Billy Strings's Dreadnought Hog Is What An Acoustic Guitar Needs To Sound Like LIVE!

SpruceTop · #1 01-28-2018, 04:03 PM

Hi Folks,

Here's an artist I've recently discovered when listening to Sirius XM's Bluegrass Junction channel. Billy Strings is a young guitarist and will take flat-picked guitar to new levels of tasteful performance. I hope you enjoy this video of one of his latest "hits" in the Americana genre, "Turmoil And Tinfoil." I love the Middle-Eastern scales in this song. I wonder what pickup/preamp system he has in his Preston Thompson dreadnought hog?

RECOMMENDED: View larger-screen version of this performance: https://youtu.be/fJmzS_Redh8

Wrighty · #2 01-28-2018, 04:49 PM

Love it.....

varmonter · #3 01-28-2018, 05:36 PM

i've seen him live twice. and think he is a very
accomplished player but i would not call his
tone very acoustic. Quite the opposite.
he has a lot of distortion.

JWJ915 · #4 01-28-2018, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by varmonter

i've seen him live twice. and think he is a very
accomplished player but i would not call his
tone very acoustic. Quite the opposite.
he has a lot of distortion.

I agree; there's some distortion there. But to my ears, it sounds awesome. I love the tone of that guitar.

hotroad · #5 01-28-2018, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWJ915

I agree; there's some distortion there. But to my ears, it sounds awesome. I love the tone of that guitar.

Billy Strings is making the most of his Preston Thompson guitar. Preston creates a series of guitars in Sisters, Oregon that cannot be rivaled in my opinion. Having spent time with Preston, his staffs attention to every little detail in every phase of their hand built process is beyond words. Truly a super hero luthier, to me. Billy Strings proudly represents Preston Thompson Guitars in every song he plays. What an artist!

j.blay · #6 01-29-2018, 06:42 PM

Local talent here in Northern Michigan just a few years ago. Loved his stuff then and I'd still go see him, even though I'm not a fan of blending Jazz with Bluegrass like he seems to be doing lately. I hope he moves beyond this phase. I believe he's trying to establish his own sound. I hope he moves past the recent attempts and finds something else I personally like. He's got a classic Bluegrass voice and is an outstanding picker. And lastly, I wish his band mates would at least act like they want to be there and smile a little. Billy seems to be the only one having fun.

firelakekid2 · #7 01-30-2018, 08:56 PM

Saw him at a house concert in Iron Mountain Michigan. Him and his partner at the time. Billy was fantastic. As for his tone...good for what he does. I got a look at his pedal board. Yeah, he uses pedals...but I can’t remember right now exactly what he had on the board. He sang traditional bluegrass songs and it was just a great show.

varmonter · #8 01-31-2018, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.blay

Local talent here in Northern Michigan just a few years ago. Loved his stuff then and I'd still go see him, even though I'm not a fan of blending Jazz with Bluegrass like he seems to be doing lately. I hope he moves beyond this phase. I believe he's trying to establish his own sound. I hope he moves past the recent attempts and finds something else I personally like. He's got a classic Bluegrass voice and is an outstanding picker. And lastly, I wish his band mates would at least act like they want to be there and smile a little. Billy seems to be the only one having fun.

Ha i saw him in Asheville . I thought his banjo
player was gonna kill him. I think there may be
a bit of Tension there...

martingitdave · #9 01-31-2018, 06:29 AM

Billy plays a number of guitars, his latest being an Adi/Brazilian Thompson. Billy uses the passive K&K pickup into a preamp and equipment rack. I’m not sure exactly how he gets his great tone, but there will be a lot of K&K fans who read this post and say “I told you so.” Of course, after years of trying, I’ve never gotten my K&Ks to sound that good. And we have to remember he’s playing a different flat picking style than many of us do, or can.

martingitdave · #10 01-31-2018, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by varmonter

Ha i saw him in Asheville . I thought his banjo

player was gonna kill him. I think there may be

a bit of Tension there...

My understanding is that Billy may be dealing with some issues. And, I’m told his band mates act as his chaperones as much as fellow players.

Murphy Slaw · #11 01-31-2018, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martingitdave

My understanding is that Billy may be dealing with some issues. And, I’m told his band mates act as his chaperones as much as fellow players.

There's always one.....

fitness1 · #12 01-31-2018, 07:47 AM

That much talent and fame (as the acoustic genre goes) at such a young age could get to anyone. I wish for the best for him....and that he has a long career.

I think I'd be much happier with his tone if he had an external condenser mic on the guitar too - I know he likes to move around, but the sound he's getting there has no "air" - it's obvious even without the video that it's strictly pickup. Still a lot better than many "acoustic" performers these days.

I'd sure like to be able to play like that!

DrJamie · #13 01-31-2018, 08:11 AM

To me, everything right about a young grasser with a rock star attitude, and chops to match, to bring a generation of young people into acoustic music. He does look out of place with the stoic players behind him. Hope he hooks up with some hot young pickers, that share his energy on stage. (or old high energy pickers, for that matter).

KevWind · #14 01-31-2018, 08:37 AM

Great example of a tight string band and his performance is quite convincing as (getting into it)
He is definitely fast on the licks

I absolutely love that they are not constrained by some notion of walled box of tradition

The tone of his guitar is pretty typical piezo quack nothing special really IMO .

BUT the sound is fairly big and impressive . It appears that all of them are running through amps and all but the bass player have pedalboards

His big sound looks to me (from the video) is the result of using at least one solid state amp (the little silver unit) on top of the double speaker cabinet stack, just behind and to his right, and possibly he is using what appears to be a second amp tilted up , (maybe double duty as a stage monitor) or maybe a wet dry system.
There also appears to be some kind of additional sound unit (perhaps FX ) in a road case behind his SS amp and speaker unit.

rokdog49 · #15 01-31-2018, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Billy plays a number of guitars, his latest being an Adi/Brazilian Thompson. Billy uses the passive K&K pickup into a preamp and equipment rack. I’m not sure exactly how he gets his great tone, but there will be a lot of K&K fans who read this post and say “I told you so.” Of course, after years of trying, I’ve never gotten my K&Ks to sound that good. And we have to remember he’s playing a different flat picking style than many of us do, or can.

K and K through a Fishman Platinum Pro will get you there...yes it will!