Does an acoustic guitar tone/sound affect amplified sound?

[javierj]

Hello,

I've searched the web for some answers to this question, but found nothing, perhaps it is really specific.

I will like to know how or if you install a set of pickup or electronics in one acoustic guitar and then you take out the system and put it the same but in a different acoustic guitar, how will it sound different or how it would be affected by the natural tone or acoustics of one guitar or the other?

The reason why I ask this question, is because I have two acoustic guitars, one is a cheap, smaller body, but nice, laminated guitar that already have a simple one of those EQ-7454 or generic system, cheap but not that bad sounding UST piezo and simple EQ preamp.

Then I have a Martin D-16GT acoustic only, no pickup, dreadnought that is a really nice acoustic sounding guitar.

So my question is, if natural acoustic tone does not affect amplified pick up sound, then I can leave my Martin D-16GT stock, natural all acoustic no pick and invest some money in a really good sounding pickup for this other cheap laminated guitar.

But if the guitar's natural tone and acoustic sound attributes do affect the final amplified pickup sound, then the Martin D-16GT guitar is the best sounding of this two, so I could think of installing a nice pick up system in that guitar.

That is my concern.

[lkingston]

Get some sort of body resonance pedal and use it with the stock undersaddle pickup. There are quite a few of these: Fishman Aura, TC Electronics BodyRez, Boss AD-2, Zoom A3, the new Zoom AC-2, etc. If your looking for a harmonized and/or looper at the same time you can get a Boss VE-8 or TC Electronics Play Acoustic.


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[akafloyd]

I think everyone will have at least one opinion on this...

I think that some systems will be more easily influenced by the guitar than others but even if the pickup is limited to picking up only the string vibrations those vibrations are influenced by the acoustic characteristics of the guitar. Sometimes, the electronics have an overwhelming character of their own which my keep some of the essential acoustic characteristics from coming through, especially if the system is very 'quacky.'

If I were you, I would look into pickup systems that will fit your needs and hopes for your Martin. I like playing my favorite guitar all the time rather than have a 'stage guitar.'

[Paultergeist]

I vote "yes." The natural sound of the guitar can and often does effect the amplified sound.

Does this mean you can take a high-quality pick-up, put it in a cheap guitar, and end up with a good amplified sound? Maybe.....maybe not.....too many variables to give you a definitive answer.

[gfsark]

You can spend a lot of money improving the sound of a cheaper guitar, and with good effect. Check out ToneDexter. What it does to an inexpensive guitar is quite amazing. I heard it at the NAMM show in January. But it costs about $400 plus you need a decent mic to train it. Add in a Fishman Aura pickup and you're out about $800.

That being said, it won't turn your $200 guitar into a $2,000 guitar magically.

The quality/sound of the guitar always makes a huge difference in the finished sound. Pickups always reflect the quality of the instruments even in solid body electric guitars.

But then the quality of the pickup and preamps and effects processors makes a huge difference too. And of course, the amplifier makes a huge difference. So lots of variables, and you have to decide what's the most bang for the buck. There is no end to the possibility of spending money.

Yesterday I bought an iRig Acoustic Stage for my very fine classical guitar. And for a $100 I'm quite pleased. No installation, great sound. Up and running in 5 minutes, plugged into my Fishman Loudbox Mini. Why didn't I try that before?

[javierj]

Thanks a lot for all the information!

And if let's say I get one of the Fishman Loudbox acoustic amp, do you think that I might also want to get a DI box like the LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI, to use it with a Fishman Loudbox?

[erniecaster]

Hi,

I played a Yamaha CPX 700 for two or three years on stage and could get pretty good sounds out of it without external equipment (except a tuner pedal and a passive D.I.). The acoustic sound was really lame.

Then I bought a Faith Neptune, which is really alive played acoustic. A good luthier put the whole System of a CPX 700 into it - which was really expensive btw.

The result sucked, the sound was not good at all.

TLDR? Yes, pickups and preamps "hear" the acoustic sound of a guitar.

cu

erniecaster

[guitaniac]

The acoustic qualities of your guitar will most definitely affect the tonal balance and note decay duration of your amplified sound, even when using a very string-oriented pickup like an undersaddle pickup.

That doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get better amplified results with a better sounding (acoustically) guitar, however. A guitar with a lightly braced and very responsive top can be more difficult to amplify at high levels because the top will respond more strongly to speaker sound and you'll run into feedback problems sooner.

In other words, your smaller guitar may actually amplify better in a high volume setting where you need a lot of gain-before-feedback to be heard. For low or moderate volume settings, you may well prefer the amplified sound of your Martin with a good pickup. A lot depends on your specific amplification needs.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by gfsark

You can spend a lot of money improving the sound of a cheaper guitar, and with good effect. Check out ToneDexter. What it does to an inexpensive guitar is quite amazing. I heard it at the NAMM show in January. But it costs about $400 plus you need a decent mic to train it. Add in a Fishman Aura pickup and you're out about $800.

Add in a Fishman Aura pickup? The user observations have been that ToneDexter works well with a passive K&K Pure Mini (under $100).


Presuming that ToneDexter works as intended (and it certainly seems to), the best amplifying (w/ToneDexter) guitar will be the one which provides the most pleasing training mic signal for WaveMap training. Its more likely that the more expensive guitars will do a better job of that. It might be possible, however, to partially compensate for any tonal imbalance of a cheaper guitar by EQing the training mic signal. It would be worth an experiment, at least.