searching for the perfect acoustic guitar patch February 28 2002 at 8:52 AM
I've been tinkering with patch settings in hopes of finding a great acoustic guitar patch. I hope to have some final results soon, including some MP3's of the tests and the final patch settings. Any suggestions appreciated; especially for cab and speaker settings.
Re: searching for the perfect acoustic guitar patch
February 28 2002, 11:31 AM
I too have been looking for this as I am not very impressed with the ones currently available on the PS02.
At the moment I play through my Zoom 504 acoustic pedal using the 12 string patch which I think is great.
It would be good to modify an exisiting patch on the PS02 but I don't know where to begin.
Regards
Jerry.
Dempsey
OK...
March 2 2002, 2:50 AM
I don't think you'll find a patch that is analogous to everyone's needs(you know the saying "different strokes..."). The type of guitar, the room, the positioning and type of mic all play crucial parts.
IMHO If you want quality sounding acoustic you MUST record in stereo with the wide effect turned on. Go from recording mono to stereo and you'll notice a world of difference.
From there its a matter of fideling with the EQ to achieve the sound you want. Good Luck!
Phase 1
March 2 2002, 9:27 PM
I agree it won't be possible to find one perfect patch for all tastes, but we can find a good starting point from which everyone can fiddle around with settings to taste.
So here's what I have so far. The first MP3 at http://www.severe.net/zoom/colortest.mp3 uses a nearly blank patch. Micpre and P lvl are on, everything else is bypassed. Limiter is on 10. There are three takes, with color set to 0, 1, and 2 respectively. Although 1 sounded best in the headphones when I was recording with 0 being too tinny and 2 being to bassy; on my speakers after transferring to the computer 2 sounded the best.
The second MP3 at http://www.severe.net/zoom/bcbc.mp3 has the same settings as above with color set to 1, but Cab is Bc and speaker is Bc. It sounded great on headphones while recording, but on speakers it was dull, the high end is missing.
Based on these results I'd say that I'll probably use color 1 or 2 in the future with this minimal patch, occassionally adding fx like chorus, stereo panning, or whatever for extra flavor.
Let me know what you think
brit grit
Re: searching for the perfect acoustic guitar patch
March 5 2002, 8:21 AM
i use the bass-pick setting with the reverb turned off and the tone adjusted a bit!
really big, rich sound
try it!
sounds good
March 6 2002, 1:35 PM
I'll have to give it a try and do more test. My feeling at this point is that the "color" setting on the mic pre is just a pre-EQ EQ, with 0 being no EQ, 1 being a slight high freqency roll off, and 2 being a greater high end roll off and maybe a bass boost. Just a guess. As for the Cab and speaker settings, might they also be preset EQ settings?
The search continues
March 10 2002, 8:19 AM
http://artistcollaboration.com/~Zoetrope/test3.mp3 is the latest in my search for a perfect acoustic guitar patch. This time I tried out the three preset AG patches, AG-LIV, AG-BRT, and AG-SOL. All I can say is, Ag, Ag, Ag. They aren't very good. In particular, AG-SOL is just drowning in reverb. AG-Liv isn't terrible, but it and AG-Brt both have this weird spike in the high end that accentuates the pick sound in an unnatural way. Maybe that's just the built-in mic. They also don't have enough body.
The next two takes are using variations on my "perfect patch" in the makings. This time I put the limiter at 1, keeping level at 8. Color is 1 the first time and 2 the second. Color 1 sounds more natural, but 2 could have its uses. So everything is bypassed except MicPre (of course) and P-lvl is up all the way.
In general, I think if you want to use your recorded tracks for more than practice/scratch pad, I'd avoid the built-in reverbs and add it on the computer using Sound Forge or whatever.
Take a listen to the MP3 and let me know what you think.
Michael G
Mic placement?
March 10 2002, 6:40 PM
Where are you placing the mic in relation to the guitar? I typically have the best results with a mic in one of two places:
1. Pointed at the 14th fret (where the neck meets the body).
2. Pointed at the bridge.
In general, I avoid micing in front of the soundhole--it's too boomy. Unidirectional mics work best in these situations, but I understand the PS-02's mic is omnidirectional. Still, placement may make a difference.
rory
perfect patch
March 11 2002, 12:19 AM
hello...nice work...so far i like your first patch...thank you for your work
Re: searching for the perfect acoustic guitar patch
March 11 2002, 3:07 AM
I think that it is a good idea to bypass all the effects and use just micpre and its colors...in this way ac guitar sounds naturally, i also tried it...but it also depends on the type of the room where you record, In big studious, as i saw, people usually record ac guitar with natural verb of the studio room, it depends on what you expect....
Mic placement
March 11 2002, 9:13 AM
For all the tests the PS-02 is on my right knee, about 6 inches below and 4 inches in front of the sound hole. This may not be optimal, but it is practical, and the most likely position other people use. Since I'm looking for a patch that sounds good for most people, I'm using the position I imagine most people use. To my ears it's getting pretty close to a natural sound, I didn't find it too boomy. In general I think the built in mic favors high end a bit much, so putting it in a bassy position might help balance that out. On the other hand, I'm getting more picking noise than I'd like.
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