When did you become a tone snob??

[gregsguitars]

I don't know about "tone snob" but did become a guitar snob tonally as a player when I finally was able to play good vintage guitars

[muscmp]

i've never been a fan of pickups in acoustics and i prefer a mic. however, i realize that if you are playing live, that may not be a choice and you have to live with the quacky sound and do the best you can.

play music!

[Tico]

Originally Posted by muscmp

... however, i realize that if you are playing live, that may not be a choice and you have to live with the quacky sound and do the best you can.

Not true.
It costs $619, but here's the solution.
I bought one, and LOVE it!

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/microp...one-for-guitar

[Pitar]

Tone. Not sure if I ever achieved snob status. Somewhere in there I turned about face, sold off everything but a Yamaha classical I bought from a preacher man, and now just play music.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by muscmp

i've never been a fan of pickups in acoustics and i prefer a mic. However, i realize that if you are playing live that may not be a choice, and you have to live with the quacky sound and do the best you can...

Not so; when Charlie Kaman introduced the first viable "acoustic" electric guitars in the mid-60's, they were designed around the typical amplification of the day - a mid/high-powered American tube combo (think blackface Fender/blue-check Ampeg) with 1x12"/1x15"/2x12"/4x10" speakers. When you take the inherent response characteristics of amps of this type (and their speakers) into consideration - varying degrees of scooped midrange, steep frequency rolloff above 5kHz - a UST becomes a viable option; since the OP cites the S&G Central Park concert, compare the direct-to-board/full-range PA tone of Paul Simon's first-gen Ovation to Neil Diamond's miked-amp rhythm work on Hot August Night, recorded a decade earlier with a similar instrument - and ask yourself which one sounds more like a loud "acoustic" guitar rather than a "modern" acoustic-electric. I've owned/played a variety of instruments/pickup systems over the last 40+ years, and the most natural-sounding to my ears was my '80s-90s gig rig, a first-gen Ovation Custom Balladeer (which still sees frequent use) through a mid-80's Peavey Bandit 65: no quack, no nails-on-blackboard highs, no spikiness to the response, and easy to set up - just plug into the low-gain input, set the EQ at 12:00, dial in some 'verb to give it a bit of "air," balance the guitar/amp volume, and never need to tweak anything for the rest of the gig. Not a bad deal for "obsolete" technology - and if that makes me a tone snob, so be it...

[ManyMartinMan]

1989. The first time I played a Martin D-18. That ruined other guitars for me for a while. After many years after I have found other builder's I enjoy as much. But the turning point was when I sampled a D-18 and D-28 the same day........

[vindibona1]

It's a funny thing, that tone snobbery... It seems to cut both ways. Some folks pay good money go buy a new guitar that has that crappy old-style sound that we used to get on our $15 Harmony guitars. I just have to shrug my shoulders and say to each his own. I guess that makers me a tone snob too. Come to think of it, back in the day we weren't nearly as concerned about tone because there were so few examples at our fingertips. We were happy getting any kind of sound close that was close to the band we were trying to emulate.

[Glennwillow]

The word "snob" has such negative connotations...

I don't think I'm a tone snob, but I do know what I like. I have never liked the sound of a piezo pickup, not since the first time I heard one. But I know plenty of people who do like that sound. People like what they like.

I notice when listening to old recordings with acoustic guitars that the sounds we have gotten used to today and take almost for granted were mostly missing 40-50 years ago. Recording technology has improved, the availability of very good microphones is more common today, and I think we have all become somewhat sensitized to what a good acoustic guitar sounds like.

I never thought much about changing my strings 45 years ago unless one of them broke. Today I change my strings fairly often simply because they sound bad. Then again, I had about zero resources 45 years ago, and I have a little more money today, even in retirement.

- Glenn

[BBWW]

The better my playing got the more I wanted...now I don't have any excuse...but I'm still a bit of a jerk when I critique someone else guitar while they are performing...usually not outlaid though...

[fazool]

The day I played my first Taylor.

I had been shopping for an upgraded guitar and picked one up on a whim and was blown away - it opened up my eyes to the world of higher end guitars and I knew right then, and right there, that I would own a Taylor as soon as I could.

That was probably six years ago and I've since lost count of how many have passed through my stable.

[songman2]

Originally Posted by Tico

Not true.
It costs $619, but here's the solution.
I bought one, and LOVE it!

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/microp...one-for-guitar

Tico, this seems like a neat solution. However I do have two questions.

1. In the promo video the player really is not in a realistic position as you would be when performing. Does the mic not pickup extraneous sounds touching the guitar, or from the lead touching the guitar, which might easily happen when performing?

2. In the promo the player played ever so gently. How does it hold up if you strum hard?

[Tico]

Originally Posted by songman2

Tico, this seems like a neat solution. However I do have two questions.

1. In the promo video the player really is not in a realistic position as you would be when performing. Does the mic not pickup extraneous sounds touching the guitar, or from the lead touching the guitar, which might easily happen when performing?

2. In the promo the player played ever so gently. How does it hold up if you strum hard?

Frankly I place a piece of gaffer tape over the clamp and the side of the guitar to keep it in place when I move around.
I've never had a problem with the cable making noise touching the body but another bit of tape where the cable leaves the guitar body would solve that.

Strumming loudly is not a problem.
An acoustic guitar is not going to overload this mic: Spec: Max SPL 142 dB, with a dynamic range of 100 dB.
This same mic capsule is used on several instruments (many louder than guitar) using the other 11 mic holder/clips (optional).
FWIW, DPA makes another model for ultra-loud instruments, like trumpet, that can handle SPL up to 152 dB.

Being a condenser it does need 48v phantom power supplied via the cable. (no internal battery)

The sound is amazingly natural.
Being a super cardioid shotgun you can take advantage of the proximity effect and EQ the sound by just moving the capsule a bit on the gooseneck.
This also can address feedback.

[Tico]

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...SAAEgIFrvD_BwE

Check out some reviews from people who bought it.
Look for videos on Youtube about it.

Though it's expensive you only need one for all your guitars, because it takes just a few seconds to move it to another guitar.
No holes to drill into a precious guitar, and no installation to pay for.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

The word "snob" has such negative connotations...

I don't think I'm a tone snob, but I do know what I like. I have never liked the sound of a piezo pickup, not since the first time I heard one. But I know plenty of people who do like that sound. People like what they like.

I notice when listening to old recordings with acoustic guitars that the sounds we have gotten used to today and take almost for granted were mostly missing 40-50 years ago. Recording technology has improved, the availability of very good microphones is more common today, and I think we have all become somewhat sensitized to what a good acoustic guitar sounds like.

I never thought much about changing my strings 45 years ago unless one of them broke. Today I change my strings fairly often simply because they sound bad. Then again, I had about zero resources 45 years ago, and I have a little more money today, even in retirement.

- Glenn

All good points. Here in the UK the BBC ran a late music programme called "The Old Grey Whistle Test" which featured the best in visiting American bands, and British acts. Thankfully , they kept the tapes and frequently rerun them on Channel 4 . When acoustics were used they were almost always just miced and well mixed so we heard (and still hear) the real sound of them.

Most sounded pretty horrible compared to what most of us can make now - partly because it seems that no-one ever thought about putting on fresh strings.

[AndrewG]

I think as we get older our tastes become more 'refined', and experience gained also allows us to discriminate between poor, average and good. When I was 16 a guitar was just a guitar, and I had no idea that vast differences in tone existed. Then again pretty much all we were exposed to were horribly expensive American imports we could only gawp at through plate glass windows, or something unspeakable from Japan or Italy which is what I, and most of my contemporaries, ended up with. There wasn't much in between those extremes.
Same with whisky-I won't even look at anything blended today.