stagerug Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I only really play the acoustic, and have no real working knowledge of effects or electronics at all, so I have a couple of questions for the board... If you would be so kind. I was at a Tweedy solo show down in Champaign in January, and while he was setting up and strumming his guitar for sound check, the sound coming from it rang very sharp, like and acoustic guitar can when strummed with a flat pick. Then he stepped on a pedal (I believe) and the sound immediately warmed up to the tone we usually hear in his songs. It was such a noticeable difference in the sound... Does anybody know what kind of simple effect that is and a pedal that they would recommend? Also, I am going to be playing a song at a good friend of mine's wedding, so I think I may need to add a pickup to my guitar. The guitar that I would be using for the wedding is my Martin HD-28. Does anybody have a recommendation on a after-market pick-up that would be best for this type of a guitar? Thanks for your help! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I am interested to hear the replies to this, as well. I, too, only play acoustic guitar (never "connected" with the electric; if you know what I mean) and would love to add some color and range sometimes. For pickups, I put a B-Band type in one of my acoustic guitars ( http://www.guitarsaddles.com/bband.asp ). The kind that had a soundboard and under-saddle pup. Then you could blend the two inputs. Undersaddle tends to be "quaky" and soundboard tends to be "weak". So mixing the two balanced everything out. However, my experience is very limited. I am sure others will have better comments. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
In a little rowboat Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I only really play the acoustic, and have no real working knowledge of effects or electronics at all, so I have a couple of questions for the board... If you would be so kind. I was at a Tweedy solo show down in Champaign in January, and while he was setting up and strumming his guitar for sound check, the sound coming from it rang very sharp, like and acoustic guitar can when strummed with a flat pick. Then he stepped on a pedal (I believe) and the sound immediately warmed up to the tone we usually hear in his songs. It was such a noticeable difference in the sound... Does anybody know what kind of simple effect that is and a pedal that they would recommend? Also, I am going to be playing a song at a good friend of mine's wedding, so I think I may need to add a pickup to my guitar. The guitar that I would be using for the wedding is my Martin HD-28. Does anybody have a recommendation on a after-market pick-up that would be best for this type of a guitar? Thanks for your help! I can help a bit...i know Jeff uses both volume pedals and a EH Holy Grail reverb with an expression pedal...i think this combo is what you hear...he also has dual sources on his guitars, so he might have blended mag sound hole pickup with the UST to change the sound a bit I so far as pickups go...i have tried as many as i could find as i play almost exclusively acoustic...i use Fishman Matrix Infinity pickups in my acoustics...they are simply the best sounding and most reliable in the majority of live settings (ever one being different)...USTs can sound quacky, but are solid sounding--a good eq or soundguy can really fix that (i use an Aphex acoustic exciter to get rid of that quack) Many people swear by the LR Baggs M1a--tweedy uses them, but i have never found a magnetic soundhole pick up i liked the sound of, and the strings can sound shrill and unbalanced and the magnetic pickups can exclude the chunky, percussiveness of an acoustic K&K make what i think are the best and most natural sounding pickups ive ever used, and most guys on AGF and TGP use them...however they are extremely prone to feedback at upper volume levels...i think the K&K pure western is your best bet as long as you keep volume in check...also their customer service is top notch http://www.kksound.com/purewestern.html If you are playing a wedding and there is no backing band, ultimately i think you ll end up with the best sound on a nice d-28 if you use a microphone and not a pickup I am interested to hear the replies to this, as well. I, too, only play acoustic guitar (never "connected" with the electric; if you know what I mean) and would love to add some color and range sometimes. For pickups, I put a B-Band type in one of my acoustic guitars ( http://www.guitarsaddles.com/bband.asp ). The kind that had a soundboard and under-saddle pup. Then you could blend the two inputs. Undersaddle tends to be "quaky" and soundboard tends to be "weak". So mixing the two balanced everything out. However, my experience is very limited. I am sure others will have better comments. Blending sound sources generally allows for the best tweeking of youre live sound...i used to use a UST blended with an internal mic which sounded great...blending can get tricky however, especially when adding effects and outboard gear, and since every PA situation is different, you have to dial in every time you play...i gave up on this as too time consuming and distracting during performance By soundboard i assume you are talking about a piezo transducer that attaches under the guitar's top...i agree these can sound thin, but more often their problem is feedback... I have had guitars with b-band systems in them and they sounded fine, so id recommend them too, but i think compared to other USTs (fishman) they arent as strong and pronounced because b-band uses a film transducer and most others use a piezo-electric ceramic element which in my experience provides more punch and a woodier tone... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stagerug Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 I can help a bit...i know Jeff uses both volume pedals and a EH Holy Grail reverb with an expression pedal...i think this combo is what you hear...he also has dual sources on his guitars, so he might have blended mag sound hole pickup with the UST to change the sound a bit I so far as pickups go...i have tried as many as i could find as i play almost exclusively acoustic...i use Fishman Matrix Infinity pickups in my acoustics...they are simply the best sounding and most reliable in the majority of live settings (ever one being different)...USTs can sound quacky, but are solid sounding--a good eq or soundguy can really fix that (i use an Aphex acoustic exciter to get rid of that quack) Many people swear by the LR Baggs M1a--tweedy uses them, but i have never found a magnetic soundhole pick up i liked the sound of, and the strings can sound shrill and unbalanced and the magnetic pickups can exclude the chunky, percussiveness of an acoustic K&K make what i think are the best and most natural sounding pickups ive ever used, and most guys on AGF and TGP use them...however they are extremely prone to feedback at upper volume levels...i think the K&K pure western is your best bet as long as you keep volume in check...also their customer service is top notch http://www.kksound.com/purewestern.html If you are playing a wedding and there is no backing band, ultimately i think you ll end up with the best sound on a nice d-28 if you use a microphone and not a pickup Blending sound sources generally allows for the best tweeking of youre live sound...i used to use a UST blended with an internal mic which sounded great...blending can get tricky however, especially when adding effects and outboard gear, and since every PA situation is different, you have to dial in every time you play...i gave up on this as too time consuming and distracting during performance By soundboard i assume you are talking about a piezo transducer that attaches under the guitar's top...i agree these can sound thin, but more often their problem is feedback... I have had guitars with b-band systems in them and they sounded fine, so id recommend them too, but i think compared to other USTs (fishman) they arent as strong and pronounced because b-band uses a film transducer and most others use a piezo-electric ceramic element which in my experience provides more punch and a woodier tone... DOOOD!! Fantastic. Thanks for taking the time to help me out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tft3323 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I would recommend the LR Baggs M1 Active soundhole pickup. A very clean reproduction of the guitar's true acoustic tone, and I have had no complaints since installing mine. I have also heard good things about the B Band but have not played it firsthand. That HD 28 will probably sound great no matter what you choose! Good luck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oceanman Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I side with Rowboat once again. I think LR Baggs just sucks. I recently switched to Fishman and will never go back. Right now I'm using the Rare Earth and love it, best soundhole mic yet. For under the saddle I use the Highlander...not bad. Might try a mix of these soon. K&K might be the way to go. Heard nothing but great things about the company and alot of Pro's are blending a K&K with the Rare Earth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Golden Smoghead Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I have a Fishman Aura system on-board in my Martin but I am pretty sure they sell them as offboard modelers as well. I think rowboat has covered this somewhere else explaining crap to me, but the gist is that they are meant to emulate playing into a high-end microphone in a quiet studio. Obviously they end up far from that ideal, but they really do a MUCH better job in live situations than just a pickup, in my personal experience. I followed one of my songwriting mentors at an open mic on Wednesday and my set came off better, just because he was using a much-crappier pickup. To expand on that: before our sets, we were playing out back behind the venue. His guitar sounded better than mine, period. (I think largely b/c he had fresher strings however he also has nice tonewoods on that guitar.) We got onstage and it was 100% opposite. His crappy pickup flattened out his sound and the bass would randomly womp and swell. He actually asked me afterwards how I set up my guitar for live play, the difference was just that pronounced. So just saying: if you're looking to play live, through crappy PAs, with mostly just yourself or 1 or 2 other instruments, then I have found the Fishman Aura to be a very nice system for letting me control my sound without taking out a second mortgage on my house or learning a ton about audio engineering. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stagerug Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Thanks again! This is great information. I appreciate you taking the time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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