3 Guitars - 3 Pickups / With Sound Sample

[Mbroady]

As the subject says
Shoot out between 3 pick up systems . It’s not an apples to apples comparison..........Varied woods and body shapes.


FWIW: All three pickups could use some EQ




Method…
All guitars are running mono into a Mackie board and there is a microphone by each speaker

1) Furch D-32 LM (Hog and Alpine spruce). Hybrid set up - HFN SBT with K&K mic running through an on board 2 channel K&K Pre. Both HFN and mic are set equally
2) MJ Franks Legacy OM (Rosewood and Adi). LR Baggs Anthem SL with the On board Anthem pre. Mic is rolled back around 15%
3) Martin D-35 (Rosewood and Sitka Spruce). Passive K&K running straight to the mixer

[Chriscom]

To my ears, #1 and #2 are both quite good, but I prefer #1 as having a bit more air. Really didn't like #3, so even though there are only three entries I'd put it in fourth place

[guitarman68]

1 - 2 ----3 for me.

1 sounds natural, woody, airy - anything you would want from a decent amplified guitar
2 sounds pretty good, but I notice artifacts in the treble register and less woodiness
3 lacks dimension and air, sounds dull

Thank you for a fine comparison !

[AeroUSA]

#2 is my favorite. Then #1 and then #3.

[Petty1818]

I like them in order; 1,2,3. The first one sounds very natural, but the important thing is that the treble/high end has a nice natural/smoothness to it. 2 is definitely good, but it has that tone of the Anthem that I don't like. It's as if the high end is thin and the tru-mic has a characteristic sound. 3 is good but obviously sounds the least natural.

[Mbroady]

Thanks all for playing along. It’s a tough call. All three are a little harsh on the high end, but that can be fixed with a bit of EQ

# 3 is gonna be replaced with either 1 or 2. #1 has on-board EQ so that’s a plus. #2 could benefit from a small balance tweak between the mic and UST. I’ll try another round, this time I’ll spend some time playing with the pre (and and post) EQ.

[rb1591]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

Thanks all for playing along. It’s a tough call. All three are a little harsh on the high end, but that can be fixed with a bit of EQ

# 3 is gonna be replaced with either 1 or 2. #1 has on-board EQ so that’s a plus. #2 could benefit from a small balance tweak between the mic and UST. I’ll try another round, this time I’ll spend some time playing with the pre (and and post) EQ.

2-1 and a distant 3 for me. An eq’ed test would be helpful. Thanks for your work and sharing.

[GoPappy]

2, 1 and 3 for me also.

But, while the sound of 3 is different from 1 and 2, I don't think it's a bad sound. If you played #3 for me alone without 1 and 2 as a comparison, I'd tell you it sounds good. But after hearing 1 and 2, #3 sounds a little artificial, or not nearly as natural as 1 and 2.

[JWJ915]

1, 2, 3 for me.

[Peter Z]

2-1-3
1 and 2 are both nice, 3 is far far behind.

[mondoslug]

1, 2 & 3 here. 1 & 2 are both real nice though.

Thanks for posting.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

As the subject says
Shoot out between 3 pick up systems . It’s not an apples to apples comparison..........Varied woods and body shapes.

Hi Mb
Don't like the sound of any of them. They all have a very distinct 'pickup' attack (K&Ks alone like #3s sound pretty awful).

Pickups recorded directly never sound as nice as when tempered through an amp or PA.

I have no favorite, but certainly can spot the elephant in the room.

[SpruceTop]

Thanks for this demo! My order of preference is: 1, 2, 3. The first two guitars benefit by having an internal mic along with the SBT, whereas the Martin uses only a K&K SBT. I definitely prefer the tone of #1, the Furch, by a wide margin over the others.

[Aspiring]

I had a slight preference for the airiness in #2 #1 I preferred to #2 on some of the bass portions and the balance. #3 sounded quite piezo like to me and also was the one I least preferred

Looking through your descriptions I am thinking it may be the guitar / wood of #2 I prefer a little bit and the pickup setup of #1.

[Mbroady]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Mb
Don't like the sound of any of them. They all have a very distinct 'pickup' attack (K&Ks alone like #3s sound pretty awful).

Pickups recorded directly never sound as nice as when tempered through an amp or PA.

I have no favorite, but certainly can spot the elephant in the room.

Hey Larry
I think it’s more of a brontosaurus then an elephant
And yes, we are (all) in agreement that pickups recorded directly are just about as bad, if not worse then finger nails on a chalk board.

Though the samples leave much to be desired, they were not recorded direct. A Mic was placed by the 2 (relatively cheap) studio monitors. I do think with some minimal EQ ( slight bass boost, scoop the mids a hair, and cut the highs) 1 and 2 could sound decent. Especially through a decent system.

I actually recorded a sample direct and it was far worse.

I’m curios, do you have, non direct, before and after sample recordings with your Tonedexter IRs?