Crafter SA12 TMBK

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VikingBlues
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Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by VikingBlues »

A bit of departure for VB. :eye_rub:
Crafter SA12 TMBK
Crafter SA12 TMBK
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Delivered from Richards Guitars at the end of last week. Hybrid electro acoustic 12 string Tiger Maple Black top (a tricky one to get a good photo of).

Crafter Website - http://crafterguitars.uk.com/sa-series/

At exactly the time that I received this Crafter my life got very busy and hectic. So I've had way too little time to play it - really frustrating. But very enjoyable so far. Piezo pickup (L R Baggs) and lipstick single coil pickup (Kent Armstrong) with blend control - the difference between the two at full is pretty big giving a good range.

One very well set up guitar. :cool: The action is just beautiful. Richard said his tech would get it just the way I wanted and it would be as easy to play as my 6 string electrics - it has none of the difficulties I first feared. Though I'm still working on the fingers landing quite right all the time - that's the effect of the wider fretboard though. Still working at how to use pick / fingers in ways to get the best from the 12 string sounds. The sound is so full and resonant - great sustain too. I find I stop playing just to let a chord ring out and gradually fade away.

Very good build quality and very well finished. Though as it came with a full set up by the tech I don't know how much he had to do to the factory finish. I believe Crafter are the biggest acoustic guitar sellers in Korea - a far cry from the 4 man business building classical guitars in the owners basement when they started in the early 1970s.

I've done some soundclips - though I have not done the guitar justice. Bit shambolic, lots of duff notes and no planning - seems way too little time to do anything properly just now. :sad: One clip is the Crafter 12 through the clean channel of the Super Champ XD recorded by microphone - surprisingly good for an electric amp even when it's 100% piezo pickup. The other clip is through a tiny little Yamaha THR5A, recorded direct on the computer with USB. I've not tried the Yamaha mic'd as yet. Both amps together mic'd is something else to try too with an A/B Y splitter - not got the right Y cable for a proper split of pickups though.

Through the SCXD and microphone recording :music2: https://app.box.com/s/u6rzs3xre2l3t8ygce2k
Through THR5A direct USB :music2: https://app.box.com/s/uo84z49sr6km28h6m493

It remains to be seen how much I might use it in recordings, but it's good for playing along with Mrs VB when she's doing songs with her uke. :dance:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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12bar
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by 12bar »

Sounds "celtic" - you're a great folk player! :dance:
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HalfBlindLefty
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by HalfBlindLefty »

12bar wrote:Sounds "celtic" - you're a great folk player! :dance:
:clap:

Exactly my thoughts :) I like the DI recording best (soundwise) Not that the other one was no good, it's just the clearity of the sound.
Great playing. Maybe we should start a acoustic collab together :think: :aha:
A long time ago, in the old forum : Registered: Mon, 27 Nov 2006. Wonder were the other old members all went....
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VikingBlues
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by VikingBlues »

Thanks guys. :D It's all a bit un-blues I'm afraid. :shy: Just part of my search for playing lots of different things I suppose.
12bar wrote:Sounds "celtic" - you're a great folk player! :dance:
I'm not sure where the "celtic" thing comes from - unless it's rubbed off on me having lived in Scotland for close to 50 years. I've never really listened too much to folk based music, though I did get into the folk-rock hybrid genre in a smallish way for a while.
HalfBlindLefty wrote:I like the DI recording best (soundwise) Not that the other one was no good, it's just the clearity of the sound.
Great playing. Maybe we should start a acoustic collab together :think: :aha:
I know what you mean about the DI recording. Though I think that the THR5A is a better amp for the guitar in that it's an acoustic rather than electric amp so it's geared up for the sound of an electro acoustic better. I must try and get a microphone recording off it and see how it compares with it's own microphone sim settings. It's such a small amp it shouldn't sound any good. Great work by the Yamaha Hi-fi division in getting such a big sound from it.

TBH I was very surprised that an electro-acoustic came out as well as it did on the SCXD. It's a shame in a way that the Crafter is not a full blow electro acoustic that can be recorded acoustically with a microphone, but the more comfortable body and the more electric like playing action were two things I really fancied having - and I'm liking the sounds I hear with it through an amp so it'll do just fine!

The acoustic collab idea sounds intriguing, though it'll need a good initial idea / structure to start it off. Not sure if I can come up with that yet! I feel very much in the early stages of the electro acoustic / acoustic playing. So very different from electric. But after so many years of not getting a "spark" with the acoustic side of guitars I'm very pleased it's starting to happen a bit. :cool:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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12bar
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by 12bar »

VikingBlues wrote: I've never really listened too much to folk based music, ...
Really? I'd say you can start as a folk player right now! :music1:
But I hope you stay with the Blues :big_smile:
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VikingBlues
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by VikingBlues »

12bar wrote:
VikingBlues wrote: I've never really listened too much to folk based music, ...
Really? I'd say you can start as a folk player right now! :music1:
But I hope you stay with the Blues :big_smile:
I hope so too! :fingerscrossed:

I was starting to get a bit worried - my guitar playing has recently been very lacking in blues but the blues came back to me yesterday for the first time for about a week. Maybe it was just the benefit of having a break but they sounded in good voice too :cool: - wish I'd had the record button on.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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12bar
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by 12bar »

:cool:
Maybe we need a real Blues collab, starting after Xmas when I have some free (I hope) time... :xmas_1:
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Blindboy
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by Blindboy »

What a handsome guitar! :drool: Sounds good too. How do you like the lipstick tube pickup? I used to have an old Danelectro with a lipstick tube pu that sounded pretty darn cool.
I too, am dabbling with a 12 string. Mine is strictly acoustic, so I can't really record my efforts. Chords sound amazing on a 12 string, and my fingerstyle blues stuff sounds pretty neat too. A bit more effort, though. :roll:
I think that you will find that a major hassle of a 12 string is tuning and changing strings.
Hope to hear more. :cool:
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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VikingBlues
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Re: Crafter SA12 TMBK

Post by VikingBlues »

12bar wrote::cool:
Maybe we need a real Blues collab, starting after Xmas when I have some free (I hope) time... :xmas_1:
Sounds like a great idea! :thumbsup: Hmmm ... free time?? ... what is that again? So long since I had any I can't remember. :lol:
Blindboy wrote:What a handsome guitar! :drool: Sounds good too. How do you like the lipstick tube pickup? I used to have an old Danelectro with a lipstick tube pu that sounded pretty darn cool.
I too, am dabbling with a 12 string. Mine is strictly acoustic, so I can't really record my efforts. Chords sound amazing on a 12 string, and my fingerstyle blues stuff sounds pretty neat too. A bit more effort, though. :roll:
I think that you will find that a major hassle of a 12 string is tuning and changing strings.
Hope to hear more. :cool:
Thanks Bb - it's a very nicely finished guitar, though that black tiger finish is damn difficult to photograph. :wall:
The lipstick tube pickup is rather good. I've never had a single coil semi-acoustic and it does give a different sound - quite a smooth sound rather than biting, but that's not a bad thing for my preference for smooth in my playing style. I've not really tried it out that much yet though, and haven't tried tackling blues yet really. The guitar is really a Xmas present that Sandra and I are giving each other. I feel I'm getting more range from the piezo / single coil arrangement than I would from the usual semi-acoustic 12 string with two pickups of the same type. I'm impressed with the acoustic quality of sounds from the built in electrics.

I did have a bit of fun playing along with a jazzy backing or two. Picking the strings right meant I could alternate single strings of each pair like a normal guitar and then runs with both strings of each pair being used on the 3rd, 4th and 5th strings - resulting instant octave playing without the twinges from my old pinkie finger. :whistle: (cheat!)

I quite agree about the chords aspect of the 12 string. One of the main reasons for the purchase. Sandra has taken a keen interest in Ukes recently so we do some playing around with songs she likes and the 12 string adds extra resonances to my contributions to these.

I had wondered about a 12 string acoustic but was put off a bit by the extra difficulty I have in playing acoustics. I find the body shape much more awkward, and also find the action tends to be less kind to my finger joints than the action on electrics. I also had reservations about recording an acoustic .... though I have since found with the recent acquisition of a decent (quality AND price) condenser microphone that I've found a good microphone position to record my Tanglewood TW45 electro acoustic. :dance: The sound of my recording in the Off Topic forum "Getting Closer to Pure Improv?" was a result of this - the microphone is a few inches higher than the body of the guitar and positioned opposite the neck/body join - certainly a much more convincing representation of the sound of the Tanglewood than using the built in electrics.

As far as the tuning goes it's holding it's tuning well thankfully! Though I'm ashamed to admit I've got myself a Snark clip on tuner to pop on the headstock to tune it. :shy: It does make the job so much easier.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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