# Bodyrez - Acoustic Pickup Enhancer by TC Electronic



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

I was originally going to post this in the Pedal and Effects section but seeing as how it's designed for acoustic guitar I figured I'd post about it here. I saw the video of this pedal yesterday and it really makes an audible difference to any acoustic guitar with a built in piezo pickup. Here's what they say about it:

"BodyRez is the new must-have tool for every acoustic player out there. Designed to restore the natural acoustic resonance of your instrument when using under-saddle pickups, BodyRez gives you a more natural sound simply with the turn of a single knob. Getting great acoustic tone couldn't possibly be easier, with harmonic bliss now just a stomp away."
It's due out in September. Here's the website for further information:
http://www.tcelectronic.com/bodyrez/

And here's a video showing what the pedal does:

[video=youtube;TuS8b1zZGko]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=TuS8b1zZGko[/video]


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

sounds a lot like the defunct Australian made Passac preamps.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

rollingdam said:


> sounds a lot like the defunct Australian made Passac preamps.


Now that you've mentioned that I did a web search on them and from what I've read they were quite popular with acoustic guitarists and I read a review where one person said that it "puts the body back into the guitar." Too bad they don't make them anymore but I guess Ebay and maybe Craigslist and Kijiji may have them available from time to time. If this new pedal is reasonably priced I may get it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

My friend has the fishman aura pedal, and his piezo electrics sound just like the real deal through the PA. I dont think this is quite the same idea (acoustic samples vs. EQ?). Not sure if they share the same market, or which is more expensive.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Budda said:


> My friend has the fishman aura pedal, and his piezo electrics sound just like the real deal through the PA. I dont think this is quite the same idea (acoustic samples vs. EQ?). Not sure if they share the same market, or which is more expensive.


I was looking up the price on the Fishman Aura pedal and it averages around $270.00 U.S. and I also found out about a pre-amp for guitar which does the same thing as the Fishman and the Bodyrez called the D-TAR Mama Bear. If they're selling the Bodyrez for less than $270.00 (Canadian) then I might give some serious thought to buying it. BTW here's the video for the D-TAR Mama Bear which you can still find:

[video=youtube;furlMtpxZNo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=furlMtpxZNo[/video]


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## Seratone (Dec 16, 2013)

I have a Fishman Aura Sixteen AND a D-Tar Mama Bear - I'm really interested how the TC Electronic's Body Rez stacks up against those.

I'm fairly obsessed with a acoustic guitar amplification and really don't like playing an acoustic live, using the pickup without a mic modeler of some sort. Finger picking is OK, but strumming with a piezo pickup is just brutal. 

I also had a Gibson J-200 for a while with the built it Aura - as with the pedal it had a massive 400k midrange spike that didn't allow much of the modelling to be dialed in without sounding 'boxy'

The Fishman was a little bit overkill with all the models, I picked one online via their app that worked for me and did a 'set it and forget it' thing....The D-Tar Mama Bear was a revelation in comparison - but it's a fairly fragile piece of kit that needs to sit on an Amp (if you use one - SOL if you don't) and not on a pedalboard. I'm going to pick up a Body Rez tomorrow and try it out - I'll report back....

BTW: I have TWO D-Tar Mama Bears and an Equinox I'm looking to get rid of.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Why not just mic it? You could also use one of these. The reviews are excellent and some of the members here have spoken very highly of them.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Seratone said:


> I have a Fishman Aura Sixteen AND a D-Tar Mama Bear - I'm really interested how the TC Electronic's Body Rez stacks up against those.
> 
> I'm fairly obsessed with a acoustic guitar amplification and really don't like playing an acoustic live, using the pickup without a mic modeler of some sort. Finger picking is OK, but strumming with a piezo pickup is just brutal.
> 
> ...


Looking forward to your review Seratone.



Steadfastly said:


> Why not just mic it? You could also use one of these. The reviews are excellent and some of the members here have spoken very highly of them.


Actually I'd want a pedal like this for direct recording. I do have a nice Sennheiser mic and I just may go that route but I just checked the Long & McQuade website and I've seen the price for the Bodyrez is now lowered to $115.00 which makes me more interested in it. Here's the URL: https://www.long-mcquade.com/61368/Guitars/Parts/T_C_Electronic/Bodyrez_Acoustic_Pickup_Enhancer.htm I'll try it out and see what the sound's like and if I don't care for it I'll go with a mic instead.


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

Here is a link on reverb which may interest you:

https://reverb.com/item/323405-passac-ec-100-2x


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## Seratone (Dec 16, 2013)

Sometimes a Mic is out of the question - it's fine if you want to hear the lead singer scraping away percussively on top of the band, but if the actual body of the song is based on Travis picking, you need to use a pickup.

This summer I got a Martin OMC 160-gte, which had a Roland/Martin collaboration preamp (I think) called an AP-1.

This guitar sounds absolutely perfect directly plugged into logic. It used Roland COSM Mic modelling technology, compression, EQ and reverb, All in the guitar! I was skeptical at first, but this thing really blew me away....

....but that's only one guitar. I have a lot. Some are Takamine's with their kit and others a re L.R. Baggs Elements - The D-Tar rescues them from being brittle...


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## Seratone (Dec 16, 2013)

I just got a TC Electronics BodyRez with the intention of comparing to a Fishman Aura Sixteen and a D-Tar Mama Bear. I soon realized they do entirely different things and can be used in combination with each other.

I was going into an Allen and Heath Z10FX Mixer with a touch of hall reverb with the EQ flat using headphones.

Through various combinations I decided the Body Res, as it adds thump and bottom end, it's apparently EQ based, should be after the Aura and the Mama Bear. These two units seems to be focused more on the attack. they appear to be creating microphone modeling 'artifacts' that mask the 'quack' of the piezo pickup.

The BodyRez on its own improves the signal by 97%. The Aura and Mama bear top off the final 3%. They are pretty equal in what they do and there are so many combinations available on each unit it would take days to go through them all. I found one papery crisp attack setting that didn't add too much 'boxiness' on each unit.

The both sounded awesome with the BodyRez, and they both sounded weak without it - all the punch and bottom end was gone. When the modeler was removed from the Body Rez it sounded great - as I said about 97% better than direct signal, but the quack of the attack came back slightly, if you really listen to it. After trying every combination, I dropped the modelors and just used the Body Rez. 

Bottom line - the TC BodyRez takes away the tragedy of a direct acoustic guitar with a piezo pickup - without ANY adjustment at all creates a 'set it and forget it' beautiful acoustic sound, all you need in a live or rehearsal situation with other players. The simplicity alone is amazing, it could sit on a tiny pedal board with a tuner and a reverb pedal, and you'd be done...If you're an obsessive like me, recording directly into a computer the mic modelers like the Aura and the Mama Bear are fun..... but not necessary.


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## mister.zed (Jun 8, 2011)

I'm really happy with the sound of my Taylor-->Boss CS-3 Compressor-->Boss EH-2 Enhancer. I'd be interested in comparing it to what the BodyRez does.


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## Seratone (Dec 16, 2013)

Taylor's are a different beast entirely and mic modellers (I have read) don't do the magic they do with piezo pickups. I had a T5 for a while and the Aura just sounded brittle with it. Since the Bodyrez doesn't (apparently) do the same thing, I'd bet the Bodyrez would sound great.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Seratone said:


> Sometimes a Mic is out of the question - it's fine if you want to hear the lead singer scraping away percussively on top of the band, but if the actual body of the song is based on Travis picking, you need to use a pickup.


In my post, I was thinking about the mic that is mounted inside the guitar. Would your thoughts apply to that type of mic as well?


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