[Doug Young]

I think the differences in your first 2 examples are the difference between a high end studio and a home recording. Everything from the environment to the mix is different. The 1st one is *way* louder, for one thing, which influences your perception. But even that aside, they're radically different in every way. The 2nd looks like its recorded at home in a small room. We can't even see what mics (if any) are used. There's tons of reverb on both, but on the 1st, the mix is good, the raw guitar sound is huge - probably compressed and EQ'd, while on the 2nd the guitar just disappears into a less impressive sounding reverb. The 2nd seems to have a chorus on it, I assume she's plugged in? In contrast, the 1st is great mics in a great sound room, presumably with a good engineer who knows how to capture and process the sound.

As far as getting that sound (the 1st) live, that will be a challenge. But you could come close if you play in a great acoustically-designed listening room with a great sound system, good mics and good reverb. Basically like the studio, but with an audience. I've heard sound this good at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, for example. Very high end room, designed for acoustics from the ground up. Mega buck Myer's sound system and so on. Every element contributes, and everything has to be high quality. If you're asking how to get that sound using a combo amp in a coffee house, it's probably not going to happen. The amplification system will have a huge impact, and most things you can carry into a gig aren't going to cut it, regardless of your pickups, etc. Room acoustics also matter, and most non-concert rooms aren't going to help you.

There is a lot of nice gear out there, that can make you sound good if you have to use pickups, tho, within limits. Pickups are better than ever these days. Tonedexter will help you get rid of remaining "quack". An internal mic can help a lot too. I use a stereo setup that produces a sound I'm certainly happy with when the room and sound system supports it - the stereo aspect can help produce some sense of space. There are a number of really good sounding reverb pedals out there as well. For this sound, again, preferably stereo reverb (with the assumption that both room layout, acoustics and the sound system can support that). And there's nothing to prevent you from using a full rack system, with full-fledged studio effects, either, other than expense, hassle of carrying it, etc. Anyway, overall, I'd say "can you do it?" Yes, or at least get close enough that a live audience will be happy as long as you're not doing an A/B compare. Can you do it on a budget? Not likely. Can you do it in an arbitrary coffee shop, bar, etc? Probably not.