Guitar sound

Hi All,
For a number of years now I’ve played an acoustic Guitar, which is a Martin HD 28. Then recently, I decided to add an amplifier and a pick up, a Marshal AS 100D Amp and a LR BAGGS M1 active Pick up.

But however hard I try, I’m unable to get that true acoustic sound.
I’m a great James Taylor and Neil Young fan, but I just can’t get that sound. Can anyone help?
Thanks
Graham

When you say "that sound", are you referring to when they play using an internal pickup (like the one you have), or the sound they have on their recorded studio albums?

In the studio, most acoustic guitars are recorded using an external mic, which usually sounds much better and more authentic than even the best internal mics.

Is this what you're referring to? If not, I may have misunderstood.

/Ben

Hi Ben,
Thanks for the reply,
I’ve only ever listened to James Taylor and Neil Young on CD, and I wanted to recreate that deep bass acoustic sound, live.
Graham

Hi Ben,
Thanks for the reply,
I’ve only ever listened to James Taylor and Neil Young on CD, and I wanted to recreate that deep bass acoustic sound, live.
Graham

Well, the thing is that internal pickups are mainly used for practical reasons, rather than to get the best possible sound, which is why they're used live a lot more than in the studio. With a guitar cable and a pickup you can move around as you like and don't risk getting feedback from the drums etc...

I don't know how James Taylor and Neil Young recorded their guitars exactly, but my guess is that they used several external microphones aimed at different spots on the guitar. A common setup is to have one mic aimed at around the 12th fret of the guitar, and one mic aimed at the bridge - and then you blend those sounds together.

On the Tommy Emmanuel album Only, he used as many as 4 external mics and even blended in a little bit of the internal pickup sound, to record all the frequencies of the guitar. And then you add compression and reverb to further get the sound you're after. Adjusting the EQ in your recording software can have huge impact on the sound too.

So to sum it up - it is really hard to replicate a studio album sound live with just a single pickup inside the guitar. You have no option of moving it to see where it sounds best, and you don't get the sound you hear with your ears - since the sound hasn't travelled through the air, like it would do before hitting an external mic.

Hi,

How can I get sound like Aerosmith and Tarot (finnish band)?
I know is two different sound and probably two different effects.

Best wishes,
Adam

P.S. Sorry everyone for my english.

Can you name a certain song with the sound you're thinking of?

Aerosmith: Cryin' , Love in an elevator, Angel

Tarot: Pyre of Gods

Thank you for help.

What is your setup right now? Guitar? Amp? What is it that you're missing with your sound.

It's hard to answer exactly what Tarot and Aerosmith used, but Aerosmith probably used older Marshall amplifiers with a big variety of guitars - anything from Les Pauls to Stratocasters to Flying V's.

Tarot has a heavier sound, and on the recording they probably used many guitar tracks recorded on top of each other, to get a heavy thick sound. They probably used humbucker pickups (like a Les Paul). I have no idea what amps they use, but many metal bands like the sound of Mesa Boogie amps. Of course, many of them use Marshalls too. They may also use some kind of a distortion pedal to beef up the sound even more.