Quote:
Originally Posted by tadol
I’ve tried to bite my tongue through all this, but for others less familiar with the UltraTonic pickup, most people will adjust the pickup to minimize (or eliminate) feedback, while getting a good, solid, balanced tone, and they’re done. The switches aren’t an awkward EQ adjustment, they’re designed to adjust the pickup for the responsiveness and natural resonance of the guitar they’re installed in. Once you get one set, and installed into the guitar, you really never have to think about it again. If the amp, or PA, or headphones, need some adjustment to get the sound you want out of them, that’s what you are adjusting for - not the guitar. I’ve found that the UT running straight into most amps or PAs sounds pretty darn good, and the tone controls on the amp will bring out almost as good a sound as that amp can give you. Yes, a much fancier Preamp/EQ can make it better, but playing with a few other amplified instruments and 3 or 4 amplified voices, what extra I might gain is generally lost in the overall mix. For me, the very good tone, without feedback, and absolute simplicity post-install of the UltraTonic is why I like it so much -
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Thanks, Tad! I think what you're saying is that when the Ultra Tonic is adjusted to sound good with reduced feedback potential over a PA, it may not sound really good through headphones or recorded direct, correct?
With the Larrivee D-03, I installed the Ultra Tonic with the switch set at 4 knowing that with my tools I can go back in and make an adjustment in 5 minutes. I found with my Martin D-18 installation that having the circuit board hanging out of the guitar was cumbersome and my ears started losing sensitivity from one switch adjustment to the next when listening to an acoustic amp. So, with the Larrivee, I set it at switch 4 and battened everything up to make my final tonal adjustments later after listening to it through my PA. I've yet to do it but will this weekend. Basically, it's almost pointless to make direct recordings of the Ultra Tonic/guitar combination or other pickup/guitar combinations as demonstrations as a listener won't be hearing the combination as it sounds live. I've always found that pickup/guitar combinations always sound better over a PA than listening to direct-to-computer recordings through headphones or near-field speakers.