Acoustic Guitar Live Mic

Colin Perry

As a footnote to this discussion:

As some of you know, I sold my Epiphone Broadway. To replace it, I got a good deal on an Eastman AR805 that was a display model at the last NAMM show. After playing it for about a month, I have to say . . . I am pretty blown away. It's slightly louder than my Epiphone, and now that the voice is opening up a little bit, I'm really starting to fall in love with it. I wouldn't venture to say that they are all great, but this one certainly is, and is definitely better than any vintage archtops that I have played in it's price range.

Campusfive

badjazz just told me he got one as well and was pretty happy with it. I'm glad you like it. The first time a played an 805 non-cut, I was amazed. Plus you aren't risk a piece of history every time you take it to a gig. I put early-30's L-7 style guard on mine from archtop.com - it looks way more vintage that way. One day I'll probably change out the tailpiece to something more traditional, but I haven't made it a priority.

Colin Perry

I was actually thinking of just taking the wood off the tailpiece. That might look better. Either way, despite the few modern, Benedetto touches, its a great guitar.

badjazz

yes, I got one too. everybody's doing it.
mine is a 17" cutaway version. I've never had a cutaway before. It's pretty interesting to compare it to my L5. It is almost as loud as my L5, though without quite the same rich punch in the midrange. The stock pickup seems to be fairly transparent, though it is awfully microphonic and noisy for a humbucker. I think I'm going to put the single coil Kent Armstrong that I have laying around on it. It's not the world's greatest guitar, but for the price you can't beat it. It'll be nice to leave the L5 at home and not worry about it every minute. The Eastman is actually much better than the L5 for GJ due to the less full midrange and the lighter top construction. The case that eastmans come with is pretty strange; I can't tell if I like it yet or not. I'm glad it's solid because it is also weirdly unbalanced and every time I set the thing down on its side at tips over.

Interestingly, one shop here in Honolulu has a 16" Eastman non-cut ($1400) and a Gibson 1934 Reissue L-5 ($4300) in stock. I A/B'd them, and surprise--I definitely preferred the eastman. The eastman was both louder and warmer sounding. Go figure.

nwilkins

question:

do the Eastmans have that really great acoustic reverb sound that a good carved top (with good re-curve) archtop has?

Campusfive

Yes. If by reverb, that certain special resonance that make the guitar feel alive and sing, then yes.

badjazz

Yes, I think I know what you mean by natural reverb, and the eastmans definitely do have it. In general the eastmans sounds a little more 'modern' and open than most vintage (1920s-1940s) archtops that I've played. But I wouldn't necessarily say that the vintage ones sound 'better'. Over the years I've owned an Epiphone Emperor, 2 L-5's, an L-10, L-50, and a L-7, and the eastman definitely holds up against them. The biggest difference is that the top on the eastman is much lighter than on any of those vintage archtops. This is probably closer to how Benedettos are built, as that seems to be what eastman is copying more than anything. It's been years since I played a Benedetto, so I'm not sure how accurate that impression is. Actually, I'm really getting into the versatility of the eastman, as it actually sounds pretty good for Gyspy Jazz compared to the acoustic sound of the other archtops mentioned. Also, the nut width is 1 3/4", which is fairly comfortable for GJ as well. One other thing to note about them is that they seem to be made of different maple and spruce. It sounds just like maple and spruce, but it just looks a little bit different from any maple/spruce than I've ever seen on a guitar. Maybe it's a Chinese subspecies or something. It still sounds and looks great, though--just a tiny bit different in appearance.

badjazz

Now that I have a nice condenser mic that is working out great for me, I am thinking about getting an acoustic amp that I could plug the mic into for small shows without a PA, or to use as a stage monitor (more for the rest of the band than for me) for my guitar when using a PA. I'd like to color my sound as little as possible. An AER compact 60 was my first choice, but I remember hearing that those had some EQ built in to the fundamental sound in order to warm up the tone of a piezo. My second choice was an Acoustic Image Corus, but I've never met anybody who plays one and they seem geared more toward classical players to me. My last choice is the Schertler Unico, which looks pretty good on paper (or at least html), but I haven't heard anybody's opinion for using them with a condenser mic, plus they are a little bigger and heavier. If anybody has tried these with a condenser mic on their guitar, please let me know your opinion. Further, at some small shows, I may want to run some vocals through the amp. What do you guys think?

Frank Wekenmann

I used my Unico with a Neumann K184 (?) to amplify a classical guitar in a Klezmer band and was very satisfied with the combination. I much prefered the Unico in this constellation to all pickup solutions I tried. Very loud and extremely uncolored.

badjazz

Thanks, Frank. In addition, I went through the old posts and I think I found the answers to any questions I could think of (and more). I think I'm going to try a Unico once I sell some stuff to make room.

Has anybody ever tried a Schertler DYN-G on an archtop? Seems like it might be the way to go if I need additional volume over the mic.