nosajwp
Well-known member
Do you guys prefer the sound of a clean electric (with whatever effects) to a miked acoustic or to a guitar with a piezo bridge when you need a clean type sound?
Clean electric vs. miked acoustic vs. piezo?
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DaveyJack
Well-known member
Well, it depends on the style you wanna play. Definitely.
To me, nothing sound as good a pure accoustic guitar sound. And no Electric-Accoustic!!! NEVER EVER plug an accoustic guitar, even if it has the function to.
Here's why: when you listen to an accoustic guitar, you are listening to the sound that comes out of the hole. Same thing when mic'ed.
But when you use an accoustic guitar's preamp, it mics up the sound that is INSIDE that guitar. You're hearing the sound you would hear if you had your head INSIDE of the body of the guitar.... You don't wanna put your head in a guitar. Don't you?
Seriously, the best sound you can get from a guitar, is just in front of the bodyhole.
And to me, nothing sounds better than a 12-strings accoustic guitar. I have an Ovation and my band was sceptic ( a Trash/speed/prog band, with some accoustic part) to me to using a 12-strings. But now, they just can't wait for me to take my 12-strings out of his case.
It is harder to play at first, but it worth the pain!
To me, nothing sound as good a pure accoustic guitar sound. And no Electric-Accoustic!!! NEVER EVER plug an accoustic guitar, even if it has the function to.
Here's why: when you listen to an accoustic guitar, you are listening to the sound that comes out of the hole. Same thing when mic'ed.
But when you use an accoustic guitar's preamp, it mics up the sound that is INSIDE that guitar. You're hearing the sound you would hear if you had your head INSIDE of the body of the guitar.... You don't wanna put your head in a guitar. Don't you?
Seriously, the best sound you can get from a guitar, is just in front of the bodyhole.
And to me, nothing sounds better than a 12-strings accoustic guitar. I have an Ovation and my band was sceptic ( a Trash/speed/prog band, with some accoustic part) to me to using a 12-strings. But now, they just can't wait for me to take my 12-strings out of his case.
It is harder to play at first, but it worth the pain!
Loni Specter
Member
I agree a miced acoustic is the best pure sound. I love my '72 Guild D-50 and '60's Harmony Soeverign for the 'woody' organic stuff. That being said, I recently bought a used Taylor with a cutaway and piezo undersaddle pickup. I have always hated that piezo sound, quacky and brittle.
However I have decided that as another "color" in the spectrum, mixed with the band sounds, it is effective. I also am experimenting with tracking the piezo and the mic. sound on two seperate tracks with effects on the piezo.
But nothing beats a pure miced acoustic.
However I have decided that as another "color" in the spectrum, mixed with the band sounds, it is effective. I also am experimenting with tracking the piezo and the mic. sound on two seperate tracks with effects on the piezo.
But nothing beats a pure miced acoustic.
eltrain858
Well-known member
Loni Specter said:
+1
instant dave matthews sound...
DaveyJack
Well-known member
To me, piexo are great for chorus crystal bright sound, out of that.
You can't get a decent distortion with these. But this is all to my taste!
You can't get a decent distortion with these. But this is all to my taste!
A
Anonymous
Guest
i do play two accoustics, a gibson starburst in red (yep) and one i couldn't resist a johnson carolina jd17 (also fishman pick up)
the gibson pretty much sounds in the hole (i use the akg egg with phantom power here) and a mike (akg condensor) in front.
the johnson sounds like a real dreadnaught and comes more from behind the bridge where the underarm is) here i mix down the egg and the fishman, perfect signal!
both accoustics are sounding great, starburst is pure everly brothers and the johnson i swear it was played at wish you were here from pf ...
... and i say never never ...
the gibson pretty much sounds in the hole (i use the akg egg with phantom power here) and a mike (akg condensor) in front.
the johnson sounds like a real dreadnaught and comes more from behind the bridge where the underarm is) here i mix down the egg and the fishman, perfect signal!
both accoustics are sounding great, starburst is pure everly brothers and the johnson i swear it was played at wish you were here from pf ...
... and i say never never ...
ToneAddictJon
Well-known member
In the studio I'll take my acoustic over clean electrics any day, but that's also being multi-tracked, has a mic and direct out being recorded (I love the Taylor expression system), and being eq'd and mixed properly. Live clean electrics are so much easier than dragging around an extra guitar, plus it's a more consistant tone through a set, especially if there's any problems with the house sound system and most FOH don't know how to properly eq an acoustic, not because they can't they just don't have as much experience with it (talking about bars and clubs), at bigger venues where they have "the" sound person it's not a problem though.
123thefirst
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Piezo's can be useful in a live situation where you just can't get the volume out of a miked guitar without feedback. But there you can blend the miked sound with the transducer sound so that it doesn't sound as poor.
For recording, often a combination of clean electric playing an alternate line with an acoustic sounds fantastic. Led Zeppelin and Heart did that a lot.
For recording, often a combination of clean electric playing an alternate line with an acoustic sounds fantastic. Led Zeppelin and Heart did that a lot.
scottkahn
Well-known member
The right tool for the job, as they say.
I LOVE the piezo in my Music Man JP6. It runs into an LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI and into a PA system and people swear they hear a full-bodied acoustic. It works great. It sounds authentic.
In the studio, I like to record with an acoustic guitar -- the frequency spectrum is broader than what a piezo provides, and of course the different tone woods result in a different sound. If it is an electro-acoustic guitar, I'll take a line from the onboard pickup to one track and then mic the guitar from the front with a good condenser mic and send that to a second track.
The key to getting the sound right is applying slight delay to the direct signal -- rule of thumb is 1ms for every foot away the external mic is from the sound hole or else the slight time delay between the two signals can cause phase cancellation and compromise the tone.
It's just never practical to stick a mic in front of your acoustic guitar for a live performance -- at least not for rock and pop, anyway.
Scott
I LOVE the piezo in my Music Man JP6. It runs into an LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI and into a PA system and people swear they hear a full-bodied acoustic. It works great. It sounds authentic.
In the studio, I like to record with an acoustic guitar -- the frequency spectrum is broader than what a piezo provides, and of course the different tone woods result in a different sound. If it is an electro-acoustic guitar, I'll take a line from the onboard pickup to one track and then mic the guitar from the front with a good condenser mic and send that to a second track.
The key to getting the sound right is applying slight delay to the direct signal -- rule of thumb is 1ms for every foot away the external mic is from the sound hole or else the slight time delay between the two signals can cause phase cancellation and compromise the tone.
It's just never practical to stick a mic in front of your acoustic guitar for a live performance -- at least not for rock and pop, anyway.
Scott
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