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The Tascam DR-07 recording tool that fits into your pocket

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The TASCAM DR-07 looks like a really neat way to have a very versatile and rather compact recording device that fits right into your pocket or backpack. It would be fabulous just to have something like this if your doing a simple acoustic jam with a buddy and all you want is to have a simple play back function to just review what you just played. This will help you find out what parts of a song to work on.

The thing that honestly caught my attention was the slow down function of this guitar recording device. This would work out nicely when your figuring out how to play a certain song that is being played. It would definitely work to your advantage if the song is being performed at maybe a little faster speed then your comfortable with?

It just came to my attention the other day while I was on line so I can’t vouch for it. I do have something similar to it, but it as some drawbacks to it that the DR-07 doesn’t.

This device is called the Ibanez Rock & Play RP2000. It is a hand held tape recorder that allows you to plug two guitars and it will allow you to play both the song on cassette tape and hear your guitar playing all at the same time through two separate headphones, if two players are using it.

The neat thing about the Rock & Play is that, similar to the DR-07, it allows you to slow down the song so it can help you pick out the parts of it that you need to work on, at your own pace that is. The major drawback with it is that you had to tune down your guitar strings to the NEW PITCH of the song. Imagine playing an old record and then you place your figure on it to slow it down. The song itself, or the pitch of the tune, would be a little different sounding then to what you are use to hearing.

Musicians will appreciate the playback functions of the DR-07, including the ability to loop MP3s and slow them down without changing the pitch.

The Tascam DR-07 is quite the versatile recording unit. It would be a real neat part of your bag of guitar accessories to say the least! If you happen to have one of these at your finger tips, then please tell us the pros and cons of this item in the comment section.

Keep on Jammin’

Here are the top 5 best selling items from The Guitar Effects section on Amazon:





Bruce Cockburn’s guitar Preamp

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Bruce Cockburn has that live acoustic guitar sound that every player would kill for.

It covers such a complete tonality and range that it’s quite unnerving to just think about how he achieves this, live on stage. Lots of money and equipment manufacturer’s falling all over you, wanting to give you their wares for free, just for the bragging rights to say that you use them, must come in very handy!

This will be the beginning of a quick series of posts talking about the equipment that he uses in the studio/live that allows him to bring us his extraordinary guitar sound.

Fishmanprefixproblend First lets talk about his guitar preamp. Bruce Cockburn uses a side mounted Fishman Prefix preamp. A pre-amp works like a P.A. system (Public Address) inside your guitar. Your mic’s pick up the sound and the amplifier, the thing with all the knobs, puts all the sounds together and then forwards that signal to the speakers.

Some acoustic guitar pre-amps just pickup the sound (signal) from inside the guitar (1 or 2 inside the guitar) and then sends the signal into your amplifier or P.A. system. The more complex ones, manipulate the sound and send the signal off to an amp. These ones, have the technology to capture the essence of a particular guitar sound in a electronic file and you can store it inside this device to be used at the touch of a button on the guitar. Boy have acoustic guitar’s changed!

As for Bruce’s, I can’t say that I’ve used it in a store through an amplifier, but from what I’ve heard it has had mixed reviews. That being said, this product in concert with other products can over come their defects to compliment each other nicely. I know that from my experiences with pedals. I’m sure that he has figured something out! The side mounted Fishman Prefix Pro Preamp and Pickup System that he uses something to look into if your very serious about sound … and you’ve got some time to develop it to it’s fullest potential!

I use a B-Band A5T in my Larrivee L-03. I honestly can say that this is the best acoustic pre-amp that I’ve ever owned! With or without my pedals, this thing still sound lovely. The only thing I’d like to add would be a nice EQ.

So I hope that you all found this relatively interesting, that is if your not a guitarist! In the next installment I will be talking about his acoustic Matrix pick ups that he uses.

Keep on Jammin’

Bruce Cockburn’s Acoustic Matrix pick ups

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This is my second installment of what components Bruce Cockburn uses on his acoustic guitars. Today we’ll tackle his pick ups and basically how they work.

Bruce uses 2 types in this main guitars. One is called a Acoustic Matrix (video takes a while to load sometimes and don’t forget to go through all video’s, it’s worth it!) and the other is a modified Audio-Technica internal mic.

The Acoustic Matrix pickup (p/u) is the driving force behind the Fishman system. For this p/u, Bruce runs this signal through his guitar effects. The effects that he uses are numerous and will be part of another post that describes them in greater detail. Now the signal will travel directly into his sound board to be manipulated and then it is forwarded to the speakers. This particular kind of acoustic of pick up is essentially like a Piezoelectric p/u in nature.

This p/u technology produces a voltage signal when pressure is subjected to it (the sound vibrations of the strings against the front section of the guitar). This signal then converts these vibrations into an electrical signal. The material used here is called vibration sensing co-polymer film. It seizes the signal/sound and sends it off to the amplifier or P.A. system. This product is specifically designed for acoustic guitars and it’s an ideal application to be use for saddle-mounted pick ups!

Considering the length of the connection from the p/u to the preamp inside the guitar itself, around 4 inches in length, it will help to eliminate signal loss. More wire means more resistance and a drop in quality of the signal. This is very important in retaining that true guitar sound that you are looking for.

I’m not sure which of these he uses, so here’s a little bit of both, the Natural I and the Natural II system.

Acoustic Matrix Natural I is an active p/u meaning it is very sensitive to the vibrations that the strings produce at the saddle. The saddle is on the actual body of the guitar, to the right of your sound hole, if your a left handed player that is;). The lighter you attack your strings, the less of a signal is sent and vice versa. This would be perfect for smaller sized guitars. It is ideal for solo performers who play at a low volume level. If your guitar is very prone to feedback, then the Natural II is the one for you.

The Acoustic Matrix Natural II will compliment guitars that are larger like the big scallop-braced dreadnought with tons of big bottom end that is very characteristic of this type of guitar construction. The Natural II is for playing in larger venues or bands for that matter, when you need to be able to stand out in the crowd.

This delivery system tends to give you that warm, natural acoustic voicing that your guitar has. The bottom bass sound is picked up real nicely. Considering Mr. Cockburn’s love for the bottom end and the fact that his guitar are of the dreadnought construction, you can see why he might use this type of system in his guitars.

The Acoustic Matrix Natural II is basically the same as The Natural I but it empathizes the higher end sounds of the guitar. This is great for those BIG guitars that has that real natural bass resonance to it.

Now we will look at the other hidden p/u system in his arsenal that helps him obtain his distinctive sound.

Now we come to the Audio-Technica internal mic. As for this one, it is a modified Audio-Technica internal mic. I’ve never heard of it before so naturally I’m very interested in it.

Bruce must of stumbled upon it somewhere and just picked up the ball, or should I say mic, and ran with it! It’s basically a miniature condenser mic. This type of mic can be placed anywhere inside the guitar body to capture a much different tonal sound then traditional mics do. Bruce runs this p/u directly through to the board to get that natural, unadulterated sound. If anyone out there has this type of delivery system PLEASE COMMENT on this post! I am more then a little interested in this technology.

So there you have it. I’ve deliberately tried not to go too much technical details with this post. My goal was to expose you, musicians and non-musicians alike, to something a little different in how acoustic guitar pick ups are made and what they sound like. If you find something very interesting while on your journey to p/u enlightenment, please come back and tell us! The worst thing we can do is learn something from each other, right?!

Keep on Jammin’

Here are some other acoustic guitar pick ups that I like.

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