The Importance of the HyVibe EQ

[@johnsomebody972]

I just picked my hyvibe guitar up 6 days ago and have been struggling with setting it up. Yours is the first video I have found the actually gave a tutorial on how it works. Thank you for the lesson it sure has helped me a lot.

[@paultheroman6637]

I became interested in the early HyVibe system after acquiring a Yamaha LL-TA with the Transacoustic effects. I was so impressed with the technology that I wanted to see what else could be achieved with it. I installed the HyVibe on a relatively inexpensive Fender acoustic. The Fender played and handled quite well and I was somewhat ambivalent about the prospect of cutting into it. I found the install and set up to be both straightforward and easily accomplished. The results went beyond my expectations. Many of my fellow guitar playing friends initially mocked my gadget dependent instruments but after they had their turn with it they were forced to admit that the enhancements were well done and might find a niche in our jam sessions.

[@JohnC-n8i]

Just getting used to my HyVibe and found your video really clear and helpful

[@csnide6702]

I love my Hy-Vibe ..... Highly recommended.....

[@gregrobinmatt]

Very helpful video. Answered my questions about boost,EQ and combining effects before I spent my money. I'm convinced this is the pickup system for me.

[@greghowell3751]

Great. Glad it was helpful.

[@karlberardi4351]

Im waiting, I saw, on one of my internet excursions, a device (hardware/software thing) that will sense what you’re playing, add a click track drum track anticipate/ suggest an alternate chord prog. And provide harmony and fills. Very cool. I think that’s the next logical step for Hyvibe so I’ll wait it out. Also it occurs to me that the brains of the system doesn’t need to be mounted on/in the guitar, it could be in your pocket. Just thinking here.

[@jamesmccarthy5727]

Thanks. I’m not technical and I’ve only been using the physical controls .I get really frustrated trying to set the octaver, it’s either too little or sounds like a grand piano. I got so frustrated that yesterday I almost pushed the button on a new 12 string. I will seen the morning pitting my will against the EQ.

[@azkaty1]

Very very helpful .. appreciate what you showed

[@tgma]

Thank you for this. I’m planning to get an Emerald with the HyVibe, and there’s not much on the internet about it!

[@greghowell3751]

I have an Emerald with it also. You are going to love the Emerald. It's an awesome guitar. My main go-to guitar nowdays. I will tell you that the way the HyVibe interacts with the carbon fiber and the pickup is a little different. It's a little more susceptible to feedback than my Ovation. But I've learned a lot of tricks to mitigate the situation utilizing a low-pass filter and other configuration file tricks that I could help you out with if you happen to experience the same thing. It also may depend on the pickup system you choose for the Emerald. I got the Ghost piezo pickups because I thought I might need the saddle to be adjustable. The action is awesome and I haven't found a need to update the string height so I haven't touched the saddle. But I'm wondering if those piezo pickups are just way sensitive compared to a traditional piezo under the saddle pickup. Anyway, my point is there are ways around the feedback. If you think it will be helpful, I could do a video on that too. I've gotten pretty close the with COO of Hyvibe during all this and I know they have been working hard to build in different configs for different guitar types - specifically because of the Emerald gaining in popularity and them offering it as a regular pickup option.

[@skyguyc150]

@@greghowell3751 Great vid, Thanks! I have a 2017 X20 with a dual source LR Baggs Anthem. Can a Hyvibe retro into an X20?

[@greghowell3751]

@@skyguyc150 Hey, I'm sorry I missed this question a while ago. I didn't see a notification about it and I'm just getting back to reviewing some of these and saw your question. Maybe you got it answered already, but I was going to say in general, retro-fitting a HyVibe into an Emerald after the fact with a regular pickup system should absolutely be possible and should be similar to how I installed one on both my Ovation and my other 12 string. I've had mine out of the Emerald and seen all the guts also. I've not personally dealt with the Anthem setup, but I looked into it. The HyVibe only uses the piezo undersaddle pickup as the input. I would think you would be able to install the HyVibe as normal and take your 1/8" piezo output jack and split it to two jacks - one for the HyVibe and one for the Anthem and still be able to use both systems somewhat independent of each other. I would think the only curiosity would the interaction of the HyVibe when it is actively modifying the sound inside the body with the acoustic pickup of the Anthem. Seems to me that would work, but I just don't have the experience to say.

[@jesusbarriuso]

Thanks Greg, great video!

[@ralphstaedler]

Tks a lot, just bought a HyVibe and your explanation helped a lot !

[@ungwigwi]

Thank you for your patience , good description , I’m sure it will help many , now i definitely want one , I have a tonewood amp , and have been bitten by the onboards

[@ForsterThomas]

When I go into the system and change the setting to 20 from the factory setting and I try to play I get feedback so I almost always have to turn the volume down which gives me a very low sound. I haven't been able to match any sound I hear on others playing the same guitar. I had to turn the setting down to 10 to avoid the feedback but the guitars have the same volume as when it's turned off. does the EQ have any effect on the volume? I know it does change the sound because I played with different settings.

[@rovenordiales]

Question why not just go to the overall EQ (lower left button)? This is like EQ per preset. If tone shaping the guitar itself its better on the overall EQ. If EQ shaping per preset (like boosting mids/highs on dist/boost when soloing) then this is the way.

[@markbishopevans]

Hey Greg, this was helpful. I just got an Emerald X7 with the hyvibe in it. I'm very lost at this point, but this is a start. I doubt I will be using the more sophisticated things like the looper etc. But I would like to get to the point where I can generate the sound I'm looking for and maybe use the reverb and tuner. Any other vid's that will lead me down that road? Thanks, Mark

[@greghowell3751]

Hey Mark. Thanks for checking this out. Yeah, I'm sorry I don't have any other video suggestions I can point you too. I haven't been doing research into this for a while, but I can tell you probably the best thing you can do is to experiment on your own. I have an Emerald too and, as I mentioned below, it seems to behave differently either because of the material of the body or because of the Ghost Piezo pickups that I have. They might be more sensitive than the piezo on my Ovation. If you have the more traditional piezo, maybe you don't have the same issues, but mine is really sensitive and can feedback easily, but with the HyVibe app, I can add some notch filters as an effect and it helped a lot - that and low-pass filters. I guess maybe I need to make a video on how to find the frequencies that are feeding back and then knock them out with a notch filter in the HyVibe. I probably need to reach out to HyVibe and see if they have addressed some of those issues now that they are producing a lot of them for Emerald. I think I had one of the first ones on an Emerald so I got to know them personally. If I find out something new, I'll let you know.

[@markbishopevans]

@@greghowell3751 Thak you.

[@divineprinciplesofrelaxtio4441]

Was it very hard to install?

[@greghowell3751]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. If you go to my page you can see a video I did of the install.

[@2222222aaa]

Wow Ronald… negative much?

[@ronaldrugato9707]

I'm thinking that if you avoid presenting your experience with this sort of tech, that you try to present it in a room that doesn't sound like your I'm a tub surround shower stall. It's really not presenting a fair assessment of the ambient abilities of the tone quality processor for any of the settings. Your demonstration room is not serving your intentions of a balanced sound regardless of your settings. It all sounds awful and like your I'm your bathroom. That is why recording studio techs are so insisting on getting all the unnecessary frequency that isn't helpful. And ovations, and I've owned my share of plastic back guitars, and I've had personal conversations some years ago with Bill Kaman,and his dad, regarding the initial release of the original marketing of the fiberglass back and sides guitar, that was originally a hull material for ovation helicopters and medical equipment chassis. It's probably not the best choice to demonstrate the timbre, and tone sororities, and acoustic enhanced sound processing for these sorts of demonstrations. It really does justice to the hivibe enhancements when we listen to the enhanced quality on quality instruments, that requires at least decent luthering. Ovations are just cookie cutter stamped out products that lack in every way, the true warmth and beauty of a nice quality wood guitar. Ovations classical guitar was really the only model that demonstrated some warmth and quality. So those would be a better demonstration of the hivibe inside an ovation guitar. Also, I have not played or heard any steal string ovation guitars that avoid the awful Melissa Esteridge,chiming, overtone,music killing sounds that ovation settled for in their general building. They really should have stuck to helicopter hulls and medical equipment.

[@paultheroman6637]

I would add to your comment, "in your obviously biased opinion". Guitars range enormously in tone, balance, volume, and a multitude of other factors and aspects. These variations are, ultimately, highly subjective and register differently with each individual. I have researched various attempts to analyze, graph, and digitize the acoustic responses of numerous different guitar types, builds, materials, and design approaches. While these efforts can sometimes yield useful data in guiding luthiers and technicians in their creations and repairs, when all is said and done it will always come down to the musician and their audience as to what is deemed music and/or dissonance. With respect to Ovations, it has been my experience that the original Harford built instruments were among the most dynamically consistent across the entire acoustic spectrum. When compared to equally priced instruments that are now coming out of China, Korea, and Indonesia, I find the sound and performance to be highly inconsistent and generally inferior.