In Praise of Barbera P/U for Nylon-String

[Paultergeist]

I would like to post a semi-follow-up thread to close the loop, so to speak, on my experience regarding having a Barbera Transducer pick-up installed in my nylon string guitar......

I simply love this pick-up. It is the best I have ever played for a nylon-string instrument.

http://www.barberatransducers.com/

I originally heard of this pick-up on this very forum, although I no longer recall the specific thread. Based on the reviews, however, I decided to gamble on this pick-up. It was rather pricey, and the integrated pick-up/saddle design required that I had it installed by a professional (with more luthier skills than myself), but I am so glad that I took the chance.

The pick-up sounds very natural to my ears. Perhaps even more profound than how it sounds, is how it feels. So often in the past -- when playing nylon (finger-style) using amplification, I found myself playing such to compensate for the pick-up, such as trying to avoid excessive fingernail *click* or string imbalance common with USTs I had tired, or dull-ness/woofy-ness and feedback issues with some soundboard transducers. With this Barbera Transducer, I just play my guitar and the (amplified) signal sounds great. I also really appreciate the fact that there are no electronics inside the guitar (from the end-pin jack, via a 10' cable, and next to a pedal-board-mounted pre-amp works just fine).

I realize that everyone has their own unique tastes, but this is the one I was always hoping to find. I am just sharing my personal observations.

[guitaniac]

Thanks for the report, Paultergeist. I'm very curious about this pickup.

If you get a chance to experiment with an Aura Spectrum DI and the Barbera pickup, it might be worth the effort. John Buscarino appears to be using a Spectrum DI in this demo of one of his Barbera-equipped classicals. He's getting the best tone (for my taste) that I've ever heard in a Barbera pickup demo. The amplified sound part of the demo starts at around 5:17 in.
https://youtu.be/9Ph5BwDEky4

[rgregg48]

I have a Barbara pickup in my Pittman classical.
It Sounds better than any other pickup I have used.
only problem..if it is one, is the ebony part of the pickup sheds, and splinters when changing strings..
so far, does not effect the sound.

[Soloist1]

Hi, Rich Barbera here.*The saddle itself is made from a very strong and hard composite material that does not splinter.*What you've described is a flaw in that saddles surface coating.*We apply a conductive coating to the surface for shielding and hum free operation. A while back we encountered a can of that coating that had some inconsistent curing issues.**A small number saddles were affected and we then changed and*upgraded the coating. Sorry for any inconvenience, it's a simple fix. Send the saddle in to the shop and we'll repair it for you. http://www.barberatransducers.com/contact.html

[Bluewyatt]

I have a Barbera Soloist in my Buscarino Cabaret (nylon) and I absolutely love it! It is truly in a league of it's own. I am very tempted to have one installed in my steel string acoustic but I haven't read many reports or reviews of that combination.
Maybe Rich Barbera would be kind enough to chime in and share his experience with the soloist and steel strings.

[Soloist1]

Thanks for your comments. Ultimately, making these pickups is simply about enhancing the experience of performing music. Performing live is always a challenge, every situation is a totally different set of circumstances. It's been my experience that a focused, clear sound makes a huge difference when making music in live performance situations (and particularly when playing with other instruments). It can mean the difference between relaxing and enjoying the experience because your sound is working and feeding your creativity or struggling to hear yourself and just getting through the performance.
The Soloist pickups for steel string are the same technology and concepts as for the nylon string. The saddles are just formatted differently ie: radius, string spacing, compensation etc. They provide the same level of focused tonal clarity and balance of string outputs that you've experienced with the Soloist on your nylon string guitar. For me, the most compelling (and gratifying) feedback I've received to date about the steel string Soloists was from Clint Black who commented to me that the "Soloist pickups changed his life on stage".
I'd like to share a really fun video of the truly amazing guitarist Rory Hoffman playing his brand new Buscarino oval hole guitar for the first time at the recent CAAS show in Nashville. He's using just the Soloist pickup here. https://youtu.be/qcVcGr9nPKg

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Soloist1

Thanks for your comments. Ultimately, making these pickups is simply about enhancing the experience of performing music. Performing live is always a challenge, every situation is a totally different set of circumstances. It's been my experience that a focused, clear sound makes a huge difference when making music in live performance situations (and particularly when playing with other instruments). It can mean the difference between relaxing and enjoying the experience because your sound is working and feeding your creativity or struggling to hear yourself and just getting through the performance.
The Soloist pickups for steel string are the same technology and concepts as for the nylon string. The saddles are just formatted differently ie: radius, string spacing, compensation etc. They provide the same level of focused tonal clarity and balance of string outputs that you've experienced with the Soloist on your nylon string guitar. For me, the most compelling (and gratifying) feedback I've received to date about the steel string Soloists was from Clint Black who commented to me that the "Soloist pickups changed his life on stage".
I'd like to share a really fun video of the truly amazing guitarist Rory Hoffman playing his brand new Buscarino oval hole guitar for the first time at the recent CAAS show in Nashville. He's using just the Soloist pickup here. https://youtu.be/qcVcGr9nPKg

Thanks, Rich Barbera, for the link and for the insight on your philosophy of providing a pickup with "focused tonal clarity and balance". Those are certainly important qualities with high volume amplification in a "live" environment, especially when one is playing as rapidly as Rory Hoffman can.

I still suspect, however, that the Soloist's clear and focused sound will make a good "platform" for digital processors which are designed to emulate the miked guitar sound. I suspect this because of the John Buscarino demo (which I sited earlier in this thread) and because the LR Baggs Hex pickup in my own classical provides a good platform for digital processing. (The Hex sound isn't as quackless as the Soloist, but it does have some similar qualities.) If my suspicions are correct, its a good thing that the Soloist is compatible with digital processors. That will certainly appeal to some players in some circumstances. And of course, you can always turn the digital effect down (or off) if it invites feedback or muddies the sound too much for a particular performance environment.

[Soloist1]

Yes, a clearer signal will definitely interact better with effects. However, everything electronic in the signal path from guitar to amp alters and colors the sound and removes more of the pure, organic sound of the inst. The less stuff you have in the signal chain, the purer the sound will (should) be. In my opinion, if you do need to rely on electronic effects to patch up the amplified sound, then perhaps a pickup is not doing it's job as well as it should. Personally, for more organic/air sound nuances I would prefer a blend strategy over using digital effects ie: dialing in just alittle ambient mic sound with the pickup.
By the way, in that Buscarino video you referenced (https://youtu.be/9Ph5BwDEky4) while the Aura happens to be there in the field of view, John Busc. confirmed to me in a recent conversation that the Aura was in fact not plugged in. The sound is just the passive Soloist (in John's beautiful guitar) plugged straight into the Acoustic Image amp, and then through a Buscarino Chamelion speaker.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Soloist1

Yes, a clearer signal will definitely interact better with effects. However, everything electronic in the signal path from guitar to amp alters and colors the sound and removes more of the pure, organic sound of the inst. The less stuff you have in the signal chain, the purer the sound will (should) be. In my opinion, if you do need to rely on electronic effects to patch up the amplified sound, then perhaps a pickup is not doing it's job as well as it should. Personally, for more organic/air sound nuances I would prefer a blend strategy over using digital effects ie: dialing in just alittle ambient mic sound with the pickup.
By the way, in that Buscarino video you referenced (https://youtu.be/9Ph5BwDEky4) while the Aura happens to be there in the field of view, John Busc. confirmed to me in a recent conversation that the Aura was in fact not plugged in. The sound is just the passive Soloist (in John's beautiful guitar) plugged straight into the Acoustic Image amp, and then through a Buscarino Chamelion speaker.

Thanks for the correction regarding the Buscarino video. That sure is a wonderfully rich and resonant sounding guitar, and the Soloist does a great job of conveying those qualities.

FWIW, I tend to agree on preferring dual source rigs to digital processing. I used a DTAR Mama Bear and an Aura Spectrum DI for several years, but currently prefer the dual source rigs in two of my guitars.

[Turp]

My partner plays a Buscarino Starlight equipped with a Barbera. It is amazing and I think one of the best P/Us I've heard. In testing we found it provides great tone and note details with no more than a direct connection to the PA. However, to expand his performance sound some, he uses a Fishman tonedeq for compression, boost (leads), and reverb.

FWIW=You can hear his here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58pSLCcx7TA

Here is a demo with different venue settings-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDEBEsIQmFY

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Turp

My partner plays a Buscarino Starlight equipped with a Barbera. It is amazing and I think one of the best P/Us I've heard. In testing we found it provides great tone and note details with no more than a direct connection to the PA. However, to expand his performance sound some, he uses a Fishman tonedeq for compression, boost (leads), and reverb.

FWIW=You can hear his here
https://m.youtube.com/#/results?q=dos%20guitars&sm=1

Here is a demo with different venue settings-
https://m.youtube.com/#/results?q=dos%20guitars&sm=1

Those two links appear to be exactly the same, and they don't take me to the vids described, just a page of multiple videos which I've already viewed and others which are recommended.

[Turp]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Those two links appear to be exactly the same, and they don't take me to the vids described, just a page of multiple videos which I've already viewed and others which are recommended.

I apologize and updated the links. I also apologize if I've offered this before.

[guitaniac]

Thanks for the links, Darryl. Good stuff. I haven't seen either before, so no need to apologize with respect to that.

[Turp]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Thanks for the links, Darryl. Good stuff. I haven't seen either before, so no need to apologize with respect to that.

Thank you. That Buscarino and Barbera are great and joy to here live.

[Soloist1]

I think this video supports my earlier contention that the less active electronics in the chain the more organic the sound quality. A customer of mine recently sent me this video he made comparing his direct Soloist pickup sound (in a Martin guitar), along side a Neuman microphone. Mic left channel and passive Soloist pickup output direct into a Countryman DI right channel.
https://youtu.be/mMLwMXWrodk