Which of my Larrivees for the "contemporary sound"?

[patrickgm60]

Our church recently moved to a new auditorium with a state-of-the-art (read "expensive and complicated") sound system.  I brought my 3 A/E guitars there last night for a sound check before rehearsal.  The LS10 has an active UST p/u, which I have always found to be a bit "thwacky" and dark sounding.  The LV03K has a K&K mini Western, which I played with and w/out the K&K preamp.  The K&K, to my ear, produces a very clear and somewhat bright tone.  A Taylor K4(?) preamp straight to pa with no effects.

The sound tech guy told me the LS10 has a more "contemporary" sound, particularly for strumming, while the LV03K has a soloist sound. I was pleased to know the LS will see action, altough through the monitor system, it still sounds dark and a bit thunky. I plan to strum the group songs (our style of music is contemporary christian worship) with the LS and play a solo piece with the 03.

Any thoughts, experiences, or interpretations on the term "contemporary"?  Thanks.

[sdelsolray]

The UST sound will likely be easier for the sound engineer to mix with all of the other sources.  In that situation, an acoustic guitar is a minor player when compared to the total mix.

[jeremy3220]

Any thoughts, experiences, or interpretations on the term "contemporary"?  Thanks.

When I think of the 'contemporary guitar sound' I'm thinking of a bright sound guitar and what you hear most is the attack. You don't hear any woody thump or resonant sound and it sounds compressed, direct and 'right there' (easy to digest). That is my definition pertaining to more of a pop sound where we aren't listening to 'guitar music'.

In other words ;Taylor and partially Larrivee.

[AtlasHeating]

The "quality" of your sound is secondary. The primary issue of playing live with other people is: how well does my sound sit in the mix? You need to use a guitar that you like to play but how well does it sound with other instruments is the bigger question. One of the reasons that most people do not use a mic when playing acoustic guitar with a band is you will get lost in the mix and not enough monitor sound before feedback. Try out the different guitars with the rest of the band and let your ears decide, you will know the right sound to choose. I do not like the KK pure western as much as my fishman blender UST.