hello,

i'm looking to pick up a new acoustic/electric guitar over the summer.


does anybody know off-hand a brand/model that has really good
gain-before-feedback? that's very important.

price range $500.

i was thinking some sort of Takamine, but then there is a Schecter for
about $350 that looked pretty cool.

obviously i'll be going to the store and trying things out, but it's
hard to figure out which guitar is going to squeal and howl on stage
with a full band going.

Hi,

This is in most cases related to the electronics that the guitar has
onboard and the technology for picking up the sound (mic? piezo
transducer?).
I would choose the actual instrument first before dealing with the
electronics. You need to be 'compatible' with your instrument before
worrying about wiring it up! Why is the 'gain-before-feedback' thing
that you're looking for "very important" though?

Regards,

Evangelos

%
Evangelos Himonides
IoE, University of London
tel: +44 2076126599
fax: +44 2076126741
"Allas to those who never sing but die with all their music in them..."



Oliver Wendell Holmes


%

wrote in message
oups.com...
hello,

i'm looking to pick up a new acoustic/electric guitar over the summer.


does anybody know off-hand a brand/model that has really good
gain-before-feedback? that's very important.

price range $500.

i was thinking some sort of Takamine, but then there is a Schecter for
about $350 that looked pretty cool.

obviously i'll be going to the store and trying things out, but it's
hard to figure out which guitar is going to squeal and howl on stage
with a full band going.


Takamine's are renown for body feedback. No matter what you get, be sure to
get a sound hole plug that fits as well. Even Tak's hold up well with a
plug.

wrote:

i'm looking to pick up a new acoustic/electric guitar over the summer.

price range $500.


How about a ~$400 Blueridge with a K&K pickup?

WOW!?!

I thought Takamine's were known for being good live/plugged-in
acoustic/electrics. When you say "renown", do you mean they feed-back
a lot, or a little?

If they feed-back a lot I would have used the words "notorious for body
feedback" (renown is a word usually used to refer to something
praiseworthy). So I'm not sure what you mean here. Not trying to be a
weeny, just want to understand what you meant.

WOW!?!

I thought Takamine's were known for being good live/plugged-in
acoustic/electrics. When you say "renown", do you mean they feed-back
a lot, or a little?

If they feed-back a lot I would have used the words "notorious for body
feedback" (renowned is a word usually used to refer to something
praiseworthy). So I'm not sure what you mean here. Not trying to be a
weeny, just want to understand what you meant.

There are a lot of things that can cause considerable frustration on
stage. Not being able to get enough gain before feedback on a signal
is definitely a drag.

Of course it is... there's no doubt about it! But if you're coming out
the PA system you can just turn the levels up on the desk. As a
guitarist, I'd be much more frustrated if the guitar I was playing
wasn't 'compatible' with my hands and body.
I would find a guitar that I liked first and would research the
electronics immediately afterwards.
Have a look at carvin as well (www.carvin.com)... IMHO they are the
most decent instruments for their price and the craftmanship is second
to none (again IMHO). I just wish they shipped factory direct outside
the states as well...

Good luck

Evangelos

genericaudioperson wrote:

obviously i'll be going to the store and trying things out, but it's
hard to figure out which guitar is going to squeal and howl on stage
with a full band going.

And that is why the solid body electric guitar was invented. Either you
can have the sound of an acoustic guitar at realistic volume levels, or
you can have the sound of a piezo duck quacking its way through the
songs at higher volume levels, or you can enjoy loads of feedback from a
squealing duck. But when you put a responsive acoustic guitar in a loud
setting, dig what the guitar does all by itself: it hears a lot of it
and works about like a big wooden microphone.

--
ha

genericaudioperson wrote:

WOW!?!

I thought Takamine's were known for being good live/plugged-in
acoustic/electrics. When you say "renown", do you mean they feed-back
a lot, or a little?

If they feed-back a lot I would have used the words "notorious for body
feedback" (renown is a word usually used to refer to something
praiseworthy). So I'm not sure what you mean here. Not trying to be a
weeny, just want to understand what you meant.

You need to understand that _any_ truly responive acoustic guitar is
going to go nuts in a loud setting, and putting a piezo pickup in it
isn't going to change that. Plugging the soundhole gets you halfway to a
solid body axe. Perhaps a thin bodied electric with a combo of
electromagnetic and piezo pickups would help you. You'd need quite a bit
more money for the likes of a Parker with piezos under each string.

Have you ever taken a good acoustic guitar into a loud setting and just
_felt_ what the body of it does?

--
ha

Zigakly wrote:


Moot point, all acoustic guitars with pick-ups should come with a sound hole
plug. Don't leave home without one.

I just put K&K's Pure Western pickup into a '69 J50. Anyone trying to
plug the soundhole gets shot. I want the sound of the _guitar_, and it
wants that soundhole in order to sound like it really sounds. When the
going gets too loud for it, I'll change guitars.

--
ha

Kurt Albershardt wrote:

genericaudiopersonwrote:

i'm looking to pick up a new acoustic/electric guitar over the summer.

price range $500.

How about a ~$400 Blueridge with a K&K pickup?

Damn good choice, IMO.

--
ha

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:40:22 GMT, (hank alrich)
wrote:

Zigakly wrote:


Moot point, all acoustic guitars with pick-ups should come with a sound hole
plug. Don't leave home without one.

I just put K&K's Pure Western pickup into a '69 J50. Anyone trying to
plug the soundhole gets shot. I want the sound of the _guitar_, and it
wants that soundhole in order to sound like it really sounds. When the
going gets too loud for it, I'll change guitars.

I remember watching an Austin City Limits program with Lyle Lovette
headlining and John Prine as the opener. Prine had a D-28 with a mic
on it, Lyle Lovette was also playing a D-28 but with a piezo
installed... the difference was stark, Lovette's guitar sounded like
plastic crap. He might as well have been playing a $400 guitar.

Al

Yeah, but was Lyle playing with his Large Band or just by himself? I've
seen him both ways on ASL, but the last time I saw him (just a couple of
months ago although I don't know if it was even a recent production) it
really didn't make any difference about his guitar because it was hardly in
the mix.

BUT, to hark back to another thread, at least Austin City Limits and
Soundstage still have good quality mixes.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
http://blogs.salon.com/0004478/
"playon" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:40:22 GMT, (hank alrich)
wrote:

Zigakly wrote:


Moot point, all acoustic guitars with pick-ups should come with a sound
hole
plug. Don't leave home without one.

I just put K&K's Pure Western pickup into a '69 J50. Anyone trying to
plug the soundhole gets shot. I want the sound of the _guitar_, and it
wants that soundhole in order to sound like it really sounds. When the
going gets too loud for it, I'll change guitars.

I remember watching an Austin City Limits program with Lyle Lovette
headlining and John Prine as the opener. Prine had a D-28 with a mic
on it, Lyle Lovette was also playing a D-28 but with a piezo
installed... the difference was stark, Lovette's guitar sounded like
plastic crap. He might as well have been playing a $400 guitar.

Al