My LG3 Through Tonedexter

[BluesKing777]

I am still experimenting with Tonedexter - this track below is slightly different as I used my plain old Shure SM57 mic to make the file. I think this mic is better than a condenser for recording vintage guitars!

 

So a short blues on the 1959 Gibson LG3 with Fishman undersaddle pickup and run to Tonedexter - mixer eq flat to iMac. (no microphones were used or injured during this recording!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some new photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[Lars68]

That sounds great! I'm I wrong in saying that the SM57 usually has a bad rep for recording acoustic guitar? However in this case it sounds super!

 

Cool guitar too.

 

Lars

[duluthdan]

That's a really good sound.

[tpbiii]

That sounds great! I'm I wrong in saying that the SM57 usually has a bad rep for recording acoustic guitar? However in this case it sounds super!

 

Cool guitar too.

 

Lars

 

Now here is a topic I can boor you with for a long time.

 

As an amateur traditional musician and vintage guitar collector, but also an academic Acoustics-DSP researcher and one-time small business entrepreneur who developed the first commercial product that put a DSP chip in a PC in the early 80s, I know way too much about this mule.

 

The important elephant in this room is that in general in sound reinforced performances and recordings, people do not prefer faithful reproduction of acoustic sound. We like all kinds of distorted signals -- from very mild reverb to ... well hard to find an appropriate word.

 

I love the SM57 for what it is -- a duel element stage mic that is pretty much the de facto standard for band performances with acoustic instruments, multiple open mics, and monitors. We play a lot of bluegrass -- which does not plug in acoustic instruments as a rule because it is a truly acoustic genre -- and an SM57 (and SM58) are great tools for getting that music on stage in a loud venue. It is a great tool -- tough, well known, and effective -- but the sound you get is not "vintage" in the sense it sounds like the instrument. In fact, vintage killer guitars like old AJs and D-28s can be problematic because they tend to overpower the mics. Can this produce great music that people love -- YES. Does it sound like an amplified version of the acoustic band -- NO. In this environment, the sound is a production of the sound man -- he is the producer, so be nice to him.

 

We own a bunch of SM57s (and SM58s) and we use them when I do sound and carry them to "help out" in some of the strange places we play. The bluegrass setup we prefer is a single or small number number of large diaphragm condenser mics -- we use 4033s, the SM57 of condenser mics. But they will not always work for loud or acoustically challenging environments. For both environments, we mic the (standup) bass with an SM57 under the tailpiece wrapped in foam -- my wife has a variety of bass pickups on her basses, but their interaction with sound systems is a nightmare we don't need.

 

Now I have also spent a lot of time, money, and geekiness in my basement creating faithful reproductions (if you have the right listening equipment) for singe vintage guitars. At this point we have 600+ video/audio recording on-line -- www.vimeo.com/tpbiii. Here I can really boor you about what it takes to do that. The main points are (1) it only works really well for single acoustic guitars, (2) it does include some room effects (ie, it really sounds like the guitar IN THAT ROOM -- like you were there), and (3) if we use it for other stuff (small bands, etc.), it sounds fine but no longer truly "faithful." Here is a nice example of a 1937 Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe.

 

RSSD

 

Back to retirement.

 

Let's pick,

 

-Tom

[flatbaroque]

Man oh man that sounds good.That ain’t no Baggs Element......oh yea the playing

[BluesKing777]

Thanks for the replies!

 

There seems to be a bit of confusion - I did NOT use a mic to record the track.

 

I plugged in to my guitar with its Fishman undersaddle pickup and ran a lead to my Tonedexter and another to my mixer/computer. The acoustic sound is from the Tonedexter file I made, and saved, previously. I confused everyone by mentioning the Shure SM57, sorry. The Tonedexter people recommend making the files with a pencil type condenser mic, but I used the Shure SM57 to experiment. And I like it.

 

I will put a link to the Tonedexter site in a minute.

 

Here 'tis:

http://audiosprockets.com/

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[BluesKing777]

Want some more photos?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Now, if anyone is wondering why the chairs are always leaning forward in my photos - bird poop! The birds are everywhere and sit on the chair back and shite on chair seat! Leaning it forward scares them. So instead they shite on the table, which I just cleaned to take the photos....... )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[uncle fester]

Hey BK - that sounds really good. Really good! So just a couple of points of clarification:

 

1) My understanding - The tonedexter is to use with a pickup (i.e. K&K...) but allow you to adjust the sound to be more of that of a straight up acoustic performance, with the value being in the ability to plug in, but still get the sound you want... is that correct?

 

2) Have you ever put together a picture of your full collection - or a theme within (selfishly asking :)

 

ps - right at the end, right about 1:35 or so, you throw a little bass thump in there, love when you do that!

pps - why in all your pictures are all your chairs always tilted forward, don't you fall off, or does gravity work different on your side of the world?

[BluesKing777]

Hey BK - that sounds really good. Really good! So just a couple of points of clarification:

 

1) My understanding - The tonedexter is to use with a pickup (i.e. K&K...) but allow you to adjust the sound to be more of that of a straight up acoustic performance, with the value being in the ability to plug in, but still get the sound you want... is that correct?

 

2) Have you ever put together a picture of your full collection - or a theme within (selfishly asking :)

 

ps - right at the end, right about 1:35 or so, you throw a little bass thump in there, love when you do that!

pps - why in all your pictures are all your chairs always tilted forward, don't you fall off, or does gravity work different on your side of the world?

 

 

 

Thanks BillRoy!

 

Q.1....

 

If you want to play anywhere with people, you need to make the acoustic you play louder...or you and nobody else can hear it. (especially if my Better Half is there!). To make the sucker louder is the trick and the internet is full of questions and a billion answers..all different. But making an acoustic louder often makes it sound like ...an electric guitar. So we may as well take the Strat. Over the years many companies have offered gadgets to help make the acoustic louder without sounding like an electric. Tonedexter is the latest of these. The idea is to make your installed pickup sound like your guitar mic'd up, without the screaming feedback you get if you turn the mic up.

 

 

Q.2....

 

A real first world problem but I can't fit all my guitars in a photo..ha ha ha hheeee >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I did take some theme groups but they went south when the photo site Photobucket went...err...crazy.

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[uncle fester]

Thanks BillRoy!

 

Q.1....

 

If you want to play anywhere with people, you need to make the acoustic you play louder...or you and nobody else can hear it. (especially if my Better Half is there!). To make the sucker louder is the trick and the internet is full of questions and a billion answers..all different. But making an acoustic louder often makes it sound like ...an electric guitar. So we may as well take the Strat. Over the years many companies have offered gadgets to help make the acoustic louder without sounding like an electric. Tonedexter is the latest of these. The idea is to make your installed pickup sound like your guitar mic'd up, without the screaming feedback you get if you turn the mic up.

 

 

Q.2....

 

A real first world problem but I can't fit all my guitars in a photo..ha ha ha hheeee >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I did take some theme groups but they went south when the photo site Photobucket went...err...crazy.

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Thanks BK - again appreciate the education! rgds - billroy