SHIFTING GEAR
ricH eckHArDt
It’s Time for the K4
Anyone who’s ever tried to amplify any
acoustic guitar can tell you that standard
magnetic pickups or a piezo under the saddle
don’t even come close to reproducing a
natural or credible acoustic guitar tone. I’ve
struggled with this my whole life as a guitarist. You take the time to pick through every
cedar-topped instrument in the store and
compare it to the Sitka spruce tops. Then you
have to decide whether you like the sound
of the maple back or the rosewood. Which
one cuts better? Which has better low end?
The options are endless. Then, when you run
it through a PA, it ends up sounding like you
made a last minute impulse buy and grabbed
the first boxed-up guitar and amp combo
that had a rockin’ picture of a pop star on it
as you were going through the checkout line
at your local Wal-Mart.
removing the traditional piezos from under
the bridge, the ES has uncovered more of
the genuine warmth the instrument naturally
produces. My sound man noticed the difference right away and has commented to me
that it was the best sounding acoustic he’s
ever mixed. I’ve even found that I don’t need
to use any sort of feedback buster, or “tone
buster” as I lovingly call them, in the sound
hole to curb potential feedback issues. That
helps to capture the true full, rich tone of my
guitar, and it’s not just a high-end jingle as it
lays buried in the background.
out the color of the guitar and helps to notch
out any potentially pesky feedback-inducing
frequencies. With years of experience, and
no doubt input from players over the years,
Taylor even included an effects loop. When
I talk about the unit it’s always one of the
first features that I mention. I don’t use it
with my current setup but I’m always glad it’s
there, just in case. Although they were clever
enough to design the K4 with two main outputs, a balanced mic level (XLR) and a standard guitar jack, I just run the XLR and think
of it as a fancy direct box. I’ve known other
players to run the outputs simultaneously so
they could send one signal to the front of
house and the other to an on-stage monitor
amp. Personally I’ve never been much for
running an acoustic through any type of amp,
but that’s fodder for another issue.
I’ve always run my K4 via A/C power, but one
of its really cool features is that the power
light on the front glows green until the batteries start to run down. When it turns red
you’ve got about 30 minutes of battery left.
That should be enough to get you to your
next break. If it’s not, it may be time to have
a talk with the club owner about your breaks!
I’d like to see that feature on all my floor
effects. That way I’ll know before I try to
break into a bastard version of Jimi Hendrix’s
“Voodoo Child” if my wah is gonna operate or not! Whenever I hook into the K4, I’m
always impressed with what it can do and
how much it helps my guitar sound like…
well, a guitar! It smoothly expresses the full
dynamic range of the instrument, enhancing
anything from a sensitive, fingerpicked version of “Dust In The Wind” to full on guitar
assaults à la Michael Hedges. I’ve only used
my K4 live, but I imagine that it would record
great too, if ever mic’ing weren’t an option.
Till next time, keep jammin’!
Feeling the agony of the acoustic player and
always striving to build a better wheel, the
people at Taylor created an innovative new
way to amplify their acoustics by combining a
magnetic pickup under the fingerboard with
two sensors attached to the underside of the
soundboard. This system, known as the ES
or Expression System, flipped the reproduc-
tion of an acoustic instrument’s live sound on
its ear. When Taylor first came out with the
ES system they sent me one and confidently
told me that this would change the way I
felt about playing acoustic guitar live. By
Taylor followed the ES system with its K4
preamp. It’s designed to help acoustic guitar
types survive in the real world of ear-splitting
amps, maxed-out stage monitors and the
constant threat of feedback. This unit is
voiced specifically for acoustic guitar and
works particularly well on my Taylor 610,
which has the ES system built in. It has a
tuner out and a mute button, so I can check
tuning without disrupting the show. When
I build my EQ setting on it, I’ll start with
the headphone output as a guide reference
before tweaking it in the main sound system
or monitors. The High and Low EQ’s are
set specifically for the needs of an acoustic
guitar. When I tweak my tone I’ll start with
everything flat and dial in low end, then
highs before messing with the midrange. The
parametric mid contour is what really brings
Rich Eckhardt
Rich Eckhardt is one of the most sought after guitarists
in Nashville. His ability to cover multiple styles has put
him on stage with singers ranging from Steven Tyler
of Aerosmith to Shania Twain. Rich is currently playing
lead guitar with Toby Keith. His new album Cottage City
Firehouse is available at his website and CDBaby.com
