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#2
posted to rec.boats
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Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival - What the hell is that?
On 5/22/2014 11:49 AM, F*O*A*D wrote:
On 5/22/14, 11:24 AM, wrote: On Thu, 22 May 2014 11:05:41 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote: On 5/22/14, 11:04 AM, wrote: On Thu, 22 May 2014 06:20:24 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote: On 5/22/14, 1:11 AM, wrote: On Wed, 21 May 2014 18:07:11 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote: On 5/21/14, 5:56 PM, Poquito Loco wrote: Then I don't know what Harry's talking about. If one looks at the pictures I posted, the instruments are played with a microphone in front, in almost all cases. I didn't see any 'electric' guitars, or guitars with wires running to amplifiers. D'oh. You don't see many long wires running from most of the guitars to amps at a rock concert, either, if they are using wireless mikes on their instruments. If they didn't have amplifiers, only the first couple rows would hear it at all. I liked Richard's explanation better. D'oh. The point: that herring didn't see any wires coming from the on-stage instruments going to amps doesn't mean much in terms of defining whether they are "electric" or not, because, for example, a guitar can be electric and hooked up to an amp wirelessly. A floor-standing microphone doesn't change whether a guitar is "electric" or strictly non-electic acoustic. A wireless mike does not stop a banjo from being acoustic,.I have never seen a stratocaster at a bluegrass concert, at least not as a bluegrass act. They may bring a rock guy along on the tour in some northern venues but just to broaden the appeal and sell more tickets. It is like the rap guys getting into country music. I'm afraid you either just don't get it or you are just trying to be argumentative. Next... You are right, I don't get it. I have never seen a bluegrass act with an electric guitar, Oh, I have. But I'm not referring to electric guitars, as in Stratocasters and such. I am referring to acoustic Guild, Martin, Yamaha guitars and banjos, violins, et cetera, with electronic pickups, devices that change the sound characteristics of what they are into devices that sound like something else. My luthier friend who has been building acoustic guitars for 38 years now cringes whenever someone wants a pickup installed in one of his guitars. In fact, he refuses. The sound of an acoustic is a function of the strings imparting their vibrations to the top wood of the guitar via the saddle, bridge and backing plate within the guitar. The top wood's response is a function of it's unique grain structure which is why three different guitars, all the exact same model and built on the same day will all sound different. It's also why cheaper laminate guitars are more uniform sounding guitar to guitar to guitar. The laminate construction takes away the unique grain structure of the top wood, so they all sound the same.... crappy. The body of the guitar is basically a speaker enclosure with the sound hole being a "tuned" port. The type of wood used for the body can brighten or darken the overall sound but it's really the top doing all the work. That's why the pickup systems can't capture the true sound of the guitar. They are only sampling a small section of the vibrating top. Knowledgeable buyers at the guitar shop will often ask Rick or myself (if I am there) to play some chords on a guitar they are interested in while they sit several feet in front of us in order to hear what it really sounds like. You can't really tell when playing it because your ears are positioned above and behind the sound hole. But people still want pickups in acoustics so they can be heard. The most natural sounding pickup system for an acoustic IMO is a passive (no batteries or pre-amp) system called a K&K Pure. It consists of three transducers precisely installed on the bridge backing plate within the guitar. The worst pickup system (IMO) is the Taylor ES system. Tinny, horrible sound and all Taylors sound the same plugged in. |
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#3
posted to rec.boats
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Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival - What the hell is that?
On 5/22/2014 3:08 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 5/22/2014 11:49 AM, F*O*A*D wrote: On 5/22/14, 11:24 AM, wrote: On Thu, 22 May 2014 11:05:41 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote: On 5/22/14, 11:04 AM, wrote: On Thu, 22 May 2014 06:20:24 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote: On 5/22/14, 1:11 AM, wrote: On Wed, 21 May 2014 18:07:11 -0400, F*O*A*D wrote: On 5/21/14, 5:56 PM, Poquito Loco wrote: Then I don't know what Harry's talking about. If one looks at the pictures I posted, the instruments are played with a microphone in front, in almost all cases. I didn't see any 'electric' guitars, or guitars with wires running to amplifiers. D'oh. You don't see many long wires running from most of the guitars to amps at a rock concert, either, if they are using wireless mikes on their instruments. If they didn't have amplifiers, only the first couple rows would hear it at all. I liked Richard's explanation better. D'oh. The point: that herring didn't see any wires coming from the on-stage instruments going to amps doesn't mean much in terms of defining whether they are "electric" or not, because, for example, a guitar can be electric and hooked up to an amp wirelessly. A floor-standing microphone doesn't change whether a guitar is "electric" or strictly non-electic acoustic. A wireless mike does not stop a banjo from being acoustic,.I have never seen a stratocaster at a bluegrass concert, at least not as a bluegrass act. They may bring a rock guy along on the tour in some northern venues but just to broaden the appeal and sell more tickets. It is like the rap guys getting into country music. I'm afraid you either just don't get it or you are just trying to be argumentative. Next... You are right, I don't get it. I have never seen a bluegrass act with an electric guitar, Oh, I have. But I'm not referring to electric guitars, as in Stratocasters and such. I am referring to acoustic Guild, Martin, Yamaha guitars and banjos, violins, et cetera, with electronic pickups, devices that change the sound characteristics of what they are into devices that sound like something else. My luthier friend who has been building acoustic guitars for 38 years now cringes whenever someone wants a pickup installed in one of his guitars. In fact, he refuses. The sound of an acoustic is a function of the strings imparting their vibrations to the top wood of the guitar via the saddle, bridge and backing plate within the guitar. The top wood's response is a function of it's unique grain structure which is why three different guitars, all the exact same model and built on the same day will all sound different. I have a Takamine 12 string that is like that... Cheap 300 dollar entry model, everone who plays it says it sounds like one of their top models. It's also why cheaper laminate guitars are more uniform sounding guitar to guitar to guitar. The laminate construction takes away the unique grain structure of the top wood, so they all sound the same.... crappy. The body of the guitar is basically a speaker enclosure with the sound hole being a "tuned" port. The type of wood used for the body can brighten or darken the overall sound but it's really the top doing all the work. That's why the pickup systems can't capture the true sound of the guitar. They are only sampling a small section of the vibrating top. Knowledgeable buyers at the guitar shop will often ask Rick or myself (if I am there) to play some chords on a guitar they are interested in while they sit several feet in front of us in order to hear what it really sounds like. You can't really tell when playing it because your ears are positioned above and behind the sound hole. But people still want pickups in acoustics so they can be heard. The most natural sounding pickup system for an acoustic IMO is a passive (no batteries or pre-amp) system called a K&K Pure. It consists of three transducers precisely installed on the bridge backing plate within the guitar. The worst pickup system (IMO) is the Taylor ES system. Tinny, horrible sound and all Taylors sound the same plugged in. |
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