No one at church ever noticed the difference between the hx amp models and the dream. But they did notice when I since switched to the Kemper. Tons of compliments every time I play now, even from people who you would think aren't paying close attention to the guitar tone. Best two notes I ever played.

I'm surprised, what kind of tone do you usually go for?

@@BillySoundFarm Everything except ambient and high gain: clean, jazz, edge of breakup, classic rock, using the usual F and G suspects

From what I can remember, and watching the video back myself, it wouldn't be bad but there's probably better options. The top is Okume, which is like Mahogany. It's got more clean headroom than spruce, which is one reason I liked it. I could hit it as hard as I wanted to without overplaying, and if I did hit it hard it would get loud. That very fact might work against you if you're using fingers. Without a pick, you're putting less kinetic energy into the top through the strings, so you might find that you're having to finger pick way harder than you normally would want to in order to get the top to sing. Maybe if you're wearing picks on your fingers or if you have acrylic nails or something it might not be so bad, but I think a spruce or even cedar top would be preferable if you know that fingerpicking is your thing. Also there's the tone... Okume (mahogany) all around is going to be darker than spruce with rosewood. If you add the fact that bare fingers would darken it up even more, it might seem muffled to the listener. It also might fight a male singing voice if you're singing along. Again, if you're wearing picks or grow your nails out then you wouldn't have to worry about that, and the mids-pushed okume might even balance out your tone in that case. My recommendation for a budget fingerpicking guitar would be something with a Cedar top. A used Seagull or Breedlove might fit the bill. My favorite experience ever with fingerpicking was a Breedlove. I don't remember the model, it was a friend's guitar I was fixing for him. you can hear me play it in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXWmpmyhhpimmKM ...If you're interested I could find out the model number for you. I vaguely remember them being available used for $250-$350 when I made that video, but it's fuzzy.

I am also happy with the tone and response, and getting happier the more I get acquainted with it.

@@BillySoundFarm - definitely takes some tweaking/experimentation. Lots of variables when you factor in the IRs...

Combine the IRx to Boss gt core 1000 (IR-x in the FX loop of gt core) and you will have ANYTHING you might need for live, recording or practice. A board with these two together are unbeatable IMO.

I actually had not tried the editor when I filmed this, but I have since (just filmed a follow-up video on the features). None of the stock IRS help me, but I could try some third-party IRS. That's a good idea about trying the presence control, thanks!

That's a good idea, I didn't even think of that. I didn't even think of checking to see what stock tubes they even put in there.

I looked it up and the GT-1 doesn't have Midi support... or at least it doesn't use regular CC commands. If it did, you could connect the two via USB since HX Stomp has Midi-over-usb... When you use them together, do you have specific features from each that you're trying to incorporate? Or do you just have each one and want to figure how best to utilize both?

Why not install some transducers in the one you have, like a k&k? ... there was a product that was almost identical to a K&K, but half the price. I installed one in my old Marlboro Martin, and it's probably the best sounding acoustic electric I have right now. It's just drilling one hole and super gluing 3 transducers onto the interior Bridge plate.

@BillySoundFarm Believe me, I've thought about that brother, but every time I went to do that, I got neurotic about it, changing the sound of the acoustic for kitchen round table /parlor campfire gatherings😅 that option is still on the table though lately I've come across some very inexpensive Takamine. Keep On Playing!!!🎶🎶

Yeah! Get off lawns!

It's an old time fiddle tune, it's called Little red-haired boy or little beggar man depending on what part of Appalachia you are in. I learned it from JP Cormier in this online class he used to offer, but I think he had to take it down because of problems with Vimeo.

@@BillySoundFarmvery cool! I want to learn that! Thanks!!

I just plugged an expression pedal into the HX effects, I like the little mini sonicake one. I agree with you on the scribble strips. I talked about doing the same labeling thing for each song in this hx effects video I made last week: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpPbdoCGoZZja8U ... I never needed them for the HX stomp because the display is right over the footswitches. This is the first I'm realizing I couldn't use a stomp xl, thanks for pointing that out!

I thought about it but I figured it's such an old product people might not care anymore. Maybe I'll give it a shot!

Very cool!

If you run that hx effects/ir-d combo in 4 cable, it will put the ir-d output last in the signal chain, which gives you the advantage of the ir-d's USB audio and headphone output capabilities, while still putting the preamp section of the ir-d before any wet effects you might have on the hx effects. ... just put an fx loop block in your hx effects where you want the amp to be, then connect your guitar to hx effects input, then connect fx send to hx effects to your ir-d input, connect ir-d fx loop send to hx effects fx loop return, then hx effects output to ir-d fx loop return. Last, plug ir-d output to wherever you want to send your sound.

Nevermind... The USB on the IR-X is NOT a USB audio out. That's infuriating, what a missed opportunity.

You want I hear the most tragic thing... I traded mine for an ir-x and some cash. It was a good deal, but the tragedy is that I would have loved to run the hx effects with the irx and my dream 65 in stereo... it's like that gift of the magi story

An HX effects would be perfect with dual tonex ones!!! ... HX effects has two effects Loops so you can run your tonex pedals in stereo. And once you're set up with your effects presets, you're not married to the tonex pedals, you can use amps or anything at will.

Thanks!

It's so true, it's always best to blame the strings

I think you're right most people want to round out the tone with the pick on an acoustic, which is the case for me unless I'm playing on dull strings, in which case I'll brighten it up with a brighter pick... I just sat down with my pick collection trying to find out what would be the zingiest flappiest bright pick, and the prime tones are going to be hard to beat. I think you should try tortex Sharp. Their normal tortex pics but they are pointy, which will make them brighter. It also makes him a little long so you would get more of that Flappy smacky sound. Probably yellows or greens, but you should try them all if you can.

Tortex Jazz 3 is bright only if you go thick, 1.5 mm or more. Even 1.14 mm sound of significantly darker. The reason is because they don't put much of a bevel on them, and bevel darken tone. Set a 1.5 is so thick that the edges are almost square, which brightens it up when combined with the stiffness of being thick. When there's a bevel (i.e. roundness of the edge), it gets darker as you get thicker. ... I just sat down with a bunch of jazz 3 picks and some others, and the 1.5 mm tortex was even brighter than the ultex Jazz 3, which surprised me. But a regular black stiffo Jazz 3 will be pretty bright. One of my everyday pics is a black stiffo Jazz two (not as pointy).

I also thought it sounded great hearing it again on the video. I've had that experience sometimes with martin's, they sound best from where the listener would be standing, not necessarily from where the player is.

Here's some examples of what I have at home: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3Wnioitqpmgna8si=ypHH9ir7Srvzzcq3 ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZ3Nhaacbd2Lasksi=_or_wDkpi1-RwwIL ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqDSeZWais6Xe9Usi=m3rl85XWjKERWImj

lol can't deny it anymore

Awesome!

You might like the sound of the Fishman better, I can't tell because I haven't played the anthem. I can say for sure that the fishman will sound less like your guitar than the anthem, but I'm not sure the anthem really sounds much like your guitar anyway... the other thing is that a fishman can connect to the computer and you can load other IRS designed to sound like different acoustic guitars, so if you didn't like the sound you're not stuck: you could find an ir in Fishman's Library that you do like. But it's less honest because your sound is computer-generated. The Anthem is more honest because it's not computer-generated, you blend together inputs from a Piezo and an internal condenser mic. ... I think you should stick with your anthem unless you really hate the sound of it. If you're just wondering if there's something better, nothing's going to be very much better so just enjoy what you have. But if you HATE the sound of what you have and it's ruining your experience with your guitar when you plug it in, that would be the only situation that would make it worth selling your guitar and buying the same guitar with different electronics. ... can you just install a Fishman in the guitar you have in a way that you could swap back to the anthem if you didn't like it better?

Just to be clear, when I had the fisherman aura it sounded great when I was running the computer modeling. The aura has a blend button that blends between direct Piezo sound (yuck) and the output from a little onboard computer modeler, which gave you a choice between 6 tones that are computer-generated to simulate classic guitars. The classic guitar simulations all sounded great, but the unit crapped out on me in this specific way: the "sound engine" that generated those classic guitar sounds went bad and I can only use 100% Piezo setting. The Fishman Piezo pick up doesn't sound any better than anybody else's Piezo pickup. ... the anthem it's not doing any computer modeling, it's honest tone that comes from a condenser mic blended with a Piezo pickup, and you can control the blend. The honesty of the tone matters to me now, but it's also worth noting that it's a little less delicate than the computer stuff fishman uses. I would not go so far as to say its robust, because all of these onboard preamps end up crapping out and that's why I usually recommend passive transducers. But if you made me bet, I would bet the anthem would last longer. ... when my aura crapped out on me Fishman told me to send it to them, they were going to fix it for $50, then they told me the sound engine was bad and it could not be fixed, offered to send me a lesser more generic Fishman preamp that would be a drop-in replacement. 50.00 wasn't a bad deal for that preamp, but it was just a straight Piezo so I could have just stuck with the half-broken aura and save to myself the money and the trouble. ... I hated the Piezo sound so much, I did research and tinkered and ended up installing passive transducers to the bridge plate under the bridge, and wiring them into the $50 Fishman preamp instead of the Fishman Piezo. I'm satisfied with it, I guess.

I haven't played the anthem, but even still I would take the anthem over the aura. The Anthem has a condenser mic in there that you can blend in. The aura is just a regular Piezo pickup with modeling technology built into the preamp. I had a Fishman Aura in another guitar and it crapped out on me. Admittedly, it didn't sound bad, but I don't like the idea of acoustic guitar modeling. Why have a nice guitar if you're just going to let a computer model the sound anyway? ... if you were starting from scratch I would say get a K&K or other passive transducer setup, and then use a pedal preamp if you need a preamp. Since you already have the anthem, I say stick with it. At the end of the day I don't think any of these acoustic electric solutions really sound as good as the acoustic guitar in the room or via microphone.

Har har har