Using Acoustic IRs to Fix That Awful Piezo Guitar Sound
I really like my Taylor 110e.
It’s not a fancy guitar. It’s a fairly basic acoustic that I bought for myself as a graduation present back in 2013, and since then it has been through a lot. Gigs, recording sessions, Finnish weather, temperature changes, dents, scratches, the usual “this guitar has actually been used” kind of stuff.
And I still love it.
But there is one thing I have never really loved about it: the piezo sound.
You probably know the sound I mean. That nasal, slightly plastic, very “yes, this is definitely an acoustic guitar pickup” kind of tone. It works in a practical sense, but it doesn’t really sound like the guitar in the room. And it’s not exactly inspiring.
So in this video, I wanted to see if I could improve that sound using acoustic IRs inside the Two Notes Torpedo CAB M. The idea was simple: take the direct piezo signal, load an acoustic impulse response, use some EQ and reverb, and see if I could turn it into something I would actually want to use live or in the studio.
What Are Acoustic IRs?
Acoustic IRs are basically impulse responses made from acoustic guitars. Instead of using them like a normal guitar cabinet IR, the goal is to reshape the sound of a pickup so it behaves more like a miked acoustic guitar.
In my case, I used acoustic IRs from Sigma because they had a pack based on a Taylor 610. Since my guitar is a Taylor 110e, I figured that would at least be somewhere in the same family. This video is not sponsored by Sigma or Two Notes, by the way. I’m just wearing the shirt because apparently I enjoy looking suspicious.
The starting sound was very much the usual piezo thing. It was usable, but nasal, narrow, and pretty far away from what I hear when I play the guitar acoustically in the room. So the goal was not to make the guitar sound like a perfectly miked studio acoustic, because that is probably asking a bit much from a pickup signal. The goal was to make it better, more natural, and more useful.
Comparing Acoustic IRs Properly
One thing I learned quickly is that comparing acoustic IRs while playing live is not the best way to do it.
There are two problems with that. First, acoustic guitars are loud enough that you are still hearing the actual guitar in the room, even if you are wearing headphones. That affects how you perceive the processed sound. Second, every time you play the part again, you play it slightly differently. Those small changes can make one IR seem better or worse just because you hit the strings differently.
So I used a looper.
I recorded one simple guitar loop with a BOSS DD-500 and then played that same loop through every acoustic IR inside the Two Notes CAB M. That way, I could record all the IR versions into Logic and compare them properly without changing the performance every time.
Was it exciting to listen to the same acoustic loop 15 times? No. Was it useful? Absolutely.
Choosing the Right Acoustic IR
The interesting thing is that I had already done a test run the day before and picked one IR that I thought worked best. But when I came back with fresh ears, I ended up liking a different one.
That is a pretty good reminder that your ears change. Or at least your judgment does.
The IR I first picked had more of the top end I thought I wanted. But the next day, another one sounded better to me because it had less harshness and more of an old-school acoustic character. It was a bit more midrangey, but in a way that felt more useful for this guitar.
That is why I think it’s worth taking a little time with this stuff. If you just load the first IR that sounds impressive, you might end up with something that feels exciting for 30 seconds but gets annoying in a mix or through a PA.
EQ Still Matters
After choosing the IR, the sound was already much better than the raw piezo signal. But it still needed some shaping.
The CAB M has a useful parametric EQ, and that made a lot more sense here than just grabbing a basic acoustic guitar EQ. The problem frequencies are not always going to be in the same place. They depend on the guitar, the pickup, the IR, and probably several other annoying things because audio likes to be annoying.
I started by adding a high-pass filter to remove some unnecessary low end. There really isn’t much useful acoustic guitar information below roughly 100 Hz in this kind of setup, and leaving too much low end there can just make the sound muddy.
After that, I swept around with a boosted EQ band to find the ugly frequencies. There was some boominess, some honkiness, and some pick-scraping harshness that needed to be controlled. Nothing too dramatic, though. A few dB here and there can make a surprisingly big difference.
The goal wasn’t to destroy the sound. It was just to remove the parts that made it feel like a piezo pickup pretending to be an acoustic guitar.
Adding a Little Reverb
Once the IR and EQ were working, I added a bit of reverb inside the CAB M.
Nothing huge. Just enough to give the sound a little bit of space and make it feel less direct. I tried a few options and ended up using Studio B because it gave the guitar a nice sense of ambience without turning it into the sound of an empty hall where your band plays to three people and one of them is the sound guy.
A little reverb helped the preset feel more finished. Especially for live use, that kind of subtle space can make the DI acoustic sound less dry and awkward.
The Final Result
The difference between the raw piezo sound and the processed sound was honestly pretty huge.
The original signal had that nasal midrange thing going on. After adding the acoustic IR, EQ, and reverb, the guitar sounded much more natural and much more useful. Not perfect, but definitely something I could see myself using for live gigs or direct recording.
And the best part is that once the preset is saved in the Two Notes CAB M, I can just bring it to a show, plug the Taylor into it, and send a much better acoustic sound to the PA or recording interface.
That is really the whole point for me. I don’t necessarily need endless options. I just want one good acoustic guitar sound that works.
Are Acoustic IRs Worth Trying?
Yes, especially if you like your acoustic guitar but hate the pickup sound.
Acoustic IRs won’t magically turn a bad piezo signal into a perfectly miked vintage acoustic in a world-class studio. But they can make a very noticeable difference. With the right IR, some careful EQ, and a little reverb, you can get much closer to a sound that actually feels musical.
The process takes a bit of patience. You may have to compare several IRs, listen carefully, tweak the EQ, and avoid making decisions too quickly. But once you have a preset that works, it can become a very practical tool for both live use and recording.
For my Taylor 110e, this made the guitar much more enjoyable to plug in. And considering how much I already like the guitar itself, that’s a pretty nice result.
If you’re dealing with a nasal piezo sound, acoustic IRs are definitely worth a try.
Since publishing this article, the Two Notes CAB M has been replaced by Two Notes Opus, that does even more than the CAB M did an you can find it here:
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