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| For those of you that own both of the same model, does the straight acoustic sound noticeably better, as a rule? I could see where the saddle might make some difference. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | To my ears acoustic only versions sound marginally better. I have had three side by side comparisons. The most obvious and direct being the U681. Sorry, but my acoustic only version sounds better than every a/e U681 that I've ever heard. But the bigger issue for me why I do not like a/e models is the looks (ugly) and the weight (heavy). For the very rare gig that I may play, I really only need one a/e guitar. All the rest might as well be acoustic only. And they mostly are. If I had to have electronics, the FD14 DO, Fishman DO and Tak TDL would be my choices.
Dave
Dave |
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Location: SoCal | based on:
1158 v. 1658 CL 12-str
1119 v. 1619 CL 6-str
1118 v. 1618 GC 12-str
Patriot acoustic v. a/e 6-str
47RI v. OFC 6-str slothead
"noticeably", no...
is the acoustic better? IMHO, yes
however, as an example, would keep the a/e Patriot and sell the acoustic.
interesting, hadn't thought of the saddle being a factor, ?? |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I guess a simple way to look at it: The difference isn't so great that you should pass up electronics if you need them. Nor is the difference so small that you should burden yourself with electronics of you don't need them.
Dave |
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| I agree. I don't need but one A/E either. This particular guitar just happened to be in great shape, and the price was right. All my Ovations are acoustic only right now, although I have owned a few A/E versions in the past. They do seem to be on the heavy side, but other than the difference in the bridge and saddle, should be very similar. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | If you are only carrying it from the wall to the chair, the weight doesn't matter a whole lot. I realize that Tuppy is a little guy and has to walk a couple feet further to his chair, so the weight is about 20% more significant to him. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | 1121 vs 1621....... I'd sell the 1621
But I'm keeping 'em both.
[also, I thought about buying a 1612... Then asked myself... "Why?"] |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | I put an OpPro in my '97 Collectors and it sounds to me like it's lost a good deal of it's acoustic volume. It's a smaller bowl to start with, though, so I guess the preamp takes up a relatively large percentage of space in there.
John <>{ |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I have always felt that the acoustic only sounded better. Now if you put the bone saddle in the pickup this difference is reduced dramatically. |
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Location: Scotland | Agreed. I think having a big lump of plastic, aluminum and silicone in the bridge would impact on the acoustic sound more than the relatively small amount of air-volume lost to a preamp. That said, it's still the best pickup out there, so you live with it. |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Originally posted by Mauvais Beal:
I have always felt that the acoustic only sounded better. Now if you put the bone saddle in the pickup this difference is reduced dramatically. You can do that with a thinline pickup, but is there a bone saddle (or cover) for the standard wide piezo O pickup? Don't think so. I was always suspicious of the volume (space) reduction in a guitar body when you put something as large as the OP Pro style can in the side. It must have some effect on the sound. I'm not an acoustic engineer, so bear with my ramblings. :rolleyes:
On another note (b flat)... I was thinking of removing the electronics from the 1681 on a temp basis just to lighten it up a little and see how the acoustic sound is affected. I'll just put tape over the holes like Beal does... |
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Location: NJ | Bone saddle installed in a CustomBalladeer:
The saddle was soaked for two days in strong tea to stain the bone material brown. Pic was taken recently after installation and looks better now as it has "softened" to a brown patina.
There IS a marked improvement in the sound (both acoustic and plugged-in).
It seems (t'me, anyway) t'be fuller, "punchier". |
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| Nice tease, Cliff. So where'd you get the bone saddle? |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | You guys have way better ears than me.
Between a/e and acoustic I hear no difference, all things being equal.
Between bone and plactic, at normal volume I hear no difference, only at high volumes do I hear a differnce, where I can say, oh yeah, I hear something. To me there's a difference, put it's subtle. |
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Location: Munich, Germany | Originally posted by cliff:
The saddle was soaked for two days in strong tea to stain the bone material brown. That's a great idea! Never thought of that. I will give it a try.
Thanks, Cliff.
Kurt |
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Location: Scotland | Originally posted by Trader Jim:
[You can do that with a thinline pickup, but is there a bone saddle (or cover) for the standard wide piezo O pickup? Don't think so. [/QB] Custom made bone saddles for the Ovation pickup were available for a while from the factory, not sure if that's still the case. For what they are they are not cheap, but the do seem to make a (subtle) difference. I have one on my Custom Folklore. I seem to remember talk of a ceramic saddle also. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Cliff, that tea stained saddle looks really nice! |
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Location: NJ | The bone saddle was a boitday present from a friend.
I'd HAD a black plastic saddle on the guitar (that I liked), and when I "boned" it, I didn't wanna go back to white. My original plan was to soak it in india ink t'stain the bone material black/dk grey. When I found that my daughter hadn't sealed my ink bottle correctly (years previous) and it was dried up, I opted for tea-staining it - which makes you cognizant of what that crap can do to your teeth . . .
Soundwise, . . it's probably like putting those braided, aircraft vacuum lines on your car, gold-ended cables on your TV, and sinking a 3' putt with a carbon-fibre club . . . there's probably a degree of "placebo effect" . . but it's fun . . and it's why we do this . . . |
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Location: SoCal | Makes your guitar look like it's been smoking too much. Try some Crest White Strips..... |
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Location: South of most, North of few | I heard Cliff plays a smokin guitar.... |
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Location: NJ | no.
It just wheezes like it does . . . |
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| I heard people have set fire to themselves listening to cliff. Is that what you meant? |
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Location: South of most, North of few | While my guitar gently coughs.... |
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Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by schroeder:
I heard people have set fire to themselves listening to cliff. Is that what you meant? You need to be careful when everyone is waving their Bic around. :D |
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Location: NJ | more like the villagers with the torches . . . |
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Acoustic or Acoustic/Electric
