Is The PICKUP All That Matters?
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You don't have to go digging too deep on the internet to find debates about whether "tonewood" is a thing or not.
On one extreme end are of people who believe that the pickup is the only thing that matters. You could put a given pickup on a slab of cheese and it'll sound just like a handcrafted instrument made out of the finest piece of maple.
On the other end are people who think that the composition of the instrument body is INCREDIBLY important to the sound of the instrument.
Well, there's one way to know for sure. Let's go into the lab and find out for ourselves.
We play 5 different violins, all with Starfish pickups. Now, Starfish pickups are handmade and there's bound to be a small amount of variability from pickup to pickup. And Matt isn't a machine. He's going to sound a little different each time he plays. But we've done what we can to minimize the variables. All of these clips were recorded within 30 minutes into the exact same signal path with the same bow.
You be the judge. Does the instrument body matter?
0:00 Intro
1:18 Booysenworx Violin
1:39 Stratton Violin
2:00 Jordan Violin
2:20 Strikell Violin
2:42 OpenFab PDX Violin
Пікірлер: 17
Tonewood matters a lot for acoustic. Tonewood matters somewhat for electric violins, because they use Piezo pickups, which are basically a tiny microphone. Tonewood does not matter at all for electric guitars. They use magnetic coils, not Piezo pickups. So it only records the vibrations of the strings, not the vibration of the body. There have been a lot of thorough tests on this, the body of the electric guitar has no effect at all on the sound. Not even a tiny bit. But the body does have an effect for electric violins.
I use a KNA pickup that slots into the bridge on my cello. I found those ones that stick to the instrument to be terrible. But once you get the right pickup, it's useless unless you have a good preamp. And this is where I discovered the NUX Optima Air. It's sounds just like the others when you turn it on, but when you make a sound profile for you instrume t, my God, it's so close to the real thing, it's ridiculous. I made a recordi g the other day and my jaw dropped. I usually use a high end mic, but this was closer than I could reasonably expect. And for stage use, in my opinion, it will kick the ass of your standard DPA, which needs to sound guy to tinker heavily to get a sound that resembles a cello. With the NUX, you make the sound at home and they just give you a DI cable and you're good to go. Minimal tweaking required. For the studio...well, I don't think it will replace my U87...
Cool comparison. Loads of difference. How much of that is the strings you reckon? Do you know which ones had metal strings and which ones had synthetic core strings and if it’s not too much to ask which brands? May be worth a separate (expensive) video
@ElectricViolinShop
23 күн бұрын
Strings do make a significant difference on electrics. I didn't check to see which strings they have. I'll look next week when I'm back in. But IIRC, they're all either Helicore or similar. It ain't the strings. Lots of people have asked for a string shootout. It might be in the very distant future, but don't hold your breath. I hate changing strings. And there's essentially zero chance I'm burning $500 worth of strings for a video. lol
@rfv618
23 күн бұрын
@@ElectricViolinShop thanks for your reply! Omg aren’t strings expensive. Maybe if a client asks for a string change at the shop and you happen to be in you can do a before/after comparison
@ElectricViolinShop
23 күн бұрын
@@rfv618With dead strings vs new ones?
@rfv618
23 күн бұрын
@@ElectricViolinShop obviously not, but maybe someone buys a new instrument and asks for a different set to be installed before shipping. Just spitballing ideas here, im sure you can come up with better ones :)
Pickups are huge for the sound. But the resonating cavity generates the pickup's content. Ideally we max both parts out 👌🏼
@ElectricViolinShop
14 күн бұрын
Not always. If we're running a lot of distortion or if we're doing a lot of pitch shifting, a less complex sound might be better...
@jhartbassoon
9 күн бұрын
@@ElectricViolinShop That is a good point. I have had to dial in my bassoon chain pretty meticulously for it to work well. Even with the Little Jake bocal pickup, it's got a lot more harmonic content than a guitar for sure.
Running on concrete vs running on grass with the same shoes feels different. An anvil made of good steel feels different (more rebound, less energy loss) than an anvil made of cheap iron, when hit by the same hammer. It makes sense that a pickup that converts vibration to electricity would also give different outputs when sitting on materials with different stiffness...
@maxalaintwo3578
16 күн бұрын
If the pickup is piezo and it’s taking into account the vibration of the whole body, then yeah maybe. If it’s electromagnetic, no. Not even a little bit would it record the vibration on non-electromagnetic materials.
Did you use the same strings on all instruments?
@ElectricViolinShop
23 күн бұрын
Didn't check. I'll look the next time I'm in the shop. But pretty much every manufacturer uses Helicore or similar strings. It ain't the strings. (It's the body)
@user-tr3ln1iu1w
18 күн бұрын
@@ElectricViolinShop I am a big fan of Evah Pirazzi strings, they DO sound better.
Personally, I like the Stratton & the Strikell, but they all sound great.
@ElectricViolinShop
22 күн бұрын
To me, the pickup has a very distinctive sound but you can definitely hear each body, too.