RainboGuy Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 After reading numerous reviews here and elsewhere, and talking to some guitar players whom I know and respect, I ordered a New Fishman Aura Spectrum DI Pedal for my Gibson 2016 J-45 Standard with the Baggs Element Piezo system. The pedal is on its way. The reason I bought it is that I felt I needed more control over the tone I was getting from my J-45 plugged straight into my new Fender Acoustic Pro amp......the tone was a tadd too "quacky" for me and even with the Amp's Phase Shift and Sweepable Midrange controls, I was still getting too much feedback, which, of course, is troublesome. I'm looking forward to experimenting with the new pedal when it gets here, and will report back on it after I've had a chance to play with it for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 I use the Aura 16 pedal which is wonderful. Really warms up my live sound and works brilliantly with the majority of pickups in my experience, just trim the gain to suit active/passive and you're away. In my experience it's all about subtlety of application, I have the volume up full and the blend set to about 30%. That way it takes the nasty attack transients and plasticky mids away from piezo pickups and adds a lovely acoustic front end, but doesn't get too mushy and still has definition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainboGuy Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Jinder, thank you. Your description is exactly what I'm looking to do........ I just want the guitar to sound like the guitar, that's all.......if that makes sense...... I want that sweet, rich, mellow and balanced tone that my Gibson J-45 puts out there....only BIGGER...... And, I might add, considering that You're putting about $2,300 into a new Gibson J-45, about $1,000 for a New Fender Acoustic Pro Amp, and about $350.00 for a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI Pedal, I'm thinking for $3,650 .....it should sound REALLY, REALLY GOOD.....not just good......don't you think so, too? I'll let you guys know when I get there...........this may take some time fiddling to tweak "THE TONE" where it's RIGHT THERE> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Jinder, thank you. Your description is exactly what I'm looking to do........ I just want the guitar to sound like the guitar, that's all.......if that makes sense...... I want that sweet, rich, mellow and balanced tone that my Gibson J-45 puts out there....only BIGGER...... And, I might add, considering that You're putting about $2,300 into a new Gibson J-45, about $1,000 for a New Fender Acoustic Pro Amp, and about $350.00 for a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI Pedal, I'm thinking for $3,650 .....it should sound REALLY, REALLY GOOD.....not just good......don't you think so, too? I'll let you guys know when I get there...........this may take some time fiddling to tweak "THE TONE" where it's RIGHT THERE> I think you're bang on in looking for "your guitar but BIGGER". There is a lot of focus in acoustic amplification on "your guitar but LOUDER", which doesn't really translate well for live performance. Bigger is where it's at! I'm currently midway through a gig with my '90 Hummingbird with Matrix Infinity pickup, into my Aura 16 then my Fishman Loudbox Performer amp. It sounds great-more muscular and powerful than the sweet tone of the Hummingbird unplugged, but with the Hummingbird identity there behind the beef. Acoustic amplification will always be a compromise, but you're right to expect dollar outlay to equate to great tone. I've been playing for a living for 20yrs and have really come to appreciate that-whilst occasionally a cheap guitar will have "it"-generally when it comes to amplified performance, the more you spend, the better it sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 I think you're bang on in looking for "your guitar but BIGGER". There is a lot of focus in acoustic amplification on "your guitar but LOUDER", which doesn't really translate well for live performance. Bigger is where it's at! I'm currently midway through a gig with my '90 Hummingbird with Matrix Infinity pickup, into my Aura 16 then my Fishman Loudbox Performer amp. It sounds great-more muscular and powerful than the sweet tone of the Hummingbird unplugged, but with the Hummingbird identity there behind the beef. Acoustic amplification will always be a compromise, but you're right to expect dollar outlay to equate to great tone. I've been playing for a living for 20yrs and have really come to appreciate that-whilst occasionally a cheap guitar will have "it"-generally when it comes to amplified performance, the more you spend, the better it sounds. What do you to for feedback, Jinder? I would upgrade to the Aura Spectrum DI - it has quite a few handy 'extras' to the Aura 16, big one being the feedback button with 3 chances (notches) that will search, destroy and somehow remember it until you hit the button again. Then it has simple eq and a compressor knob, tuner with mute I don't use because I prefer the Polytune Clip. If you have all different shapes and types of guitars, it has enough sound image types to cover them, even if it doesn't have, for example my Lowden S35 Tasmanian Blackwood/Cedar! The other very weird thing with Aura boxes nobody mentions much is the difference between the sound it makes coming out an amp live and recording direct to anything. Adding a 30 odd % mix of Aura image to your pickup sound in a live amp gets rid of the undersaddle quack, very nicely thanks. Just superb! But recording the identical settings sounds...err...poop. I have tried to stay awake to read the technical explanation for this phenonema, but layman's terms means your amp speakers sound different than a recorded track listened back, especially through good headphones. So I add between 75% right up to 100% sound image if recording direct to a mixer and computer. By that I mean running a mono guitar lead out the Output plug of the Aura to my mixer. Running 2 xlr (balanced) mic leads direct from the DI section is different again....cleaner, but leads running everywhere.... Now on the 100% image.......if I have my J45, I have downoaded the best J45 image and I have found that and my OM18V image to be very, very close to the real sound. But I don't care anymore - the Image Gallery doesn't have any odd bods and a 75% to 80% sound image blend with something similar is still way, way, way better than......The Quack. I have previously banged on about this and posted heaps of recordings over the years, but they must be due to bring out something new - it has been at least 10 years, must be? Of course I have the Martin D18E Retro which has the above loaded on board, a sensational D18 in its own right but with 9 sound images from a vintage 1937 D18 recorded with 9 top studio mics ...in Nashville ....that's the blurb! And it is sensational - plug direct to a PA or record direct to mixer...computer.... Martin recently bought out a newer model with cutaway and a 1 image only system for all those that complained mine was too hard to set, but with added top sensor for.....shirt and arm noises, I don't know, haven't played one. Unfortunately Gibson only has the Baggs Quacker on standard guitars, which leads us back to needing an Aura box! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainboGuy Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 FedEx just notified me that the Fishman Aura Spectrum DI that I ordered will be delivered here tomorrow.... I'm pretty stoked......... I'm REALLY looking forward to spending some time playing with it in order to get "MY ACOUSTIC SOUND" coming out of my Amp........I already have "MY ELECTRIC SOUND".......which is the sound of Black Blues Clubs in St. Louis in the 60's....... I've been playing since I was 8 years old in 1956, growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, when my Dad bought me my first guitar and amp.....they were Supros... I played electrics almost exclusively since then........and used to have a 14 Piece R&B Band....we were THE band in St. Louis at that time.......and I had the PRIVILEDGE of seeing Blues turn into Rhythm and Blues and Rock 'n Roll right in front of my eyes...watching Ike and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry and Albert King "do their thing". And St. Louis is where that all happened, I just happened to be there at the right time and the right place to absorb it all....... It's been my experience that you know that your tone is "Right on The Money" when people come up to you during or right after your live gig and say to you...."I have NEVER heard a guitar sound so good live and in person".......THAT is the kind of feedback you EXPECT to hear from "The Paying Customers" when you have it NAILED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 What do you to for feedback, Jinder? If I'm playing through my own rig, I use the sweepable anti feedback notch filter on my Loudbox Performer. Last night I was in a tricky venue acoustically and my Hummingbird was a bit woofy and indistinct, but a quick spin of the anti feedback knob sorted it out straight away. I will upgrade to the Spectrum one day but for now the 16 is just fine, I run it at the front end of my pedalboard which I'm unsure if I can do with the Spectrum...does it have an FX loop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 FedEx just notified me that the Fishman Aura Spectrum DI that I ordered will be delivered here tomorrow.... I'm pretty stoked......... I'm REALLY looking forward to spending some time playing with it in order to get "MY ACOUSTIC SOUND" coming out of my Amp........I already have "MY ELECTRIC SOUND".......which is the sound of Black Blues Clubs in St. Louis in the 60's....... I've been playing since I was 8 years old in 1956, growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, when my Dad bought me my first guitar and amp.....they were Supros... I played electrics almost exclusively since then........and used to have a 14 Piece R&B Band....we were THE band in St. Louis at that time.......and I had the PRIVILEDGE of seeing Blues turn into Rhythm and Blues and Rock 'n Roll right in front of my eyes...watching Ike and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry and Albert King "do their thing". And St. Louis is where that all happened, I just happened to be there at the right time and the right place to absorb it all....... It's been my experience that you know that your tone is "Right on The Money" when people come up to you during or right after your live gig and say to you...."I have NEVER heard a guitar sound so good live and in person".......THAT is the kind of feedback you EXPECT to hear from "The Paying Customers" when you have it NAILED. I bet you have some amazing stories to tell, RG. If I was in the US I'd love to buy you a beer or two and hear some of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainboGuy Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Jinder: If I were in the UK, I'd buy you a Watney's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 If I'm playing through my own rig, I use the sweepable anti feedback notch filter on my Loudbox Performer. Last night I was in a tricky venue acoustically and my Hummingbird was a bit woofy and indistinct, but a quick spin of the anti feedback knob sorted it out straight away. I will upgrade to the Spectrum one day but for now the 16 is just fine, I run it at the front end of my pedalboard which I'm unsure if I can do with the Spectrum...does it have an FX loop? It does have an effects loop, but I prefer it in line (first). And for Rainbo, glad you like them blues but the box is just a gadget, I like it but see how you go. It will never replace a beatiful mic sound, but it is very, very convenient and people have told me it was a 'beautiful' sound through the PA.....unfortunately, I couldn't hear the foldback last time when I expected to have the whole thing sorted! So just saying there is the idea and then reality and to me, Aura stuff is a good reality compared to running straight undersaddle..... experiment at home a few weeks before playing anywhere! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainboGuy Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 Well, FedEx delivered the pedal yesterday morning, right about the time I was getting ready to leave for an all-day boating expedition, so I didn't even get a chance to "fiddle with it" until I got back last night. As I was a bit tired, I thought it would be wise to wait until this morning to put it through it's paces, and after carefully reading the manual, went through the Pedal's setup procedures. The first thing that I noticed as a bit odd, was that even after carefully trying the "Trim" function per the instructions, I could not get the lights to flash. Even more careful reading of the manual told me that, according to Fishman, some undersaddle pickups just won't get the Trim lights to flash at all......so....OK....I guess my Baggs Element VTC is one of them. The next thing I did was to download some of the Gibson J-45 images to the pedal, and that worked just fine, even though the process wasn't entirely intuitive. Once that was done, I plugged my guitar into the pedal and the pedal into my Fender Acoustic Pro.......and YES....success! I can now control the Piezo "Quackiness" which is GREAT! I got it working.........now I think it's just a matter of tweaking the guitar, pedal and amp settings to get "My Acoustic Tone" that I want. No doubt this will take some time and patience. I also tested the Feedback control.........and it worked like a champ! This pedal has the coolest anti-feedback control I have ever seen. I'm glad I got this pedal!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 Yeah, its a great pedal, and all the positive points have been covered. I really do feel it sounds like your own acoustic, but just more of it. And its a super stable system. Just dont go crazy with the image blend mix, no more than 30%! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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