Advice on pickup, amp

Tommasino

I was hoping that Michael and the others who are 10,000 times more experienced than me could give me some advice on this.

I have finally found a local group to play with (a true Holy Graal here in NoVa) and I need to amplify my MD50 for gigs in pubs &c.

As a pickup, I was thinking of getting a Dupont Stimer reissue ST48, or perhaps a Dupont Big Tone Bridge Combo. If any of you have any experience with these and can give me your opinion, I would be very grateful. I like them for the simplicity of design/installation as well as because doing business with Jacques Mazzoleni is always a pleasure.

As for an amp, I have no idea of what would allow me to get the best sound out of the pickup and guitar I mentioned. I am inclined towards the compact Schertler David, given the good reviews I have read (here and elsewhere) unless any of you think that this setup may give me any problems.

MichaelHorowitz

Hi...


The bigtone and the Stimer are both good ways to amplify your guitar. Here's my analysis:

The Bigtone:

The Good: Easy to use, very feedback resistant

The Bad: Nasal and brittle peizo sound, requires installation

The Stimer:

The Good: Very feedback resistent, warm sound

The Bad: It's an "eclectic"magnetic pick up sound...so you loose the acoustic aesthetic.


The Schertler DYN:

The good: probably the most natural sounding pick up...very warm and pleasing. No installation required.

The Bad: more prone to feedback at high volumes. Requires more expertise of the user to get a good sound.

The Schertler Basik (this is new and is quickly becoming the favorite pick up of many players. Andreas Oberg uses it, Neil Andersson sometimes does...it's my main pu now.)

The Good: Loud and bright...no installation required.

The Bad: Not as natural as the DYN, but seems to work better in high volume situations. Often needs the Stat-Pre pre amp to get enough gain.

I Hope that helps!

-Michael

Tommasino

This sure does help, Michael--thank you.

What about the amp? Do you have any recommendations/comments to my questions?

Tom

MichaelHorowitz

The AER works well with the bigtone. The Stat channel of Scherlter Amps have a "warm" button which makes the Schertler sound pretty much like the AER. If you go with the Schertler, I personally think it's worth getting the Unico. It's only a little heavier, but has a lot more power which is handy when you're playing in a loud bar or outside. The David is better for less volume challenged situations.

If you go with the Stimer you'll probably be best off with an eclectic guitar amp...preferably a tube amp (which are heavy as hell!). But the Stimer can sound decent through an acoustic type amp like the Schertler or AER.

'm

Cuimean

Michael Horowitz wrote:

If you go with the Stimer you'll probably be best off with an eclectic guitar amp...preferably a tube amp (which are heavy as hell!).

I play my old Epi Zephyr through a Fender Blues Jr. and never have a problem being heard though the other five guys in my band or over the noise of the busy bar where we play. I usually only keep the volume and master each up a quarter of the way, so I know the amp can get much louder. Plus, it's a relatively and won't kill your back. I believe they also make a smaller tube amp (Pro Jr.?) that works well, too; the guitarist of a band we played with on Thursday used one that had a decent tone at a pretty loud volume.

Jack

Hey Michael,

When you write 'eclectic' in those posts above, you do mean electric, right?

Best,
Jack.

MichaelHorowitz

Jack wrote:

Hey Michael,

When you write 'eclectic' in those posts above, you do mean electric, right?

Best,
Jack.

both i guess....

Jack

Michael Horowitz wrote:

Jack wrote:

Hey Michael,
When you write 'eclectic' in those posts above, you do mean electric, right?

Best,
Jack.

both i guess....

Sneaky...I'll be sure to have a Pignose and some Marshall stacks ready for you at the festival...

Best,
Jack.

MichaelHorowitz

Robin Nolan used to use a pignose at the Molent'je jam in Amsterdam.....nasty! But you can't beat the portability...

Josh Hegg

Just got the Schertler Unico today. Man... what an amp. This is the amp if you want to reproduce the tone of your guitar. I ran my Basik through the Stat pre and the thing is just as clear as a bell.

The images are of my Basik Modification. Works great and is easy to hook up. If you like this idea I would be happy to talk to you more about it.

calò

Hi Josh, how you did it? I´m planning to uese the basik with my d500