Question:
I was looking at getting a Boss AC-2 Acoustic Simulator for my c1 classic with christmas money that I'll get. Anybody have experience with acoustic simulators? Do they sound anything like an acoustic? I was thinking of putting a piezo on it, but it sounds too complicated, so I figured I'd look at this. I'm not neccessarily looking for an exact replication of an acoustic guitar sound, but something better than the cleans I'm getting now. Thoughts? Opinions?
Answer:
I've tried the AC-2 several times and never been happy with it, which is why I bought a transducer-equipped axe (Godin Solidac).
There's no real way that I'm aware of currently to make a magnetic pickup behave as a transducer or microphone would, not even in post processing effects.
Answer:
I've never used the AC-2, but i've tried other acoustic simulators on multifx units. From what i've heard the AC-2 is one of the best out there, but it still won't actually sound like an acoustic. If you're talking about the schecter C1, and it's a dual humbucker guitar like i think it is... you probably won't get very acoustic like results from it.
Piezos will give you the most acoustic like tone possible from an electric. That being said, single coils sound a lot more like acoustics to begin with in terms of what frequencies they pick up, response to picking dynamics, and sustain. On my old Ibanez S370, I put in a coil tap switch, and found that the tapped bridge pickup sounded the most like an acoustic. With my LTD, the pickups are enough brighter that i just use the center position (which i think uses one coil from both humbuckers) sounds the most acoustic like.
So if all you're looking for is some cleaner clean tones, you might consider a coil tap as a cheaper alternative to piezo saddles. Also, EQ can help, and the amp you're using can make a huge difference. I put an on board buffer/booster on my guitar and it really cleans things up, but it's NOT a beginer level soldering project since it has to be small enough to fit inside the guitar. The super high input impedance combined with some low cut filtering makes my clean cleaner than my acoustic with the pickup switch in the middle position.
Answer:
To be honest, I don't think i've ever heard anything positive about acoustic simulators, and definitly not about the Boss one. There just isn't a replacement for a real acoustic. A piezo pickup is about the best you can do.
Answer:
I will let you know how my piezo project goes onto a schecter c-1 classic. The classic already has a coil tap(split) just fyi.
Answer:
well, it may not suond adsackly like a full bodied acoustic, but the times I have tried it I have been very happy with it.
Answer:
Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq I will let you know how my piezo project goes onto a schecter c-1 classic. The classic already has a coil tap(split) just fyi. Yeah I know it has coil splitting built into the switch. I read the thread about putting a piezo into your c-1 classic, and the whole thing sounded to risky for me; I've never soldered anything, and I'm defenitely not comfortable with drilling holes into my guitar, so I assumed piezo wasn't an option for me. If it does work out to where it's something I could do, be sure to let me know.
Until then, anybody else had experience with acoustic simulators?