acoustic simulator pedals

[the_drip]

What is the best one...and do they even come close to emulating a real acoustic? Or does it sound as fake as I am tending to think it does.


I want to learn a couple old school Opeth songs. (apostle in triumph, In the Mist She was Standing) And they switch back and forth from an acoustic to electric...ALOT. Thought this might be the trick...if I was to ...cover one of these songs..and perform it live.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Of the few that I've heard and tried, they mostly sound like a mix between a plugged-in acoustic-electric and a clean electric guitar, if that's what you're looking for.

[the_drip]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

would it be better than using the plain jane clean tone of a 5150? in your opinion?

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

I haven't heard the clean channel of a 5150. I honestly don't find the acoustic simulation pedals very pleasing to my ears since I DO play acoustic. They lack warmth and that full-bodied tone (obviously). If I were playing live, I'd personally want an acoustic guitar set up on a stand the way Jon Schaffer sometimes has his acoustic guitars on stage... like this:



Except I'd probably want to mic the acoustic rather than plug it in... I haven't heard an acoustic-electric tone I've liked before.

[the_drip]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

yeah, that'd be ideal. but for now. I am thinking the pedal would suffice. Right? I have very little experience with an acoustic. (used a Nylon stinged classical for the first time...last semester) I"d like to get an ovation maybe...someday down the road. When money is less of a restraint for me.

[toejam]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

I've got an old DOD GS30 modeling floor system (one of the first amp/effects modelers that came out in the late '90s) and it's got an acoustic simulator built in that does a very good job. I don't really use the system much any more and was thinking of picking up some kind of single acoustic pedal to simplify things.

[AlexL]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Originally posted by Number Of The Priest:
...Except I'd probably want to mic the acoustic rather than plug it in... I haven't heard an acoustic-electric tone I've liked before.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">High stage volume + miked acoustic guiars = feedback. For rock acts, plugging the acoustic in really is the way to go.

What about one of those piezo bridges? The last time I saw Dream Theater, JP got some near-acoustic tones out of his electric; I figured he had a piezo in it.


- E.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Hmmm, but what about singing? You obviously can't plug in a vocalist's voice box, so how come there's no feedback?

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Hey Drippy, you're gonna have 3 guitar players in your band right? Why not just get one of the other guys to grab an acoustic with a pickup thru the PA or a mic to play the parts on the songs? I've been thinking about the same things for when my band gets together, and this seems to be the way to go as far as I can figure. I would plug the acoustic into my POD (on the Tube Preamp patch) for some extra eqing then into the PA. It's foolproof, and I don't think the pedal can beat the real thing.

[jgcable]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Boss AC-2. You can run it one of 2 ways. You can route the signal directly to the board (it sounds perfect) or you can use it as a regular stomp box in your clean channel. It is the industry standard for acoustic simulators.

[AlexL]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Originally posted by Number Of The Priest:
Hmmm, but what about singing? You obviously can't plug in a vocalist's voice box, so how come there's no feedback?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Vocal mikes do feedback, just not as easily. I believe the problem with acoustic guitars has to do with the body of the guitar resonating. Also, the stage monitors have to be cranked up quite a bit to hear the guitar in a rock setting. That contributes to feedback, too (loud stage monitors are typically the cause of vocal mike feedback). Plus, unless the guitar is "locked down" like on a stand, you will be constantly moving to and from the mike, which will sound like crap out front.

Miked acoustics are just a PIA onstage.

Even if I plug my acoustic-electric into an amp and turn it up too loud the thing feedbacks like a mother, and you can just feel the wood vibrating (here come the smart a** remarks...).

Michael Hedges was an acoustic guitarist, and even though in concert it was just him and a guitar, he used a combination Piezo pickup and sound hole pickup, and his soundman would use a blend of the two. Always sounded real nice whenever I saw him.


- E.

[the_drip]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

mic'ed [img]graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

[the_drip]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

I think we'll try that Boss pedal.


it will improve the clean tone of the 5150 right? Because, it really sounds like ass.

especially when you're juicing it with EMG-81's.

[toejam]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Originally posted by AlexL:
Michael Hedges was an acoustic guitarist, and even though in concert it was just him and a guitar, he used a combination Piezo pickup and sound hole pickup, and his soundman would use a blend of the two. Always sounded real nice whenever I saw him.
- E. [/QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Michael Hedges was a god!! I have his Aerial Boundaries album. [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] I think he died in '97 in a car crash. RIP [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[AlexL]

Re: acoustic simulator pedals

Yup, he was truly amazing. I saw him 4 or 5 times. Someone posted a vid clip here of some guy playing acoustic guitar with lots of slapping and tapping - totally Hedges influenced.

- E.