deadtolove
New member
I have a Yamaha that runs on two double A batteries, and it has more headroom before clipping than any of my other pickup systems. Too bad it sounds so thin.
To the OP, I have been forced for years to try and record acoustics without a mic. Terrible rooms, poor acoustics, mostly because of living in small apartments with no dedicated acoustically treated space. The best way to get the best sound out of them varies from system to system. I tend to favor just a bit of compression on the way in just to tame the beast, that is a direct signal. Also agree with the idea of turning down the volume on the pickup. It never sounds as good when it's all the way up. I usually go about three quarters on the volume knob. I've never used the Taylor system so I can't comment on that specifically but, this it my experience.
Piezos, are a nightmare. The best I ever got out of a piezo was putting it thru a Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre, into a Warm Audio WA76. And that only worked on somethings. Finger picking stuff mostly.
B-Band transducers sound pretty good plugged into my GAP73's and then into a DBX 1066 compressor. This setup also works well with piezo pickups where the previous set up didn't.
LR. Baggs iBeam in combo with a LR Baggs M1 was a whole new ball game. I've been very happy with this pickup system for a long time now. This one sounds good on just about every preamp I've got. Using just about any compressor in my arsenal. Recently started using it with the new LR Baggs Session DI and have been very very pleased with the results. Just dropped off my new Martin at the shop to have an LR Baggs Anthem installed, haven't had a chance to give it a go yet so I don't know how that will work out. But I'm looking forward to having at it.
Best thing I ever did for recording my acoustic, was move to a house where I finally have room to dedicate space for my little hobby. Now I have a Royer ribbon mic that I record acoustics with and use the pickup in the mix only if it's voice fits the song.
Barring that from happening, Taylor and Neve make a preamp that is tailored for their Expression System pickups. You might want to look at that. The LR Baggs Session DI is pretty cool as well. I would personally stop using those ART preamps. They aren't that cool, they aren't even real tube amps, they are starved plate designs, if I'm not mistaken. Don't let anybody tell you that you don't want color from a preamp. On an acoustic pickup, good old fashioned saturation is a must. It helps tame the brittleness that is the nature of acoustic pickups. The GAP preamps and the Warm audio premaps are inexpensive and offer some nice warmth to the audio. I've been really curious about that Taylor/Neve preamp for years but, it's really meant for Taylor's system so I never tried it.
Anyway hope this helps some.
To the OP, I have been forced for years to try and record acoustics without a mic. Terrible rooms, poor acoustics, mostly because of living in small apartments with no dedicated acoustically treated space. The best way to get the best sound out of them varies from system to system. I tend to favor just a bit of compression on the way in just to tame the beast, that is a direct signal. Also agree with the idea of turning down the volume on the pickup. It never sounds as good when it's all the way up. I usually go about three quarters on the volume knob. I've never used the Taylor system so I can't comment on that specifically but, this it my experience.
Piezos, are a nightmare. The best I ever got out of a piezo was putting it thru a Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre, into a Warm Audio WA76. And that only worked on somethings. Finger picking stuff mostly.
B-Band transducers sound pretty good plugged into my GAP73's and then into a DBX 1066 compressor. This setup also works well with piezo pickups where the previous set up didn't.
LR. Baggs iBeam in combo with a LR Baggs M1 was a whole new ball game. I've been very happy with this pickup system for a long time now. This one sounds good on just about every preamp I've got. Using just about any compressor in my arsenal. Recently started using it with the new LR Baggs Session DI and have been very very pleased with the results. Just dropped off my new Martin at the shop to have an LR Baggs Anthem installed, haven't had a chance to give it a go yet so I don't know how that will work out. But I'm looking forward to having at it.
Best thing I ever did for recording my acoustic, was move to a house where I finally have room to dedicate space for my little hobby. Now I have a Royer ribbon mic that I record acoustics with and use the pickup in the mix only if it's voice fits the song.
Barring that from happening, Taylor and Neve make a preamp that is tailored for their Expression System pickups. You might want to look at that. The LR Baggs Session DI is pretty cool as well. I would personally stop using those ART preamps. They aren't that cool, they aren't even real tube amps, they are starved plate designs, if I'm not mistaken. Don't let anybody tell you that you don't want color from a preamp. On an acoustic pickup, good old fashioned saturation is a must. It helps tame the brittleness that is the nature of acoustic pickups. The GAP preamps and the Warm audio premaps are inexpensive and offer some nice warmth to the audio. I've been really curious about that Taylor/Neve preamp for years but, it's really meant for Taylor's system so I never tried it.
Anyway hope this helps some.