how did you decide? om or l for recording/live?

[eor]

 i just can't choose.  eor is trying to finalize his pick, but every option i'm looking at has something i have to have.  i'm looking at the om and l shapes, with either hog or rw b/s. 

i like the bass and volume of the l shape, but i think the less bass/more mids from the oms would work better in a band setting, and perhaps recording, too.  i like the hog om strums, but the finger picked rw om is just respendent.  also, i'm kinda leaning om over l because i plan to buy a l 03 12 at some point, and i don't want two of the same shape (dumb reason, i know).

what do you guys think?  what works better live with a full band?  what records better with a full band?  for strummy rock type stuff.  i know the l is the obvious answer, but i thought that the om might cut more or better share frequency space with drums and bass and vocals.  i would primarily use the guitar for home recordings, with acoustic/electric guitars, bass and vocals dubbed in as well.  occasional live use, but not always with a full band.  can the om's lack of volume and bass be overcome with eq and stuff?

can't there be a half l/half om lopsided larry?  maybe that's what i need.  woe is eor :( 

love,
eor

maybe i'll just buy the cheapest one i find and learn to be happy with it.

[Randy_R]

i just can't choose.  eor is trying to finalize his pick, but every option i'm looking at has something i have to have.  i'm looking at the om and l shapes, with either hog or rw b/s. 

can't there be a half l/half om lopsided larry?  maybe that's what i need.  woe is eor :( 

eor

see discussion of LS model

[eor]

after much digging, eor is intrigued, but it doesn't look like he'll come across one ever.  i don't think i have custom money to spend.  the woe resumes :(  but thanks!

it took a while for me to realize you weren't talking about the classicals.

love,
eor

there may or may not be an lsv-10 on ebay right now.  he calls it an l series, but the title says lsv-10.  but that's way too ornate and i prefer not to have a cutaway.

[Trent in WA]

what do you guys think?  what works better live with a full band?  what records better with a full band?  for strummy rock type stuff.  i know the l is the obvious answer, but i thought that the om might cut more or better share frequency space with drums and bass and vocals.  i would primarily use the guitar for home recordings, with acoustic/electric guitars, bass and vocals dubbed in as well.  occasional live use, but not always with a full band.  can the om's lack of volume and bass be overcome with eq and stuff?

Eor,

Here's an article worth checking out.  It's primarily oriented towards the home recordist, but it holds true fundamentally for live sound as well:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/EQ_and_the_Limits_of_Audio.html

One thing to consider is that if you're recording with a full band in a "live" studio setting (i.e. everybody's wailin' at once) as opposed to going track-by-track, you're probably going to need to mike the guitar closely, which is going to give you an exaggerated bass response because of the proximity effect.   If you're going track-by-track, that's not really an issue.  For strummy rock, I might go with the L in mahogany--you want that combination of solid low end and sharp highs.   Don't worry about having two guitars with similar body shapes.  You're probably the only person who'll know or care--most people will be hard pressed to notice much beyond the fact they're both acoustics.

[roknroll]

why does eor always talk in third person?  reminds me of that seinfeld episode where that guy, "Jimmy", always talked in the 3rd person.  good times.

[Redeemed]

hey eor,

In a band setting, you're almost always going to have to have your guitar amplified... so with that said, I don't think the two shapes you're contemplating will make a HUGE difference.  However, what WILL make a big difference is the type of pickup you have installed in your guitar.  But as always, you should choose your guitar based on it's acoustic tone... so with that said, choose the guitar that speaks to you the most, and then worry about which pickup would be appropriate for your guitar.

Hope that helps some.  Oh, and also, I own both an L and an OM... they're both excellent guitars and you can't go wrong with either of 'em.


-dan

[eor]

that was an insightful article- i bookmarked it.  those techniques are things i had been doing, but didn't know they were right.  i feel much better about eorself now.  i had planned to record through a pickup, mostly.  guitar to computer, by way of line 6 pod and a mama bear, if need be.  recording with a mic won't sound so great in my dining room. 

i did some investigative work tonight at sam ash.  a quarter of a tank of gas later, i did get a few questions answered.  the oms are damn loud.  i strummed to the point it started to break up and i was actually self-conscious of the volume.  i was a little embarrassed, really.  it should be more than fine for anything i can throw at it.  i wouldn't ever expect to strum that hard in an actual application.  the l, was of course, way, way louder.  wow.

i didn't really get the hog vs rw sussed out, as they didn't have any rw oms.  i tried an l09 with rw and a cutaway, and a d03r to try and get a feel for it, but i don't think i got the full experience.  but i'm leaning towards the hog om for now.  i'm sure i'll like whatever i get.

love,
eor

[mrrinse]

unhelpful answer alert: get a om-03r and an l-03! or since you're planning on getting an l-03-12, you could just get the om-03r and use the l03 strung as either 12 or 6 as necessary. you could pickup two 03s for the price of one 09 (especially if you went second hand).

when it comes to live performances, especially in a band context with a pickup, the diffference in woods or body sizes to most peoples ears will be negligible.

most people prefer smaller guitars for recording. i find (in low C tunings) i need to work carefully with mic placement to tame the bass on my LV-09. then again, if you're recording using a pickup, it's less of a biggie.

i would think something like the i-mix pickup would be ideal. properly positioned, the i-beam sounds very natural for recording or small, quiet solo gigs, but can be prone to feedback / fail to cut through in a band context. but you've got the element for feedback resistance and cut... + ability to blend as appropriate.

i'd definitely go dual source (e.g. A2.2, I-Mix, etc). i think it's possible to go triple source or maybe even quadrouple source (e.g A2.2 blended to mono + a fishman soundhole and mic pickup blended to mono) if you were feeling completely crazy!

good luck and don't stress too much - i doubt you'd regret any of the options!

though take it from me, one larry's not enough!

D