Hi. Well thirty years done and I'm retiring from my day job this May. My wife has decided to buy me a guitar for my retirement. I'm going to order this one:

http://www2.gibson.com/Product...rowne-Signature.aspx

It's a 12 fret jumbo body based on the legendary Smeck guitars from Gibson's glory past in the thirties. I plan to put her through the paces not just acoustically but through my Bose systems before I decide to pull the trigger (10 day opt-out plan).

It comes with a Trance Amulet system installed. From what I have heard on the internet, they sound impressive. So, I realize this might be uncharted waters as a forum topic but for those of you who know things I don't regarding pickups (and that covers an awful lot of territory), what do you think my best options with a T1 might be for this?

http://www.tranceaudio.com/amulet.html

You have a WONDERFUL wife Captain

Hi Wayne,

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement. More time for tunes! (and all the other things that are important).

Sorry - I don't have any ideas about the Trance Amulet system except to suggest that you scroll through the Presets.

If you don't know ST, who on earth will? Maybe Tebow?

I should have it in hand tomorrow so I'll do the scroll stroll through the system, starting with it flat. Thanks.

It came today. I played it acoustically and then through the Compact flat, straight in. I then added the T1 and then a
DPA 4099 mic in conjunction with the Trance Amulet System. Here are my initial thoughts:

To begin with, I never really wanted a Gibson guitar. I've owned and played (or, do own and play) Taylors, Collings, Martins, Santa Cruz, Goodalls (love them a lot) and a few odds and ends (ahhh...my first Harmony acoustic my Mom bought me...with one inch string action). The reason(s) I went with this guitar had to do with a few things about Jackson Browne. I've known for a while he's an acoustic guitar addict and loves tone. I've read in the past about his infatuation with the Gibson Roy Smeck 12 fretters as well as his praise for the Trance Audio pickups. All that along with the fact that his vocal range is close to mine led me to this guitar. Maybe the biggest thing has been my continual disappointment with the pickup sound of acoustic guitars in general and the fact that Browne claimed this guitar with the Trance system sounded like the guitar, but louder. I am also aware that three people whose live guitar sound I admire, Browne, Neil Young and Michael Hedges use(d) some variations of the Trance systems.

The guitar is strung with 12-53. The neck is slightly wider than I'm used to and it does take a few minutes to get a flatpick working the spacing a bit. Fingerstyle is comfortable. The oddest thing is the incredible depth of the body coupled with the short neck. But I got used to it quite easily. The action was medium-low and it plays like butter!

The sound has a pronounced punch in the lower mid-range. Overall, the guitar is on the darker tonal side. It has great intonation and full volume up and down the neck. In short, it sounds great and should get better over time.

But the payoff was when I plugged it directly into the Compact (after going through the Amulet box that allows you to plug in the weird 5-pin cable and go out to the system with an unbalanced cord). The sound was a joy to hear; full, resonant and deep. It sounded VERY close to the acoustic guitar without amplification. There may have been slight frequency differences but they weren't obvious ones. Just louder and fuller.

I added a T1 and went fishing, finally settling upon the Taylor Jumbo setting. A few other presets sounded good too but this one seemed to fit this guitar the best. With this setting, the sound became amazing. Simply the best pickup sound I've ever heard in person. Then, I added the DPA mic and it increased the air and added some cool textures. I probably used 80 Trance and 20 mic or thereabouts. I would definitely be fine using the guitar with the Trance pickup alone, but for more quiet events such as weddings I would probably add the mic.

In short, I'm extremely happy with the playability and sound of the guitar. The Trance Amulet delivers the knockout punch that has me smiling as I write this. A keeper for sure!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: captbanjo,

Hey Wayne,

Congratulations.

Thank you for your detailed description. It sounds terrific. What a score that it sounds so good straight into the Compact. Ultimate convenience. And isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

Enjoy!