Primarily acoustic guitarist looking for guidance....

slipperypick

slipperypick

Member
I'm in a band where my primary instrument is acoustic guitar; I will occasionally be switching duties with the bassist, and possibly playing some electric. The Axe-FXII is on my wish list, but I wonder how well it will represent/replace my current acoustic preamp (Tonebone PZ-Pre), how well it works with piezo pickups, and how smart I have to be to set it up for acoustic.
So...
Aside from having to raise the cash (!!!!):
1. Are there any acoustic-only presets?
2. Are there folks out there who use the AxeFX for their own acoustics?
3. Is it possible that I can retain my lack of intelligence and still use this beast?

Thanks!
 
Quick answers culled mainly from using the Standard and Ultra for 4 years in many situations - including considerable acoustic performance use on gigs big and small:

1) Not needed. Easy to craft your own; and effects here work exceptionally well with acoustic. Once you've used a wah on acoustic, you will never be the same.
2) Yes. Taylor and Breedlove stock piezo/preamp modules.
3) Yes - the "II" especially makes user-friendly a very real part of the user experience.

All IMHO.
 
I used my Ultra for acoustic instruments and I own the Tonebone PZ preamp too.

My instruments with a builtin preamp, e.g. Takamine FG360 guitar, worked really good with the Ultra. It's like Scott said. Easy to dial up acoustic patches + reverb etc. There are also acoustic guitar IR's floating around from the Fishman Aura and Mamabear pedals that sound good too.

But, I have some instruments, e.g. upright bass with an old passive Fishman BP100 bridge transducer, Epiphone Chet Atkins solid body acoustic with UST but no preamp, that have an ultra high impedance. These sounded better to me with the Ultra when I put them through an ultra high input impedance device like the Aguilar DB700 tube DI -> Ultra.

The bottom line for me was anything with an acoustic pickup and builtin preamp was golden. Older funky passive piezo pickups needed a little help before the Ultra.

Can't speak to the AxeFx II.... yet :)

Hope this helps,
- Richard
 
Scott Peterson;496911Once you've used a wah on acoustic said:
Agreed, I did it once and i was very happy and so much fun (not too sure how great the crowd thought it was, but oh well!!!)
Click to expand...
 
I use the Ultra.
Excellent for acoustic. I replaced a Pendulum SPS-1 with the Ultra.
The available parametric EQ's in Ultra (and the II) make this a tone shaping giant. Best acoustic tone I've ever had.
I play a Charis Acoustic with a Juan Carlos CP-1 VIP Pickup. Incredible tone.
I dont use any amp sims for acoustic- para eq's , touch of mutlitap delay and an occasional effect.
 
Sorry to hijack, but I've been less than successful so far with my attempts at using my acoustic with an Ultra.

Martin D-15 with an L.R. Baggs M1A active magnetic soundhole pickup (has a built-in preamp). I usually run it in to a "tube pre" block and a far-field cabinet. I'm sure I just need to try other signal chains, but I can't seem to get a nice lush "studio" sound.
 
Soopahmahn said:
Sorry to hijack, but I've been less than successful so far with my attempts at using my acoustic with an Ultra.

Martin D-15 with an L.R. Baggs M1A active magnetic soundhole pickup (has a built-in preamp). I usually run it in to a "tube pre" block and a far-field cabinet. I'm sure I just need to try other signal chains, but I can't seem to get a nice lush "studio" sound.
Click to expand...

I would ditch the cabinet block.

I sold my Ultra already but my basic patch was:

EQ -> Tube Pre -------------------> Output
-> Reverb -> EQ --> Output
-> Phase Shifter --> Output

Parallel reverb and phase shift. It sounded really really lush and full.

Beware of magnetic pickups and IR's too. The Fishman Aura (and I believe the Mama bear too) pedals are designed for UST piezo guitars. I own two different models of the Aura pedal but never have owned the Mama bear.

So the IR's from those pedals don't apply to magnetic soundhole pickup per se. Of course whatever sounds good to you is good :) But they were not intended for magnetic pickups.

- Richard
 
yek said:
Did you use the Tube Pre to warm up the signal? Didn't it distort the signal somewhat?
Click to expand...

I used the tube pre to gain match with my electric guitar presets.

I have a thread about it I posted a while back. I was trying to switch between acoustic guitar and electric guitar and keep the volume relatively the same. So I ended up using the Tube Pre for that. But I did dial the drive low.

- Richard
 
There are "cab" IRs that aren't based on speaker cabinets at all, but on acoustic guitar bodies. Load one or two into the Axe-FX, and it can reduce the "quackiness" that's inevitable with under-saddle transducers such a piezos.
 
Rex said:
There are "cab" IRs that aren't based on speaker cabinets at all, but on acoustic guitar bodies. Load one or two into the Axe-FX, and it can reduce the "quackiness" that's inevitable with under-saddle transducers such a piezos.
Click to expand...

Rex,

I think the issue raised was the use of Martin D-15 with a magnetic soundhole pickup vs. UST piezo. I've not tried the Aura or Momma bear IR's with a magnetic sound hole pickup?

- Richard
 
Soopahmahn said:
Martin D-15 with an L.R. Baggs M1A active magnetic soundhole pickup...I can't seem to get a nice lush "studio" sound.
Click to expand...
IMO, it's hard to get a lush acoustic sound with a magnetic pickup. You need a pickup that responds to the vibrations of the guitar body, not just the strings.

+1 on losing the cab.
 
barhrecords said:
Rex,

I think the issue raised was the use of Martin D-15 with a magnetic soundhole pickup vs. UST piezo. I've not tried the Aura or Momma bear IR's with a magnetic sound hole pickup?

- Richard
Click to expand...
Understood. I was responding to the OP, who uses piezo.
 
Rex,

I'm with ya on magnetic soundhole pickups. I like their sound for some things but I wouldn't call them lush by my definition.

Of course quacky piezo UST's can also be hard to make sound lush too :) But I have had better luck making them sound like an acoustic guitar vs. the magnetics.

- Richard
 
Rex said:
IMO, it's hard to get a lush acoustic sound with a magnetic pickup. You need a pickup that responds to the vibrations of the guitar body, not just the strings.

+1 on losing the cab.
Click to expand...

I was sold on that pickup exclusively because it purports to offer that tonal dimension. Plus Gilmour uses it. :D

m1-coils.png

"In the M1, the hum-canceling coil is suspended under the main coil by a tuned support that allows it to move in three dimensions. The primary coil moves with the guitar top and creates a body signal in the suspended secondary coil. This brings the M1 to life, with string and body sound all in one. It's like having a dual pickup system in your soundhole.

We've carefully tuned the support to control motion in all three dimensions. This allows us to selectively add the presence and realism from the body signal while suppressing runaway feedback."

Anyway, the critical key here is whether I need any kind of impulse at all. Definitely makes sense to ditch the amp block. Would a studio compressor be a good idea?

I hope this is helping the OP, btw. :)
 
Soopahmahn said:
I was sold on that pickup exclusively because it purports to offer that tonal dimension. Plus Gilmour uses it. :D

m1-coils.png

"In the M1, the hum-canceling coil is suspended under the main coil by a tuned support that allows it to move in three dimensions. The primary coil moves with the guitar top and creates a body signal in the suspended secondary coil. This brings the M1 to life, with string and body sound all in one. It's like having a dual pickup system in your soundhole.

We've carefully tuned the support to control motion in all three dimensions. This allows us to selectively add the presence and realism from the body signal while suppressing runaway feedback."

Anyway, the critical key here is whether I need any kind of impulse at all. Definitely makes sense to ditch the amp block. Would a studio compressor be a good idea?

I hope this is helping the OP, btw. :)
Click to expand...

Try with/without the impulse and make the call. I prefer not to have cab or amp in the chain.
I believe you will find lush in the EQ's-
If you are talented with compression> look to the MBC in the Ultra (and I'm sure the II)- IMO the MBC is an extremely useful tool for acoustic.
 
Soopahmahn said:
I was sold on that pickup exclusively because it purports to offer that tonal dimension. Plus Gilmour uses it. :D

"In the M1, the hum-canceling coil is suspended under the main coil by a tuned support that allows it to move in three dimensions. The primary coil moves with the guitar top and creates a body signal in the suspended secondary coil. This brings the M1 to life, with string and body sound all in one. It's like having a dual pickup system in your soundhole.
Click to expand...
That pickup may respond to body vibrations, but its response will be limited by the fact that mass of the pickup is relatively large, compared to the mass of the vibrating top. Piezos and other USTs have very little mass, and are more easily accellerated by the vibrating top.


Soopahmahn said:
Anyway, the critical key here is whether I need any kind of impulse at all.
Click to expand...
You don't. An acoustic body IR can help sweeten the tone, but it's not in any way necessary.


Soopahmahn said:
Would a studio compressor be a good idea?
Click to expand...
A compressor can help or hurt. Try one and tweak it. If your ears hear an improvement, then run with it. But be aware that a change of venue might cause feedback problems.
 
+1 on compressor can be tricky on an acoustic guitar! It can be done, but depending on how you monitor and your compressor skills, acoustic guitar compression can make things worse.

- Richard
 
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