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Post by PistolPete on May 27, 2017 8:41:43 GMT
Quite often if I'm looking for a video review it's because I've read good things (or been told good things on a forum like this one) & I want to actually hear the product. For that reason I often find it very frustrating if there's a lot of preamble before any playing takes place. I came across one the other day that had a full ten minutes of the guy talking about the guitar before he played it.
I don't recall ever watching a lot of review videos all the way through but the exception would probably be comparison videos where they take, say the Gibson & Epiphone models of the same guitar and discuss the differences.
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Post by PistolPete on May 24, 2017 8:32:01 GMT
3. When playing into an amp it seems that the iRig Acoustic Stage is maybe more sensitive to electrics interference than a lead form the guitars own pickup system. I plugged the acoustic amp into a different socket / location than usual last night. There were very noticeable bursts of crackling / whooshing noises. The same cable into the same amp in the same location but from the guitars own pickup .... no problems. Same thing was observed with a different cable. Tried the usual socket / location this morning - no issues either way. I then went back to last nights location - still a bit of noise when the iRig was plugged in but nothing like the same extreme level and still no noise with the cable from the guitar output. Mark Is your phone in your pocket? - I had a lot of noise on mine at a gig the other day from the second I put it down & eventually clocked it was down to my mobile sitting on the floor beside my set list.
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Post by PistolPete on May 22, 2017 16:52:48 GMT
Personally, if the Martin is your favourite, I'd practice & gig on that one.
If you would really rather gig the Tanglewood then get it set up as close to the Martin as possible & then play the Martin at home & the Tanglewood out.
If you would really prefer to gig the Martin but are still worried for its safety you might want to make sure it's insured, but I do understand why many guitarists hate the idea of their pride & joy getting dinged so much that they'd prefer to leave it at home. If I do that I just feel like I'm not getting my money's worth out of an expensive instrument.
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Post by PistolPete on May 19, 2017 0:26:56 GMT
I'm assuming it's not one of this guy's pieces? There are 60s Japanese electrics around with the brand name Victor - it looks to me like a Teisco, so one would assume they were just an importer. It could be that someone revived the name again later perhaps. Is there a soundhole label in the guitar? That might offer some more clues.
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Post by PistolPete on May 15, 2017 9:44:58 GMT
This man has loomed larger in my musical development than anyone.
He's been a pretty consistent influence on me since I picked up a guitar, along with Fred McDowell, Kelly Joe Phelps & Hound Dog Taylor.
In my earlier days Dan Auerbach & Jack White loomed pretty large
Tom Rush's earlier albums were pivotal in my switch to acoustic & now I also listen to a lot of country & Americana as well as the blues stuff.
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Post by PistolPete on May 9, 2017 9:42:54 GMT
I nearly forgot about the Poacher line "music train" - a train that runs from my little town to the Bateman's brewery in Wainfleet. You wander up and down the train playing, do a 30 - 45 min set at the brewery and then wander up and down the train again on the way back. It's always packed full but it is a very strange place to play. Probably not the best for recording as people are very loud and usually very drunk on the way back... Sounds like a fun gig to do just for the experience. I don't suppose there's any money in it?
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Post by PistolPete on May 9, 2017 8:55:35 GMT
It's looking quite promising for Stafford's Ancient High House at the moment - the largest timber framed house in the UK. Just waiting to hear back from my contact about what they might charge me.
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Post by PistolPete on May 8, 2017 9:59:16 GMT
I got on much better at my gig on Saturday. I still haven't got round to putting my Gibson in standard tuning to calibrate the iRig, but it was sounding great on the uncalibrated warm setting.
There was still a lot of scratch coming through, which is one of the reasons I swapped to the 'warm' from 'natural' setting two songs in, but being better able to hear the guitar I was able to be more disciplined about muting behind the slide to control it. My ears tell me it's because there's a lot more in the very high frequency range than I'm used to with other pickups. Basically it's like having the presence control cranked on an amp - but it's one of the things that gives the sound 'air' & makes it seem more natural than the AKG.
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Post by PistolPete on May 6, 2017 9:50:34 GMT
How did the open mic go, PistolPete ? The irig sounded much more natural to me than the AKG in your recordings. Hmmmm... Ok. From where I was sitting I could hear a lot of scratch & the crowded & noisy nature of the pub mean't I didn't get a chance for a proper listen from out front during soundcheck. I have a gig in Derby tonight, so I'll try it again through my PA & that should give me a better idea of its usefulness.
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Post by PistolPete on May 4, 2017 13:52:26 GMT
Hi Tom, I was the support act for Stefan Grossman at Craigmore & I played there again with R.M. Hubbert - I may even have met you! Glad to hear it's all still going well up there. Is Richard still running things now he's moved off the island?
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Post by PistolPete on May 4, 2017 9:26:47 GMT
Libraries can be good - great sound diffusion with all those books! A nice plan - if I could gain access to either of the two large libraries sitting empty in Stafford at the minute it would be a very cool way to put on a show.
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Post by PistolPete on May 4, 2017 7:47:39 GMT
I've never come across the Guild Tamarak before, but it seems they were 1990s acoustic amps. A notch filter is a deep, narrow EQ cut that you can sweep across the frequency range. In an acoustic amp it's likely to be pretty useful for killing feedback, or dealing with piezo quack. The gold dial on BB King's guitar is a notch filter: Plectron is a new one on me. It's an old fashioned word for plectrum so I'd hazard a guess and say it's something to adjust the attack of the note - perhaps some kind of compression, or maybe a high frequency adjustment, like the 'presence' control on a Marshall.
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Post by PistolPete on May 3, 2017 18:25:35 GMT
I'm looking at putting out a live recording & I was toying with the idea of doing an invite only gig in a non conventional venue to lay down the tracks.
I was wondering if anyone had any experience of staging music events in locations outside of the usual pub/club/arts centre type locations & if there was any advice or pitfalls I should be aware of?
Also what kind of more fun space have you seen used for gigs?
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Post by PistolPete on May 3, 2017 9:25:11 GMT
I'll be testing it at my open mic night tomorrow & then if that goes well, trying it out on some gigs, so I'll report back.
I was actually pretty disappointed with the condenser mic sound & were I attempting a serious recording I'd be mucking about with placement & trying different rooms until I could get a bit more 'wood' & a bit less 'string'. I suspect the f-holes are the reason the standard neck join placement doesn't work as well compared to a flat top & that recording doesn't really do the guitar justice.
I've been using the AKG for a while & haven't been completely satisfied with it - the results can vary wildly depending on the PA you plug it into & the sticky stuff is not especially kind to the finish on the L50 (it's fine on newer, less delicate finishes), so it'll be interesting to see if the iRig fits the bill a bit better.
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Post by PistolPete on May 2, 2017 12:34:33 GMT
Ok kids, just arrived so here's my first quick test. This is the same performance recorded through three different mics. This is the iRig acoustic stage in natural mode straight out of the box & uncalibrated (how do you play an E bar chord on a guitar tuned to open G? ) https%3A//soundcloud.com/pete-wearn-660801623/irig-acoustic-stage%3Fin%3Dpete-wearn-660801623/sets/l50-microphone-testThis is the AKG C411 attached to where the soundboard meets the bridge, which is where the instructions said to place it. Often live I'll move the placement to behind the bridge to get a less woofy sound, so make of this what you will. https%3A//soundcloud.com/pete-wearn-660801623/akg-c411%3Fin%3Dpete-wearn-660801623/sets/l50-microphone-testThis is a Sontronics condenser mic pointed at the neck/body join for comparison. https%3A//soundcloud.com/pete-wearn-660801623/sontronics-stc-2-large%3Fin%3Dpete-wearn-660801623/sets/l50-microphone-testAll are flat with no EQ compression or reverb. This is how the contact mics were positioned. The AKG attaches with 'acoustic putty' which is like blue tack only black. The iRig was pretty tricky to get on to a soundboard as thick as the L50's. I tried it on my Yamaha for comparison, which was easier but it did seem that it hadn't occurred to whoever designed it that scratchplates are a pretty common feature on flat top guitars. I also don't know how having it so far from the bridge in comparison to a round hole guitar might affect it's sound. They both have rubbish flimsy cables. The iRig also has a rubbish flimsy moulded jack. This is where they were on the guitar:
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