DEMO: Larrivee D-03 Sunburst with Ultra Tonic 3.2--NOW WITH PICKUP DIRECT TO MIC'ED

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by DownUpDave

Thanks for doing those recording, great idea to have both formats together. The pick up sounds really good and yes I would definitely consider one for any guitar.

A couple observations if I may. The mic’ed version sounds quite natural, like I hope an amplified acoustic guitar would sound through an amp or PA. I did notice the mic seemed to have been over powered a bit by the volume of the amp. The direct recording was better then I expected. You seem to have the pick up dialed in very well with the dip switch position. Thank for taking the time to do this, it was a worthy experiment.

Thanks, Dave! Yes, I can hear some distortion caused by possible gain-staging overload at the input of the LR Baggs Synapse. I will probably redo the demo by paying more attention to any possible gain-staging overload in the signal chains. Although I thought I had the gain-staging well set for the loudest passages, in reality when actually being in the middle of playing I can get more aggressive than when initially setting up the system for recording.

Regarding the current Ultra Tonic 3.2 DIP-switch set up in this demo, at switch-setting 3 I hear some boominess in the bass on both the pickup direct and PA mic'ed recordings. This is especially noticeable when playing the Em chord. This can easily be taken care of by resetting the DIP-switch array to 4 or maybe 5.

Using a mic'ed PA speaker may be the best way to adjust the Ultra Tonic's DIP-switch array to a viable live setting as you can listen later to the differences each switch setting makes as opposed to sitting in front of a loudspeaker when making the adjustments. Let me explain, when I installed an Ultra Tonic 3.2 system in my Martin D-18, I adjusted the system by sitting in front of an acoustic amp and making the switch adjustments one by one. When I got to where I just heard the beginnings of feedback at switch 5, I went up a switch setting to 6 per the instructions for the final setting of the pickup. The result when recorded was very disappointing in that there was little bass in the recording. You can hear this at the beginning of the Martin D-18/Ultra Tonic 3.2 demo thread. For me, finding and setting the pickup switch array for live performance is kind of subjective in that I want to lessen the chances for feedback while still retaining a nice amplified tone. Once finding and setting this switch in what is hopefully a final set-and-forget position, further EQ adjustments can be made on a mixer or amp to tailor the amplified tone for the venue at hand. More to come ...

P.S. I purchased a new Larrivee D-40R Sunburst on Friday into which I'll install my DIY dual-Schatten HFN Artist Plus 2 system.

LR BAGGS SYNAPSE MIC'ED WITH SHURE SM81 SMALL CONDENSER MIC AT 6 FEET

[SpruceTop]

It occurred to me that many and maybe most AGFers haven't heard George Strait's "If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger (There's One Coming Home)." As a solo-act rendition, and aside from the key change from George's G# to my G, I give the song a little more urgency than George does, especially in the chorus, as I think the guy and his lady are just barely hanging on. So, here is how George does the original followed by my latest demos featuring a condensed portion of how I do my instrumental backing to my vocals on his song:




Again, your comments on my simultaneously recorded direct-to-computer and mic'ed via a PA comparison are welcomed! Does the Ultra Tonic 3.2 come across as sounding good when broadcast through a PA speaker as a worthy consideration for your next pickup choice? You won't hurt my feelings by giving me your unabashed assessment of what you hear and that can help me adjust things for the better!

PICKUP ONLY:


PICKUP MIC'ED WITH SHURE SM81 AT 6-FEET FROM LR BAGGS SYNAPSE PERSONAL PA:

[tadol]

If you’re gonna do it, why not also add a mic’d guitar sample, not using the pickup and not changing any of the recording settings. That would give a reference of what the guitar sounds like naturally, to compare to the pickup and PA -

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by tadol

If you’re gonna do it, why not also add a mic’d guitar sample, not using the pickup and not changing any of the recording settings. That would give a reference of what the guitar sounds like naturally, to compare to the pickup and PA -

Thanks, Tad, it's so good to have some company and feedback on what I post!

In the past I've posted simultaneously recorded demos of several guitars/pickups and their mic-recorded acoustic tracks. There are several of these duo-demos on this Acoustic Amplification section of AGF under my SpruceTop moniker. Thanks for the suggestion on doing a similar comparison demo of the Ultra Tonic 3.2 recorded direct-to-computer and as recorded via a Shure SM81 mic'ed acoustic-only track. Your wish is my command and will happen next weekend.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Here are two tracks I simultaneously recorded to demonstrate the tone of the Ultra Tonic 3.2 Pickup System/Larrivee D-03 Sunburst recorded direct-to-computer compared to the same combination fed to an LR Baggs Synapse Personal PA Loudspeaker and mic'ed with a Shure SM81 Small Condenser Microphone placed at 6-feet from the loudspeaker. The Ultra Tonic's DIP-switch array is set at 3. ALL EQ IS FLAT ON THE FELiX 2 PREAMP AND LR BAGGS SYNAPSE PERSONAL PA AND NO EFFECTS ARE USED. Both sound sources are fed into a PreSonus Studio 192 Interface and recorded with the latest version of Audacity. My goal was to record the song file from a PA speaker at the minimum distance an audience member would hear it so as to let the output from the treble and bass horns merge into a whole tonal representation of the guitar's/speaker's sound. Would a longer distance than 6-feet result in a better recording? Maybe, but I haven't experimented with mic placement and used the 6-foot distance as a starting point.

The song file is my guitar backing to my vocals for George Strait's "If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger (There's One Coming Home)."

Your comments on this simultaneously recorded direct-to-computer/mic'ed via a PA comparison are welcomed! Does the Ultra Tonic 3.2 come across as sounding good when broadcasted through a PA speaker as a worthy consideration for your next pickup choice?

PICKUP ONLY:


PICKUP MIC'ED WITH SHURE SM81 AT 6-FEET FROM LR BAGGS SYNAPSE PERSONAL PA:

What I need to do with further mic recordings of pickup systems through a PA speaker is to make sure that there's no mic-gain distortion in the recording process, and to add my VoxGuard reflection filter device to the mic stand at the rear of the mic to filter out room sound reflections. More to come ...