barbera pups

[guitaniac]

Hi Cochese,

I've used a Boss GE-7 (1 Mohm input impedance) to preamp the Pure Mini on occasion, but for my taste the Fishman Platinum preamp has worked just as well or better in some respects (not as noisy).

Your comment regarding not having a good perspective for EQing when you can hear the guitar's acoustic sound reminds me of Rick Turner's advice to use headphones to set default EQ adjustments. Beyond that, one may well need to make EQ adjustments of some kind in an environment (and at a volume) where the guitar top's response to speaker sound is causing boominess or feedback problems.

[McShepherd]

Originally Posted by Cochese

I would'n get too bogged down by the numbers. Both the K&K and Barbera are recommended to be used with preamps that have a 1MegOhm input.

Yeah, Archangel makes their preamps primarily for use with SBTs and are switchable between 1 and 11M - to my ears, the sound difference is negligible, but at least it's an option.

Originally Posted by Cochese

Also, if you can hear your instrument acoustically while trying to Eq it through a system you won't do it accurately. In the studio you listen back while not playing and can tweak things better.

I found great advice on here for running sound checks with a looper - makes loads of difference, getting your ears offstage.

[Cochese]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Hi Cochese,

I've used a Boss GE-7 (1 Mohm input impedance) to preamp the Pure Mini on occasion, but for my taste the Fishman Platinum preamp has worked just as well or better in some respects (not as noisy).

Your comment regarding not having a good perspective for EQing when you can hear the guitar's acoustic sound reminds me of Rick Turner's advice to use headphones to set default EQ adjustments. Beyond that, one may well need to make EQ adjustments of some kind in an environment (and at a volume) where the guitar top's response to speaker sound is causing boominess or feedback problems.

It's the same with electric guitar. When I record my amps at home they are baffled but I usually record a take, listen back and then adjust the mics until I'm happy. Do you have the older Fishman Platinum or the new one?

With the K&K it's more than just the bass response and tone. With both of my guitars with that system I was able to overload the PADI. I can play hard and I like to do that percussive hit the guitar top which really creates a lot of energy with any type of piezo technology. Some guys play very lightly. That's one thing about the Barbera, it doesn't translate that technique.

I posted this recently. My new Taylor has the ES2 which reminds me of the response of the Barbera in the evenness and balance of the pickup. It's still a piezo but doesn't seem to quack.

[guitaniac]

Very nice recording, Cochese.

I've been saying all along that the ES2 recordings and the Soloist recordings sound similar to me. I suppose there are some bad sounding ES2 recordings around (judging from the dissatisfaction of some ES2 users), but I haven't heard them yet.

I have two of the old Platinum preamps. They've definitely made my three-days-a-week soundman jobs easier. The "smooth" control really does help with quacky guitars, and the EQ section is well-designed for dealing with a variety of instruments quickly.

[Cochese]

Thanks Guitaniac. Yes, the evenness and lack of the piezo quack are obvious similarities between the systems. Of course the ES only comes with a Taylor and you can put the Soloist in other guitars. It sounds like there are similarities between the new Fishman Platinum Pro EQ and the old one. The new one is nice and the tuner works well. Very musical EQ.

My apologies to the OP for the off topic conversation.

[pieterh]

No worries, it's all interesting stuff!