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D-TAR Eclipses Competition with Solstice™
D-TAR’s First Consumer Product Garners Guitar Player
Magazine Editors’ Pick
Thursday, June 12, 2003
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Santa Barbara, California – D-TAR™
stands for duncan | turner acoustic research, and
marks the union of Seymour Duncan Pickups with noted luthier
and acoustic amplification expert, Rick Turner. |
| D-TAR has a full line-up of products, including
pickups and both on-board and off-board electronics. All are
geared toward the tone-minded acoustic musician. D-TAR’s
first consumer product is an off-board, two-channel mixer called
Solstice™. Guitar Player Magazine’s Senior Editor,
Andy Ellis, got his hands on a D-TAR Solstice and put it through
the paces. His full review
appears in the August 2003 issue. |
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Here are a few excerpts:“When the likes of Seymour Duncan
and Rick Turner join forces to design gear for amplifying
acoustic instruments, the odds are good they’ll create
some toneful gizmos. One of the company’s first offerings
is the D-TAR Solstice…, a two-channel mixer/stereo preamp
designed to blend signals from a variety of acoustic pickups,
transducers, and mics, and integrate seamlessly with stage
and studio rigs….
“The Solstice looks cool: With its sturdy, cream-colored
metal top and “cinnamon rainbow” front panel, the
box looks like it was yanked from a ’60s speedboat. Each
channel sports two inputs with individual volume knobs.
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| "One input is an ultra-high
impedance 1/4" jack for instrument pickups, the other a
standard XLR jack for mics. The XLR jacks have tiny buttons
to engage 15 volts of phantom power, as well as a 20dB pad.
If you plug a TRS stereo cable into either instrument jack,
the Solstice automatically assigns each signal to a separate
channel. Slick—no Y-cord required…. |
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“The unit’s EQ sections deserve special
mention. With only three knobs per channel, the system is
designed for gentle shaping, rather than sonic surgery. That
said, the EQ yielded immediate and musical results whenever
I touched it. Smoothing the sound of piezo transducers was
as simple as backing off the treble slightly and goosing the
mids a tad…
“[T]he Solstice is an outstanding piece
of gear. While there’s no shortage of excellent, single-channel
blender preamps…[available,] the stereo Solstice offers
twice the features of such boxes for a remarkably affordable
price. Because it can accept up to four simultaneous signals,
you’ll really appreciate the Solstice if your ax combines
an internal mic or soundhole pickup with under-saddle or soundboard
transducers. Onstage or in the studio, the Solstice makes
it easy to wring righteous tones from your acoustic.”
In addition to presenting the Editor’s
Pick Award to Solstice, Guitar Player named it one
of the top "50 Guitars, Amps, Effects, and Accessories
You'll Be Lusting After This Year." (May 2003).
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