Jackson Browne plays Trance Audio on tour and in the studio
Maury & Jackson Browne talk guitars & gear and after the concert in Hershey, PA.
Many of my musical heroes have great songs and wonderful acoustic tones on their records (using microphones in the studio in place of pickups) but their live tone doesn't always measure up. Two giant exceptions are Neil Young and Jackson Browne. For years, Neil played the F.R.A.P. pickup - no longer in production.* Jackson plays the next generation F.R.A.P - The Trance Audio Amulet, by Gary Hull. I've been to dozens of JB's concerts and his live tone has always been "it" for me. But the Trance was always out of reach for weekend warrior musicians like myself because it was too expensive and required a complicated installation. The system needed a special 5-pin cable & breakout box for connection to the PA system. It was just too much. That was - until now.
*in the time since this article was written, Neil Young has now switched to Trance Audio, too.
The Amulet M is professional gear
In October of 2012, Trance Audio finished 3+ years of R&D to bring us the Trance Audio Amulet-M... a dual-mono version of the famous Amulet. $279 price tag, a simpler installation method and no special cables required. When I heard the news, I immediately approached Gary & Laurel of Trance Audio in the hopes to become an authorized dealer. We had a very nice long talk. Gary thoroughly educated me on the new product - and the fact that it sacrifices NOTHING in the tone department compared to the original stereo Amulet. I signed on to become the newest, happiest authorized Trance Audio deaer! Gary & Laurel were excited to land a capable installer on the East coast and I could not wait to put Jackson Browne's live tone in my Martin OM-28V!
The Trance Audio Amulet M picks up vibrations on a 3D plane. Its like no other pickup I've ever played. So big, open and woody. Playing dynamics are faithful to the player's touch, and there's more headroom than anyone could ever need. It cannot be overdriven or made to sound squashed or compressed. The Trance listens to the guitar's top, and it also hears a blend of relected tones coming from inside the guitar. There's a depth, richness and spacial quality to the Trance Audio Amulet M that no other pickup system has. Simply put - its just professional.
