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Post by Marshall on Dec 7, 2023 19:56:35 GMT -5
He he
I wanted to say that for the benefit of others who might be swayed by my fondness of the cheap-little-thing into purchasing one. I just want to be perfectly clear in my assessment.
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Post by John B on Dec 7, 2023 20:53:22 GMT -5
He he I wanted to say that for the benefit of others who might be swayed by my fondness of the cheap-little-thing into purchasing one. I just want to be perfectly clear in my assessment. And I appreciate that, Marshall, seriously. Regardless if I tease you occasionally, I am interested in your thoughts on all types of guitars, guitar accessories, etc. - all of the tools you use to chase your muse.
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Post by drlj on Dec 7, 2023 21:58:44 GMT -5
Marshall knows more about pickups and guitar amplification than I will ever know. I pay attention to what he says.
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Post by Marshall on Dec 8, 2023 8:29:32 GMT -5
Oh gee. I'm just a restless old guy. There are a lot of pickup systems out there that sound very good in the right hands under the right circumstances. My particular playing style (and ears) bring out the worst in a lot of pickups. So I meander through the various options. Plus it's kinda fun in a dystopian SYFY sort of way. It's like a game to me. And it's cheaper than buying expensive guitars. And I like to tinker.
PS - Dub's GoAcoustic pickup from Paul McGill is intriguing. I'm not sure I want to pop for $420 on a whim for fear I'll like it enough to want to install it in 3 or 4 guitars. I want to hear a sample from a regular Joe before I decide to go down that rabbit hole.
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Post by howard lee on Dec 8, 2023 8:45:10 GMT -5
[...] I want to hear a sample from a regular Joe before I decide to go down that rabbit hole.
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Post by Marshall on Dec 11, 2023 10:15:42 GMT -5
I took the strings off and looked around inside. And realized the bridgeplate is not solid. It is a waffle print of plastic with hexagonal holes in it. There's room to put a SBT, but the thing won't have full contact over its surface unless I would fill the holes with something. Don't know if I want to do this. (or even how I would go about it.)
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Post by Marshall on Dec 11, 2023 22:06:50 GMT -5
Well I did it. (Or at least part of it.) I installed the Skysonic Mag/SBT/Mic pickup in the Enya. Went well. I did not remove the Enya pickup system. So there are 2 pickup systems in there. I left the UST for the Enya in there and just placed the SBT next to the wire-out hole for the UST. So the bass side of the SBT is not directly under the saddle. But pretty darn close. And I didn't do anything to fill the hex holes in the bridgeplate. So the SBT does not make 100% contact with the bridgeplate. That's just going to be the way it is for a while at least. I drilled a new endpin hole through the end block. There is a thickened hunk of plastic in there. And strangely, in the middle of that plastic hunk is a piece of good old plywood. Whodda thunk it ? ? ?
I plugged the new pickup into my amp and the guitar indeed does sound very much like my other guitars with that pickup. And there's no ZING in the sound. It's very MAG-like. But the SBT and the Mic help tame that somewhat. I will experiment much more with the new pickup and the old one. I never downloaded the Enya APP. That's how you control the FX on the unit. (Yet another APP of my phone ) I'll try that sometime and see if there's a way to shape the sound better with the Enya gear. But the offshoot is I can use this thing as I would one of my other guitars. And that's what I wanted out of a plastic guitar.
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Post by Marshall on Dec 11, 2023 22:39:06 GMT -5
PS - turned the vol wheels down on the 3 pickups and tried them individually, and the SBT on the waffle bridgeplate is giving me no signal. So that means some day I'll have to go back in and try to fill in the voids to get a signal. Either that or mount the SBT behind the bridgeplate directly to the top. I've done that in a couple cases and get a workable signal from it. That's probably what I'll do here. I don't need the SBT to be pristine. It's purpose is to tame the Mag a little.
Yeah, that's what I'll do next.
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Post by Marshall on Dec 12, 2023 11:04:58 GMT -5
Never one to let a sleeping dog lie, . . . , I went back inside the Enya and moved the SBT from the waffle bridgeplate to a clean area on the top right behind the bridgeplate. And I put everything back together and get a decent response from the SBT now. When I combine that with the Mag (Skysonic Pro1 pickup), I get the amplified sound I'm used to. Mag clarity with acoustic punctuation.
This will work.
I still have the native Enya system in there. I will fiddle with that in the future. But all is well in the mini CF world.
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Post by John B on Dec 15, 2023 8:46:37 GMT -5
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Post by howard lee on Dec 15, 2023 8:50:41 GMT -5
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Post by Marshall on Dec 15, 2023 9:20:41 GMT -5
I have tried a Klos. Two Kloses really. I found a store that had the mini-dread. I didn't like it. I ordered on Amazon the full dread, and didn't like that. I sent it back. They both were just the plain black CF color. I think, to my ears, I prefer the CF guitars that add X-bracing to the tops. They respond sonically more like wood guitars. The old CAs had bracing. This Enya has bracing. The McPherson Sable has bracing. The others sound tubby to me. Not enough attack and too much sustain. But that's just me. I had trouble with my pickup last night at an open mic with the Enya. In retrospect, I think the SBT on the top behind the pins was getting boomy. Ill have to dial that back next time and see if that works better.
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Post by drlj on Dec 15, 2023 9:28:37 GMT -5
I had a signature required package left on the doorstep with no signature given yesterday. It was delivered by a UPS driver in a Chevy van. 🚐 The holidays are fun.
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