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Joined:
December 2005
Posts: 14
Location: florida | I bought used about a year ago an anniversary balladeer which is a shallow body model. I love the look, the neck, and the tuning stability.
It is not particularly loud unplugged though not bad. Plugged in it sounded good but not special. (I use a Strawberry Blonde amp with my "O".) I thought about a lot of options including upgrading to a mid or deep bowl O and perhaps a new LX model. But I could not really justify buying a new guitar at this point.
I asked here about various pedals which might improve the plugged in sound. But after watching the videos on the D-TAR website I decided to jump in head first and about 3 months ago I got the Moma Bear. I have experimented a lot with the Moma and could not be more pleased.
To my ears my O sounds extraordinary. The Moma has models for different styles of wood guitars and the O does not sound categorically different in any of them. You still have excellent note separation and balance, but the O now sounds much clearer, and all frequencies (low, mid, high) simply sound fuller and better. There is no quack at all. I typically use the Jumbo and Rosewood Dread models with my O and a few other models sound good particularly the smaller body git models when used for a finger style songs. Now with a new set of strings, and my O plugged thru the Moma to the amp I simply sit and marvel at the wonderful tones.
While this my be anathama to state here I will say the Moma has turned off all of my GAS for another guitar. When I plug in, the sounds which now come out are simply so pleasing and the guitar is so comfortable to play (I simply can not find another brand with a neck I like as much as my O) that I can not think of choosing it over a different instrument.
I wanted others to know I think the Moma is a great investment and will really give you very pleasing tones with your O. If you are looking for an upgrade without purchasing a new guitar at least give the Moma a test run. I am really happy I went for it. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 972
Location: PDX | Never heard of the device -- gotta link for the simpleton?
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gh1 |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | D-Tar website
A good quality product review. Doesn't sound like trolling at all!
:cool: |
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Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 555
Location: Wooster, Ohio | They are supposed to have one of the best after market acoustic pickups as well. Heard alot about them on other acoustic guitar forums. Never tried their stuff myself.
Steve |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | They make good stuff. D-TAR is Duncan-Turner Acoustic Research. Seymour Duncan has made acoustic pickups for years, and Rick Turner has been guitar guru/technician for 40+ years for the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Jackson Browne. Among their clients using the Mama Bear are Crosby & Nash, David Lindley and David Wilcox. The Bear is supposed to remove that annoying piezo "quack" (they advertise it as "Bear Kills Duck"). It's supposed to be really good-- and also really expensive for a preamp box. |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | I put the Mama Bear, loosely, in the same category as the Fishman Aura: Real time digital processing in order to obtain a more realistic sound.
D-Tar seems to emphasize the ability to transform a sound (make your guitar sound like something it isn't) while Fishman seems to emphasize that it will make your piezo equipped guitar sound more like its natural self.
This is an interesting time in the industry. Until this current batch of products, all the emphasis was put on better ways to configure the analog pickups on an acoustic guitar (eg, UST, soundboard, mic's, blenders, etc, etc, etc). Digital promises a new era of simplicity. All you need is a plain old UST and the box will do the rest.
The big questions IMHO is how to configure the box. Onboard of off, natural sound or transformed? I'm inclined to say that the way Ovation did it with the VIP is correct: Natural sound from an on-board processor. If you want modified sound, that is what a separate stomp box is for.
At the same time, I think if you go that way you need to have a very "swappable" form factor, because this technology is going to change fast and no one is going to want to be stuck with a two year old guitar that is completely outdated. Again, I think the VIP meets this test. |
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Mama Bear Experience
