How good are Duotones?

[LucSulla]

I could actually use something like this for a few things live. I had a EBMM JP6 for awhile, and the acoustic/electric option was really useful for a few things live. I had to sell it because EBMM neck profiles give me tendonitis in my fretting thumb for some reason, unfortunately. I keep thinking about trying out a Duotone and was curious what the thoughts around here were. 

[specialk]

Paging @geoff_hartwell

[veatch]

^-  this  : )

I really liked the one I had, but it will depend upon what you send the acoustic signal through. I used a Fender Acoustisonic on it a couple of times, and it sounded like ass. 

Tried a few other amps, and ended up with an SWR California Blonde. That sounded pretty convincing as an acoustic. 

Not sure if there is better tech out there these days. It's been a looong time since I've looked into Acoustic electrics....

Good luck! Let us know what you do. 

[Camstone]

Duotones are awesome! I have owned four and still have a three-holer. The ideal setup for me is to run the magnetic pickups through my pedalboard into my amp and the piezo through an acoustic preamp / D.I. and then into the P.A.. With the right preamp, you can dial in a pretty usable acoustic sound.

You can blend your electric and acoustic levels right on the guitar. A true Swiss Army Knife guitar.

As stated above, Geoff Hartwell can give you his 2 cents. He's a pro who plays Duotones.

[butcher]

They can sound truly massive live set up like Camstone mentioned. BCRGreg used to use one live all the time, and I don't know why he stopped.

I have a Duotone practice amp at home that I fire up every once in a while just to knock the dust off of everything. Five thirty watt heads pushing 40 10" speakers for the electric side and a mixer with a 200w power amp driving the acoustic side through four 12" and two 15" with horns. Love it!!

[geoff_hartwell]

Hey!

Duotones are the greatest lol

For those who are curious, the DT was originally a flat top model with 3 circular holes instead of an F-hole that had an onboard preamp with gain and 3-band eq. Later that model was upgraded to an arched top with a traditional F-hole and upgraded Preamp/EQ.

If you’re looking just for layered parts there are several good options like the EB- the import Brian Moore’s are a good value, Mike Christian made great saddles, Fishman made a great Power Bridge. 
      Right Now there are a couple of good deals on 3-hole Duotones in 59 Burst on Reverb. The Duotone Custom, is more expensive and seems to be less common but adds an arch top and an Acoustic Preamp upgrade. I own several of both and both have killer electric AND acoustic tones included. The 3HDT sounds improved with a Fishman imaging pedal, but are very musical on their own.

The biggest thing for me is to have the two channels use totally different signal paths- Acoustic side to PA, Electric side to Amp (or modeler). My most common setup these days is Acoustic out (into small pedalboard that has TC Harmony pedal, Boss OC-5, and a Boss RC20XL looper) to a channel on Mixer, and Electric side (through 2nd small pedalboard into FlyRig5 version 2) to a 2nd channel on a mixer. So I can walk in with a guitar and a backpack, be set up in 3 mins and sound awesome. If backline is provided I’ll plug the electric side into an amp, but sound guys love the No Amp Electric and Fat With No Feedback Acoustic haha.

If OP has any interest I can post pics of the boards etc.

My two cents of advice are buy a Duotone. Get a little screwdriver and set the gain and EQ to sane settings and start there. Use only full range PA (or PA speaker, Powered speaker, Compact Line Array, etc) for acoustic side. Use lower gain electric settings than you think you should. 

Keep Making Noise 🤘❤️😎

[Citrus]

What are the necks like on the duotones?? Typical Hamer medium, around .85 or so at the 1st fret??

[LucSulla]

Thanks everyone!

[beezerboy]

as an aside, I have an Ovation VXT that does that.   made in New Hartford

[Hamerica]

On 2/1/2024 at 5:19 PM, butcher said:

5 Marshall Artist 3203, 2 black , 3 red. 30w heads.

5 Marshall 1965A cabs, 2 black, 3 red.  4x10

5 Marshall 1965B cabs, 4 black, 1 red. 4x10

3 Marshall 1966B cabs,  1black, 2 red. 2x12

2 marshall 1965B cabs converted to 1x15 ported plus horn.

Center row powered by a Carvin DCM1000 power amp, small Mackie 8ch mixer.

$7500.00

For $.50 a mile, I will deliver and set it up for you.

Just a reminder, don’t forget to get the appropriate “DuoTone Practice Amp”. 

[hamerhead]

21 hours ago, Citrus said:

What are the necks like on the duotones?? Typical Hamer medium, around .85 or so at the 1st fret??

Not sure of the exact measurements but they are the typical Hamer-size necks, like a Studio or Artist.

My favorite is the 3-holer. At the proper volume/gain, you can change the pitch of feedback depending on which hole you cover with your hand. That was a pretty cool discovery. Had 4 over the years and dammit I really need to get another one .....again.....

[Biz Prof]

Hey, Jason. How the hell are you, anyway, lad? 

[alantig]

Late to the party, but they're really good.  I have a three-holer formerly owned by Mike Keneally (Zappa, Vai, Satriani, Dethklok, and a host of others).  He played it with Dweezil Zappa in Z (Dweezil had one, too - I had a shot at it, but it was a couple hundred more than I paid for Mike's, and I couldn't convince myself to do it).   Mike and Dweezil used them for "Peaches En Regalia".  Mike also used it for an acoustic section on "I, Drum Running, Am Clapboard Bound" on his Sluggo! album - the deluxe CD has a video that shows him playing it.  Good example of what it can sound like in the hands of a real player.

 

[cmatthes]

I snagged this one for $600 and foolishly sold it.  Admittedly, it was for a Goldtop P-90 3-Holer, but I also moved that one along, and have regretted both!

[LucSulla]

On 12/16/2024 at 8:52 PM, Biz Prof said:

Hey, Jason. How the hell are you, anyway, lad? 

Hanging in there. A lot of bullshit at work this semester, but that is finally clearing up. 

[Brooks]

I used DTs exclusively for ~15 years w/ an acoustic duo. In a band mix or for song intros etc they can't be beat. As mentioned, separate amps/sends for the acoustic & magnetic outputs is key. Also they are great sounding semihollow jazz guitars.

For solo gigs the DT tone isn't quite up to snuff IMFO. 

Edited December 19, 2024 by Brooks

[hamerhead]

Don't they use the same electronics on the acoustic side as Ovation? Or am I on drugs?

[kizanski]

9 minutes ago, hamerhead said:

Don't they use the same electronics on the acoustic side as Ovation? Or am I on drugs?

As if both of these things couldn't be true at the same time...

[hamerhead]

One is a near certainty. The other is in question.

[Camstone]

3 hours ago, hamerhead said:

Don't they use the same electronics on the acoustic side as Ovation? Or am I on drugs?

The three holers have the Kaman/Ovation piezo bridge, the later Duotone Customs have a bridge called a Kynar under the saddle.

[HSB0531]

On 12/13/2024 at 8:45 PM, Camstone said:

Duotones are awesome! I have owned four and still have a three-holer. The ideal setup for me is to run the magnetic pickups through my pedalboard into my amp and the piezo through an acoustic preamp / D.I. and then into the P.A.. With the right preamp, you can dial in a pretty usable acoustic sound.

You can blend your electric and acoustic levels right on the guitar. A true Swiss Army Knife guitar.

As stated above, Geoff Hartwell can give you his 2 cents. He's a pro who plays Duotones.

After reading what you said, I looked up piezo pickups and Seymour Duncan stated that the tone of a magnetic p/u comes from the pickup itself, while the piezo p/u is too clean and needs a preamp to get the tone.  So yes, it seems that a separate piezo preamp is needed to get a more realistic acoustic tone.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/piezo-vs-magnetic-pickups

[Camstone]

On 12/21/2024 at 12:42 PM, HSB0531 said:

After reading what you said, I looked up piezo pickups and Seymour Duncan stated that the tone of a magnetic p/u comes from the pickup itself, while the piezo p/u is too clean and needs a preamp to get the tone.  So yes, it seems that a separate piezo preamp is needed to get a more realistic acoustic tone.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/piezo-vs-magnetic-pickups

I have used Boss AD-5 preamps for years. I am sure there's something newer that would work even better, but I have two of these and love them. A buddy of mine uses the Fishman Aura with his acoustic rig.

 

[HSB0531]

Nice

[HSB0531]

On 12/21/2024 at 11:09 AM, hamerhead said:

Don't they use the same electronics on the acoustic side as Ovation? Or am I on drugs?

That would make sense. All the R&D is done on the electronics, and they could have done slight tweaks to the circuit.

Edited December 23, 2024 by HSB0531