Anyone gigging an Acoustasonic?

Jetfire · June 2023

Just wondered if anyone uses one of these ones Regular ? I'd be interested in hear if anyone uses one of these in small venues in a duo kind of set up. I've played on unplugged and it sounds pretty much as you'd expect, just wondered if there was anyone using thiers via a PA.

Musicwolf · June 2023

Not the Acoustasonic but I have gigged a Parker with a piezo + mag, a Yamaha SLG200S silent guitar and presently gigging a PRS SE Hollowbody II piezo.

For me the key to getting an acceptable tones is to send the 'acoustic' element direct to the PA / FRFR powered cab whilst sending the mag pickup to a conventional amp / cab or via a sim to the PA. I play using a Helix direct to PA. My Hollowbody II has two outputs, one for mag only and one for piezo. The Helix has two inputs so I can process the two sounds differently and I can either switch between them or blend them as required. I further process the 'acoustic' signal with an acoustic IR within the Helix.

Looking at the Acoustasonic in appears to have only a single output. If I was using my setup I'd set up the Helix so that the single path could switch between 'acoustic' tone (no amp sim) and mag tone (with amp sim). If you process the acoustic / piezo tone via an amp it won't sound too clever.

Roland · June 2023

Again not the Acoustasonic, but a Parker. I tried two cables from the guitar, but they were a pain, and got tangled if I moved around. Better was a stereo guitar cable, with a breakout box. I gave up on piezo, and EQd the normal guitar sound instead.

The big breakthrough came when I got an AxeFX, and could make an IR which matched my neck pickup to my acoustic guitar sound. No guitar changes, no feedback, just step on a button and I got from acoustic to lead guitar and back. I’d recommend something which plays IRs rather than piezos any day.

TTony · June 2023

Musicwolf · June 2023

Roland said:

The big breakthrough came when I got an AxeFX, and could make an IR which matched my neck pickup to my acoustic guitar sound. No guitar changes, no feedback, just step on a button and I got from acoustic to lead guitar and back. I’d recommend something which plays IRs rather than piezos any day.

I've also done this / do this. I find that the PRS SE Hollowbody II piezo into an IR gives me the best acoustic sound but I can manage quite happily with a mag pickup / acoustic IR (I get best results with a single coil neck pickup).

As it happens most of my 'acoustic' parts are in the first set and the encore so I use my PRS on those and my Rickenbacker during the second set, which works fine. If I break a string on the PRS I can change instruments (I can change set lists quickly using my Stream Deck) and still have an 'acoustic' sound. If an 'acoustic' song needs to go into the second set, as will be the case tomorrow night, then that's perfectly manageable. The audience certainly won't know the difference.

Trude · June 2023

@Musicwolf I use the same PRS, processed the same way, but via a Boss GT1000 Core.

Curious to know which IR you're using - I feel like there's still some room for improvement with mine.

Snags · June 2023

I don't own one, but a friend plays his pretty much exclusively live. Solo act, doing open mics, showcase events and support slots, as well as extended live streaming.

Sometimes direct to desk, sometimes through a massive Boss looper and GT-1000 (I think, haven't looked too closely).

It always sounds fine to me.

Musicwolf · June 2023

Trude said:

@Musicwolf I use the same PRS, processed the same way, but via a Boss GT1000 Core.

Curious to know which IR you're using - I feel like there's still some room for improvement with mine.

@Trude ;

I can't recall which IR off hand but I'll have a look later when I unload the gear later (I was gigging last night)

Trude · June 2023

@Musicwolf thanks - much obliged!

Musicwolf · June 2023

@Trude

I have been using the Martin 45 impulses from 3 Sigma (mostly impulse Martin Soundhole 1a). I add compression, EQ and reverb from the Helix.

Trude · June 2023

@Musicwolf very interesting! I actually have one of the 3Singma J45 sets, but I've only ever explored the piezo bridge files. Did you compare those before settling on the Soundhole one? I'll have to give that a try later tonight

Trude · June 2023

@Jetfire apologies for the thread hijack by the way.
I did gig a Player Acoustasonic JM once but I found the hybrid sounds pretty unusable (sounded okay in the shop but just didn't work for me live). I generally want a base acoustic sound with a variable layer of electric dirt added on top, and so far only proper dual-output guitars like the PRS do that well enough for me.
The Acoustasonic only really does electric OR acoustic sounds, not both at the same time, which seems like a very strange design limitation.

Jetfire · June 2023

None offense taken. Since I've posted this, I've had two really good gigs with my own acoustic and this has made a massive difference to my perspective on it all. Mostly, it's down to the way the PA I'm plugged into is set up. Been slowly learning more about the desk we use (I usually see it at gig time, that's it!)

ICBM · June 2023

TTony said:

Sadly they sound pretty nasty there - very piezo-like attack and buzziness. Nowhere near as good as an acoustic with a magnetic soundhole pickup if you want an overdriven acoustic sound.

In other news... I spotted this earlier - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-65972388

- which sounds much better, if that's what we're hearing.

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Anyone gigging an Acoustasonic?

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