Barbera Soloist - any experiences

[jorgemg1984]

Great advice.
You know I wonder if it makes sense to look into other bridge style pickups. Not because I want to go cheap (well maybe because I don't have any money left...) but if I need to buy a preamp now we are up $750. If I can get something that will smooth out the pickup a little, then is there anything else out there that will be nice?

Sorry for the delay, Joe. It seems like you already have some other options! I am not a fan of mics because of feedback and having to be very still while playing.

One solution to your problem might be the TC Helicon Play Acoustic. It has the BodyRez incorporated and records trough USB. Also has reverb. As for preamps the Headway EDM-1 is suited to receive a passive piezo signal but I always think it's a good idea to match the piezo maker and the preamp maker, I've had bad surprises in that department with my RMC piezos - tried to match them with several preamps than in theory worked but in practice didn't. I finally got the RMC preamp and it works great - it's weird Barbera doesn't have their own preamp. If you want to check cheaper options see Fishman or Graphtech piezo preamp combos. One of these plus the TC seems quite cheap.

Now I think Roger makes a great point and he knows what he's talking about - there's a good chance that despite investing in a good piezo, preamp and fx pedal in the end sound is still not right... it's hard to amplify acoustic archtops.

[rpguitar]

Julian Lage seemed to do ok with a just a clip on mic, when he was playing his L5.

Julian has a really expensive one, and he uses it on stage with a full band and sound system. Joe is going to be playing in his living room or equivalent!

My opinion, again, but: You only need to amplify an acoustic archtop if you want it to sound like a traditional electric jazz guitar. And in that case, you use a magnetic pickup like the DeArmonds. That gives you a different sound than the acoustic one, but one which we all love.

The various piezo and transducer options are meant to amplify the acoustic sound, and they are all major compromises in doing so. They're just not worth it if you're going to be playing the acoustic guitar in a quiet home environment. (And they defeat the purpose of having an amazing acoustic guitar!)

[medblues]

I agree with Roger. How comfortable are you taking out your D'Angelico to a gig or jam environment ? If (very) uncomfortable, you don't need to worry about amplifying it for an audience. For recording it, using a microphone (on a stand or clip-on) has less of a feedback problem. You already have other great guitars that would function at the highest level with a magnetic pickup (the Gibson Tal Farlow for instance).