UST Tone, thinline vs full? Traveler guitar vs A6 ultra vs Breedlove stage concert

wesalauzen · #1 05-01-2018, 10:36 AM

Hey guys,
Just curious about peoples thoughts on this. I am a singer/chord strummer and play mostly country with a little bit of Tom Petty (ish) rock mixed in.

SO... I have usually played Takamine acoustics, plugged in tone was always pretty good. Bought a breedlove and love it, plugged in tone is great also. Then picked up a traveler guitar ultra light acoustic and was blown away by the tone... (IMHO, considering what it is)

It's basically a cribbage board with strings on it. has a shadow passive UST and that's it. sounds "ever so slightly" thin, but otherwise pretty darn good to my ear. Very similar to the full body acoustic electrics I have played, sounds "alive" if that means anything. Strummed, picked, sounds good.

The traveler guitar made me believe that you can get a good plugged in acoustic tone out of a thin, solid guitar so I started looking at thinlines. Decided to buy a Godin A6. I just can't get a comparible tone out of it. It sounds OK when I put acoustic strings on it, but sounds dull, or thin, no matter what I do. I have watched videos of LTD tl-6, epiphone SST... also, just not what I would say is a good tone.

My question, why does the shadow passive UST (basically just the most basic thing you can do to electrify this cribbage board guitar) sound so full, alive and good, when the purpose built thinline acoustics sound so off? I wouldn't say the a6 sounds bad, but it's just not nearly as vibrant in terms of tone.

I'm at the point where I just want to send the A6 down the road, and just play the breedlove. I love the sound of the breedlove and playbility, feel is great with the exception of the full body when playing for a long time. Was hoping to get the same sound (similar to the traveler) from a thinline for the sake of playing comfort, but just doesn't seem to be the case. Traveler guitar would be an option if it didn't look so goofy... It's meant to be a practice guitar.

Do UST all sound the same or are there differing technologies, different tones you get from each kind aside from pre-amps, eq, etc. I just mean straight output from the UST?

Would it make any sense to buy a replacement UST for the traveler ultra light I like and install it into the a6? The a6 has a preamp though... would that color the sound if I were to wire it through the original channels? Or just adjust the levels of the tone, output I like like the knobs on the PA?

wondering what your experiences / thoughts are?

Here's a link to a video that I think expresses the good tone of the traveler guitar, remember, just a block of pine, strings and a UST... You could swear it was a full bodied acoustic and this is how mine sounds also through a PA, no effects (maybe a touch of reverb).

Hope this guy doesn't mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUaFbug-Jnw

jonfields45 · #2 05-01-2018, 11:12 AM

I've owned more expensive Traveler models and the A6 Ultra. None of them are here now... My recollection was the A6 Ultra was the best plugged-in acoustic sounding non-traditional guitar I've owned and better than my now also gone Taylor T5. I would blend a bit of the humbucker with the UST and was quite happy with it at the time. So I'm kind of perplexed at your reaction to it, but maybe there is something wrong with that specific A6.

wesalauzen · #3 05-01-2018, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonfields45

I've owned more expensive Traveller models and the A6 Ultra. None of them are here now... My recollection was the A6 Ultra was the best plugged-in acoustic sounding non-traditional guitar I've owned and better than my now also gone Taylor T5. I would blend a bit of the humbucker with the UST and was quite happy with it at the time. So I'm kind of perplexed at your reaction to it, but maybe there is something wrong with that specific A6.

It sounds ok, just not good in my opinion. I do what you mention, mix in the humbucker for a bit of fullness. I may be splitting hairs on sound. I played my breedlove with the guys I play with and then brought out the a6 and my drummer, basically said... it sounded like sh#t. I have tried a couple different sets of strings, messed with EQ settings, but just can't seem to get there. Sounds nice when lightly strummed, but if I lean into it a bit on rhythm parts, it just falls flat in comparison to the breedlove or traveler.

It could be my playing. Maybe the breedlove and traveler are just more forgiving when digging in considering my technique (or lack thereof). I tend to have heavy hands when I try to play electric. I have to lighten up on my touch considerably to get good smooth sounds with the hotter magnetic pickups and lighter strings. I have that same feeling on the a6, that I need to lighten up, really be careful but am puzzled as to why as I have thicker acoustic strings and really don't blend in the humbucker much. I can really lay into the acoustic (and even the traveler) and it just sings. Just not having the same response out of the a6. Tone seems to fall flat when I do that.

wesalauzen · #4 05-04-2018, 07:57 AM

I've played both back to back a few times this week... Messed with EQ settings on the guitar and acoustic amp, but to no avail.

I love the looks and feel of the a6, but I just plain sound better with my Breedlove. I really want to like it, but I just don't. Pretty much all of the guitars I have owned, I have fallen in love with the sound/tone of them when strumming. Even my electric, there are certain settings that just sound "right" to me when I play through chords. Just can't get there with the A6 no matter what I do with the settings. For me, it's just missing something.

I think with more single note, lead stuff, there are a lot of tones that can work well. The A6 seems to sound just fine playing single note stuff, but when strumming chords, it's just lacking character in my opinion.