Killer Acoustic IR’s!

[iaresee]

FWIW I tried their original J15 IRs with my J45 and thought they sounded pretty terrible. But the J45 IRs with the J45 worked very well.

 

[Dave Merrill]

Now you've done it, I want an electric grocery getter guitar

 

[NeverTooManyGuitars]

Custom may be the key: I'm working with an artist now who does their own IRs to match the piezo output of an acoustic to its mic'd sound. It's impressive!

So... I have this Adamas 2080 (electro-acoustic Ovation) with a carbon fiber top and the OP-Pro preamp. It has a piezo pickup. Has to be 10 years old. However, the preamp does a great job "erasing" the piezo signature by using a piezo to Mic'd guitar IR (there are 5 different settings). IMHO it makes the guitar's amplified sound much more palatable. There is a mini fader that allows the blending of piezo vs mic imaged sounds. Really works great.

Based on this thread I went and purchased 3sigma's IR's for the D45 Martin (I have a 1983 D41 with LR Baggs dual output piezo and soundboard pickups), and the J45 Gibson IR's as well. These IR's come with a bunch of different versions ostensibly made with several "from" pickups., e.g. electric, Taylor ES2, soundboard, and piezo.

I've built a simple Axe III patch that blends a couple different IR's panned opposite, as well as one that uses both D45 and J45 IR's. They really sound quite good, both using the Adamas with piezo-only output, as well as with Les Paul (neck) and single coil inputs. I have an L6 (hiss) Shuriken modelling guitar that I use with my Axe quite a bit - more of a toy really, but its fun to try patches with Strat single coils vs P90's etc.., Dobro etc. I have to say the patches still sound best with the "acoustic 6 string" input or the Adamas - there's a lot more to the acoustic guitar sound than an electric pickup seems to allow, but I'm still experimenting.

 

[BBN]

I did some forum searching and found some IRs that somebody shared of a Carvin Cobalt. I tried them for fun and they're MUCH better than the 3sigma ones I just purchased. The phasey sound is very minimal. Overall just sounds more natural. I guess I should just searched harder for free ones. The 3sigma were a waste of money for me.

 

[WKSmith]

Now you've done it, I want an electric grocery getter guitar

Yep, no feelings. Just spruce

 

[iaresee]

Comparison clips.

Piezo:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-001.mp3

IR effected:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-002.mp3

Both, piezo hard left and IR effect hard right:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-003.mp3

Is it like a mic'ed acoustic? No. Is it better than the piezo signal? I think so. Is it easier to use these to capture a nicer acoustic tone without messing with mics and trying to keep my enviroment quiet and compliant? Most definitely. Especially for what? $10.

A steal.

 

[DougB415]

Survey sez:
Piezo? NO
IR effected? YES
Both? NO NO

 

[WKSmith]

#2 !!!
I want my tele to sound like that!
.... umm also sound like P90s through the matchless EF86
All at the same time

yeah I wish, And I'll show myself out now lol --->

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

#2 !!!
I want my tele to sound like that!
.... umm also sound like P90s through the matchless EF86
All at the same time

yeah I wish, And I'll show myself out now lol --->

To get that, you'll have to go uphill both ways....

 

[BBN]

Comparison clips.

Piezo:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-001.mp3

IR effected:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-002.mp3

Both, piezo hard left and IR effect hard right:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-003.mp3

Is it like a mic'ed acoustic? No. Is it better than the piezo signal? I think so. Is it easier to use these to capture a nicer acoustic tone without messing with mics and trying to keep my enviroment quiet and compliant? Most definitely. Especially for what? $10.

A steal.

Sounds much better than the results I'm getting.
I have to be doing somethin wrong. I'll post some clips later.

@iaresee - is there anything else in your chain other than the Cab block? (like a 'tube pre' Amp block?)

 

[pharmd07]

Comparison clips.

Piezo:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-001.mp3

IR effected:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-002.mp3

Both, piezo hard left and IR effect hard right:

https://mostlywrong.net/audio/2021-06-22-3sigma-irs-003.mp3

Is it like a mic'ed acoustic? No. Is it better than the piezo signal? I think so. Is it easier to use these to capture a nicer acoustic tone without messing with mics and trying to keep my enviroment quiet and compliant? Most definitely. Especially for what? $10.

A steal.

The IR clip sounds far superior to the piezo sound, in my opinion. I’m getting similar results using the Taylor 614 IR from Sigma 3 and the piezo pickup on my PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo.

Like you said, it’s a great value for $10!

 

[BBN]

The IR clip sounds far superior to the piezo sound, in my opinion. I’m getting similar results using the Taylor 614 IR from Sigma 3 and the piezo pickup on my PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo.

Like you said, it’s a great value for $10!

Can you post your preset?
I have the Taylor 614 package from Sigma3. My results sound like garbage, and I'm trying to troubleshoot why.

 

[iaresee]

Sounds much better than the results I'm getting.
I have to be doing somethin wrong. I'll post some clips later.

@iaresee - is there anything else in your chain other than the Cab block? (like a 'tube pre' Amp block?)

No preamp used but I should have dialed in some preamp in the CAB block! Bet that would have sounded nice.

I used this scene and the CAB block had these IRs loaded:


Preset attached so you can see nothing else was tweaked in the CAB block.

 

[pharmd07]

Can you post your preset?
I have the Taylor 614 package from Sigma3. My results sound like garbage, and I'm trying to troubleshoot why.

Yeah, I can do that. I’m not at home right now. I’ll try to remember to post the preset later tonight.

 

[BBN]

No preamp used but I should have dialed in some preamp in the CAB block! Bet that would have sounded nice.

I used this scene and the CAB block had these IRs loaded:
View attachment 85216

Preset attached so you can see nothing else was tweaked in the CAB block.

Thanks Ian.
Maybe I'm using the wrong IRs....I see you're using the 'soundhole' IRs.
I tried the 'piezo' IRs (as my Godin A6 has a piezo system).
I thought the instructions with the IRs said to find the folder based on your input source. Maybe I'm reading it wrong.

 

[iaresee]

Thanks Ian.
Maybe I'm using the wrong IRs....I see you're using the 'soundhole' IRs.
I tried the 'piezo' IRs (as my Godin A6 has a piezo system).
I thought the instructions with the IRs said to find the folder based on your input source. Maybe I'm reading it wrong.

I mean, I tried them all and picked the ones my ears liked the most.

 

[BBN]

I mean, I tried them all and picked the ones my ears liked the most.

I'm trying them all now too, and getting better results with a combo of the Sound Hole and the ES2 folders

 

[iaresee]

I'm trying them all now too, and getting better results with a combo of the Sound Hole and the ES2 folders

Ears > Eye, right?

 

[BBN]

Ears > Eye, right?

Certainly. But overall I was fishing in the wrong place

(that's the value of the forum )

 

[scottp]

FYI...
Taylor came out with version 2 preamp for their Expression System 2.
My guitar a 2011 614ce has the version 1 preamp. V2 changes the tone compared to V1.
The preamp is available to upgrade V1's.