EQ Question on Taylor 310ce- 2009

[FolksyDar]

In 2009 I purchased a new Taylor 310ce with the ES1 pickup. This guitar has a great sound acoustically and has been a great solution for amplified acoustic guitar when gigging. Recently we purchased an EV 50m sound system. I am not a sound tech, so please forgive my ignorance,
 I cannot get the sound dialed in. Using the presets( 12 noon) on bass, miss, treble and no compression, the guitar sounds brassy. We have tried various settings and nothing seems to help. Do I need an EQ pedal or an auxiliary mixer to achieve that beautiful, rich Taylor sound? Or are there settings we haven't tried on the EV? Help.....

[Mosaau]

Hi, here's my story:

I recently wanted to install a K&K kit with the 3 transducers and the mic at the soundhole inside the body

I ordered the wrong kit with 4 transducers and had to return it and the one with 3 transducers are not in stock right now

then I gave the ES1 system an other chance. Think last time I tried, I took off the humbucker wire from the preamp, because I suspected that it caused the 'brazzy sound' but it just disabled everything.

This time I loaded some Gibson Hummingbird impulse response from 3Sigma into a cab slot of a Strymon Iridium amp and cap pedal and bypassed the amp-part. It really makes the sound much nicer, though there still are some of those brassy notes on the b-string from around e to b

so I'm still trying to figure out how to bypass the humbucker and maybe the transducer in order to just use the bridge piezzo pickup with impulse respone

Don't know if Strymon Iridium is the best option, if it is, I would like one more, also in order to imitate an ES335 with my Fender Strat, I'm also going to try some Taylor ir's and see if that works better.

[Edward]

Hey Folksy,

The ES version 1.2 on your 2009 is a very good system, and can sound excellent amplified through a PA such as your 50m.  You can use either a graphic EQ, or a DI with a good EQ stack built in.  But keep in mind that all acoustic pickup systems --all of them-- have their own compromises and coloration to the guitar's core voice.  All, without exception.  The truest way to get your actual guitar's voice amplified to truly sound like you're hearing it is mic'd properly, and even this is replete with compromises!  All to say, curb your expectations a bit when trying to amp your acoustic.  But your ES is absolutely capable of sounding great live.  I have gigged lots with the Es 1.2 years ago, and currently gig with the ES1.3 (for many years now), and the acoustic always sounds great through the house.

1. For a GEQ, most anything can help you shape your tone more to your liking.  You're looking at around 2k-3k frequency band to smooth-out the upper mids.  Slight attenuation in that region will tame that brassiness, and adjust the 4k for your treble, and around 6k for "air" and sparkle.  Go easy with any boost in these upper freqs as your guit's tone can get harsh (and fatiguing) really quickly, and it also increases feedback potential depending on your house volume and proximity to the speakers.  Small changes go a long way in the overall voice.  One of my favorite GEQs is Source Audio's programmable: it has four programmable presets, and offers you lots of ability to shape your tone.  Even if you don't use all four presets, its quality and parameters is worth the price of admission. 

2. For a good DI, go with something like a Baggs ParaDI, or better yet a Venue, or Fishman PlatinumPro, or Radial's Tonebone.  These are all good units that do not contain any effects (steer clear of such IMO) because the money is in good preamps and a quality tone stack.   My particular bias is toward the Venue as it has two sweep bands (the others have one) and two treble bands, all of which give you good tone-shaping potential.

Given what you describe, I'd suggest going the DI route and get a Baggs Venue (or such), and that will go a long way in allowing you to shape your guitar's live tone more to your liking.  Hope that gives you a few things to think about

Edward

[Mosaau]

I intalled my system to a Baggs Anthem, absolutely mindblowing sound , the brazzy sound you describe, which I assume is the same as I was struggeling with, is gone

problem solved