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Hi, I'm in the process of doing a new CD......and this time I have a few 'country tracks. I'm using my Martin for the acoustic sound & my Telecaster for the soloing. The only pedals I've ever used have been, Wah-Wah, Phaser, Chorus & Delay.......most of the time I go for a 'clean sound. Now with this project I'm trying to play the Tele into a Behringer mixer......then try to create a "chicken pickin" sound in Sonar 8.5...and RealBand. Is there a "plug-in" that would help with this....or should I try and do it with EQ? I can use a Fender Amp sim in Sonar.....and I have a few "plug-ins"....incl. Vintage 64. But can anyone advise the best route to take? Any....& ALL suggestions welcomed!  Thanks, Joe G.
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Chicken pickin' happens mostly in the fingers and pick. Everything after that, from EQ to effects, is 'gravy'.
Since you are using a Tele set it to the bridge pickup and send it through a Fender amp (real or virtual) for the best sonic character. Work on 'choking' the pick (grasping it very close to the working end so that the string strikes both the pick and the fingers). A little practice yields great results. Then work on those licks!
Good luck,
Richard
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Thanks Richard! I seem to have developed my own way with the pick.........as I do a lot of 'cross-pickin', with the Banjo it seemed natural to use it on the Tele......and the licks?.........Well, I've only "borrowed" from those players I admire! Regards, Joe G. 
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Gee Joe, I never remember you pickin' the guitar, but Sally, I remember her...LOL
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Quote:
Hi, I'm in the process of doing a new CD......and this time I have a few 'country tracks. I'm using my Martin for the acoustic sound & my Telecaster for the soloing. The only pedals I've ever used have been, Wah-Wah, Phaser, Chorus & Delay.......most of the time I go for a 'clean sound.
Now with this project I'm trying to play the Tele into a Behringer mixer......then try to create a "chicken pickin" sound in Sonar 8.5...and RealBand. Is there a "plug-in" that would help with this....or should I try and do it with EQ?
I can use a Fender Amp sim in Sonar.....and I have a few "plug-ins"....incl. Vintage 64. But can anyone advise the best route to take? Any....& ALL suggestions welcomed! Thanks, Joe G.
Hi Joe,
Perhaps the "classic" chick'n-pick'n sound is best defined by use of the Fender "Tweed" series of amplifiers along with the Tele. The early Tweed designs did not incorporate the higher fidelity negative feedback amplifier circuit that came along later. This allowed for a rather desirable situation where the amplifier could be set to be riding just on the edge of distortion, allowing the guitarist to em;phasize the "edge" by picking harder at certain times.
Therefore I'd be looking for Amp/Speaker simulator plugin that leans toward the Fender Tweed amp first, a close second and easier to find in plugins would be the infamous Fender Bass amp head with either a dual 12" cabinet simulator, or, if available in the plugin, the open backed 4 10" cabinet.
With the above in mind, let it be said that the art and science has evolved over the years and I think you will find that most modern players today will be using the more modern amplifier designs that do indeed incorporate the internal negative feedback anwyay. This is indeed a case where 'its in the fingers' more than anything the amp brings to the thing, give or take. Heck, last summer I enjoyed playing keyboards on a call gig with a young fellow who was using a Marshall and halfstack with a rather "goth" looking Les Paul hangin' around his neck - and he was quite adequately providing the chickpick solos when the songs on the band's playlist demanded that. *grin8
But first a word about using the mixer for direct injection of magnetic pickup electric guitar is in order.
Your Tele pickups demand a very high input impedance.
Many mixers built for home recording purposes or live sound reproduction do not feature an input impedance that is high enough, no matter which input you try to use.
For the righ sound, the electromagnetic guitar pickup should be driving into an input that is up around 1 MegOhm Impedance (That's 1 MILLION ohms) or half that figure at the least.
Most mixers will only provide about 10K of input impedance on the 1/4" Inputs, which are NOT instrument inputs for guitar, but actually LINE inputs for things that are powered, such as keyboards. The MIC inputs may have preamps in them to overcome the lack of gain that you will find when your guitar is plugged directly into the 1/4" line inputs - but the MIC inputs are LOW impedance, typically down around 600 ohms or so.
Plugging your guitar pickup directly to the mixer results in what we call, "LOADING DOWN" the output, which affects frequency response to the bad side of things. Not desirable at all.
Best to feed your DAW and its fine Amp/Spkr simulation plugins the proper signal so that it will have the proper frequencies to do its thing with in the first place. Also this means the proper signal amplitude as well.
A mic preamp that also includes a high impedance instrument input can be used and I have found these to be the most desirable choice. Something like the ubiquitous ART TUBE preamp works very well and is available at attractively low prices. A plus here is that you also gain a rather nice tube mic preamp for your srsenal. If looking for something a bit better than that, actually a LOT better, it may cost as much as 4 to 5 times the low price of the ART tube, but well worth it, check out the Studioprojects VTB-1, a little mic/instrument pre that can hold its own when up against very expensive "boutique" designs.
Some folks use a passive or active Direct Box for impedance matching of their Direct Injected e-guitar to the mixer, this will work also, I prefer the tube preamp method as the little things have much more use and versatility in the home studio.
Also - you could use a guitar amplifier that has solid state transformerless output so that you can disconnect the speaker and run the amp without damage (do NOT do this with a tube amp!!) and if the amp has an Effects Send or Line Output on it, you can run that to your mixer and it will provide the proper input impedance for your guitar as well. Then add the amp/speaker simulation plugin to the sound recorded.
Guitar jacked directly into mic mixer sounds like poo.
--Mac
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Thanks for great links Don! ****Something went wrong when I tried to reply.....so this message may came up twice! Joe G 
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Nice one John!  Check the website......there are "pix" of both! Regards, Joe G.
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Mac, Thanks.....as usual you have picked up on something that I hadn't considered.....pre-amp problems!  I'll check out your suggestions. Meanwhile.......I'll carry on with micing the amp.......I'm more used to that, but it would be good to have both options. Regards, Joe G.
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If you don't have noise abatement problems where you record, by all means, MIC THE AMP, man!
Dat be da Real McCoy, dig.
Simulation ain't.
--Mac
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that Nashville telecaster sound is highly compressed.... and there's one brand of compressor all the country players use, but I can't remember off the top of my head what it is. (MXR Dynacomp? yeah, I see that brand a LOT in discussions about country music gear) Here's a link to two discussions on the topic of "getting that sound" http://www.guitar9.com/studionine6.htmlhttp://www.tdpri.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-80950.html
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Dynacomp sounds great live but it's noisy as hell in the studio, complete with switch pop. Do I have a defective unit?
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Quote:
If you don't have noise abatement problems where you record, by all means, MIC THE AMP, man!
Dat be da Real McCoy, dig.
Simulation ain't.
--Mac
after years of trying to get a good sound with amp simulators, I finally broke down and bought a tube amp. (and started micing it) What a difference!
There's no comparison. Simulators can duplicate the frequencies generated by various setups, but the nuances are totally lost... and in guitar playing it is the nuance that always catches my attention... the subtle change of sound when using various picking styles, the harmonics, the growl.
And if you mic it, none of it gets lost. It is especially noticeable when playing clean, because distortion can hide the nuances.
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Quote:
Dynacomp sounds great live but it's noisy as hell in the studio, complete with switch pop. Do I have a defective unit?
can't say whether your compressor is defective, but I am the world's worst at determining where line noise comes from. I use those little gizmos from radio shack that eliminate noise. SOmetimes they are amazing, sometimes not. I'd buy one and see if it helps. I use several of them at various places in my equipment chain. ESPECIALLY as the last thing between my signal and the recording jack
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Mac, We are fortunate here.......no noise problem.....175 years old property......very thick walls.....(banjo players need them!)......and I forgot....also have a couple of DI boxes.....haven't used them for years! I'll give one a try. Joe G.
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Pat, Thanks, I'll look them up. Joe G.
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You can totally get by using your Tele with the right impedance matching (as pointed out by Mac), and some fender amp simulation in Sonar. Whether or not you can play chickin' pickin' style is up to you. Spring reverb simulation is of course necessary as well, if you are going the amp sim route. My favorite chickin' picker is a guy out of south Florida, Lefty Jay Smith from Florida. He has a version of Hot Rod Lincoln that just rocks. Here's one of his YouTube videos with some chickin' pickin'-like stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcXN_aam1S8If you have the tweed around, put it to some use! If not, you can get there with amp simulation. -Scott
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kewl, scott! hadn't heard of him but i like. sorta don rich-esque, huh?
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
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Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
Check out all the 202 new RealTracks (in sets 468-488)!
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
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— Team PG
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