The emperor's guitar has no clothes!

barefoot

barefoot

barefootsound.com
Ok, now that the charade has gone on for about 25 years or so, isn't it time that we finally admit that amplified acoustic guitars sound like complete ass? I mean, who in their right mind actually likes the sound of a bridge pickup? Decades of "perfection" and they still make a guitar sound like fucking rubber bands stretched across a flatulent shoebox! Am I wrong about this?

A microphone is the only sonically acceptable acoustic pickup to date, as far as my ears are concerned.
 
barefoot said:
A microphone is the only sonically acceptable solution to date, as far as my ears are concerned.
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For recording, I absolutely agree with you. For live work, I would no more be stuck to a mic than I would go on stage naked (and I am not a svelte man). They can be made to sound pretty decent, but they do not, and will never, duplicate the sound of a mic. Of course, a mic can not duplicate the experience of being in a small room with the instrument.

Pickups are not meant for recording, they are meant for live. On a stage, they are absolutely the way to go.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Yeah, I guess I should have thrown the words "live" and "stage" in there to clarify my point. I know mics suck as far as feedback and such, but I just HATE the sound of piezo type pickups.
 
Guitarists are funny animals. I recorded a guy last year who insisted on recording via a Lawrence soundhole pickup [and this on a gorgeous custom built jumbo to which I own the sister -- made out of the same flitch of flamed maple, etc]. I played back the ghastly distorted sound and he said, "that records pretty well, don't you think?"

I believe that Ovation lowered everyone's expectations: players were ecstatic to get ANYTHING out of an acoustic guitar so they lost their sense of discrimination. Personally I have thrown away a minor fortune on attempts at amplifying my Dobro but I now just take along an SM81. And DON'T TELL ME THAT ***** IS THE GREATEST RESONATOR PICKUP EVER! Even if you believe it yourself. Great tone is elusive and everybody's marketing the magic bullet.
 
Actually, I have an old Barcus Berry pickup mounted on the inside of my Alvarez guitar, under the bridge; it rivals almost any microphone I have used live and gives me a great sound. It also sounds better than 90% of the new stuff out there now which, I agree, sounds like sheep dip.

My pet peeve.......Acoustic Amps..Uggh :eek:
 
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I hated the sound of piezo's, so I changed over to soundhole pickups. I have a Sunrise on my main guitar, and it's far and away the best pickup I've ever used (And I have literally tried them all).
 
Whoever invented acoustic guitar pickups should be shot. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I have been in three bands with three different guitarists who always insisted on using their acoustic puckups for live work as well as recording rather than a microphone. I just don't understand how they can spend so much money on elctric guitars and amplifiers looking for the perfect tone and then when it comes time for the acoustic songs they go straight for the crappy acoustic pickup and a guitar amp, even when a great PA system and mics are present. There is no question about it. It sounds like absolute crap. I think that guitarist are just hung up on the novelty of plugging their acoustic into an amp. That, or they just have to justify the money they spent (wasted) to get one of those stupid acoustics with the crappy onboard electronics. When you tell them that you think it sounds like horse poop they just give you this crazy look, like not being in love with their cool acoustic electric guitar is a sin.
 
If you are playing an acoustic in a rock setting (i.e., with drums on the same stage) then you either use a pickup, or you are not heard. It really is that simple, as any mic put on your guitar is going to pickup more drums than it is guitar. I have done sound for people who have great mic technique, and it sounds great, right up until the moment the drummer starts playing. As soon as the drums come in, you can not hear the guitar.

It is absolutely possible to make an acoustic pickup sound good. I have heard it, and I have done it. It does not sound as good as a mic in an isolated room, but it sounds much better than not being able to hear the guitar.

The other issue, for many players, is consistency. For instance, Leo Kottke is a customer of ours, so we have spoken to him at great length about pickups and guitars. He uses pickups (usually a Sunrise, but he is constantly experimenting). He uses pickups for much the same reason he uses Taylors. He is in a different town 200 nights a year, and he has a different sound guy every night. A mic requires a great deal of skill on the part of the engineer to make it sound good, and he can not trust that he is going to get someone with that skill. By using the pickup, he is assured of a consistent sound every night, without fail. This makes up for a lot in his mind. He plays Taylors for much the same reason. About once every two years, the airlines lunch one of his guitars. When he was playing custom, vintage, or otherwise irreplaceable guitars, he was always worried about this. With his Taylors, he can get the exact same guitar in just about any town anywhere in the world, on extremely short notice. This makes up for any lack the guitar may have.

It takes some work to make a pickup sound good, and you will never get it by just plugging it straight into an electric guitar amp. It still takes less work, and sounds better in many situations, than a mic for live work, or at least for all of the live work I am involved in. If you are in an acoustic setting, such as a bluegrass band, then mics make a lot of sense (providing you have the mic technique, and most players don't), but for rock and roll, they just don't cut it.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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