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Location: SE Michigan | I am quite pleased with my new (used) Adamas 1581, it is a wonderful and powerful guitar unplugged....but....plugged in directly to a PA or a mixer it suffers quite a bit from piezo quack, also it just has that overall brittle-tinny piezo tone. The preamp is an Optima. It helps if you set the eq for the "smiley face" pattern where the two middle sliders are lower, also helps a bit to engage the notch filter and turn the knob up about 3/4 to the treble side.
I typically play plugged right into the PA board. We play classic rock type stuff, lots of strumming and some lead riffs.
I admit that my playing style is a big part of the problem. I am pretty heavy-handed, I use heavy picks, medium strings, and I play with a percussive right-hand style. Just the thing to overdrive a piezo pickup. I am trying to lighten up but I am what I am and I doubt I can change my style that much. So I am looking at options to cleanup the plugged in tone.
Anyone using the new Fishman pedal? Any idea which one would best suit an Adamas deep-bowl 1581?
I am also looking at things like the Boss AD-5, AD-3, AD-8, etc. There is another box called the Aphex Acoustic Xciter that a lot of people rave about. I like simple things and detest having to spend hours learning how to work these complicated boxes that do thousands of different functions. I am also wondering about possibly converting the preamp to an OP-Pro or OP Studio, not sure if this is do-able or how much it would cost.
I think Bauerhillboy mentioned installing K&K transducers in his guitar in lieu of the Piezo, I wonder has anyone tried this with any success?
I appreciate your ideas
Thanks
Brian |
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Location: NW Washington State | To add to Brian's question, has anyone tried the PUTW Quackbuster with an Ovation?
-Steve W. |
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Location: SE Michigan | I actually ordered a Quackbuster, for $60 I figure what do I have to loose? One possible problem is that the manufacturer says to tape the Quackbuster to the bridge plate. Well, an Adamas is fan-braced and doesnt have a bridge plate.
I plan to experiment with it, maybe start off placing it well down on the top below the fan braces.
I would be curious as well if anyone else has tried this thing. The manufacturer claims it's been used successfully on Ovations. |
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Location: Carle Place, NY | Hi Brian:
I have the Aphex Acoustic Exciter and I think that it works well for making the piezo p/u sound more natural. It's very easy to use. Currently, it's on loan to Waskel, who is supposed to decide if he wants to buy it.
So, Waskel, make up your mind! If you don't want to buy it, I give you permission to send it to Brian for a test drive.
The box sells for $99. Mine is in perfect shape, or was when I sent it to Waskel, and my price is $80. |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Waskel, how about chiming in on this with your review of the Aphex? |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | Brian,
K&K's will sound very natural compared to the Ovation p/u. It'll cost you $100 and you don't have to learn anything.
If you subscribe to the "leaky hose" school of thought with regard to multiple cable/box connections, this doesn't add any leaks.
John <>{ |
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Location: SE Michigan | So John, what model K&K pickup did you use? Any trouble working around the fan braces? Did you hook it up to the on-board preamp? If so how did you make the connection?
Any finally can you tell me more about the kind of sound you get? I really appreciate the advice,
Thanks
Brian |
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Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | The Aphex is a very nice and inexpensive pedal. It adds warmth to the sound without coloring it too much. |
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Location: Chicago | The PA you use is more than 50% of the sound. I noticed a real improvement (for all guitars: Elite, Legend, Adamas) when I go from basic amps to our Bose L1. Have you ever plugged into a Bose? I have a few DSP pedals (Fishman Aura, Zoom A2 1U) that I am willing to let go for a very reasonable price, if you are curious to try one. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Three words....
V
I
P
.
I know it is not practical for Brian's guitar, but that is the answer for the future. |
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Location: Chicago | Here's the thing with DSP (and that goes for VIP and the Aura and the Zoom A2 1U and the Magistomp patches and the Mother Bear and...): the "sound images" as the Fishman folks call them sound quite cool for chording, strumming etc., but IMO are inadequate if you need direct guitar-to-room projection for lead playing and other "arranged" stuff. Hard to explain, but, as much as I've tried, I just have not been able to stick with any of the DSP devices. Anyone else with this problem. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I don't think it's your playing style that's causing the problem, it sounds like a Piezo issue. I wish there was a way you could swap it out, but there always will be a piezo element to the sound produced by an ovation, which is part of the sound. That said, it should not be annoying, I've never had an issue with my celeb, my CA or my adamas. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I really love what the exciter does for the sound, to my ear in punches up the lower third of the sound spectrum and smoothes out the peaks and valleys of the upper 2/3's. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | As to a cure to an annoying piezo quack.
1)New piezo
2)Quack buster
3)Apex |
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Location: Tychy, Poland | 4) new battery |
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Location: Omaha, NE | I really like the p-up on my Koala...the VIP is perfect for taking the edge off when I want to play "warm", and I can always dial down the "image" slider when I want an edgier sound to cut through the band.
I did notice that the thinline p-up on my old Adamas was way more "piezo-ish" than the p-up on the Koala. Not sure what that's about. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Japan | I've been interested in trying a new pickup for years now, particularly the B-Band, but was told it wouldn't work with the stock electronics.
Has anyone actually replaced their Ovation piezo and gotten the results they were looking for? |
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Location: Buffalo,NY | Brian T,
The preamp is an Optima. It helps if you set the eq for the "smiley face" pattern where the two middle sliders are lower, also helps a bit to engage the notch filter and turn the knob up about 3/4 to the treble side. Brian,
When you set the EQ to the smiley face are you sliding the 2 middle sliders down or are you sliding the 2 outer sliders up? Where are you setting the gain? How are you monitoring your sound? How is the EQ being set at the board for this guitar?Is it someone in the audience that is giving you feedback on your sound and if not what is the basis for your evaluation? Answers to these may help us help you.
Regards,
Tom |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | What Dr. Tom said.. "Quack" is something you can "achieve" but it's not normal or should it be expected. Check the EQ settings and your input levels. Impedance matching could be an issue, but "Quack" is not usually the result. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Japan | Originally posted by Brian T:
I actually ordered a Quackbuster, for $60 I figure what do I have to loose? One possible problem is that the manufacturer says to tape the Quackbuster to the bridge plate. Well, an Adamas is fan-braced and doesnt have a bridge plate.
I plan to experiment with it, maybe start off placing it well down on the top below the fan braces.
I would be curious as well if anyone else has tried this thing. The manufacturer claims it's been used successfully on Ovations. Brian, do you think you could write a review thread when you get the Quackbuster installed?
I for one would really like to hear how you like it and based on this thread I'm sure I'm not alone. |
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Hmm....a piezo-element consists of a metal plate/strip and a layer of (hardened) paste, it works by bending the assembly, crackling it, and that is what you hear, the "cracklin`" of it, usually at a certain frequency, in the old days of X-tal / piezo pick-ups from cheaper record-players, the phenomena was well known, usually mostly noticable at around 3 - 4 Khz, however, the guitar PU being bigger, that could occur at a lower freq. , say 500 Hz. - 3 Khz. , try damping with an Eq. at those frequencies , experiment a little, however, if the problem is very noticable, than perhaps the PU has been damaged caused by moist, a bang or whatever , if however, the same problem occurs with all of your piezo-equipped guitars, than there could be a resonance in your PA/combo ( as Gregg pointed out ), accentuating that particular freq. band where the "crackling" is noticable, set Eq. to flat, and, lower controls at midband, (500 Hz. - 4 Khz.)..work ye`r way through,...however, if the "cracklin`" is more noticable with 1 guitar, than changing the PU might be a good idea, or.. ya` could take up playin` the harmonica instead... :)
Vic |
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Need effects advice - trying to clean up the piezo sound
