Worship gear, acoustics unite!

gchastine · January 27th, 2008, 08:07 PM

Hello fellow tdpri'ers. Got a question. We finally moved into our new church. Nice pa with Peavy board and Community monitors. I have been playing my Martin DMCE and D-35 through a "direct box" called Aphex Aural Exciter. Really nice. I'm also using a Genz-Benz Shennandoah 60 too.

I'm really a tone freak and am looking for that "warm,tube" type sound that envelopes the sanctuary and sounds "stereo" too. Any suggestions? I like my sound now but am always looking for that something "extra" that makes the guitar sound more wonderful than it already is. Kinda like the "wow" factor. Any suggestions on additional equipment or alternative ways to amplify the acoustic? I'd be very much appreciated. P.S. We have no praise band so the instruments are Grand Piano, bass and me on acoustic. Sincerely, Greg

justapasinthru · January 28th, 2008, 07:43 PM

Thru A DMM? Deluxe Memory Man?....mine is an older one that is not Stereo..but is a nice effect with settings for most situations....a nice "one" pedal does all for me currently....just an option.

I currently use a Taylor 615CE w/expression system..though not perfect is acceptable.....of course ANY signal splitter that allows for stereo wiill allow multiple PA channel inputs so you can pan L/R....that would work well with chorus or slight echo/modulation etc....

On Edit....I just remembered...a close friend of mine still uses a Midiverb4 (Alesis)..and don't tehy offer stero out?....great effect.....my main orchestra-rig used to be Strat>mesa caliber 22 studio wiht a midiverb 3 inthe effects loop.....was all I needed.....THis was the 80's.

gchastine · January 29th, 2008, 06:54 PM

Thanks, justapasinthru;
Thanks for the tips and gear mention.

I love the 80's. My wife says get over it, but I loved the guitar sounds they got back then. Hard for a 46 year old to turn loose the music heard in the 80's. Great time for Christian rock too ! Strats, ADA preamp, Alesis reverbs, etc... Anyway... maybe it's time to bring back some Degarmo & Key, Whiteheart, Petra and Sweet Comfort Band . IMHO, "the good 'ol days".

Tele295 · March 9th, 2008, 06:59 AM

I've had nice results using a TubeWorks tube DI. It's not a stereo effect, but you don't want the guitar to sound bigger than the grand piano, IME

GoldieLocks · March 9th, 2008, 04:30 PM

You might want to try some other D.I. boxes. I spent a few weeks testing an assortment of them at the local stores. I ended up settling on a Cable Factory DI Pro (passive DI) $200.oo.
THere's much better ones (Radial, BBS, etc) but this one was simple and perfect. No dials and no buttons, just simple & really good.

hotraman · March 9th, 2008, 09:32 PM

I can go two ways on this:
sometimes less is more, and it sounds like you have a nice set-up.
I play electric as well as acoustic guitar.
Sometimes I play my acoustics with a Boss tuner, LR Baggs Para DI and nothing else. Then there's this set-up, which I tried this morning.
I played my 1970's Gibson J 45 deluxe thru a POD x3L.
I went XLR left/right out and lined the 1/4 " into a smal mackie 150 powered monitor speaker. I was able to get nice tones, with slight delay and chorus.
And I was able to get that old pure J 45 tone.
Its something to think about.

slashblack · April 19th, 2008, 11:55 AM

Well, there are tons of things to try, but if you have a good PA, sometimes nothing beats plugging in through a cheap DI. I don't run my McPherson 5.0 XP through anything and it sounds great. But, I've heard things about Taylor's K4. Of course, I've never used one. Good luck.

scooteraz · April 29th, 2008, 01:30 PM

My acoustic is a Larivee C-10 with the Fishman Matrix Gold under saddle (I think that is what they called that model back when I got the guitar). I have played it direct in through a DI box, through an LR Baggs Para DI, through the Alphex Aural Exciter (acoustic version) and through the Fishman Aura. Of them, I like the Aura best, but is is spendy.

After the Aura, I like the LR Baggs Para DI. It gives me a little more control on feedback issues. The Alphex was nice for what it did (a little of the "thickness" and additional harmonics of a live acoustic), but I could not use it in my setting without either the LR Baggs or a Sabine automatic feedback killer. To my ears, the signal just sounded better throught the Para DI.

In through a DI box with no tone shaping what soever put me totally at the mercy of the sound guy, so that was just out

But to be fair, did not sound much different from the LR Baggs.

I would like to try the Moma Bear. Mostly because that can be set up for a variety of instruments (e.g. mandolin, not just guitar), and is designed for things like piezo pickups in Parkers and making them sound more acoustic-like. If I like, the Aura could be on the way to ebay.

guit30 · May 25th, 2008, 10:59 PM

Play my Alvarez thru a fishman neod soundhole pup to a Hartman Compressor and then into a LR Baggs para Di
Jim

Pickalittle · May 26th, 2008, 02:18 AM

I play my Gibson SJ-200 into a direct box that leads directly to the mixing board in the balcony. The simpler the better. It's my opinion that good sounding guitars don't need effects boxes. They just need to be in tune.

hotraman · May 26th, 2008, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickalittle

I play my Gibson SJ-200 into a direct box that leads directly to the mixing board in the balcony. The simpler the better. It's my opinion that good sounding guitars don't need effects boxes. They just need to be in tune.

I have found this to be true as well.
My older Gibson J 45 deluxe sounds great with my LR Baggs Para DI.
Depends on the mixing board as well, right?

TxTeleMan · July 2nd, 2008, 11:41 AM

The best amplified acoustic tone I ever heard was back around 1980 or so. It was a late 1960's Martin 000-28 with one of those rectangular wooden Barcu-Berry transducers, held onto the bridge with beeswax. I have yet to hear an acoustic pickup sound as good. Some say the Aura is good but I can't say from personal experience.

The highschool worhsip leader at our church has a Takamine with a tube preamp inside (12AX7 I think). A couple of months ago he was leading worship, and while I was singing along, blissing out, I noticed it sounded much, much better than usual. It blinked me out of my bliss long enough to look around to see what was going on. After church, myu wife mentioned that she thought the guitar sounded better that usual.

The secret?

His tube preamp was down so they mic'd his guitar.

I refuse to deface my OM-28LE with a pickup. It does sound great through an AKG D 200 E though, and pretty good through an SM.

Deadduck · July 3rd, 2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotraman

I have found this to be true as well.
My older Gibson J 45 deluxe sounds great with my LR Baggs Para DI.
Depends on the mixing board as well, right?

Same here. I have a J-45 with the LR Baggs Element. I added a PUTW Quackbuster which works in tandem with the Element to produce a very natural sound. I plug it in to a Baggs PADI, then into the PA system. Sounds very good.

holderp · July 22nd, 2008, 12:46 PM

I haven't played in about a year and a half but I did play an Alvarez AD70SCE to a BYOC Analog Chorus pedal to a cheap DI. The Chorus really added some meat to the sound coming out of the PA.

January 27th, 2008, 08:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
gchastine TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Sherwood, Arkansas Posts: 24	Worship gear, acoustics unite! Hello fellow tdpri'ers. Got a question. We finally moved into our new church. Nice pa with Peavy board and Community monitors. I have been playing my Martin DMCE and D-35 through a "direct box" called Aphex Aural Exciter. Really nice. I'm also using a Genz-Benz Shennandoah 60 too. I'm really a tone freak and am looking for that "warm,tube" type sound that envelopes the sanctuary and sounds "stereo" too. Any suggestions? I like my sound now but am always looking for that something "extra" that makes the guitar sound more wonderful than it already is. Kinda like the "wow" factor. Any suggestions on additional equipment or alternative ways to amplify the acoustic? I'd be very much appreciated. P.S. We have no praise band so the instruments are Grand Piano, bass and me on acoustic. Sincerely, Greg __________________ Ahh...the sweet sound of the tele.

January 28th, 2008, 07:43 PM	#2 (permalink)
justapasinthru TDPRI Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Medford Oregon Age: 61 Posts: 68 13 Photos	Have you ever played Thru A DMM? Deluxe Memory Man?....mine is an older one that is not Stereo..but is a nice effect with settings for most situations....a nice "one" pedal does all for me currently....just an option. I currently use a Taylor 615CE w/expression system..though not perfect is acceptable.....of course ANY signal splitter that allows for stereo wiill allow multiple PA channel inputs so you can pan L/R....that would work well with chorus or slight echo/modulation etc.... On Edit....I just remembered...a close friend of mine still uses a Midiverb4 (Alesis)..and don't tehy offer stero out?....great effect.....my main orchestra-rig used to be Strat>mesa caliber 22 studio wiht a midiverb 3 inthe effects loop.....was all I needed.....THis was the 80's. __________________ "And it came to pass that when the minstrel played, the hand of the LORD came upon him"...2nd Kings 3:15 Last edited by justapasinthru; January 28th, 2008 at 08:01 PM. Reason: addition....

January 29th, 2008, 06:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
gchastine TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Sherwood, Arkansas Posts: 24	acoustic stereo Thanks, justapasinthru; Thanks for the tips and gear mention. I love the 80's. My wife says get over it, but I loved the guitar sounds they got back then. Hard for a 46 year old to turn loose the music heard in the 80's. Great time for Christian rock too ! Strats, ADA preamp, Alesis reverbs, etc... Anyway... maybe it's time to bring back some Degarmo & Key, Whiteheart, Petra and Sweet Comfort Band . IMHO, "the good 'ol days". __________________ Ahh...the sweet sound of the tele.

March 9th, 2008, 06:59 AM	#4 (permalink)
Tele295 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Haunted Amp, CA Posts: 3,373 14 Photos	I've had nice results using a TubeWorks tube DI. It's not a stereo effect, but you don't want the guitar to sound bigger than the grand piano, IME __________________ "Turn it up and it doesn't need any reverb." - Danny Gatton www.dannygatton.info Tiger Town Aces - Music That Bites Back In Redd we trust! Free Bill Kirchen! If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?

March 9th, 2008, 04:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
GoldieLocks Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Abbotsford B.C. Posts: 833	good acoustic sound? You might want to try some other D.I. boxes. I spent a few weeks testing an assortment of them at the local stores. I ended up settling on a Cable Factory DI Pro (passive DI) $200.oo. THere's much better ones (Radial, BBS, etc) but this one was simple and perfect. No dials and no buttons, just simple & really good. __________________ "How little I know inspires me tremendously! I'm a huge fan of other people's playing." Bonnie Raitt

March 9th, 2008, 09:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
hotraman Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Camas, WA Posts: 220	I can go two ways on this: sometimes less is more, and it sounds like you have a nice set-up. I play electric as well as acoustic guitar. Sometimes I play my acoustics with a Boss tuner, LR Baggs Para DI and nothing else. Then there's this set-up, which I tried this morning. I played my 1970's Gibson J 45 deluxe thru a POD x3L. I went XLR left/right out and lined the 1/4 " into a smal mackie 150 powered monitor speaker. I was able to get nice tones, with slight delay and chorus. And I was able to get that old pure J 45 tone. Its something to think about. __________________ www.stevehotra.com

April 19th, 2008, 11:55 AM	#7 (permalink)
slashblack TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Lawrenceburg Age: 30 Posts: 11	Well, there are tons of things to try, but if you have a good PA, sometimes nothing beats plugging in through a cheap DI. I don't run my McPherson 5.0 XP through anything and it sounds great. But, I've heard things about Taylor's K4. Of course, I've never used one. Good luck.

April 29th, 2008, 01:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
scooteraz Tele-Holic Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Peoria, AZ Posts: 769	My acoustic is a Larivee C-10 with the Fishman Matrix Gold under saddle (I think that is what they called that model back when I got the guitar). I have played it direct in through a DI box, through an LR Baggs Para DI, through the Alphex Aural Exciter (acoustic version) and through the Fishman Aura. Of them, I like the Aura best, but is is spendy. After the Aura, I like the LR Baggs Para DI. It gives me a little more control on feedback issues. The Alphex was nice for what it did (a little of the "thickness" and additional harmonics of a live acoustic), but I could not use it in my setting without either the LR Baggs or a Sabine automatic feedback killer. To my ears, the signal just sounded better throught the Para DI. In through a DI box with no tone shaping what soever put me totally at the mercy of the sound guy, so that was just out But to be fair, did not sound much different from the LR Baggs. I would like to try the Moma Bear. Mostly because that can be set up for a variety of instruments (e.g. mandolin, not just guitar), and is designed for things like piezo pickups in Parkers and making them sound more acoustic-like. If I like, the Aura could be on the way to ebay.

May 25th, 2008, 10:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
guit30 Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Abington Age: 55 Posts: 380	Play my Alvarez thru a fishman neod soundhole pup to a Hartman Compressor and then into a LR Baggs para Di Jim __________________ DOD FX80B Compressor Hartman Compressor Eden Analog Nashville Hot Boost-$100 Jim's Country Reviews www.geocities.com/guit30

May 26th, 2008, 02:18 AM	#10 (permalink)
Pickalittle Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: USA Age: 56 Posts: 292	I play my Gibson SJ-200 into a direct box that leads directly to the mixing board in the balcony. The simpler the better. It's my opinion that good sounding guitars don't need effects boxes. They just need to be in tune. __________________ Don't die with the music still in you! Psalm 150

July 2nd, 2008, 11:41 AM	#12 (permalink)
TxTeleMan TDPRI Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Age: 53 Posts: 25	The best amplified acoustic tone I ever heard was back around 1980 or so. It was a late 1960's Martin 000-28 with one of those rectangular wooden Barcu-Berry transducers, held onto the bridge with beeswax. I have yet to hear an acoustic pickup sound as good. Some say the Aura is good but I can't say from personal experience. The highschool worhsip leader at our church has a Takamine with a tube preamp inside (12AX7 I think). A couple of months ago he was leading worship, and while I was singing along, blissing out, I noticed it sounded much, much better than usual. It blinked me out of my bliss long enough to look around to see what was going on. After church, myu wife mentioned that she thought the guitar sounded better that usual. The secret? His tube preamp was down so they mic'd his guitar. I refuse to deface my OM-28LE with a pickup. It does sound great through an AKG D 200 E though, and pretty good through an SM.

July 22nd, 2008, 12:46 PM	#14 (permalink)
holderp TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Winston-Salem, NC Posts: 48	I haven't played in about a year and a half but I did play an Alvarez AD70SCE to a BYOC Analog Chorus pedal to a cheap DI. The Chorus really added some meat to the sound coming out of the PA.