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Joined:
January 2023
Posts: 6
| Happy New Year OFC! I just got a mint Ovation with OP-24+ pickups on ebay. We all know how these sound - the signal is hot due to the 9-volt powered pickup which is great for my situation, but the tone direct plugged in needs some assistance beyond the onboard EQ.
I want to spend good money on something where I can leave the onboard EQ flat and run it into an outboard DI or preamp pedal that will bolster the tone of the signal and also eliminate any piezo quack. My research has lead me to something along the lines of a:
LR Baggs Para DI Acoustic
Fishman Aura Spectrum
Rupert Neve Designs RNDI
or Grace Designs BiX/ALiX
So the signal chain would look like: Ovation (flat) -> one of the above or your recommendation -> house PA or 90% of the time my own Electro-Voice PA to do any last EQ/effects adjustments there.
Anyone have any real word experience A/Bing on the subject? In your field testing, what’s the best options for a tone chaser like myself with this pickup?
Thanks for your help!
Edited by discodave 2023-01-06 8:03 AM
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4043
Location: Utah | Best tone comes from a great sound man! I've had great and terrible tone from the same guitar, depending on who runs the board.
But, to your question, I have found light compression to help a ton. Also a touch of aural exciter. I use a Zoom AC 2 and really like it. I also have a compressor in line before it.
To my ears nothing sounds quite exactly like the guitar unplugged. Even mic'd it isn't perfect. The OpPro Studio preamp is imho the best Ovation offering, which is compression and aural exciter.
A touch of reverb can help, too.
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Joined:
January 2023
Posts: 6
| FlySig - 2023-01-06 8:36 AM
Best tone comes from a great sound man! I've had great and terrible tone from the same guitar, depending on who runs the board.
But, to your question, I have found light compression to help a ton. Also a touch of aural exciter. I use a Zoom AC 2 and really like it. I also have a compressor in line before it.
To my ears nothing sounds quite exactly like the guitar unplugged. Even mic'd it isn't perfect. The OpPro Studio preamp is imho the best Ovation offering, which is compression and aural exciter.
A touch of reverb can help, too.
As a performing musician I 100% agree. However, from experience a good sound man will most definitely appreciate a great and clean signal with not too much pre-EQing from me off the bat as well. Hence why I want to run the Ovations onboard EQ flat and into a nice external first.
For a personal rig I have a state of the art Electro-Voice PA with full band EQ, High Z input, compression, reverb, high pass filter..etc and it makes all the worlds difference on the post EQ, but running a passive piezo pickup vs say a $300 active pickup made for acoustic amplification direct in to it you can hear the difference in quality of tone at the gate. You get out what you put in and I have money to spend, haha.
Thanks for the recommendation on the Zoom line, I will check it out! The Ovation I bought is over a decade old and unfortunately the OP 24 is not the nicer Ovation OpPro Studio pickup and can’t be replaced with such due to the shape of the barn door and it being a smaller bodied instrument, so a good external will have to do.
I would love to hear what others have found to be the best preamps/DI’s that compliment their Ovations. Thanks for the warm welcome, I like it here 
Edited by discodave 2023-01-06 6:30 PM
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Joined:
February 2023
Posts: 7
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada | I just recently had the opportunity to buy an Ovation Limited Edition Celebrity CP 2001. It's a super shallow body, with an older preamp (but the preamp I wanted, because it is more recessed, and I play upside down and didn't want any controls getting bumped or adjusted by my leg haha).
Anyways, I had been trying a few different preamps when plugging in thus far. The LR Baggs Session was nice, taming it and warming it up a bit. But then the Boss AD-10 REALLY made a difference! The acoustic resonance feature really helped the guitar signal breathe - making it sound more natural. That with the compressor, EQ, and "ambience" reverb (and delay, chorus, tuner...) really made this a winner!
Granted, the AD-10 pedal isn't cheap. I'd imagine the Boss AD-2 "Acoustic Preamp" would also work well, in a less expensive and smaller format. It has the "acoustic resonance" feature, as well as a notch filter and "ambience" knob.
So far I've only been playing it through my amps (SWR California Blonde and Genz Benz Shenandoah Jr) - and sounded great through both! But tonight I get to try it out through the MUCH larger system at my church for worship rehearsal with the band. Looking forward to hearing how it sounds in that context!
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 596
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA | Hey, Southpaw Pete,
Mike S. from Ottawa, ON., CANADA here. I have a niece who lives in Calgary. I visited there in 1981. It's a great city! I personally don't use any pedals for my Ovation, because I'm physically challenged. I have an older Carvin AG-100D amp, and it sounds great through that. I have also gotten rave reviews for my Ovation guitar's sound just through a good DI box, straight into the church mixing board. Sometimes, I would use an amp for a monitor, if it was available, but more often than not I was only using the church's floor monitors. I never have used in-ear monitors. And, yes, a good church soundman who knows just when a touch of reverb and/or chorus will help out in the mix is a huge bonus. I hope this helps with your playing in church.
Mike S.,
Ottawa, ON.,
CANADA.
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Joined:
February 2023
Posts: 7
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Thanks, Mike!
Nice to meet a fellow Canadian on here!
We use floor monitors as well. Although I keep a set of in-ears with me for when I play other churches that go that route. But I still prefer to hear the room, and even more so - to hear the congregation's voices! But that's another matter haha.
I really appreciate your input! Good to know that you're getting good tone plugged straight in through a DI or amp. We've got a great sound guy at our church who really knows the tone of my other guitar (Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood with an LR Baggs Anthem SL pickup) from mixing it over the years. I will have both that and the Ovation with me tonight - I'm looking forward to hearing his and the rest of the band's thoughts, both solo'd out and in the mix.
Edited by Southpaw Pete 2023-02-15 4:00 PM
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Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3618
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | I searched a long time for some way to duplicate the true sound of my Ovations, and finally ended up buying the LR Baggs Align Series Acoustic pedals.
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Joined:
September 2005
Posts: 3618
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | I’ll try posting my photo again.. it was too large
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Joined:
February 2023
Posts: 7
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Nice looking setup there, Vince! Love the Align series of pedals by LR Baggs. I've got the session and reverb as well. So nice!
I have been messing around some more lately, both at home and on stage at my church. I seem to prefer just going through my Baggs Venue DI - keeps the signal strong and clear and articulate.
May try adding the Align session and reverb to the Venue and see how it sounds tomorrow. | |
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Joined:
February 2023
Posts: 7
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Also, Mike S., I just received a Carvin ag100d in a trade as well. Wow! I can see why you like yours.
Loving the tone of my Ovation through that amp!!! I especially like the highs - they're very natural, yet clear without being harsh or in your face. And the amp gives more than enough oomph if I need it. One of my kids was needing an amp for playing bass in a local production - I'll likely just let them use the Carvin for that as well. Channel two on there can really give some beefy tone for bass! | |
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August 2002
Posts: 596
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA | Hey, Southpaw Pete,
My Carvin AG-100D was/is one of the best things I ever bought for my music rigs, and my church helped me finance it at the time I bought it in 1999-2000.
The keyboard player used it with Channel 3/XLRinput, and I used Chanel 1 and 2 for guitar or bass input as needed because I played both, but on 2 different worship teams back in the day. Nowadays it's being used again with my Ovation for my music therapy sessions with my friend/mentor Bruce, who plays a T!@#$% guitar. Yes, the bass tone from Channel 2 rocks!! I'm glad you like yours, and I hope you enjoy using it for many years to come.
Mike S.
Ottawa, ON.,
CANADA | |
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Joined:
February 2023
Posts: 7
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Thanks, Mike. That's very cool to hear how much use your Carvin AG-100D has had, and continues to have. I've only used mine at home thus far, but plan on bringing it out for church, and other events in the weeks/months to come.
Regarding the topic of this thread, I've used my Ovation for a few Sundays now, trying it through the Boss AD10 one time, and LR Baggs Venue a few other times. I plan on using the Baggs Align Session in to the Venue next time. I've found that the Boss AD10 Acoustic Resonance does a nice job of taming some of the piezo sound of the pickup, but also leaves the guitar sounding a little thinner in the mix, when compared with the Venue, which keeps things sounding a little thicker, which I do like for my percussive style of playing. I've used the Session into the Venue at home, and like how the "saturation" thickens the notes and chords even more, while the multiband "Comp EQ" tames things out very nicely without squashing it.
The interesting thing is, now with livestreaming, it isn't just about how my guitar sounds in the room, but how it translates in the mix online, which is just the direct signal (which, as we know, can be pretty sterile and unforgiving when acoustic guitars are run direct). I love how my guitar sounds in the room, but am wanting a little more natural tone for online. If need be, I may try adding a Fishman Aura or other IR pedal to it. Has anyone on here had much success running their Ovatons through an Aura? | |
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Joined:
February 2023
Posts: 7
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Update: I've since sold the AD10 in pursuit of a Fishman Aura Spectrum. As I'd mentioned above, the Boss AD10 has a plethora of effects, dialed in very well for acoustic guitar. But, especially for our livestream mix, it was still coming across sounding a bit thin oro something. I was able to acquire a Fishman Aura Spectrum. I'd had one a few years back, but sold it when I started playing a guitar that had the LR Baggs Anthem installed - and knowing that the Aura processing works best with UST pickups, I traded it for oa Baggs Venue DI. Anyways... the Aura images for Ovation (at least on my shallow Celebrity) REALLY work well! I played it at church yesterday, and it sounded quite natural and full, but still with a lot of the Ovation clarity and punch. Not only that, but when I went back to listen to our livestream, I was very happy with my direct plugged in tone! | |
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