|
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | About month or so ago, a buddy of mine approached me about the possibility of forming an acoustic duo kind of thing. He even went out and bought a new Elite T specifically for this purpose, and we've had a few rehearsals now with him and his new axe and me and my '81 Custom Legend.
My CL is the best sounding center-soundhole Ovation I've ever owned, so it really humbles me to say this, but I think his Elite T sounds better than my CL, at least plugged in! His sounds deep, full and ringing, like an Ovation is supposed to sound. Mine, on the other hand, even when I plugged into his amp sounded "quacky" and "nasally," no balls at all in comparison. I realize I'm comparing 1981 technology to 2005 in terms of the preamp and electronics.
As far as the electronics, I'm not really up to speed on anything that's been developed by Ovation, post 1995. So if I may pose this question to those familiar with both the older and newer electronics, should I consider sending my CL up to the mothership to have the electronics updated? Would it really improve my "plugged-in" sound all that much? BTW, bear in mind I'm left handed, so I know that limits some of the newer preamp choices. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | What does it have in it now? Optima? No, wait, '81. OP24? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | It has the old FET w/ the stacked vol/tone control. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I would talk to Kim about it. He will either get excited, or tell you it's not worth it. He won't tell you to do it just to get the business.
I'm sure the OP-Pro probably has better sound then the FETs just because of advances in technology. I'm not sure it's that much better than my 12 year old Optima, though. Either way, they'll have to rout a hole for it.
Is this a left-handed guitar, or is it just strung lefty? They must have left-handed versions of the pre's for the lefty gits. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | It's a righty strung lefty. Yes, it would deinitely require some routing and patching of the old holes. I'm pretty sure Ovation only offers certain pre-amps for lefty guitars. Don't ask me which ones (like I said, I'm not up on the newer technology), but I've always heard that certain preamps are not available for LH O's. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Well, you should be able to go OP40 at least, they're offered on left handed guitars. If they have a left handed OP-Pro, they're not talking about it.
As long as your CL isn't a cutaway they should be able to do it. Maybe pop for a new pickup while you're at it. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | I sent my '81 CL off to the factory back in early January for them to put in the OP-Pro w/XLR and also for a bunch of cosmetic and fret work. My decision to go with the OP Pro was based on an A/B comparison of my CL with the FET pre-amp to a friend's new Balladeer LX. The OP Pro is far and away much better sounding than the old FET's, particularly the old ones that have only tone control rather than a 3 band EQ.
I haven't got the guitar back yet. Kim says that it will take another two weeks. I expect that it will sound like the LX.
Cost for the pre-amp work is probably around $300. For me it's well worth it because the CL is the best guitar I've ever owned. Also, once you send it to the factory they can dress and level the frets for just a bit more. Considering that a new deep bowl CL is around $1500 I think it's a wise investment. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Jeff, you could go with an OP-Pro if you could get used to looking at it upside down... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | Looks like Waskel is right. The best pre-amp for a lefty model according to the O website is an OP-40. That still has got to sound a whole lot better than the stacked-knobbed FET. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Or, y'can just go with an outboard unit (like the Aphex Aural Xciter) and not be bothered with a whole pre-amp changeout (and possibly have an even BETTER sounding guitar) . . . |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | The unit Cliff recommends has very good reviews:
Aphex Aural Xciter |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I may be wrong, but I believe it was our own Strumming12 who's a user/proponent of this particular bit o'kit . . . . |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The Aphex pedals are excellent. The singer in my current band was in dire need of a better live acoustic sound, so I picked up an Acoustic Exciter and Punch Factory Compressor for him from the Aphex booth at the NAMM show. Both are pretty much idiot proof and sound great. There's a lot to be said for keeping the onboard stuff real simple and doing the bulk of the processing with quality outboards. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Is this Don, Paul?? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | I've heard that one of these can help:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Effects?sku=151360 |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | ...but none of this stuff is going to improve the quality of the signal coming out of his guitar in the first place. If his p/u and pre are sounding quacky, you're just processing and amplifying the... well, the quackiness.
Sure, you can model and verb and flange and chorus the life out of it, but if the original sound sucks, it's like trying to 'fix it in the mix'. There's only so much you can do for a bad recording. There's only so much you can do for bad output.
Jeff, if you want to go the outboard processor route and you're still not happy with the sound, you might try taking the preamp out of the equation and go straight from the pup.
By the way (should have asked this sooner)- change the battery lately? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 863
Location: Central Florida | Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I appreciate it.
The battery is brand new.
I think I may have inadvertantly given the wrong impression. I don't mean to infer that my CL sounds like total crap when plugged in... It doesn't. I've been using it in church through a Fender Acoustasonic (lined out into the house system) for the better part of two years now and I've never had any reason to complain about the sound. But after hearing the two in an A/B comparison, I just felt that my friends Elite T sounded "better" plugged in. His seemed to produce a "truer" acoustic tone coming out of the amp.
I'll have to try some outboard devices and see if/how well they enhance the tone. That may be all I need. If anyone else has any suggestions for an outboard pre amp, let's hear 'em.
Thanks again to all of you for your input. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The AC2 is not an acoustic processor as such, it's designed to make an electric guitar with magnetic pickups sound like an amplified acoustic, and in the context of a band mix it does an OK job. The Boss pedals for acoustic are the AD3, AD5 and AD8. |
|
| |
My Buddy's New Elite-T and My '81 Custom Legend
