So I'm curious. As some of you may know I am in the market for a new geetar equipped with electronics, and I am weighing the options of either buying one with electronics, or adding them aftermarket. Obviously, a miked acoustic is ideal, but I've identified three main methods of amplification
1. Piezo
2. soundhole pickup
3. transducer
I've owned and played a Piezo guitar and found it, and most other piezo guitars I've test-driven, to be nothing spectacular. I've gigged with a Piezo guitar, and while it sounded ok, i wasn't pleased. I've also gigged with a Dean Markley Pro-Mag, and i LOVED the tone of that, even though it looks dumb and was a pain to deal with. And the cord sounded extremely sketchy and scratchy. But I've never played one with a transducer. I've done my research, and from what I've read, the transducer route seems the way to go. I'm interested in the K&K Sound transducers, as they seem to do what I want them to do.
Is there anyone out there who can weigh in and contribute some observations? Anyone who owns guitars with transducer systems?
Guy I play with has a transducer system on his bridge and also uses an instrument mic on-stage for basically two sound channels. His setup sounds just freakin' amazing.
I've never seen him have any problems with it. But I did note that having it installed by a quality luthier took some time and definitely wasn't a quick job.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I've got a B-band soundboard transducer with a fixed curve EQ pre-amp in my Tacoma. It does a wonderful job of duplicating my guitars sound. It picks up the soundboard vibrations and the reflextive sound in the body. It's the best in my book.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
what does fixed curve EQ mean?
I'm no expert on these things, but basicly the preamp has a fixed EQ setting with no adjustments. So there is no big whole cut in the guitar to facilitate the EQ. I didn't want onboard adjustments or a big black box stuck in the side of my guitar.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
i like that idea alot. does it make things easier to for you to dial in a tone you like? I imagine if there's a fixed EQ coming from the guitar, it cuts down on dial-turning when I play with the EQ in my amplifier.
i like that idea alot. does it make things easier to for you to dial in a tone you like? I imagine if there's a fixed EQ coming from the guitar, it cuts down on dial-turning when I play with the EQ in my amplifier.
The only thing I can say about the B-band is that it doesn't change the sound of my guitar at all. Yes it make things simpler for me, I'm a set the amp and forget it kind of guy. The B-band gives me just what I want, it makes my guitar louder without changing the tonal qualities of the instrument.
This is the pickup I've got.
http://www.b-band.com/guitar-systems/a1n-1470.php
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
ooooh thank you sir, i may have found a winner
