Acoustic with Helix and IRs

imalrightjack

I'm back in the market for an acoustic.  I'll play it around home for writing, noodling, but will likely never use it live.  However, I might well use it for recording.  I currently use a PRS Hollowbody I with piezo/IRs and my Helix - and love the sound, in that it does a half-convincing acoustic sound.  

My question is: does the guitar itself and the pickup make a huge difference when using IRs?  Forgive my ignorance but it might help me decide on what I need/want.

Lewy

imalrightjack said:

I'm back in the market for an acoustic.  I'll play it around home for writing, noodling, but will likely never use it live.  However, I might well use it for recording.  I currently use a PRS Hollowbody I with piezo/IRs and my Helix - and love the sound, in that it does a half-convincing acoustic sound.  

My question is: does the guitar itself and the pickup make a huge difference when using IRs?  Forgive my ignorance but it might help me decide on what I need/want.

The guitar itself will affect attack and sustain characteristics I guess, but probably not much timbre-wise in that scenario. From my experimentations, pickups that seek to reproduce body resonance themselves (so soundboard/bridgeplate transducers like the K&K or sound hole pickups like the Baggs M1) don't sound good with IRs because its resonance on resonance and it doesn't really work...you want the kind of pickup that ordinarily would deliver the naffest plugged-in sound...the under saddle piezo. That's the most important part of the equation.

Bidley

I've been gigging acoustically (guitar and mandolin), both with K&K transducer pickups, through my Helix, through IR blocks and have been getting amazing results. Best tone I've ever managed to get live, and a million times more convenient.

Of course the Helix has enough flexibility with EQ and compression that if you don't get on with IRs you can probably make it work regardless.