Re: OT - acoustic pickups, etc

[Chris Sewell <lunamusic@mac.com>]

I love the LR Baggs M1A Pickup. The best pedal comp I've heard is the  
EBS Multi Comp. Really musical.
On Dec 6, 2007, at 1:38 PM, Daryl Shawn wrote:

> Forgive this wholly off-topic query, though of course it does  
> concern equipment that will be eventually used in looping...
>
> I like the onboard piezo pickup in my Takamine nylon-string, but I'm  
> starting to do more banging on the guitar body these days and the  
> piezo doesn't really transmit these sounds very well. An external  
> mic does fine with this of course, but I want something suitable for  
> onstage use and I hate having to hold more or less still in front of  
> a mic. I've gotten a recommendation (thanks Michael!) on the Baggs  
> Element, but am wondering if anyone's had experience with anything  
> else, especially with having two different pickup systems in one  
> guitar. I'd like to keep my current setup and add to it (maybe I can  
> split the output at the endpin with a TRS jack...?).
>
> Also, I'm making more use of the harmonics that appear between the  
> fret and the headstock, which of course aren't heard by standard- 
> mounted 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'm hoping there are  
> some kind of developments here since.
>
> Finally, I'm looking for a really really good portable (i.e.,  
> stompbox, tabletop, half-rack) compressor that's well-suited to  
> acoustic guitar, that is, helps to even out the natural sounds and  
> doesn't produce any of the "breathing" effect - I'm not looking for  
> extreme compression, just something to musically accentuate the  
> harmonics and even out the big spike. The Keeley compressor is raved  
> about frequently, but I'm curious if anyone has had experience with  
> it on acoustic guitar.
>
> Daryl Shawn
> www.swanwelder.com
> www.chinapaintingmusic.com
>