#61
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The Felix should be with me tomorrow morning so I'll have a couple of hours to compare it to my other setups before deciding to take it to my gig or not...
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For my music: www.benmorganbrown.co.uk www.facebook.com/benmorganbrown www.benmorganbrown.bandcamp.com |
#62
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Here's the thing with gear. We all obsess about it, at least here on AGF. Will X be 1% better than Y, or Z or A or B, endlessly. But for every piece of gear out there, every guitar, every amp, PA, pickup, pedal, someone's probably out there right now happily gigging with it and thinking it's the best ever. Let me be on a soapbox for another second. I've reported this story before on AGF. I went to a workshop with Ed Gerhard a few years ago, and he said he wanted to demo how he dealt with a venue that had bad sound. He wove some masking tape thru his strings, loosely, so that it rattled with every note and he had no sustain. He turned the treble on the sound system all the way up, and the bass all the way down, and increased the gain so he was getting some distortion. He said he was simulating a sound system that someone had stabbed with a fork :-) It was a truly awful sound. Then he played a pretty slack key tune. It was beautiful. He played to the sound he had, and made it work, just with his fingers and ears. I think about that a lot. I'm always chasing gear, too. I probably shouldn't be. On the other had, the chase is half the fun, so... :-)
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#63
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Yes, this!!! We hosted a concert for Andy Gullahorn last year and he brought out his trusty Larrivee with Baggs dual source pickup, except his mic died years ago and now he just played with the old tech Baggs UST. He plugged into a Baggs DI and I thought, 'oh man, this is going to be rough.' Incredible tone, no quack, gorgeous playing. How did he do it? I'm not sure, but he is a maestro fingerstyle player who tours full time with some pretty low tech gear. Plus, I'm chagrined to notice that Andy sounds like Andy no matter what he plays. Knopfler sounds like Knopfler etc. The real maestros really do exhibit 'the tone is in the fingers.' I hope you can enjoy the journey and relax about getting it just right. Acoustic pickups are by definition a compromise. None of them are the ultimate solution and we're all just getting as close as we can within our respective budgets.
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Steve Mcilroy A25c (Cedar, English Walnut) with Schatten HFN (custom MiSi Crystal Jack Preamp, putty install.) Maton 75th Anniversary OM 50th Anniversary Fender Am Std Strat. Gretsch 6120 Nashville Players in Blue. Line 6 Helix. If I played as much as I read threads, I'd be a pro.... |
#64
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That's a really good story though and a reminder that tone is the servant of music and not the other way round! I'm really hoping the Felix works as then I can say to myself 'great, that works, that sounds good, that does what I need' then it's on with the music with the confidence of knowing I can turn up to gigs and deal with what the sound system and venue throws at me. If it doesn't then I think I'll take a couple of steps back and rethink - I know my Martin/Anthem & the Orchid works well, I know that the K&K/ParaEQ/Orchid has the potential to work well but I haven't cracked it yet - sticking with those bits of kit isn't going to suddenly mean that I can't perform, it just might mean that there are some extra complications when setting up and I might end up tweaking a bit now and then... I know this thread is getting on now and it's a bit repetitive, but it's almost like having your own Acoustic Amplification Counselling group!
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#65
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I'd just keep in mind about Felix that it's not some magic box that transforms your tone into something completely new - it's a studio-grade preamp that stays out of the way, sonically, and transmits what's there. It's also a bit complicated, so it make take some getting used to. I'm still messing up with it and discovering I pushed a button somewhere that changes it.
As far as whether it "works", there isn't much of anything out there of any higher quality, sonically and feature-wise, in a single box - the only real competition for sonics and features would be the Pendulum SPS-1 rack unit. Laurence Juber uses it, Ed Gerhard uses it - possibly the the only 2 guitarists around who are pickier than you about their tone :-) Just kidding, but they are both really tone fanatics. Whether it gives you what you want is another thing. ToneDexter, for example, takes a whole different philosophy - it's anything but transparent, it totally changes the output into something completely different from what goes in. Two different approaches to tone. And if your real problem is that you don't like the sound of K&Ks, I'm not sure Felix will solve the issue. But maybe, let us know!
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#66
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Also the dual outputs means I can send separate lines to the PA and have them treated differently (ie get the sound person to tackle a bit of low mids at the desk, if they pay attention!) - I know this is an option I dismissed earlier but, having sat down and given it some thought, at 99% of my gigs it'd be no bother sending two lines to the desk, and, at those where it is, you've always got the amp out to the house DI option, or the mix option. I am quite picky I'll admit but, in my defence, I don't think I'm coming from a 'tone snob' point of view - I know from past experience that the best thing for my performance is to be relaxed and confident, and having a good guitar sound is a big part of that for me - I'm performing very personal songs with no one there to back me up but the guitar, that single guitar is my band mate and knowing I can plug in and go 'yep, sounds good' is like knowing you have a drummer who turns up on time, sets up their own gear, doesn't get drunk, packs down and drives you home!!!
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#67
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#68
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Well I will have to eat my earlier words as I ended up buying a Grace Felix! I had the chance to compare it to a few different preamp/setups in a rehearsal room where I cranked up the PA to louder than I would normally play and it beat the Orchid/ParaEQ combo as well as a Lr Baggs Venue both in terms of general 'tone' and also EQ capabilities. Also it was incredible how much quieter it was (even though I actually did return the first unit as I thought it was noisy at high gain, but it turns out I was in the wrong). I don't know why but it seemed I could get away with less drastic tone adjustments with the Grace vs the other setup - maybe it's something to do with the general 'hi-fi' ness or just better components throughout but even the 'flat' tone was better - both the Orchid and the Venue had a slightly 'grainy' sound to them. I started off with the HPF engaged and the using the bass control at 250hz, but I found that, although that dealt with a lot of the EQ issues I was having previously, it gave me a very hollow sound once I'd tamed the low end to my liking. Swapping to engaging the notch filter (which I have set about 100 - 200) and then using the bass control of 125hz allows me to tame that boomy/feedbacky area without losing all the low end fatness. I'm taming the mids a bit at between 600-800 with a wide Q, and then just boosting the highs a tad as well. This is with my OM2hT which has the 'wonky' K&K install - no balance issues as far as I can tell . I've actually had the K&K installed in my other Collings now as I always felt the Anthem was a bit 'light' sounding in that guitar and I'm happy to say that, combined with the Felix, I'm very happy with the K&K in that guitar. I've used this setup (2 Collings with K&K into the Felix) at a couple of gigs now, both going through my AER Compact 60 - fingers crossed I think it's going to work for me. I have a couple of gigs next weekend which should be a bit more testing as they are festival gigs with quick setups, but I think now I've got my 'base' settings dialled in on the Felix I'm hoping it shouldn't cause me any problems - the key I think to taming the K&K for me has been the notch filter as it seems to deal with a lot of the problem frequencies in the low end that were bothering me. Anyway I think this is going to be the solution for me with my K&K guitars - my Martin will be keeping the Anthem as that system seems to work really well in that guitar and I'll be using that guitar for gigs where it's a bit 'plug and play' with no soundcheck as I know I can trust it, but, for gigs where I've time to soundcheck, I'm pretty sure it'll be the K&K Collings and the Felix (plus I think my AER as a stage monitor at some point). Anyway, I know you recommended the Grace early on and I poo'poo'ed the idea but I eventually heeded your advice and I'm glad I did!
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For my music: www.benmorganbrown.co.uk www.facebook.com/benmorganbrown www.benmorganbrown.bandcamp.com |
#69
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I know I already weighed in on this topic once, but I have been extremely happy with my modded GE-7. It is very quiet and natural sounding.
Many point to the noise generated from the stock GE-7, but the real problem is how it colors the tone. Here is a link to the gentleman that I purchased my modded GE-7 from: https://www.modestmikesmods.com/
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Gibson J45tv / LG2 AE / Dove Ltd. Trans Ebony / AJ Martin D18 (custom shop) / HD35 / 00-16DBM Taylor DN3 / Baby Guild GAD25 Yamaha FG413S / FG200 / FG800 |
#70
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Well, it was great read. Lots of useful info. Thank you everyone!
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#71
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cable to either chan 1 or ch 2. of my felix. then i use both di outs to two seperate channels on the board this gives me another seperate band of eq and monitor send for my guitar and mandolin. You might also consider the line 6 helix. one cord into as many presets as you can creatively come up with But both the helix and the felix are not cheap. I can honestly say I am a bit of a grail seeker. I've tried so many gear gizmos . Tonedexter , baggs para di,pendulum preamps, boss ve8,etc etc.., I buy used so i can resell without loosing too much money ha. After i try these i sell them and go back to my felix. And wonder why i left in the first place. I have found out of all the passive pickups i've tried the kk mini is one of the most challenging to get to sound right. But when you get it right it sounds great. But you need the outboard gear. This means schlepping it to all places you play plugged in. Plugging the kk into a di into a board never seems to work for me ( like sitting in with other bands or open mics) This is the downside to it for me. But like i said when you get it right it sounds great. The felix is small enough to schlep around. Like Doug said above part of the fun is trying stuff. Last edited by varmonter; 08-16-2018 at 01:44 PM. |
#72
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I am glad it worked out for you Jack. Give us a report on the gigs. That’s where it counts most. In my experience with the notch filter on my Grace Alix, the cut is too wide and/or deep for my needs. In High Pass Filter mode it is great.
What I want to know from you is on what Impedance setting did you settle on for your K &Ks? There should have been 3 distinctly different sounds with the 3 position switch. I am just curious.
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Vancebo Husband of One, Father of Two Worship Leader, Music Teacher Oregon Duck Fan Guitars by: Collings, Bourgeois, Taylor Pickups by: Dazzo Preamps by: Sunnaudio Amps by: Bose (S1) Grateful |
#73
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My Anthem did sound better with the 20M rather than the 10M or 1M to my ears though... So far I've found that the Notch essentially deals with the majority of the 'lumpyness' that I've found the K&Ks to have and it gives me a cleaner sounding low end without having to sacrifice as much oomph as I was with the HPF...
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For my music: www.benmorganbrown.co.uk www.facebook.com/benmorganbrown www.benmorganbrown.bandcamp.com |
#74
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I gig with different enough instruments that the sound folks always grimace .... however, I've never had a problem asking for 2 DI's since it gives them the chance to set things up on their end, last gig I played I was using a Deering D-12 banjo with a Barcus Berry and a Breedlove 12 string with a K&K trinity system .... one of these days I'll save enough to get a Felix since that would make life (at least for me) sooooo much simpler ......
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