Acoustic modelling pedals advice

Jack-Flash-Jr

Picking up from Keira's topic, any advice on acoustic modelling pedals? I'd obviously like one so good that eyes closed Keira would think she was listening to one of her own acoustics ? If such a pedal doesn't exist what's the next best thing? Tried out a Behringer AD100 and Ad121 some time ago and they were not great (understatement so as not to offend) imo... (store conditions notwithstanding).

AlanRatcliffe

The two main contenders are the D-Tar Mama Bear and the Fishman Aura Spectrum DI.

The Fishman allows you to download a huge range of models (PC only though). They also give you the option to send your own guitar to Fishman and have them model an input image from the pickup and a variety of models of your guitar as recorded with a collection of different high quality studio mics and preamps - that would be the closest thing to your own guitar.

The Mama Bear has the advantage of being able to take your guitar and ad models of different acoustic guitars.

Keira-WitherKay

mmmmmmmm i'm still to hear one that will work effectively........ what does work is when i was in hotel cover bands i used an acoustic simulator with my strat that merely gave a vague impression of an acoustic being played ..while i played the electric..... i used the boss one and it sounded ok....... but would never pass for an acoustic unless in a heavy mix of lots of instruments... so trying to make your electric sound like a an acoustic.... forget it if you fussy .... or demand a natural acoustic sound.... but the pedals do give a "quasi acoustic " sound ...which can be very usable if you doing lots of work on one guitar and not able to take 3 guitars on the plane so yeah .......

to me the modelling like the fishman aura should be used to enhance your acoustic sound from your acoustic... not from an electric.... just this morning i was listening the clip beneath of the modelling used on a ramirez which for those not into nylons is a top of line nylon... so using it to sound better since the pickups always fail to reproduce the true mic's sound of any acoustic......... i was impressed ... watch it and see....

http://www.fishmanaura.com/learn/listenindex.asp#ramirez

below is just an online ad...........

this aura by fishman sounds fabulous in my books .... love to get one on a stage for a night ....... sounds like exactly the tones i like... the mic'd tones ....

Jack-Flash-Jr

At USD 330 the Fishman seems like a good bet...

singemonkey

Wow. That aura DI really seems to do the job, eh? If I were playing acoustic guitars live, I'd have to have it. Digital really is a magic tool that breaks through all these difficult problems of the past, isn't it?

It's seems though, that it should be possible to make convincing copies of acoustic guitars with modelling. After all, the strings do very similar stuff on an electric, and the sound box is really just an amplifier with it's own harmonic characteristics.

Saying that, i'm not sure why one would want to. I don't have a problem with "acoustic" pieces played on electrics. I love fingerpicking my pacifica with the hall reverb turned down low, very clean, the tone slightly rolled back, on the neck pickup. It has a beautiful, clear, resonant sound. In the same way that no one would complain that a banjo doesn't sound like a nylon stringed guitar, I have no complaints about an electric guitar as a single instrument played as accompaniment to a voice.

Keira-WitherKay

Jack Flash Jr wrote At USD 330 the Fishman seems like a good bet...

yeah only prob it's not available locally ??? just asked my friendly salesman who i always deal with to find me a price and availability . he said andy mc gibbons were the agents and none in stock or even on order ....... nor a price...... however they also out of LR baggs preamps ...which however will be landing in 2 weeks max.....

mmmmmm this fishman does look good.. but i never trust it till i try it so ordering one online is dodgy ...till i at least hear someone else's ........... so who has one????

or if anyone know of a store maybe in ct who has it i would contact them ......... but jhb seems a no no for fishman aura spectrum DI

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote yeah only prob it's not available locally ??? just asked my friendly salesman who i always deal with to find me a price and availability . he said andy mc gibbons were the agents and none in stock or even on order ....... nor a price...... however they also out of LR baggs preamps ...which however will be landing in 2 weeks max.....

I looked on the Fishman web site and it says the distributors in SA are T.O.M.S.

Jack-Flash-Jr

Have friends coming from NY for 2010, may look for test unit then ask them to carry it in if TOMS too expensive...

Keira-WitherKay

thanks Bob i'll give em a call...... mmm and i was told it was andy's ..can't trust anyone can you ... heheheheh

Keira-WitherKay

yep called TOMS and they too are out of stock . but retail price is approx R4500 and discounted to R3500 for cash .... but he said new stock might be higher or lower so don't take this price as gospel just a guide...........

oh well how i miss living in europe .. at times like this..... hope stock arrives soon.....

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote oh well how i miss living in europe .. at times like this..... hope stock arrives soon.....

It ain't necessarily any better up north. I was in the UK in June. I was interested in a UniVibe. Do you think I could even get to test drive such a pedal in London? Forget it.

I also wanted a set of machine heads for the Morgan. Not necessarily the factory part (the people in the factory are perpetually out to lunch) but just something that would fit. If you think the shops in Denmark street have sets of Gotohs behind the counter then think again. Eventually a well-regarded shop in Manchester said they could order a set that would fit without any extra drilling. They supplied me a set of Schallers (which they had to get couriered in from wherever).

They didn't fit (they're now on my Smoothtalker).

Partial capos? No luck.

Admittedly you could get pre-CBS strats and could just about take your pick from the Martin catalog - at a price.

Larrivee acoustics cost probably as much there as they do here. All the G&L guitars turned out to be the "tribute" range.

singemonkey

Stuff in London costs the same as here. I've always wondered about that. Some kind of commonwealth pricing system? In London they seem to mysteriously take the dollar price, remove the dollar sign, replace with pound sign.

As you say, their range of vintage guitars is amazing though. I wanted to test the difference between a squier telecaster, a made-in-mexico telecaster, and an american one. For the american one, they gave me this really dirty tele. I played it. Sounded and played about the same as the MIM one. Checked the price tag... "1956 Fender Telecaster, 25,000 pounds." *chokes, replaces guitar very carefully on wall.

Buying from the states or Japan is the way to go.