More Than A Feeling (new guitar!)

[StephenM]

I got a new Ibanez A/E guitar.  I was looking for something that sounded better plugged in.  My Hummingbird I love but it doesn't have a pickup and for most situations I play live I need to plug in.  I prefer to mic acoustics but that is not always practical.  This guitar is designed more for electric players.  I never tried it when I bought it...but I had decided on Ibanez because I like the way they sound plugged in.  This is a thin body guitar and it sounds very good unplugged but I wanted to do something similar to what I have been playing live.  This LITS, as in one guitar plugged in and one voice and mic played and sung at same time.  I have been working on making this song useable live, as in doing a decent job on it.  It is my favorite song all time.... I love Boston but am not Boston (LOL)...
recorded on the Zoom L-20 plugged in direct.  Mic was the MXL condenser.  I mixed on bandlab so there are some effects added that I generally don't get to use live. 

The guitar was list at about $430 but they had one with a small dent on the back (not bad at all) and so I got this for right at $300...

[Jean Pierre]

Oh!..but there is a beginning of auto gift epidemic right now..after Doug (desofree), it is you

I like the sound of guitar plugged in direct DI, although I don't do it often, probably because the microphone of my Takamine acoustic guitar doesn't pick up the ground string very well

The sound of your Ibanez plugged in is very nice, maybe the voice/guitar mix is too important for the guitar which covers too much the voice, but probably you made expret so that we hear the guitar well

I have an old acoustic guitar from 1969 and I think it's my favorite acoustic guitar!

[Ted]

The guitar sounds great. It still has a bit of the piezo sound to it – which is a character of its own (not a bad thing). I've seen a few pedals out there that are made to de-piezo an acoustic guitar. I'm not about to buy one, but I found it fascinating the different techniques that the pedals use.

The Micro BR has two patches for piezo (ForPiezo and Piezo Ld) that do a pretty good job – and that technology is at least 16 years old. These newer pedals are even better. Check out this video comparing five different pedals.

I'm enjoying your journey to get a good live sound from an acoustic. I'm on the same journey – but avoiding buying anything new. I'm using my 28-year-old Yamaha thin-body acoustic (APX-4A) which is a solidly okay guitar. I used to just plug it into the PA when I did open-mics. But now I'm going to play it with a band. Since I can't/won't use the Micro BR in a live situation, I'm running it through my Aphex Bass Xciter pedal (20 years old), and I add a little reverb (Mooer Echoverb - new!) and compression (MXR dyna comp clone) – which sounds great in headphones. Now I need to dial-in the bass amp that I will use for live situations.

We should continue to compare notes.

[Zoltan]

You got that guitar! Great This is just what i needed to go along with my morning coffee. I like what you've done with the arrangement. The vocals sound comfortable and you've managed to put a tender touch to it.

If i was going for live man & acoustic guitar type of scenario and if micing up is out of the question (It's easier to avoid that hassle). I would look into a somekind of pedal that makes it possible to combine IR ( = Impulse response) and the DI sound. So you'd have a blend of both.

I'm not trying to conjure up with a sudden case of GAS, or put you out of your budget. These things can be done with computer too and without spending anything. Perhaps you'd want to try how it sounds and feels before committing.

And instead of saying "buy the best you can" i'd say buy the cheapest you like. The tech in these things goes old blindingly fast and the cheap options that are available today would have been seen as heresy a few years ago

For fun you might want to check this site:
http://acousticir.free.fr/

Some of those pedals that can load up IR's are around 100 bucks. And used they go for half of that price. Possibly worth the investment IF you like the blend of IR + DI.

So the sound you'd be able to use would be "miced up sound" (IR) + DI blended to taste. In my ears with works the best. BUT i do also like the DI sound so if someone is after THAT then no IR is needed of course.

Sorry to hijack the thread with this sideline discussion!

Edit: Also i'm not an acoustic guitar player so i know f* *all! about those things

[Zoltan]

The guitar was list at about $430 but they had one with a small dent on the back (not bad at all) and so I got this for right at $300...

Oh! This is how you do it. Like i've said. I like Stephen (and all you other furry and not so furry creatures).

Full price = fool price. That's how it's pronounced

[Pete C]

Nice acoustic cover Steve which I'm sure will go down well at your open mic performances. The guitar looks really good..I love the flame top and the shape of the cutaway is cool, and more importantly it sounds good. I have a Tanglewood electro-acoustic, one of the bowl-back types, but haven't played it for years. Mrs C doesn't appreciate my guitar-playing so at home it has to be on an unplugged electric or with headphones.

Pete

[Zoltan]

Mrs C doesn't appreciate my guitar-playing so at home it has to be on an unplugged electric or with headphones.

She's missing out! I'm sure in the darkness when no one is seeing she is listening to your recordings

*

Forgot to comment. The acoustic sounds fab! I was so taken with the performance that i didn't listen to the nuts and bolts of things.

[StephenM]

The guitar sounds great. It still has a bit of the piezo sound to it – which is a character of its own (not a bad thing). I've seen a few pedals out there that are made to de-piezo an acoustic guitar. I'm not about to buy one, but I found it fascinating the different techniques that the pedals use.

The Micro BR has two patches for piezo (ForPiezo and Piezo Ld) that do a pretty good job – and that technology is at least 16 years old. These newer pedals are even better. Check out this video comparing five different pedals.

I'm enjoying your journey to get a good live sound from an acoustic. I'm on the same journey – but avoiding buying anything new. I'm using my 28-year-old Yamaha thin-body acoustic (APX-4A) which is a solidly okay guitar. I used to just plug it into the PA when I did open-mics. But now I'm going to play it with a band. Since I can't/won't use the Micro BR in a live situation, I'm running it through my Aphex Bass Xciter pedal (20 years old), and I add a little reverb (Mooer Echoverb - new!) and compression (MXR dyna comp clone) – which sounds great in headphones. Now I need to dial-in the bass amp that I will use for live situations.

We should continue to compare notes.

thanks Ted for all the great info... I never thought of the Piezo sound but it has to be a factor for sure.  Certainly much different technology than using coils in a pickup.  So it would make sense it could be changed with electronics.. I do love electronics, to one or extent or another I made my living off them and "harnassing" the technology.  But not in the music realm.  It was all industrial.  I gotta see if the 1600 BR has  anything like you mentioned...

[StephenM]

You got that guitar! Great This is just what i needed to go along with my morning coffee. I like what you've done with the arrangement. The vocals sound comfortable and you've managed to put a tender touch to it.

If i was going for live man & acoustic guitar type of scenario and if micing up is out of the question (It's easier to avoid that hassle). I would look into a somekind of pedal that makes it possible to combine IR ( = Impulse response) and the DI sound. So you'd have a blend of both.

I'm not trying to conjure up with a sudden case of GAS, or put you out of your budget. These things can be done with computer too and without spending anything. Perhaps you'd want to try how it sounds and feels before committing.

And instead of saying "buy the best you can" i'd say buy the cheapest you like. The tech in these things goes old blindingly fast and the cheap options that are available today would have been seen as heresy a few years ago

For fun you might want to check this site:
http://acousticir.free.fr/

Some of those pedals that can load up IR's are around 100 bucks. And used they go for half of that price. Possibly worth the investment IF you like the blend of IR + DI.

So the sound you'd be able to use would be "miced up sound" (IR) + DI blended to taste. In my ears with works the best. BUT i do also like the DI sound so if someone is after THAT then no IR is needed of course.

Sorry to hijack the thread with this sideline discussion!

Edit: Also i'm not an acoustic guitar player so i know f* *all! about those things

first off I never even heard of Impulse Response so hijack away my friend!  I know my little Zoom R24 has some settings in it for acoustic but i never tried them yet... so that box that keeps on giving is easy to set up and use and I have used it live before but only with the electric... now you got the wheels of my head spinning...along with Ted!

also I would add that the two times I have played this live (a little different variance of it) has gone over very well..

[Ted]

I never thought of the Piezo sound but it has to be a factor for sure.  Certainly much different technology than using coils in a pickup.  So it would make sense it could be changed with electronics.

Happy to know I didn't just tell you a bunch of shit you already knew!

Maybe I'll post something with my acoustic sound. I'm about to start screwing around on my next 3/4 song on my acoustic.