FRUSTRATED....with all this electric crap!!

[guitaniac]

Hi vtg,

If a Godin Multiac is your idea of "going acoustic", I think you'll find that the soon-to-be-released Godin Grand Concert Ambiance Multiac sounds even more "acoustic". This demo video is fascinating for multiple reasons.
http://tr.youtube.com/watch?v=zCd8xR...e=channel_page

Alvarez also has several soon-to-be-released thin-bodied stage guitars which employ the new Fishman Aura IC system (as does this Multiac) for a more acoustic-like amplified sound.

Gary

[Kabalan]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Hi vtg,

If a Godin Multiac is your idea of "going acoustic", I think you'll find that the soon-to-be-released Godin Grand Concert Ambiance Multiac sounds even more "acoustic". This demo video is fascinating for multiple reasons.
http://tr.youtube.com/watch?v=zCd8xR...e=channel_page

Alvarez also has several soon-to-be-released thin-bodied stage guitars which employ the new Fishman Aura IC system (as does this Multiac) for a more acoustic-like amplified sound.

Gary

more impression for the guitar player!!
anything would sound good with him.

[rainsong]

Originally Posted by playhardandloud

when the eagles and springsteen and those guys are playing taks they are not playing the same electronics we are. they are definitely not playing them straight to the mixing board either. i have bought about 10 guitars from ben harpers mother. the cole clarks that he and jack johnson use are run out of the guitar into a radial direct box and into the pa in front of 20k people. as easy as it gets and unbelievable sound. in a blind test between it and a takamine direct the cole clark wins to everyones ears. its not close. the cole clark fl1ac that jack johnson often uses has the same electronics as the more exensive ones he sometimes uses. i saw a used one on ebay for 800. you cannot find a better sound. i sold one of mine to a guy with pendulum preamps and some very high end guitars. he liked gigging with the cole clark better. i also just traded one to a forum member for a taylor 814 cocobolo with the fishman system. the sound is far far better plugged in from the cole clark. he has a review on the forum. check it out. also check out lloyd spiegel on you tube playing the various cole clark models. good luck in the quest for ultimate sound. its just a fun hobby.. frustrating too.

Having never heard a Cole Clark I cannot disagree...

[66strummer]

Originally Posted by rainsong

Having never heard a Cole Clark I cannot disagree...

I haven't either but these guys sure are fun to listen to on theirs......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHWLA...om=PL&index=50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ahZCyNfP5o

[$ongWriter]

Originally Posted by 66strummer

I haven't either but these guys sure are fun to listen to on theirs......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHWLA...om=PL&index=50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ahZCyNfP5o

Oh my Lord!!!....that first link where Lloyd Spiegel is in the music store is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!!!!!

[66strummer]

Originally Posted by $ongWriter

Oh my Lord!!!....that first link where Lloyd Spiegel is in the music store is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!!!!!

Good! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hate to feel like we're getting too far off from your original topic....... I thought those were pretty cool. That guy can play some bluesy acoustic. Tasty stuff!

[franchelB]

Originally Posted by $ongWriter

As you can tell by my sig that I have alot of guitars to choose from. I love most of them but lately I'm frustrated when playing out. I played at the Bluebird cafe last night. I used my Martin and Taylor GC each with a LR baggs element pickup. I run them to a tuner (so i can mute them when I tune) and then thru a Fishman Aura pedal...(one of the 1st one's)..I love the sound I get but I'm sick of fooling with the sounds, the tuner (because the fishman doesn't mute when you use it's tuner) and getting the eq set correctly. There was a songwriter in my round that had a Takamine "Steve Wariner" edition. I liked the way my $4000 Martin sounded but it wasn't that much better than the Takamine..and after the show she stood up, put her guitar in the case and she could leave...I had to pack up chords, boxes, etc. etc....I'm think I'm ready to take all the pickups out of my guitars, buy a Takamine and forget it.....does anyone else feel this way.....

Congrats on playing at the Bluebird Cafe. I hear it's a big deal for up and coming "stars".
But I know what you mean...I personally use my Taylor 410E with the upgraded Fishman Matrix Blend pickup and a Seiko STK-1 "clip-on" tuner. I dial in my sound from the P.A. Anymore "stuff" could complicate my sound, and probably...confuse me, eventually distracting me from what I came in to do in the first place...play music in front of an audience!
I think we musicians are way too "fickle". I really believe that the audience could care less on what gear we use...they just want be entertained!

[66strummer]

Originally Posted by franchelB

Congrats on playing at the Bluebird Cafe. I hear it's a big deal for up and coming "stars".
But I know what you mean...I personally use my Taylor 410E with the upgraded Fishman Matrix Blend pickup and a Seiko STK-1 "clip-on" tuner. I dial in my sound from the P.A. Anymore "stuff" could complicate my sound, and probably...confuse me, eventually distracting me from what I came in to do in the first place...play music in front of an audience!
I think we musicians are way too "fickle". I really believe that the audience could care less on what gear we use...they just want be entertained!

I think live sound for a lot of us is kinda like our guitars are. We're always looking for that ultimate sounding guitar that's in our own personal price range, which carries over into the plugged in aspect. The knowledge we gain along the way is pretty invaluable IMO though. If it's possible to keep it all simple enough to enjoy, even better....

[guitaniac]

Somebody out there must care about the quality of the amplified tone, irregardless of how skilled the performance is. I can't count the number of times that I've read comments like "I love Chet's playing, but can't stand his quacky piezo tone". The same has often been said about Dave Matthews (especially when he was using a Chet SST model Gibson, interestingly enough).

On the subject of Steve Wariner (whose signature model Tak is being referred to here), I can recall thinking that the Kirk Sands nylon-stringer he was playing on a Christmas special would sound so much better with some digital "wood and air" from a Mama Bear. As pretty as that song was, and as skilled as the performance of the guitar accompaniment was, I have to believe it would have been even more effective with a digital pedal enhancing the Kirk Sands's amplified tone, or (for the sake of simplicity) with a guitar like the Godin Grand Concert Ambiance which has the Aura IC built in.

Simply being loud enough to be heard is the first priority, of course. That's where Takamine's palathetic pickup system really shines. Its designed to minimize feedback problems by mechanically isolating (to as great an extent as possible) the six ceramic piezo sensors from top vibrations. Its interesting to me that the Cole Clark guitars being referred to in this thread also employ the same type bridge piezo system, in conjunction with their unique face brace SBT as the second source. Maton Guitars (another well known Australian guitar maker) also uses the palathetic type system, in conjunction with an internal mic for the Maton dual systems. The connection is that Brad Clark (Cole Clark director) worked for Maton for eleven years and apparently brought the bridge piezo design with him. Its quite interesting to me that the palathetic pickup design has been around for thirty years and is still "kicking butt" after all this time.
http://www.takamineguitars.jp/techno...alathetic.html

Gary

[zombywoof]

I carried less suff when I played electric - just a guitar, amp and bag stuffed with cables, strings, an extra strap, and duck tape.

I can offer no isight on the current state of acoustic electronics cuz after more than 45 years of playing I still know diddly about all this stuff.

Just my 2 cents, but this obsession with electronics to get this or that sound out of a guitar has gotten out of control. It seems to have gone hand in hand with folks wanting acoustics with an action that rivals an electric.

When I started gigging in the 1960s you were lucky if ya had a couple of mics plugged straight into Fender amps scattered around the stage for the instruments. We used to set the guitars up to get the most power we could out of them by using heavy guage strings and a higher action so we could drive the tops. Gotta admit though, your hands felt like hamburger at the end of a long night.

I still prefer to play a banjo killer with nuttin' added on. When I do need to plug in I use old DeArmond 210 pickups run straight into a mid-1950s Fender Twin-Amp. It is not the most acoustic sounding rig and not everybody's cup of tea. But it is simple. Then again, I still use a E tuning fork. And it does not seem to matter one bit to the audience who does not know or care what I have in my signal chain. And it is nice to make it from the car to the stage in one trip.

[Kabalan]

after reading the thread, i think, in my case, with a new gear, takes me
long time to get use. for 10 years, i performed with 2 mics: beyer m-160 ribbon, akg-411c contact mic, and lexicon reverb and delays. i worked in my
sound for years. recorded 2 live cds( i like the sound of my guitar)
lately i move to a new tc- electronic gear( very cool) and easy to carry, k&K
pick up, but steal trying to found the balance.
last night i connected my old stuff; yes a little noisy, do not sounds like PINK
FLOYD, but it´s well balance and natural, for the future i will combine my old
gear with the new one.
i realize this forum it´s great, we learn and get fun but create a lot of GAS
(for guitars and gear) when i got here, i remember the electronics experts asking me how come i can use old gear and i remember too, Pat Metheney
talking about new gear, he use lexicon prime time delays 30 years old!!
Ralph Towner steal use his old beyer m- 160, for sure they can change gear
every day, but they feel comfortable knowing what they have, i think this is
a lesson!!
Eblen Macari

[Earthworm]

If I could ween myself off the "toys" (e.g. harmony g, jam man, digital delay, vocal processor), I think I'd probably be happier.

It is not outside of the realm of possibility that my future will just be a Bose compact L1 or Fishman solo amp and a tuner. I'll probably still need the looping pedal, that joy will never end.

[guitaniac]

LOL, Tim. They'll have to rip the Harmony-G out of the clutches of my dead corpse. No way I'm giving up those purty little harmonies. On the other hand, I always leave the so-called "sound-engineer-in-a-box" feature (mislabed "tone") off. It does more harm than good, IMO.

Gary

[Earthworm]

Gary,
I don't touch that thing either. Just third above harmonies. It sounds like bliss. I used it tonight to great effect, I believe.

[$ongWriter]

Originally Posted by playhardandloud

buy a cole clark and be done with it. they blow the takamines away and its not close. they are also better than anything ive ever heard plugged in at any cost. jack johnson uses the stock cole clark in front of 20k. no preamps no nothing(radial direct box) i have gotten many of his and ben harpers guitars. they are under 2k and i will be putting one up in the classifieds tomorrow. i traded my last one to a forum member for a taylor 814 with the fishman system. no comparison. i traded him with a 100 percent refund if he didnt think it was the best guitar he had ever heard plugged in. you can see his review he posted today on the forum. they are incredible. you can also you tube davis wheeler. there is a guy named lloyd spiegel playing all of the different models. amazing.

Well, I played one today and you are right. Most amazing plugged in sound I've ever heard...and all for $999. I will have one as soon as I sell a few Taylors...or actually just one Taylor..