Acoustic parts on DT albums: acoustic guitar or piezo?

[PaoloGilberto]

Hi guys,

I am just curios if you can help on this, I haven't found any video on youtube on this.
Is JP using an acoustic guitar or the piezo on his MM JP guitar for recording the acoustic parts on Dream Theater albums? (in studio , not live , because live I saw he uses the piezo)

(the discussion began yesterday with a friend of mine who said that the he can have the acoustic sound from the GT 8 - acoustic simulator and the piezo on JP is no better than that... as an example he said that JP anyway uses acoustic guitars on DT recordings)

thanks.

Paul

 

[ScoobySteve]

That's a tough call.

Back when I had my JP and ran the piezo through my rig with some Digital Delay and Chorus, I swear I could almost perfectly get the intro to Count of Tuscany.

But i woudn't be surprised if it was an acoustic in the studio.

Live could be a totally different thing.

Perhaps some of the guys here who have seen DT live lately can explain.

 

[marduke]

he uses an acoustic in the studio

and ive heard the acoustic sim on the gt8, and it has nothing on the piezo on the JP6 through an acoustic amp or a PA

 

[D.K.]

I pretty much remember that on every video of any recordings of DT JP played accoustic guitars.

And it does make sense, since the sound of a great accoustic guitar is way more natural and, well, accoustic, than even the best piezo on the market. Live the differences are rather negligible and the hastle to switch guitars is an issue, but in the studio only the quality matters.

So, unless it's done to achieve a special sound that is not meant to be the exact accoustic guitar sound, (maybe in case of The Count of Tuscany it's true) it would make no sense in the studio. I think pretty much everyone, who's tried recording in a decent studio and played accoustic versus piezo back to back would choose accoustic guitars for the job.

 

[Ponch]

sorry kind of out off topic from DT, but yes I agreed with D.K. stage and studio definitely a different story but it has the same goal eventually, i think the piezo on JP guitar is more than enough to cover all the DT acoustic parts. My brother have one and to me it sounds equally great with the real acoustic guitar.

If there's someone that could explain it well on this board, that will be Big Poppa or Mr. Paul Warren

 

[meshuggah]

Of course he uses a acoustic guitar in the studio The piezo is great but it's no acoustic guitar.

 

[kissmyaxe]

I have heard he likes Taylors and uses them in studio alot but isnt stuck on one acoustic brand

 

[kneeoh]

JP uses Taylors for recordings. He as said this in numerous interviews and in one of the behind the scenes vids... I believe it was the one for "Octavarium" though I'm not 100% sure... you see him using a Taylor.

In regard to the acoustic simulator vs the piezo, let me tell you a little story...

When I was searching for a new amp about 2 years ago, my friend and I went to visit the Egnater design shop. The guitar I brought for testing was my fully loaded Mystic Dream JP6. Frank Lamara, who at that time was one of Bruce Egnater's design partners, set me up with an Egnater Mod 50 with a Twin/Deluxe module and the prototype EG-5 module. (If you don't know, the Mod 50 is a modular amp which allows you to put different preamp modules. The Randall modular amps were design in conglomeration with Egnater)

Anyway, Frank watched while I was playing with the high gain module (the EG-5) and then stepped out of the room. I then switched to the clean module (the Twin/DLX) and switched to the piezo only mode. I started playing a classical piece. A few seconds later, Frank pops his head in and asks if I had plugged an acoustic guitar in because he hadn't seen me walk in with one and couldn't figure out why he heard one.

So, I think if the piezo can fool someone who spends his life listening to tone, it will be more than adequate in a live situation. Having seen JP with DT several times, I can definitely say it does the job for him. For recording acoustic parts, I use an acoustic because it is the real deal.

 

[JP7Nomad]

He uses real acoustics on the albums except Train of thought. That was all piezo.

 

[Lou]

I use my JP for acoustic gigs. It will sound better than the boss simulator.

 

[marduke]

have your friend listen to 'an evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess', all of it is played on his JP with piezo, and it sounds amazing!!

 

[D.K.]

have your friend listen to 'an evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess', all of it is played on his JP with piezo, and it sounds amazing!!

Strangely enough, but to my ears this album, cool as it is, was exactly one of the records that show where the limits of piezo as opposed to a good accoustic guitar lie. For this type of music, almost like a chamber arrangement, it HAD to be an accoustic.

I think the greatest DT piezo recordings are "Hollow Years" from "Live at Budokan", and the accoustic parts on the 6DOIT on "Score". In a full rock band context it sounds really amazing.