And that awful piezo acoustic guitar tone?

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I am reminded of a peeve by the thread about auto-tuned vocals becoming not only a tolerable sound, but becoming a preferred sound because people have now gotten used to it - it sounds "normal." I think that for the most part the tone of acoustic guitars with piezo-equipped bridge pickups is just awful, so what if they're convenient? Music is supposed to sound good? It started with the 70's Ovations, but those ubiquitous Takamines have that same overcompressed, no-bass, fingers-on-chalkboard plasticine tone too. Does Takamine have some kind of deal with the Grand Ole Opry? This hideous tone has now wormed it's way into acceptability not just on stage, but also on "quality" recording sessions. Has everyone forgotten how to mike acoustic guitars? I have even seen "bluegrass" bands on the Opry with fiddle players, mandolin players, and dobro players all playing through microphones quite successfully, yet the guitar player had a plugged-in piezo guitar with tone like one of those toy-store polystyrene ukeleles played through a malfunctioning 60's car radio. Underwater. Just one more sign of the Fall of Western Civilization I guess.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

David..you are too funny ! I have been thinking about this for years now.

A guy ( or Gal) goes to the local GC, buys a great Acoustic Guitar for big bucks,then adds a little piece of (censored) stick on PUP under the bridge ,then buys an Acoustic Guitar amp..comes home and starts playing Elctric Guitar with a wonderful natural tone Acoustic Guitar they just bought !

And here I was thinking that my brain didn't survive the 60's !

I just say..get a Tele' and be done with it and stop all this Tom Foolery...

t

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

David I hear you... if not all the guitars.

I have a Shadow unit that sits in the round hole of my '57 J-50, and it has both a bridge pickup, which I don't like,
and a mic in the guitar.

Not perfect, but it gives me a mic'd sound, and I can blend in some of the bridgepickup as feedback requirenments demand. It also doesn't change the guitar much from stock. There is tone and anti-feed back switch.

It can be totally stock if the cable runs out the sound hole and no bridge pickup.

I think the Fishman equivalent is better, but costs twice as much. it has an external box for blending and volume and tone controls.

When I played bluegrass in NYC we used to take Audio Technica mini condensor mics, cut the cable and then mount them in foam aimed upwards at the strings, ( away from floor monitors, right inside the sound hole of our 50's D-28's.

Just a dab of glue and stereo jack in the tailpeice strap button that would go to the condensor mics power supply and XLR box, was the only difference from stock D-28.

This worked pretty good, and didn't devalue the old D-28's much except for the most neurotic collectors. For most people it was still a great classic, but with a much needed addition of functionality.

Another solution is the small goose neck mics with carpenter jacks to mount on the bottom of the body, when needed. The mic moves with the guitar, and so a consitent sound.

On my A-jr mandolin I have a FIshman bridge, with the good direct box, with a touch of comoression.
I have recorded with this but of course much prefer the Brauner mic, but the sound is much better live than mic'd in most situations.

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

I play a Zeidler dreadnought. I try not to use anything but a mic, but when that's impossible, like in a bar with drums, I use a Fishman Rare Earth humbucker. It puts the guitar in the Third Zone- not really acoustic now, not really electric either.

(What could be better- the difficulty of playing a big guitar with medium strings combined with a sub-optimal electric tone! Nirvana!)

It is somewhat closer to a jazz guitar pickup sound (rather than the piezo quack, which I just can't stand at all).

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Bill Llewellyn · From: San Jose, CA

Yamaha used to make an 88-key box-shaped stage piano (I forget it's model number....CS-something-or-other, I think) that had actual piano action and piano strings with electric pickups inside. I never liked its sound. Apparently some people really did, though, because some present day synth/samplers have samples of that piano. Helpinstill made an electrified baby grand that was much better. It had a Kimball harp and action, I believe. We used to use one opened and mic'd in a recording studio I used to work at. It recorded well acoustically. We'd use the pickup only if we needed isolation from the other instruments and the requirements for the piano sound weren't all that high.

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

Greg Vincent · From: Folsom, CA USA

Mr. Mason I feel your pain!

You describe it very well, I might add. On recordings, this tone is inexcusable. Just mic it fercryin'outloud!

-GV

[This message was edited by Greg Vincent on 23 September 2004 at 09:18 AM.]

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

There are alternatives,- K&K, B-Band, Pick-up The World and several others all make soundboard transducers which sounds a lot more natural than the standard piezo pickups.

In a studio there's only one option,- a good microphone.

Here's a good site for comparing the sound of various pickups for acoustic guitars: http://www.dougyoungguitar.com/pickuptest.htm

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

The Line6 Variax pretty much solves the acoustic guitar sound problem on stage. There's no feedback, and it sounds like a real acoustic axe. It's pretty decent in the studio, too. It's much better than a piezo'd acoustic, but a bit short of the sound quality you get from a pair of really good mikes.

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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
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Jim Phelps · From: Mexico City, Mexico

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[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 08:31 PM.]

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

John...

quote:
(What could be better- the difficulty of playing a big guitar with medium strings combined with a sub-optimal electric tone! Nirvana!)

You crack me up.

If you can get in a good zen space playing and thinking like this it can't be done!

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Piezo's aren't known for their bass, and they can't be "overwound" like a magnetic pickup to get good lows.

In a word, they're "flat".

The lows are there...they're just covered up (overpowered) by all the highs and mids. Get a good equalizer, and then you'll be surprised at how good that piezo can sound!

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