acoustic preamps? anyone here got any experience in them .........???

Keira-WitherKay

hi all. yep doing the research thing again.......... if you followed my post on just putting an LR baggs ibeam pick up into my beloved classical guitar .. i now need some advice re preamps...........as the pick up albeit active and voiced does need some tweaking .......

and so i done my internet research and just tossing it out there to see if anyones actually using any acoustic preamps/DI's that they recommend......

i would guess i will go for an LR baggs para DI as it seems the logical choice.............well thats my current thinking

the LR baggs venue looks interesting but it seems like an entire floor stompbox setup ...and the price i heard was about R3000 when they land in 2 weeks.... so pricy for what it is....

so anybody have any experience with the boss AD5 . this is interesting cos it includes the 5 band para eq and reverb and chorus (not that i would use the chorus but reverb is usable and nice to have) and also features the DI out function which i want........... so basically same as LR baggs para DI but with effects added....... mmmmmmmmmmmm

and then have i missed something in my research .... i have looked at

1. the sansamp acoustic DI
2. LR baggs para DI
3. LR baggs venue
4. Boss AD5
5. behringer AD121 (their copy of the sansamp acoustic di ) ( this would be the cheap quick fix solution... in case i needed one asap and then i'd keep it as a spare DI when i get something better )

ok so did i miss something ... i'm not looking for multi fx units or rack mount gear ... smaller and compact is better ...... and it must be aimed at acoustic guitar .........

yeah and being able to run off a battery is a bonus......

and budget is not a prob..... within reason ...... meaning around the R3000 mark for a DI with eq is acceptable if it's studio quality ...but i will haggle and try pay the lowest i can heheheh

thanks for the anticipated input

peace and light
keira

Bob-Dubery

The Baggs Para-DI is a very good piece of kit. It also functions as a DI box, and can take phantom power into the balanced output socket or run off a battery. Also tough as nails.

You could also look at the Baggs Gig-Pro which is like a Para-DI lite. Won't function as a DI box though. That runs only on a battery. I have one of those. I have the input gain turned down because I already have pre-amps in the guitar, but it cleans up the sound a treat. Also has a phase reversal switch.

Keira-WitherKay

X-rated Bob wrote The Baggs Para-DI is a very good piece of kit. It also functions as a DI box, and can take phantom power into the balanced output socket or run off a battery. Also tough as nails.

You could also look at the Baggs Gig-Pro which is like a Para-DI lite. Won't function as a DI box though. That runs only on a battery. I have one of those. I have the input gain turned down because I already have pre-amps in the guitar, but it cleans up the sound a treat. Also has a phase reversal switch.

yeah Bob all the units i'm looking at are DI box's too ....actually they primarily DI box's then they decked out with some with some EQ

and yeah i must check out your preamp........ the gig pro

Squonk

I bought the Behringer AD121 about a year ago and have not used yet. Will give it a bash soon and let you know.
Seems like a decent pedal, and as you say, use it as DI when you get something better.

Bob-Dubery

You might also want to consider the Headway EDB-1
http://www.headwaymusicaudio.com/product_edb1_acoustic_preamp.php

Keira-WitherKay

mmm the headway looks cool, does anone import em locally.. cos same as with hunting down the pickup ... best to try before you buy ...........

checked the gig pro quickly online... it's eq is too limited for what i want....
trying to buy something that suits my needs once .......that i won't wanna replace in 6 months time.......

@ squonk .... yeah try out the unit and let me know how it sounds......most importantly does it introduce noise into the system when flat ..........

AlanRatcliffe

The Headway has made serious inroads on the market that was all Baggs Para-acoustic DI until this year. The Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre also looks interesting, but I don't know much about. it

guitarboy2828

I have a boss AD-3.. It doesn't have the DI function.. However, the tone is great. If that means anything.. haha..

Keira-WitherKay

guitarboy2828 wrote I have a boss AD-3.. It doesn't have the DI function.. However, the tone is great. If that means anything.. haha..

tone is EVERYTHING when it comes to acoustic.............. hehehheeh

yeah well the AD5 is on my list and it's got DI too ...still waiting for a price on it though ........

guitarboy2828

Why stop at the AD-5.. Go all the way to an AD-8! ?

I have heard your music on youtube, you get some great tone out of your guitars! What guitar is that?

I went to a Nibs Van da spuy concert a couple weeks ago, and he used a yamaha something or another. I'm not sure what it was, but it really gave his guitars an amazing tone. I did try look them up, but couldn't find anything though.. :/

AlanRatcliffe

The Yamaha would likely be the AG Stomp. Out of production now though.

guitarboy2828

Ahhh.. Alan, you got it.. that's the one.

http://www.zikinf.com/_gfx/matos/dyn/large/yamaha-ag-stomp.jpg

Great sounding pedal. Why'd they stop making em? They didn't replace it with anything else, did they?

AlanRatcliffe

They had a rep of having good features and effects, but noisy and not the best sound quality. The acoustic modelling was a nice feature tho and left the Roland equivalent in the AD range in the dust.

Keira-WitherKay

guitarboy2828 wrote Why stop at the AD-5.. Go all the way to an AD-8! ?

I have heard your music on youtube, you get some great tone out of your guitars! What guitar is that?

I went to a Nibs Van da spuy concert a couple weeks ago, and he used a yamaha something or another. I'm not sure what it was, but it really gave his guitars an amazing tone. I did try look them up, but couldn't find anything though.. :/

yeah the guitar i was using on you tube vids...even the older ones i have vids from 3yrs ago also some ones from this year with my band but i used the same guitar .a yamaha CGX with a B band pick up and in older vids i used a schaller contact pick up to pick up the top but in the band videos i used an internal condenser mic i fitted and obviously mixed in with the b band...... so actually that tone is not an off the shelf sound but kinda custom......

however i now have even better tone with this old yamaha and now fitted the LR baggs i beam which is cool.but the best tone comes with a mic on the 37 yr old guitar ... i have A/B 'd it even at a gig where i brought along my old CGX and the new tone is so superior......

and yeah as for the AD8 ...... i doubt i need it it's more of a COSM modelling effect ..... i love the tone of my acoustic ... i just need some good EQ and a DI function since the LR baggs is good but does not redropuce the natural sound of the nylon properly .so i will need to try EQ the sound i hear acoustically in..... ........ anyway i'll still use a mic where i can ... by far the best sound... but yeah got some festival gigs on horizon so just getting it ready ...... and to me the tone being as natural as posible is all that concerns me..... so yeah a big NO to the idea of an AD8 with the COSM modeling thank you .... ad the AD5 does just what i need ..... DI ,EQ and reverb (the reverb is something none of the other units offer) and also the anti feedback section (but other units offer notch filters which is same thing really or at least used in same way )

and yeah not many units around that do the job...... i need.......

matta

Keira,

Outside of the Headway I have played and used ALL the items you have listed, the Para DI wins hands down on price/performance and flexibility... the Boss stuff is SO noisy in comparison, granted the effects are a nice addition, but not at the cost of the noise... rather get 1 or 2 pedals and use the loop in the Para-DI.

The Yamaha AGstomp is also nice because of all the effects, the modeling is MUCH better than any of the Boss COSM stuff, but a bit noisy compared to some of the other options (as Alan shared) and is out of manufacture. I have a friend who might be selling his as he is playing more electrics these days if you are interested I could ask him how much he wants for it?

Cheers

Matt

Keira-WitherKay

thanks matta ...... yeah i think i wrote in the 1st post of this thread that the baggs para DI was my choice.... just seeing if anyone else has input .........

have you tried the fishman aura spectrum DI ? it seems great and i watched the demo's on the site on video and the unit seems very solid...and has all the requirements ... even a compressor .... and modelling but doubt i need that .....

AlanRatcliffe

I'd also like to hear on that Matt - Fishman were downright rude when I mentioned I wanted to try use one on an electric guitar's piezo bridge. Bloody luddites... ?

guitarboy2828

Alan Ratcliffe wrote I'd also like to hear on that Matt - Fishman were downright rude when I mentioned I wanted to try use one on an electric guitar's piezo bridge. Bloody luddites... ?

How rude!