acoustic electric upgrade?

[downtown]

I played my Washburn D25SN (w/fishman matrix) for the first time in a while. Direct box into the PA. If I remember right it is a spruce top with ovangkol back and sides.

 

Maybe it was the night air but the tone seemed rich and warm. I was thinking about upgrading to a Martin, Taylor, or Larivee based on the comments I have read and probably need to take it into a store and compare them side by side.

 

Aside from playability, would you expect to hear a significant difference when upgrading to a $1500 guitar with a blender when running thru a PA?

[desaljs]

downtown,

Sounds like you are happy with what you have. Why mess with a good thing?

[slider]

for almost forty years Ive played crappy acoustics. you know those 100$ to 300$ ones.
then I bought a Martin 16GTE for 1197$. what a huge difference. not only was the tone improvement noticiable, but, and most importantly, the playability was vastly improved.
I am a pretty fast flatpicker and that Martin is excellent for that style (among others too).
better woods and craftsmanship are very important with acoustics.
I'll go out on a limb and say probably more important for acoustics than electrics.

[fingerstyleman]

Originally posted by slider for almost forty years Ive played crappy acoustics. you know those 100$ to 300$ ones. then I bought a Martin 16GTE for 1197$. what a huge difference. not only was the tone improvement noticiable, but, and most importantly, the playability was vastly improved. I am a pretty fast flatpicker and that Martin is excellent for that style (among others too). better woods and craftsmanship are very important with acoustics. I'll go out on a limb and say probably more important for acoustics than electrics.

 

 

 

Not really, cheap electrics in an acoustic through a PA isn't going top sound great, good set-up will even on a really cheap laminate.

 

Best advice would be to buy a really good acoustoic and mic it with a set of condensor mics from a drum mic set.

[downtown]

desaljs

I know what you mean. There are lots of ways to spend money.

By the way, I grew up in Illinois.

slider

The Martin sounds nice. When I get some free time over the next several weeks I'm going to take the Washburn in and compare it to some others without amplification as a first step.

fingerstyleman

re: set up, are you viewing intonation as the most important?

[fingerstyleman]

Originally posted by downtown desaljs I know what you mean. There are lots of ways to spend money. By the way, I grew up in Illinois. slider The Martin sounds nice. When I get some free time over the next several weeks I'm going to take the Washburn in and compare it to some others without amplification as a first step. fingerstyleman re: set up, are you viewing intonation as the most important?

 

 

I was half-cut when I typed that in.

 

But yes, if you are going to connect the acoustic straight into a PA, or via an effects box of some description, the tonewood used for construction becomes less of a concern and the quality of the pick-up system and yes, intonation , of the guitar become more important.

 

If you have a high quality acoustic, like a Martin or Taylor, it would be better to capture the beauty of the instrument with good microphones rather than trying to reproduce with a pick-up system.