crowdster VS a Anderson with a Fishman

[edwarddavis]

Hi, I have been wondering this a while maybe you can clear this up for me.

I am interested in getting a TA Crowdster but I have a Anderson with the Fishman PowerBridge already and another with the older and (better in my opinion baggs ). Does the Crowdster sound that much more like a real acoustic than one of these. I see it has more control knobs on it I assume volume, treble bass and maybe a mid. Whats the real advantage of having one over a Anderson with a powerbridge except that it has the controls on the guitar WHICH SHOULD BE ON THERE FOR THE POWERBRIDGE but thats another thread horse that been beaten. Is it worth getting one for someone who already have guitars like mine.
Please Tom I love your guitars, tell everyone I know to buy them , sold all my others to get yours so please in 2006 figure out a way to have a electric acoustic with Volume, Treble and maybe Mid controls onboard. They are not making a power blend any more and I hate it anyway . There must be a way to add at least one or two knobs on your guitars that would not detract from it looks that would be easy to use.
Les Pauls have 4 knobs and they sold a few guitars. Strat have 3 knobs.
Parkers had a great system but the changed it , don`t know if its worse probably, But they still have the volume and switching on board. take a Look at the Parker P-36. It has volume and switching on board and it a great $500 guitar and looks nice. I have 7 Anderson I still want the Parker because its so easy to get the acoustic sounds live. The Godins have it on their LGX ,Volume treble ,mid and Bass and it great. Are these guitars Andersons no. They are not nearly as good as a electric in my opion beacuse of the way they sound and play ,which is not bad but just not in the same level of yours.But if you added acoustic control on yours it would be scary how much greater a guitar I could nag my wife to buy me!!!.Anyway I had my say .

To all have a great Holiday season, Hope you all Get Tom Andersons under you Christmas Trees , Hanakuah bushes or around your festivous poles this year. :D

Yes I did drink a lot of coffee when I wrote this !!!! :p

[MapleGuitar]

...Does the Crowdster sound that much more like a real acoustic than one of these [electrics with a powerBridge]...IMHO, Yes, the Crowdster sounds much better than an electric guitar with a PowerBridge. I have a HDT with PowerBridge, and two Crowdsters. In fact, my Crowdsters sound as good or better than my acoustic Taylor plugged in.

I will say that the Fishman Aura preamp box does tend to reduce the difference... i.e., when I plug my Drop Top with PowerBridge into the Fishman Aura, the "acoustic" sound is much improved. But the Crowdster is so nice that I simply bring along the Crowdster anytime I need acoustic sounds live.

[tom]

i will try not to respond as the maker, but as a player. when i play a piezo equiped electric, i have to play it like an electric because of the lighter strings, smaller neck and string spacing. i find myself holding back because if you hit it hard it sounds bad, let alone not "authentic". with the crowdster, the general feel of the guitar is more acoustic friendly. the neck is wider, string spacing wider, body larger, and maybe most importantly the strings are bigger and tighter and they are bronze. i can play it like an acoustic. consiquently for me, it sounds more real because i can play it more real ly(wasn't sure how to spell that word that doesn't really exist). as for the treble ,middle, and bass, i never turn them when i'm playing through a good sound system.
now as the builder, one of the things i learned making the crowdster was that electrics and acoustics have very different attack properties. electrics have very fast acting attack when you hit the note, acoustics have a softer attack. i was helped greatly by our friend lloyd baggs with this and he gave me some invaluable acoustic guitar physics lessons. some of this was able to be put in the crowdster, and i believe it is a good part of why it sounds and feels more acoustic to me.
here's the most important thing i have learned about playing piezo equipped guitars, electric or acoustic. have your monitor loud enough so that you don't feel like you have to play harder to hear yourself. any piezo guitar can be over played, and it is never pretty.
as for the whole power bridge quandry. fishman will not be making them any longer. we have enough in house to last about a year at the present usage rate. based on our past thread about how people use them, there seems to be nothing that everyone likes. perhaps that is why they are getting out of that business. we will be investigating the alternatives this year and see if we can't come up with something that will meet the need.

[edwarddavis]

Thanks Tom for your input. I will have to try one out. Heres a insane guitar idea. How about a doubleneck that would be a Crowdster and a electric Anderson together . Would that be cool or what, or maybe I just have to much time on my hands.
Happy Holidays guys
thanks Ed :D

[GaryMcT]

Ack! I feel like I should send you some money to reserver a power bridge for my next guitar! I'm really happy with it, along with the powerblend.