What a girl wants

[OriginalPosterLost]

Okay boys, I’m sorry to crash your party but I have a technical question to throw at you.

First of all I want to say that I am NOT looking to sound like J when I play; I only hope to be as honest in my delivery as he is in his.

I’m 22 & have been playing for about 6 years. I’m self-taught and though I know absolutely nothing about the technical aspects of guitar I’m told I play well. Recently I was given a 1966 Gibson acoustic by this old guy who used to come watch me play, apparently because he thought I deserved a better guitar.

I love how J sometimes runs his acoustic through a pedal so he can throw electric solos into his performances. I don’t want to imitate his sound but I really dig that idea; it gives songs such a more complex texture. I’m wondering if anyone can recommend a nice, cheap pedal to start with that would complement my Gibson.

If anyone has any suggestions, just post them. And remember to go easy on me; I’m technically stunted. No one believes that I don’t even know the names of chords, but it’s true. I just do it by feel.

Thanks!

[This message has been edited by rosa (edited October 10, 2000).]

[OriginalPosterLost]

Rosa, the pick up you use really makes alot of difference to the sound the pedal makes. Acoustic guitars really hate distortion so make sure the pickup is not inturnal as they tend to feed back . Try using a humbucker pick up which sounds pritty good. As far as pedals go i use a Boss metal zone mt-2 which seems to work very well. But i believe a good sound is in the pick up.

---

[OriginalPosterLost]

Arrrggghhh! Humbuckers! J. hates humbuckers…at least if memory serves correctly.

: )

---

[OriginalPosterLost]

Shane, I’m not LOOKING to sound like J; I think I mentioned that. I just figured I’d ask the tekkies who visit this site to recommend me a good pedal. I can’t really care whether or not J likes humbuckers because, though I admire him immensely, 1) I’m pretty sure I don’t play to impress Mr. Mascis, and 2) I wouldn’t know a humbucker if I woke up with one on my pillow.

If YOU think you can suggest something better, hit me up! That’s the reason I started this topic. Thanks [img]http://www.freakscene.net/ubb/smilies/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

---

[OriginalPosterLost]

Get a Big Muff. J uses both vintage and modern Big Muff pedals. Look at http://www.guitargeek.com to see his setup. A new Big Muff re-issue is cheaper than the Metal Zone. A Metal Zone owning friend tells me you can get a convincing Muff sound out of it, and it does a lot more.

You can find out more about the Big Muff at http://www.ehx.com

---

[OriginalPosterLost]

Is your situation purly acustic or are you talking about a performance amplified by a PA?

It sounds like you are just talking about putting something between the mike that is amplifying your guitar and the PA you are playing trough. Just put the mike INSIDE your guitar! If that does not work ask who ever is runnig the PA to make it distort. They just have to change the volume and gain around a little. They could do it on cue if they are adventurous. Maybe not…

But I guess you want it under your control… Get some kind of pick-up. Even one of the little things you stick on the bridge (contact mike) will work. Or a humbucking pick-up made for sticking in the sound hole. I used to have a Dimarzio and was very satisfied with it. For your purpose it does not matter. A regular microphone will work even. It is not like you are playing a Marshall on ten and want to get the coils in the pickups to vibrate with feedback squeel. Any way then you stick the output into any of these silly pedles (Except avoid the pedles that just say "Distortion" on them. Those just make white noise and have no charicter in my opinion) Uhh.. Just try them out in the store. Look for "Overdrive."

But if you just play acoustic and you need an actual amp I would reccomend you get a Pig Nose. They are a cute little battery powered amp. They crank and Distort. They are CRUNCHY!!! But they are not too load. You could get some little piece of junk boom box with a mike jack and do the same thing but if you want to come across professionaly get a "Pig Nose." And you won’t need a stupid stomp box distortion pedle!

I like your idea though. I don’t think that J does a very good job of mixing acoustic with electric in these solo gigs he has been doing. He is trying to recreate what he does with a bunch of Marshall amps and a rack of effects which is a hard task. He’s just having a little fun. But it would work nicely when you just want something a little special to ad to a song or performance. If you use it sparingly it is best. That way it is a surprise and is more entertaining.

Or maybe a distorted sound is not what you want… A Chorus is cool. It is said to sound like a twelve string guitar but it really just sounds electronic. A flanger is a crazy effect! Sort of a similar sound as if you play the harmonics of a string from top to bottom. Echo might be cool. You can add what is called reverb with an echo pedle. That is basically the light echo sound of a nice big ampithearter. There are other effects but they are mainly for electric guitars.

Good Hunting!!

---

[OriginalPosterLost]

Thank you all for the advice so far! I realize that everyone has different tastes; accordingly there are thousands of different products available & I get a little overwhelmed by the options sometimes.

I’ve been using a regular old Markley pickup that fits in the soundhole & running it into the amp from there. What I’d like is just to have a little something at my foot so I can throw some electric sounds in from time to time. And Rubrick, I agree with you about using it sparingly in acoustic performance (but I do like the way Mascis uses it, especially the few acou./elec. versions of "Alone" that have popped up).

I appreciate everyone’s input so far; it really is valuable to me when weighing the options. I’m always pushing for a thicker, more elevated sound and I am always open to suggestion from people who know their technical stuff.

---

[This message has been edited by rosa (edited October 10, 2000).]

[OriginalPosterLost]

Also, I wish to stress that not all female acoustic guitarists adhere to the Lilith Fair/hippie-revivalist folk song formula. [img]http://www.freakscene.net/ubb/smilies/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by rosa (edited October 10, 2000).]

[OriginalPosterLost]

Rosa,
You can get a real good look at what effects J uses with the acoustic here:

CLICK HERE
(Thanks to Phil Redmon for the cool pix) might have to dig out your favorite effects catalog unless you have a birdwatcher’s eye for effects pedals or something though.

What kind (if any) of pickup are you using, by the way…I assume you are good in that department.

Why invoke the name of humbucker (which I like a lot whether J does or not) in this thread..is there a such thing as an acoustic humbucker?? I had no idea.

---

Chris [img]http://www.freakscene.net/ubb/smilies/earl.gif[/img]

[OriginalPosterLost]

yes there is such a thing as an acoustic humbucker and they seem to sound alot balls-ier than a single coil. Give em a try and let me know what you think chris.
later trav

---

"its better than a kick in the face with a golf shoe"

[Author]

Posts