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Post by fuzzbox on Aug 26, 2020 15:48:01 GMT
In the future I'm planning a little project for which I'd like to use one guitar. I'd like it to be a nylon string but I'm struggling to get a nice "strum with a plectrum" sound out of it. There's too much thwack on the notes.
I'm also considering getting an Acus amp as I'm currently going through a JC40, but the sound is so terrifying I'm having to sleep with the light on.
I know I'm not going to get the jangle of a steel string out of it, I just need a "softer" strummed sound.
I've thought about...
Felt picks Pre amp Eq pedal Compressor
Will any of the above help, or will I have to do the one thing I don't want to do and learn to strum with my nails/fingers?
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Aug 26, 2020 21:57:38 GMT
Difficult one that!
I'm not convinced that any kind of amplification/eq/effects are going to help much especially if you are using a pickup in the guitar (yes/no?).
Have you tried a decent microphone to capture the acoustic sound of gentle strumming with a nylon pick?
Keith
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Post by jangarrack on Aug 27, 2020 8:25:37 GMT
External EQ is what helped me with nylon string amplification through an AER acoustic amp but my situation will likely be different to yours as I only play it at home, so not very high volume, and I only play finger style, not tried any picks or strumming. Also, I'm pretty clueless about amplification and EQing so just blindly trying everything until I find what works for me.
I couldn't get a decent sound out of any of 3 nylon string guitars regardless of any combination of EQ settings on the amp and guitar. It would be boomy, muddy, have that terrible metallic fuzziness on the treble or any combination of these. In the end I bought an LR Baggs Venue DI, which is probably total overkill for my situation, but it has 5 band EQ with tunable low-mid and high-mid bands and that give a lot more control. Being able to effectively sweep the mids and tame the top end treble metallic fuzziness without losing clarity seemed to bring it all together nicely.
I was lucky enough to get a very good deal the LR Baggs as I think it was either used or ex demo but I'm sure there are other and cheaper options available that would do a similar job.
Hope that helps.
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by colins on Aug 27, 2020 8:56:47 GMT
The only pickup I've ever liked in a nylon string guitar is the K&K made specially for them, they are pigs to fit retrospectively as you have no bridge pin holes as a guide, so I have always fitted them during building when the box is still open. Otherwise, I much prefer just using a microphone and for strumming just fingernails.
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Post by andyhowell on Aug 29, 2020 10:01:39 GMT
Here is my ten cents worth! I very much doubt an amp or external eq will deal with this as the problem is the pick sound. A nice amp like an AER will naturally give you a nice mid tone sound and that will make the sound more pleasant but it won't take away the pick tone. A parametric EQ — external or in the computer — will allow you to notch some of it out but won't make that much difference. When you work with these sounds you will find that they often cover a much wider frequency range than you would imagine, which makes EQing difficult — you will just loose too much of everything else. Even one of the modern dynamic eq's will have problems — I know I have tried !!!!
What will make a difference will be the proximity to the microphone. The simplest thing you can do is to give yourself more space but, of course, that will introduce more room sound. If your room is a bet reverby then you may well loose in anotehr way while gaining in one! (This is the curse of all recording and mixing).
I strongly suspect that ths distance thing means that a pickup will not help at all! It doesn't matter how good the pick up is you will still get that harsh attack sound from the pick!
SO !!!
1. Find yourself a really nice sounding room to record in and give yourself more distance!
2. Experiment with picks — I have some wooden ones that I rarely use (because I don't use picks) but they seem less prone to this kind of thing.
3. Improve your technique — nobody wants to here tbis but in my humble experience most of my main problems hve bee solved by me changing the string attack and just playing better (but that might just be me).
4. Why use a pick at all? Just a thought. You don't need one to strum with and you don't need one to pick a lead line with if you practice using your thumb and first finger together.
That's just my view. No doubt there will be a load of people here who will come along and tell me I'm wrong. But I really don't think it is worth spending money on what may well turn out to be a wild goose chase.
I have a great surgucal eq in my computer, the Fab Filter Pro EQ. This not only allows me to make very narrow notch corrections but to allow dynamic processing — the signal will compress (reduce) the sound in that frequency when it is hit hard leaving it unaffected for the rest of the time. Thgis works brilliantly for things like deessing and sibilance but has totally defeated me when trying to deal with this stuff simply as the frequency spread is too wide. YOur DAW will probably have a deesser and usually you can try and see what happens using that.
IO'm really interested to see what happens with your experiments!
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Post by fuzzbox on Aug 31, 2020 18:01:59 GMT
I've spent the weekend experimenting with smooth wound classical strings with a wound G (GHS) and felt picks.
First the picks.I normally use thick 2.0mm picks but these are thicker still at around 3.0mm. I'm definately sticking with these. I don't think the material is doing much tonally but the increased thickness is great. Plus I like the feel.
The strings are great too. I never realised that wound G's were available with classical strings. The wound strings are fine and I think the reason is that the initial attack is short and bright while the nylon strings have the percussive thwack that swamps everything.
I think there's a sound here I can work with with a bit of eq experimentation
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