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  #16  
Old 01-25-2019, 05:41 AM
Beagle1 Beagle1 is offline
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Originally Posted by austro1 View Post
Thanks!!

My idea for a pre/DI was to not have to use my amp at certain venues.

Therefore I'd only run through the DI , plus maybe a couple of other pedals (reverb, tuner, maybe xciter?) ie, my pedal board.

So would the REdeye still do the job and get that warmth only using my Maton AP5 system EQ? I also like the idea of less knobs..

I would still use my Compact 60 for smaller room venues where my amp is enough. But, for larger places w/ a PA system I'd rather just pull out my board with a DI on it and go straight into PA, no hassles, not a lot of wallwarts to plug in and not a lot of knobs to mess with.
Austro1,

I also play a Maton 808 (the Michael Fix) into an AER for smaller venues. For larger venues, I often like to run it into a Fractal Axe FX. The thing I have found with the Fractal is that even though it has tons of effects (multi-band compression, EQ, tube preamp model, ability to use IR's), the Maton pickup system sounds so good on its own that I'm usually running the guitar just flat through the Axe FX with only a reverb. Whenever I have tried to use some effect that "warms" up the tone, I just find it adds mud and not warmth.

In my opinion, if you're looking for a little preamp box to put on your pedal board, I would stick with the AER line. Their Colourizer box is supposed to be the same guts of the main preamp circuit built in to the Compact 60, so I would look at that one. Like you said earlier, the Maton+AER is a great combo, so my vote would be to stick with that. As an alternative, I remember that Eric Johnson was using the Baggs Venue as a preamp in his Maton/AER acoustic rig. He is notoriously picky about his tone so that might be worth checking out as well. Good luck!
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  #17  
Old 01-25-2019, 05:44 AM
Perchman Perchman is offline
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No idea about your Maton and AER with the RedEye. But I’m a big fan of what it does to my sound with both my D55 with JJB sbt pickups and my J35 with Baggs Element. I’m in the “point and shoot” camp. Tried for years to get along with Baggs PADI. Too much tweaking that I couldn’t ever seem to get right even after watching videos, etc. The first time I plugged into the RedEye, that was it.
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  #18  
Old 01-25-2019, 07:46 AM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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I agree with Beagle1. The Red Eye is great but I should have read the OP a little closer. Since my system is passive the Red Eye is great at taming the brittle quackiness when driven to high gain. I would imagine that the Red Eye would make anything sound better though if going to the mains of a PA or a mixer, but since you already know the AER has a line out and it sounds good, the only thing it would add is the Red Eye would give the ability ability to bypass the amp and would give you the boost for soloing.
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Last edited by steelvibe; 01-25-2019 at 08:21 AM.
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  #19  
Old 01-25-2019, 09:04 AM
austro1 austro1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beagle1 View Post
Austro1,

I also play a Maton 808 (the Michael Fix) into an AER for smaller venues. For larger venues, I often like to run it into a Fractal Axe FX. The thing I have found with the Fractal is that even though it has tons of effects (multi-band compression, EQ, tube preamp model, ability to use IR's), the Maton pickup system sounds so good on its own that I'm usually running the guitar just flat through the Axe FX with only a reverb. Whenever I have tried to use some effect that "warms" up the tone, I just find it adds mud and not warmth.

In my opinion, if you're looking for a little preamp box to put on your pedal board, I would stick with the AER line. Their Colourizer box is supposed to be the same guts of the main preamp circuit built in to the Compact 60, so I would look at that one. Like you said earlier, the Maton+AER is a great combo, so my vote would be to stick with that. As an alternative, I remember that Eric Johnson was using the Baggs Venue as a preamp in his Maton/AER acoustic rig. He is notoriously picky about his tone so that might be worth checking out as well. Good luck!

Hi Beagle1

Does the Dual Mix also have the same 'guts' as the Compact 60/ Colourizer? I guess it would. It looks basically like the Compact 60 but without the speaker. The reason why I'm interested in the Dual over the Colourizer is because a friend of mine is selling his Dual for around half the price. I could not afford it new. They are expensive. So, I'm tempted to go for it.
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  #20  
Old 01-25-2019, 09:23 AM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by austro1 View Post
Hi Beagle1



Does the Dual Mix also have the same 'guts' as the Compact 60/ Colourizer? I guess it would. It looks basically like the Compact 60 but without the speaker. The reason why I'm interested in the Dual over the Colourizer is because a friend of mine is selling his Dual for around half the price. I could not afford it new. They are expensive. So, I'm tempted to go for it.


I would. I know a lot of people here say that they don’t like TE’s live tone but I think it is pretty good- especially with all the dynamics he uses to convey his ideas. With the set up you have it would sound fine!
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  #21  
Old 01-27-2019, 12:38 PM
austro1 austro1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steelvibe View Post
I would. I know a lot of people here say that they don’t like TE’s live tone but I think it is pretty good- especially with all the dynamics he uses to convey his ideas. With the set up you have it would sound fine!

The one thing that's still making me hesitate is the fact that the Dual Mix needs it own power source, which the Redeye doesn't.

My couple of pedals run off of an 1-spot daisey chain. So the Redeye would add any extras fuss. Maybe it's not a big deal. Just don't like the idea another plug.
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  #22  
Old 01-27-2019, 11:01 PM
lkingston lkingston is offline
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The RedEye is designed to give pristine impedance matched and beautifully balanced audio from a passive pickup. I wouldn’t choose it for an active system like a Maton.

My personal favorite preamp in that case would be a Tech21NYC Q/Strip.
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  #23  
Old 01-29-2019, 02:11 AM
austro1 austro1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lkingston View Post
The RedEye is designed to give pristine impedance matched and beautifully balanced audio from a passive pickup. I wouldn’t choose it for an active system like a Maton.

My personal favorite preamp in that case would be a Tech21NYC Q/Strip.
Hmm, that's not what I was told after contacting Fireeye but I've heard this often.....
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  #24  
Old 01-29-2019, 05:36 AM
Perchman Perchman is offline
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My Baggs Element VTC is active and the RedEye works well with it. I have no experience with the Maton pickup system however.
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  #25  
Old 01-30-2019, 07:51 PM
BluesKing777 BluesKing777 is offline
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I have (3) Maton 808s with the newer AP5-Pro systems. Boingggg, yahoo, fabulous, best pickup system...etc

I thought the Redeye was the best you could get for a passive K&K???

Anyway, my Matons sound fab direct to my little mixer/amp but if I want a few knobs to fiddle with - extra vol/gain/EQ/comp/DI etc, etc, I have 'Old Dusty" - my older version Fishman Platinum Pro EQ...runs off power/battery or PHANTOM POWER!!!

Sounds fab! I have never tried the new version but have considered updating and this is just perfect, so I need zip. The setting in the photo also works superbly with my Baggs M1A or M80 soundhole pickup. I plugged in a Maton to see what happens and Voila!!!





BluesKing777.
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  #26  
Old 01-31-2019, 09:45 PM
Kelloggsy Kelloggsy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erniecaster View Post
Hi,

I never understood the Redeye. Without EQ, you are not able to taylor your sound to the P.A. and the venue. What is it good for?

cu

erniecaster
Plug your guitar in, then you will understand why you don't need to tinker with EQ.
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  #27  
Old 02-01-2019, 05:17 AM
erniecaster erniecaster is offline
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Hi,

"one size fits all" never really fits to anybody. I´ll explain it again.

Just imagine a perfect hifi-unit in a room that reflects one frequency in an annoying way. That won´t sound nice. The same thing with an amplified guitar. Room sounds bad - you need a tool to repair it. This tool is usually called equalizer.

If you don´t have an equalizer, you will not be able to fix the situation.

Get the idea?

cu

erniecaster
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  #28  
Old 02-01-2019, 06:04 AM
meb meb is offline
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When I use the Red-Eye between my passive Black Angel and L1 Compact,
the Red-Eye gives me no more volume. I need a preamp with Gain, such as
a Venue. The same could be said when running thru the 1/4" input on
my T1 mixer or my Boss Acoustic Singer Live combo amp.

What am I missing about using the Red-eye with a passive
pickup? It is only useful to me using it via XLR. Is that the way everyone is
using it?

Thanks for helping me with this.

Michael
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  #29  
Old 02-01-2019, 06:53 AM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meb View Post
When I use the Red-Eye between my passive Black Angel and L1 Compact,
the Red-Eye gives me no more volume. I need a preamp with Gain, such as
a Venue. The same could be said when running thru the 1/4" input on
my T1 mixer or my Boss Acoustic Singer Live combo amp.

What am I missing about using the Red-eye with a passive
pickup? It is only useful to me using it via XLR. Is that the way everyone is
using it?

Thanks for helping me with this.

Michael

This could get long but here goes.

I am using the Red-eye twin. My situation is that I wish to plug two guitars into an amp with one guitar input. (Fishman Loudbox Mini). One guitar has a passive JJB pickup in it, (K and K clone), no pre amp and the other has the active LR Baggs Element VTC. I like to switch from my D18 to my J45 when I perform sometimes.
I dial the The Red-eye twin gain control back to almost nothing on the active pickup and all the way up on the passive one. By doing this, I am able to balance the output of each guitar to the amp. The Red-eye Twin also has a gain control inside on the circuit board which can be adjusted when you remove the back. It is not a huge increase but it allows me to bump up the gain a bit more for the passive pickup. The increase in gain for the passive pickup is sufficient and the effect it has to "smooth out" the sound is nice. Are you sure you are not getting any increase in gain from the Red-eye? It does have a controllable "boost".
Sometimes, I will substitute my Telecaster for one of the acoustics at a Gig. The pickups in it are passive so I can still use either acoustic in conjunction with the Tele and balance the gain as needed.
I have had no issues with EQ since I am using a guitar amp. If I need to, I can reach down and EQ any of the guitars with a turn of a knob. I usually don't need to. The treble controls on each side of the Twin do help in my situation. The JJB has only a volume knob on it while the Element VTC has a tone control.
Obviously,this is my experience with the product and I have never used it through a mixer in a large venue because we rarely play those types of situation.
As others have stated, Darren, the inventor, is totally available and a great guy. He only wants you to be happy. It's his product and will answer any and all questions to the best of his ability. I would call him and ask him about the gain issue.He also guarantees the product to be useful. If you find that is not the case, it is totally returnable.
I hope this was helpful.
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Last edited by rokdog49; 02-01-2019 at 07:03 AM.
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  #30  
Old 02-01-2019, 07:46 AM
meb meb is offline
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Thanks Rokdog49. When I plug in the Red-eye, I do hear the 'smoothing'
effect, but I can tell no difference in output level. I wish the Red-eye had the
gain issue like the Twin. I missed the fact that the Twin had 'gain' as well
as boost. I will check in with Darren and see if the gain can be
adjusted internally like the twin. Just a little would really help. I like
the sound and the footprint of the Red-eye and need the 'boost' feature.
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