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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15678
Location: SoCal | I've got two nylon string Ovations. A late 80's classical with OP 24 electronics, and a '83 Country Artist with the stacked volume and tone controls.
Playing both into a Crate acoustic amp, the classical sounds fuller and better. Is this a function of the better electronics, or just the fact that I don't know how to get the most out of the amp? I have a Fishman Pro EQ that I can plug the CA into, but since the amp has complete tone controls, should I need the Pro EQ?
Opinions? |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Paul, in my experience the pre-amps don't sound significantly different from each other set flat.
How different do the guitars sound from each other unplugged?. The difference in tone is more likely to be caused by the fact that the Classic is a deep-bowl & has a different bracing-pattern. Also, and far more significantly, it has a twelve-fret neck rather than the 14 of the Country Artist. This places the bridge futher away from the soundhole onto a "looser" part of the top. I may be wrong but I seem to remember that the top of the Classic was either Cedar or Spanish pine, if that's the case that will also be contributing to the tonal difference.
The Fishman EQ is a usuful piece of kit, just be careful when placing a pre-amp after a pre-amp that you don't overdrive the input of your amp or mixer.
Paul
[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I prefer the newer preamps |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15678
Location: SoCal | This is why I like this board. Post a question and get an intelligent answer.
The top on the Classical is cedar. It sounds much better than the Country Artist unplugged (now if I could just get the action squared away -- it's going to visit Ovation later this year). I figured that the plugged in sound wouldn't be that different, but I guess that since the Ovation pickup picks up the vibration of the top, the top that vibrates more gets a better sound plugged in.
Would this mean that if the same pick up and pre amp were put on a Celebrity and a Custom Legend, that the Legend would also sound better plugged in? |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Paul, think of it like this, take the best microphone you can find & record an OK-sounding guitar with it. Then take a great-sounding guitar and record it with the same mike. Which recording will sound the best? This is something of an over-simplification but a pickup, like a mike, can only reproduce what the guitar guitar gives it. Preamps & extenal EQ can help fight feedback & tweak the tone, but the basic sound of the guitar has to be the starting point. As I often say to my Music Technology students, you can't polish a turd.
Paul
[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15678
Location: SoCal | You Brits are so proper. The correct phrase, as my guitar teacher reminds me when I ask him why I don't play better, "You can't shine s**t". I think he's trying to tell me something.
[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: moodypi ]
[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: moodypi ] |
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Electronics - old v. new
