JD Aura pedal with Krivo Dobro pickup

[David Cook]

Anyone tried this?
Thanks

[Brooks Montgomery]

There’s been all kinds of swapping of mics, pu’s, pre-amps talked about, experimented, pondered, on the resohangout site. Even if it is passable, why mess with the proven pairing? The Fishman Nashville Bridge pu is designed to pair with the JD pedal (that has all the different mic images as laid down by Jerry Douglas). The system works perfectly.
That’s why guys like Jerry Douglas and Rob Ickes use it. My .02 cents is use the system as designed instead of trying to skin a cat with a butter knife.

[Dave Mudgett]

... My .02 cents is use the system as designed instead of trying to skin a cat with a butter knife.

I am also interested in anyone's experience with the Krivo with the Aura pedal.

I have a Beard resonator with a Version 1 Fishman Nashville pickup with two non-responding string sensors. This is apparently pretty common, and I guess I will eventually put a Version 2 Nashville on there. But honestly, the Krivo I have on there doesn't sound bad, and if I could get it to sound really good with the Aura, I might just stick with that. It is highly resistant to feedback and easily transferable to another resonator guitar - I have 3 different 6-string spider and biscuit resonators on which the Krivo sounds pretty good - the pickup solves a lot of issues at the cost of not being perfectly natural-sounding.

I also have given up any hope of ever getting a strictly-speaking Aura-compatible pickup for my 8-string resonator. It has caused me to pretty much give up any hope for seriously using my 8-string, which I am seriously thinking about jettisoning. If I can't take it out, it is worthless to me. So if the Aura can give me significantly better sound with a Krivo or something similar, I would be very interested. I think I recall reading that Krivo would make an 8-string pickup on a custom basis.

[K Maul]

Dave- I have the same issue with a beautiful Fluger 8 string that I’ve had for over ten years and barely use. I have an old original microphonic Melobar pickup on it. It sounds ok with the JD Aura but not nearly as good as the Fishman pickups I use on my 6 strings. I’ve also had those go bad, usually on the low string, and had to replace them to the tune of $200+.

[Dan Beller-McKenna]

FWIW: Rob Ickes was using an LRBaggs Voiceprint, not a JD Aura, when I saw him live in August.

[Brooks Montgomery]

FWIW: Rob Ickes was using an LRBaggs Voiceprint, not a JD Aura, when I saw him live in August.

Interesting! I just went to Rob’s website and he is selling them, here’s the description:

“The product of nearly 3 years of intensive research and collaboration with a team of PhDs, LR Baggs is thrilled to introduce Voiceprint DI, the next breakthrough chapter in acoustic amplification. Voiceprint DI measures the acoustic response of your guitar by leveraging the processing power of your iPhone to accurately capture your guitar’s one-of-a-kind voice. A Voiceprint is created and loaded to your pedal, replacing your pickup’s signal for the most accurate sonic performance we have engineered in our 40+ years. Guided by our AcousticLive app and proprietary impulse response technology, you can now use your iPhone like a studio in your pocket to capture a Voiceprint of your acoustic guitar. Developed with Dr. Jonathan Abel, co-founder of Universal Audio, our Voiceprint technology utilizes a sophisticated algorithm that intuitively measures your acoustic guitar by analyzing its actual timbre and playing response, then creates a customized preset for live play, as well as for direct recordings. Simply plug into the pedal and set your iPhone into position; tap on the bridge, strum a few chords, pick some strings, and you’re done!”

I wonder what pu he’s using for it to work?

[gary pierce]

Brooks, not sure but I think it's a Nashville Fishman bridge piezo. I used the JD Aura for a decade but now use a Audio Sprockets Tonedexter that works similar to the Baggs Voice print.

[Steve Lipsey]

I use the Aura with my Ben Bonham Myrtle tricone+Krivo...there isn't really a good tricone pickup available any more...and I am quite happy with it.
The krivo by itself does have a bit of the "electric pickup" sound along with the nice tricone resonator sound...the Aura makes it better.
It may somehow also tend to make the tricone sound a bit like a single cone...in fact, I tried the /aura with regular guitars and other stuff, and it pretty much makes anything you plug into it have a Jerry Douglas single cone vibe...
But overall, I think the Krivo with the Aura is better than the krivo alone, on tricone.
Either way it sounds great...Krivo or krivo+aura...

[Mark Eaton]

David Cook and Dave Mudgett, Chris Eaton of England (not related, but we might be if we go back a few centuries) put up a video of the Krivo with the JD Aura pedal around three years ago on the Facebook Dobroholics page. IMO the Aura pedal doesn't do anything to really enhance it, I feel like the Krivo on its own might be better. After all, the Aura pedal is of course designed to work with the piezo style Nashville pickup. What seems to work better with the Krivo for a more accurate dobro sound is a device like the Audio Sprockets ToneDexter, or perhaps the newish LR Baggs Voiceprint, though I haven't heard a Krivo yet with that unit. Link below to the same video on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1mXoF1_8Vk

Regarding an eight string dobro pickup, several months ago Paul Beard put up a "teaser" post on Facebook and Instagram announcing that he has an eight string dobro pickup in the works, but I haven't heard anything since.

Krivo had done a small number of seven and eight string custom reso pickups, but that didn't last long and they decided to discontinue the offering. I have no idea why

[Dave Stagner]

In the acoustic guitar world, they usually frown on using magnetic pickups with Tonedexters and other imaging pedals. I imagine the same caveat applies to the Aura. Annoying for me, because I really prefer magnetic pickups in my acoustic guitars!

The way I've seen it described, which makes sense to me, is that some pickups are string-sensing, and some are body-sensing. Imaging works better for body-sensing pickups like piezos, and less well on string-sensing pickups like magnetics. My gigging acoustics are set up with dual pickup systems - bridge plate transducer plus magnetic. Together they work much better than either one alone!

And that all said, since I rarely play a really good pro PA setup (just breweries and bars and stuff), I'll choose magnetic pickup clarity over UST realism any day. Projects better, especially through bad PAs. Whenever I get around to putting a good pickup in my dobro, it'll probably be a Krivo, just for my pro-magnetic bias.

[Steve Lipsey]

Ah...your explanation makes a lot of sense...BUT although imaging works better for piezos, adding imaging to a magnetic pickup works better than the magnetic pickup alone, which is a different case, not in conflict with your "rule". It removes that "electric guitar" feel that magnetic pickups give, just as it removes the piezo quack from piezo pickups.