Paul McGill guitarmaker
Super Ace Super Steel Peter White Marc antoine Chet Atkins Earl Klugh
Amplification system
Over the last 5 years I have been developing electronics to improve the sound of my Super Acoustic models.
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My quest led me to a relationship with a very gifted audio electronics designer, Ben Shaw.
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All of the concepts I have wanted to be deployed in my design have been refined and perfected and I am now installing these electronics in my guitars.
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The need for string separation is required for high volume applications. As you look around my site you will see many videos of guitarists on major stages playing amplified guitars in high stress situations where feedback must be completely controlled.
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But tonal qualities of the amplified sound, along with the acoustic sound were also major concerns.
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I decided on Graphtech Pickups. These individual saddles enhance string separation before signal reaches the preamp.
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The strings are divided, odd and even, into a differential input circuit that provides cancellation of crossover frequencies between strings to further prevent cycling and feedback.
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This system is everything my guitars need to be performance instruments in any setting, with tonal qualities that faithfully reproduce the sound of a guitar.
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Paul McGill
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Vol. and 3 band EQ control installation
Graph Tech pickups easily retro-fit in place of failed RMC pickups, which has been an ongoing issue for many years.
GT pickups are solid construction, much like bone, the composite material in the Graphtechs provide adequate string energy transfer to the soundboard. Graphtech Pickups sound better acoustically than, hollow construction, flexible pickups designed to produce higher output volume but compromise the acoustic charater of the guitar, absorbing string energy to create higher voltage. Graphtech has created a solid pickup with frequency response that has the right output frequencies needed to produce a quality sound with out mechanical interferance diminishing the acoustic sound quality.
The preamps can be modified to best suit different applications. Steel and nylon string tonal compensation is adjusted to best suit each application.
The balance between acoustic Vs amplified sound has been a challenge for as long as acoustic
guitars have been amplified. I have been working towards improving this balance for my clients for several years and I am satisfied that I have achieved a better resolution with this Amplification system.
-Paul McGill