b-band sounds horrible

[Bas van Dijk]

Hi everybody,
Fairly new to recording, and (I'm sure) not too critical, I am very dissapointed with the sound I get out my Simon and Patrick guitar with B-band A3.2 pick up. I read on the internet that they generally get good results. So, what am I doing wrong? Or should i just return to the shop?
I plug it in directly in my soundcard (good quality, my electric guitar sounds great), or I use my GT-3 as a pre-amp, and go in to the line input. Same result. The lows are booming, almost distorted I would say, there is no 'life'. If I listen I always think 'what is that sound below it..', when I just set up my Shure SM58 in front of the guitar and record is sound 100 times better.

Any suggestions?

Best wishes,
Bas

[easychair]

First thing, check the battery. Also try the guitar with another mixer, amp, etc. to confirm the problem is the guitar.

Have you listened to the GT-3 with headphones, to confirm the guitar sounds bad from the start?

[Phyl]

I've got that pickup on my Yamaha Silent Guitar. It sounds okay but always needs some eq. Everytime I post a song using that guitar people pick up on the fact that I'm recording direct.

I'm not surprised that a SM57 or any other mic sounds better than the B Band. I don't think any kind of pickup could ever capture the complexity of sound produced by an acoustic guitar in the same way an external mic would.

However, I do think the B Band is a step foward from those crappy piezo things most manufacturers used to use.

[Bas van Dijk]

Thanks for the replies. The battery lamp is not on, but I'll change it anyway.

Best wishes,
Bas