condenser mic and I have no plans to buy a more expensive mic any time soon, so you will probably recognize my equipment as more pedestrian than that shown in most of these demos. Will this device work with my equipment? Thanks, PJ |
#41
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The Baggs VTC preamp is problematic as it has a built in compressor which interferes with ToneDexter training. The Element pickup, if used passively or with a simple active preamp, will work very well. There are a few demos of mine using a simple UST pickup that you can listen to for an example.
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James May Audio Sprockets maker of ToneDexter James May Engineering maker of the Ultra Tonic Pickup |
#42
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Thank you for your response. I'm not sure what "peaky" means so any help with that would be appreciated. Also, do you have an idea of an acceptable "simple active preamp" that would be helpful. I plug my Gibson into a Zoom A3 but I don't know if that would qualify as a "simple active preamp". Thanks again, PJ |
#43
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In general, mics that have a curve much flatter than this work better for purposes of training. By simple active preamp, I meant on onboard preamp inside your guitar. This is optional and not really needed, because ToneDexter works great even with passive undersaddle pickups like your Element. So you could wire it up directly to the endpin jack, remove the VTC preamp (if that's what you have), and be good to go. With ToneDexter, you would not need an external preamp A3, but could use it in the signal path if you want use some of its features like reverb and such. If you want to do that, I would put it in the FX loop of ToneDexter.
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James May Audio Sprockets maker of ToneDexter James May Engineering maker of the Ultra Tonic Pickup |
#44
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Thank you James.
As far as I know I do not have a pre amp in my LR Baggs Element. I don’t know if it makes a difference but mine has only a volume control. The unit in other Gibsons has a tone control along with the volume. It is active in that it has a 9 volt battery in a little bag attached with Velcro inside the body. Thanks again, PJ |
#45
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Have you actually tried using ToneDexter with a passive Element tranducer? I tried to preamp a passive DTAR Wavelength transducer (reportedly the same transducer, supplied by LR Baggs) once and found the results to be extremely trebly. I tried several different preamps, including two with input impedances of 10 Mohms. Rick Turner (co-founder of DTAR) told me that the passive Wavelength transducer requires an input impedance "in the neighborhood of" 100 Mohms to provide a balanced tone. |