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paul16
New member
i own a fender fv-1 electric violin. i struggle to get a nice tone when recording direct in. does anyone have any suggestions? i thought of getting a better preamp, or maybe replacing the pickup on the violin? 
ssscientist
Info you can use...
My first suggestion would be putting a microphone on the amp that you usually play it through and record it that way.
That is, if disturbing the neighbors is not a factor...
That is, if disturbing the neighbors is not a factor...
mshilarious
Banned
paul16 said:i own a fender fv-1 electric violin. i struggle to get a nice tone when recording direct in. does anyone have any suggestions? i thought of getting a better preamp, or maybe replacing the pickup on the violin?
What kind of tone do you want? If you're after something natural, then yeah go the amp route.
However, if you want a more modern sound, especially with heavy effects, try getting a decent preamp for the direct in, and a good effects unit. I guess I'm thinking of a Rush "Losing It" style here (although I don't specifically know how they did that).
I run all of my electric guitars direct because I like the sound I get from my amp simulators. That's another thing you could try, but it definitely ain't a vintage tone.
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paul16
New member
thanks, what preamp would you suggest. i play guitar too and i record all of my guitar direct in through a sansamp, but the violin sounds dry and thin through it(more like a sax than a violin!!!). do you think changing the pickup would make a difference, or is it the preamp? Also, how will micing up an amp sound different to recording direct through a preamp, surely the sound coming out the speaker will be the same tone as the sound coming from my monitors? i'm putting effects on it, but i also wanna have the option of getting a natural tone.
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boingoman
New member
The sound coming from an amp will be totally different. For one thing, if you use a guitar amp everything above about 5K will be rolled off because that's where guitar speakers roll off. It will probably be a bit warmer sounding because of the bass response of the amp and(I hate to say it) the lower fidelity of most amp speakers.
If you can get a sound you like from an amp, when you mic the amp (hopefully) you will get that sound on tape...in the studio you have the luxury of walking around until you hear the sound you want and putting the mic in that spot.
It's gonna be hard to change the pickup- it's specially built as part of the bridge. but you could maybe try....
Fishman Pickups
IMHO piezo pickups usually sound kind of dry and thin anyway, with brittle highs and lacking bass response. I do live sound and have worked with these viloins before. I always mic the amp given the choice. Direct they always (to me ) sound even screechier than a regular violin.(no offense to violins). I usually lay on the EQ pretty thick. Cut a lot of high mids, boost the lows a bit. A bad eq section on a board can hurt more than help sometimes, tho.
Have you tried a direct box????
Play around, good luck.
If you can get a sound you like from an amp, when you mic the amp (hopefully) you will get that sound on tape...in the studio you have the luxury of walking around until you hear the sound you want and putting the mic in that spot.
It's gonna be hard to change the pickup- it's specially built as part of the bridge. but you could maybe try....
Fishman Pickups
IMHO piezo pickups usually sound kind of dry and thin anyway, with brittle highs and lacking bass response. I do live sound and have worked with these viloins before. I always mic the amp given the choice. Direct they always (to me ) sound even screechier than a regular violin.(no offense to violins). I usually lay on the EQ pretty thick. Cut a lot of high mids, boost the lows a bit. A bad eq section on a board can hurt more than help sometimes, tho.
Have you tried a direct box????
Play around, good luck.
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mshilarious
Banned
boingoman said:
This is probably heresy, but maybe try a cheap tube pre. I think somebody was selling a BlueTube here, they are pretty cheap used & can be entertaining.
Have you ever tried one of those Fender acoustic amps? I haven't, but they look nice . . . might be worth a try.