The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by McJazzer
    My dilemma is this... I've got a wonderfully built Eastman AR810 (17" lower bout, violin varnish, huge sound) that I just really love to play. I'm using flatwounds at the moment but I dig the sound of rounds on it too. It sounds fantastic acoustically, which I don't want to alter at all. That's how I play it most of the time. My issue is that when I go to amplify it, it's just so difficult to play that I usually just end up taking my Strat or solid body PRS on gigs instead.

    I would really like to use this guitar more live, but I have issues with getting a good tone and fighting feedback. I have a set of Doug's Plugs and they help a bit, but not nearly enough for when I'm playing with a jazz combo or big band. Any other tricks I should know about to help dampen the instrument and fight feedback? I've seen some of these guitars have a soundpost installed before - should I look into that?

    Additionally, I feel like the amplified tone is just awful but maybe that's an entirely different problem. I'm using a Kent Armstrong 12-pole PAF floater which I feel like should be a pretty good pickup. Because of how the pickup is attached to the pickguard, I've had to raise each of the 12 poles considerably to get them close enough to the strings. The volume and tone potentiometer are particularly frustrating, as both of them feel like they don't do anything for the first 90%, and then it's hard to find the right setting in that last 10% of the turn. The are the same pots that came with the guitar and are accessed under the pickguard, which is why I haven't tried changing them yet. Anyone have experience getting one of these guitars to sound good?
    Unless you intend to play at very high volume (in Jazz terms) this can be most probably solved with the right amplifier, and maybe an additional EQ which allows zooming into the frequencies which are bothering. Personally i never felt comfortable with amplification until i found the Acoustic Image Clarus and combined it with a Stealth 10 RE speaker enclosure. The Clarus has an adjustable filter which can cut unwanted lows effectively. In the meantime i also acquired a Mambo 8" wedge which does a great job. I owned a bunch of tube amps over the years, but felt only comfortable playing them at low volume, while i can turn the Clarus and Mambo up and still feel comfortable. I also owned two different Polytones but they lacked the power and dynamics i was looking for. Aer amps (eg Compact 60) might be suitable, but in my opinion they lack midrange and therefore don't really enhance a traditional archtop sound, they have more of a neutral PA character. The KA 12 Pole allows you to set the output for each string precisely and is a great sounding warm PU. So keep trying - good luck!

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  3. #27

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    Coming back here to follow up on what I found with the Schatten thumbwheel:
    So, I couldn't find a 250k version which I would've preferred so I just went with the 500k option. It was relatively easily to install myself given that I have the supplies and know how to solder. The pots are advertised as audio taper and I found that to be true. They work very well. They give a bit more physical resistance than the stock pots and also feel a bit more stable. The audio taper is smooth and MUCH more usable than what I had been dealing with for the last five years so thank you for recommending this! The Schatten pots come with a .22 capacitor, which I used. The range of the tone roll-off is the same as before, but the fact that I can actually find the sweet spot now has made all of the difference. The volume and tone control both work as they should.

    What was interesting is that the stock pots were labeled 500k and the stock capacitor was the same value of .22 so the only real difference here is moving from logarithmic taper to audio taper. A friend of mine has the AR805 and has been experiencing the same problems so he'll probably change the pots out too now since talking with him.

    My AR810 and KA 12-pole is still very bright with the tone control at max. Finding a 250k version from Schatten might've helped here but for now it'll be fine how it is. There is a way to stop down the 500k rating to be lower to 300k or 250k but this would involve soldering a resistor to ground and I've read that this'll affect the taper so I won't bother with that mod. Over time I'm sure I'll come to a more definitive conclusion on if I'm entirely happy with the sound. Right now I think I'm still in shock that the main issue has finally been corrected.

    I think my expectations for what a floater should sound like are very reasonable. I've played a lot of guitars and am aware of the differences in tone between an acoustic archtop with a floating pickup and an electric hollowbody with mounted pickups. I'm sure if I had posted a sound clip in the original post you all would have agreed with me that I'm not crazy.

    As for feedback issues - I've got a set of custom cut Doug's Plugs, which are helpful but not the entire solution. I have a couple pieces of tape and paper that are wedged in between the pickup and the pickguard and the top of the instrument that 1) - sturdy the pickup assembly so it doesn't move so much and 2) - deadens the top just a bit more. Even still, it's not a usable instrument with big band or any loud ensemble. I could buy a nice vintage Gibson if I wanted too, but I should probably be saving money for a new car in the next few years instead. For now I'll just stick with the Strat and PRS for loud gigs.

  4. #28

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    Maybe a little basic but as I seem to miss the forest for the trees myself fairly often I'll mention...

    For the most part, an electric guitar, like your Eastman is set up to be, does not sound like an acoustic guitar when plugged in. You can set it up to be acoustic but that isn't what the Armstrong 12 pole does.

    Also, electric guitar amps are not made to amplify acoustic instruments. They have a relatively narrow frequency range designed for electric guitar. They also lack features like a notch filter to control feedback.
    Last edited by Spook410; 02-25-2021 at 06:32 PM.

  5. #29

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    A 500k pot will have 250k resistance at some point in the turn of the knob. It's not illegal to roll the tone control, nor the volume control, back from full on. I'm not a fan of 250k pots on anything, because that's the max you can get, even if you need more. With a 500k pot, or even a 1meg pot, you can always roll it back as needed. AFAIK Schatten has never offered a 250k version.

  6. #30

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    I am glad to hear that you found what sounds like a pretty significant improvement by changing the controls.

    I have generally found that large archtop guitars are just feedback machines at anything above small combo volume. Other people seem to get away with it, but they're usually using something like a Gibson ES-175 or an L5 CES which are more heavily built and more feedback resistant. A responsive, resonant acoustic guitar is just going to be more likely to feed back. For loud gigs I use a Telecaster or Stratocaster, typically. I have an Ibanez GB10 which can feed back but is more resistant because of the smaller body and thicker top. It also has a more electric sound than my 17 inch carved archtop, which is to be expected. As the folks across the Pond say, "it's horses for courses."