Blend Three Sources?
I have a Lowden F-35 Pierre Bensusan Signature and am wanting to have pickups of some sort installed so I can get a tone closer to the tone of Tommy Emmanuel ballads and modern fingerstyle guitarists on their albums and on stage.
This is mainly for my own benefit as I practice with greater sustain and reverb, so feedback and other stage issues are less of a concern. Chances are my ideas are over the top, but I do want to lean in that direction to have as much control as possible over the end result. So I'm wanting to do more than just the most popular or a "close enough" approach.
I like three kinds of pickups and am not sure how to choose or blend between them. When I purchased the guitar, it had a Fishman rare earth blend in the case. I recently installed it temporarily in the sound hole and really saw the potential by using it with what gear I have - a value priced electric tube amp and some pedals. And I know it would sound a lot better with proper gear all around.
I like magnetics for how well they work with pedals and capture a wide range of frequencies. It does end up sounding a little sterile by itself though. Visually they aren't great but I don't think there's any way around that. Current frontrunner: DiMarzio Black Angel.
I like piezo somewhat, mainly for its high end which can really stand out and separate those notes from mids and bass but it doesn't sound great in the other frequencies from my limited experience. So I am basically ruling out UST but not SBT. I also don't want to mess with my saddle. I have read good things about the K&K Pure Mini, but not sure of its high end sizzle, so I'm still looking at other products too.
Lastly, I like internal mics for their space and texture they could add to a more sterile sounding mag. It's hard for me to imagine going multi-source and not including a mic option to blend with. I haven't learned enough about different models yet to mention one specifically. I would be fine with phantom powered since I expect to have a good preamp that supports it.
I know there are K&K Trinity and Anthem blend systems with two sources, but I'd rather have no batteries in the guitar, so I expect to use an external preamp for all sources. I'd also rather not drill another hole in the guitar so I think I'm limited to two sources coming out at a time. I would consider it if it solved every other issue.
Deciding acoustic amp or PA for this home use will take some more research for me.
Questions:
1. Do you know if SBTs have the same high end advantages of USTs but without the quack?
2. Would I have to drill another hole in order to get three sources out of the guitar?
3. I've only found 2 channel (like Grace Felix). Do you know what gear could blend three sources while still having parametric EQ?
4. Is it ridiculous to consider three sources?
5. If limited to two sources at a time, is there a way to have a three way switch in the soundhole that I could use to select which two sources to use for each song?
6. Any other considerations?
Thanks - Jeff
|