The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

[Evan Skopp]

You may know by now that we have a sister company called D-TAR, which unites Seymour Duncan with Rick Turner. The flagship product for D-TAR is a 32-bit digital acoustic guitar preamp called Mama Bear.

The idea is that if you take the pickup's signal into the digital world, you can remove the offensive qualities of the pickup and then add back in the string and body resonance of a real, recorded, acoustic guitar.

We've received requests to post clips of acoustic guitars recorded with and without Mama. One of our customers, a guy named Gary Hall, beat us to it. Click here to listen to Gary's clips.

So what do you think? Does "Bear Kill Duck?" And keep in mind that in the wet/dry mix, Gary only used around 45% Mama and 55% pure piezo. Personally, I think it sounds pretty good.

If you want to read more about Mama, here are some links to reviews in Guitar World Acoustic Magazine and Frets.

I think this is pretty exciting stuff.

 

[Sune]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

It sure looks like a sweetypie..

 

[gripweed]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

Many guitar players are ludites when it comes to new technology. Digital is the ugly step-child for many. I hope players give it a fair chance.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

So far, they're giving it a chance. It has a very friendly look with no menus or scrolling. It's really easy to use. And it does what it says it does.

Plus, it's priced right.

 

[tone4days]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

i remember how good it sounded at UGD ... glad to know they are finally on the street ... i think one of these is on my horizon ... any chance in gettin it rack mounted instead of that box? ... a 1u high, 19" wide baby with no wall wart would be perfect

silk screening the input and output models onto it would also be very useful



best of luck,
t4d

 

[Peterku]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

Amazing...

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

any chance in gettin it rack mounted instead of that box? ... a 1u high, 19" wide baby with no wall wart would be perfect

Anything's possible.

Amazing...

Thanks! We agree.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

This may be a dumb question, but does it work with solid body piezos? (I assume it does, how well does it work?)

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

What's this? A marketing guy ... marketing his product? Well, I never!

 

[tone4days]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

What's this? A marketing guy ... marketing his product? Well, I never!

nah man, evan is a righteous tone bro just hippin' us to a wicked cool new toy ...

and yes, it does work with a solid body piezo ... that's how i will use it ... my guess it will need a heavier blend of wet in order to really get the full effect

t4d

 

[italic zero]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

That's a remarkable difference.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

I was talking with Steve Trovato who's a jazz guitar professor at USC and Musicians Institute and a session player. He brought Mama into the studio with him on a session. The engineer decided to record with Mama and was so blown away that he decided to forget miking acoustic guitars from now on -- unless the client insists on it. He says mic placement is so time consuming and Mama just nails it right outta the box.

That's really interesting to us. We never intended for Mama Bear to replace mics in the studio.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

Here are some more clips, this time from an Italian guitarist. These clips are really interesting because he emulates some of the "specialty" guitars included in Mama Bear, including the resonators and a gypsy jazz guitar. Remember, when you're hearing those sounds, they're just coming out of the guy's Martin D-28 with a Fishman soundhole pickup. Also, you're hearing a 100% "wet" mix. We're finding most players are dialing it down to around 50/50 wet/dry.

What do you think?

 

[Peterku]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

Based on the clips, I'd definitely prefer the Mama Bear to the Fishman Aura.

However, there's something strange to my ears in the high end in some of the clips. Maybe that's when you try to model a very different guitar than yours, or don't have the right settings? I might be wrong, but I guess the unit will sound excellent with a very few settings, and good with some more.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

I think what you're hearing is the 100% digital blend. Compare that to Gary Hall's clips, which are around 45% wet, and you'll notice that it goes away.

Thanks!

 

[Artie]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

I think what you're hearing is the 100% digital blend. Compare that to Gary Hall's clips, which are around 45% wet, and you'll notice that it goes away.

Thanks!

Hey Evan; I think you're touching on something here that is monumental in the world of understanding "digital", and "modeling" technologies. This could be a book in and of itself.

I never use my J-Station direct. That is, by itself. It's always a blend with the analog signal from my Yamaha. I won't go into the details, 'cause thats not what this thread is about. But, I think that the "secret" to understanding digital sound is to understand that its an enhancement . . . not an end-all.

Sorry if I'm not more clear here . . . me and my wife are enjoing some B'day cheer.

Artie

Edit: I'll write the book tomorrow.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

Hey Artie:

I want a copy of the book once you've got a manuscript.

I think you're right. And that's probably why most Mama Bear users are using a blend of wet/dry, rather than 100% wet.

Have a great birthday and spend some quality time with your wife.

- E

 

[Peterku]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

Ahaaa... now I understand. Thanks, Evan, Artie. Happy birthday!!! : party:

 

[Mincer]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

so is it just a specialized EQ? Any compression going on at all? I can't really tell what the knobs do...

 

[Peterku]

Re: The Death of Piezo "Quack" on Acousic Guitars?

I think it'd be a huge hit if the Mama Bear had a software version to be used as a plugin for Cubase for instance. :headbang: