Question about DI boxes or pedals

[lowrider]

I have three guitars with pickups; Martin GPCRSG with a JJB, GP-28 with a Fishman Matrix Enhance, and now a J-17 with a Mojotone NC-1. They all sound different but they all sound good to me.

With these boxes or pedals like the Fishman Aura or the Nux Optima Air, that have pre-loaded IA's, say like a D-28. If I choose that one and plug my guitars in one by one, will they all sound like the same D-28?

If I recorded an image to a DI box from my J-40, and then played the other guitars through it, would they sound like my J-40?

OK, that's two questions, but what do you think?

[darkwave]

Simple answer: no.

Simplified reasoning from someone who only knows the basics: The Aura process is not modeling or creating a tone. It compares two inputs (a pickup and a studio mic) and determines the corrections needed for the pickup to sound close to the mic (this may be more than a simple EQing). So, if you use an input different than what the Aura image was created with you will get a slightly different outcome.

The debatable part for some is just how much influence the pickup has versus the guitar it is mounted on, but you've already noted that your sources all sound good but different. The best result for you will likely to be to experiment with the hundreds of images available and pick one that sounds best to you for each guitar.

FWIW - I have a Spectrum DI I've dabbled with for several guitars with different pickup types. In isolation I am always able to get something that sounds better than the pickup alone, but in a band context I have often just plugged in straight to avoid hassle and tech glitches. I am going back to trying the Spectrum with my reso this week because I want the mute button and compressor handy, so we'll see if the images come back into play for me.

[shufflebeat]

What you've got there is three very different pickup systems. If you were to put those on three identical guitars they would all sound radically different from each other, but probably all reasonably good.

Each system has it's strengths and weaknesses, different edges that need to be rolled off just to get a level playing field, different tones to tame and different relative susceptibilities to feedback.

An IR system will work well with the JJB and Fishman, maybe not so well with the Monotone, but maybe still interesting.

If it were me I'd want something that has the capacity to set levels, EQ, FX, compression, etc. in distinct preset slots and recall at will, much like the old Yamaha AG Stomp. There are loads of boxes at all prices but not all have the features you need for multiple instruments, although they might be great on one.