I like the sound of the piezo pickups in my Takamine nylon-string, but
I'm starting to do more banging on the guitar body these days and am
realizing that the piezos aren't really transmitting these sounds very
well. An external mic does fine with this of course, but I want
something suitable for onstage use, especially when I'm singing and
moving around a lot. I've occasionally seen acoustics with a small mic
that appears inside the guitar directly underneath the soundhole, but
I'm not sure what brand these might be or if they'd do a good job of
picking up various body noises.
I also make use of the harmonics that appear between the fret and the
headstock, which of course aren't heard by the piezo pickups. I know
Fred Frith had a guitar with a pickup mounted up on the headstock,
though his was huge (and appeared on an electric) and was done quite
some time ago, I think must be developments here since.
Finally, I'm looking for a really really good portable (i.e., stompbox
or half-rack) compressor that's well-suited to acoustic guitar. I HATE
the obvious sound of compression, i.e. Adrian Belew or some of Nels
Cline's clean stuff, but I want some help evening out levels and
boosting the gain of harmonics. Price doesn't really matter - I almost
never buy new gear and figure I'm owed a treat - I just want something
that is subtle, works well and doesn't display the breathing kind of effect.
thoughts?
Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com
www.chinapaintingmusic.com
Hmm, an in-person demo is awfully tempting! It's a deal if you can find
a Springer machine to show off too...
Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com
www.chinapaintingmusic.com