Private Stock Question - Santana Semihollow

[sergiodeblanc]

Well, different guitars, different ears, different players, different rooms, different setups, different mics, different recording sessions, right?

I've had PRS semis with both rosewood and ebony fretboards. There's something that you mention that's true of the ebony, but the sparkle was still there with rosewood, at least in my room, with my amps, my mics, and so on.

There's a LOT less beef/tightness in the lower midrange, and the bass end is less piano-like.

This thread got me wondering if I really wanted to keep my Special. so I played it this AM against my other guitars. Very different, at all levels, clean to dirty. Wasn't happy.

In fairness, I should mention that I've been going back and forth on this for some time.

I decided I could do without it. It's outta here, already sold. Went out and bought another Neumann mic and pocketed the rest.

You'd have sold it because it's blue and lord knows what else. I sold it because playing it just didn't quite get 'there' for me. And that was purely sonics. Now I have cash burning a hole in my pocket.

I think I should spend it before it disappears.

Ooh! What Neumann did you buy? I hate to say this but, I could probably lose a couple guitars to buy a real mic and preamp. I don’t wanna but…


Anyhow, before reading this post kept going back and forth over whether I’m totally full of s**t (distinct probability) deaf (how would I know?) dumb (absolutely) or if I should have Jack cherry pick guitars for me.

I want to want a PRS semi hollow.

 

[László]

Ooh! What Neumann did you buy? I hate to say this but, I could probably lose a couple guitars to buy a real mic and preamp. I don’t wanna but…

I bought another TLM 103. Nothing exotic.

I like the 103s a lot. They're great all-purpose mics if you don't need switchable patterns (which I hardly ever use).

I've decided to start bringing in orchestra instrument players to enhance my classical style tracks; the TLMs make really good spot mics for double bass, 'cello, woodwinds, etc.

I also like the way a 103 works with my acoustic. Of course, that's going to vary for each guitar, but so be it.

If you need switchable patterns, I should mention that my son lent me his Peluso 87 for a few weeks, and I liked it. I thought the way it captured the fundamental frequencies was very solid, and it images very nicely. The only minor criticism I had was that the mic's machining wasn't as silky threading on the mic mount, etc, as a Neumann, but that's not important.

The Peluso is a bargain if you need switchable polar patterns and like that 87 sound for around the same money. But head to head, I found a 103 works a little better with my acoustic, so that was my choice.

BTW this mic is a great match for a BAE 1073, which is a magic bullet in and of itself. A while back I recorded a test of the BAE vs the Universal Audio emulation of the 1073, which is not at all bad, and posted it on my old forum. Good as the UA model sounds, you could hear the difference quite clearly. All of the commenters agreed. I also like the Focusrite ISA One, which is another Rupert Neve design; it's a very underrated preamp, and I have one of those as well. I had the original $3500 Focusrite Red 7 preamp, and if there's a difference, it's tiny. So that's another one to look at, and they're very reasonably priced.

I could see adding another ISA One for the upcoming sessions. First I do have the little chore of having an orchestrator help me create the orchestral score on paper for the players to read...I can read a score if I have forever to study it, but getting it down on paper? I'm not qualified.

 

[jxe]

Well, different guitars, different ears, different players, different rooms, different setups, different mics, different recording sessions, right?

I've had PRS semis with rosewood and ebony fretboards. There's something that you mention that's true of the ebony, but the sparkle was still there with rosewood, at least in my room, with my amps, my mics, and so on.

There's a LOT less beef/tightness in the lower midrange, and the bass end is less piano-like.

This thread got me wondering if I really wanted to keep my Special. so I played it this AM against my other guitars. Very different, at all levels, clean to dirty. Wasn't happy. I decided I could do without it. It's outta here, already sold. Went out and bought another Neumann mic and pocketed the rest.

You'd have sold it because it's blue and lord knows what else. I sold it because playing it just didn't quite get 'there' for me. And that was purely sonics.

you sold a guitar and bought a neumann mic in a day? BALLIN

 

[László]

you sold a guitar and bought a neumann mic in a day? BALLIN

Haha!

I figured WTF. Mics are easy, I use that model a lot.

 

[László]

I want to want a PRS semi hollow.

It's not that I didn't like the guitar. It sounded very sweet. But if after a year + of owning it I've still only used it once in my work (the project I bought it for), it was really time to make a change.

Might be a while before I go shopping for another guitar. It's possible I have exactly what I want already.

 

[Bogner]

I stumbled across a PS Santana II with f holes on CL in Phoenix if the OP wants to look at it. I am not affiliated in any way. I was looking for an amp via a referral and it popped up in the feed. You don't see them everyday and I thought I would share.

 

[veinbuster]

I want to want a PRS semi hollow.

There’s no reason to really.

 

[PabloRocha]

What about a semi hollow without f holes?

 

[Greywolf]

Like a Country Gentleman .. I have made those for years .. fuller tone and no feedback

 

[jxe]

you say you don't like semis but you (some of you) even have those surfy looking se things with the bigsby.