D-TAR Mama Bear Preamp

Very easy ..
Manual is pretty good.

The Pick up/source selections are pretty good and DTAR deffinatly did their homework on that

The Target selections are OK .. could have done a better job imo .
nearly all of them have some level of Resonator ring to them ..

clean but quite. I usa a secondary tube pre amp to boost before sending it to the board
I only use blend at about 20% wet signal. just add's a small amount of Air to the Pickup sound. But that 20% make's all the difference to me. I really like it for that .. Sounds like a mic'd guitar

at 100% it sounds like a digital copy of a guitar not LIKE a guitar if that make's sense ..

Yeah seems ok .. dropped it first day I got it

I could get by with out so no back up ..

DTAR seems pretty good. You could email Rick Turner direct if you needed too .

Acoustic cover , Instumanetal's
Had it a week
I would probably get a replacement if stolen - especially if insuarnce paid for it !!!

Adding a EQ section would make this better. Target instruments could be a little more " natural"
Also Output gain stage seems pretty weak , I now send signal from MB to my Tube PreAmp then to the board.

It's almost "idiot proof"...just turn the knobs till you find the sound that you like. I chose it over some other similar products for this simple reason: I don't like too many variables to "fine tune" in order to get the acoustic sound or download patches...others will differ but I find it a chore.

Am no audiophile..so it doesn't matter.

My needs are simple: To get an acoustic sound out of my Timothy S10J (fitted with Fishman Prefix) with minimal fuss.

I haven't got the chance to hear it over the house system of my church but a friend said it sounded really good.

From my small Boss monitor speakers at home, the difference with and without the Mama is pretty dramatic. One of those "as advertised" products - it returns that resonance to the sound and removes the quack. Pretty cool. It won't make my guitar sound like a million bucks but we're certainly closer than before.

It's pretty fun to get that "vintage" tone...i.e. slope-shouldered dread or jumbo for a little bluesy runs.

I have it for about 6 months now and so far so good. I don't have any other equipment to back it up with.

Nope but I have encountered Rick Turner through the forums. From what I have seen, I have full confidence that D-Tar (or at least Rick Turner himself) will do their best to set things right.

I use it mainly for church worship where I want control over the tone and sound rather than depend on the soundboard or PA and this piece of equipment does it well.

I have tried the Sansamp Para DI and Bagg PADI to achieve the "acoustic" sound but it eludes me...maybe because the Parametric EQ confounds me and NOT because they are bad equipment.

For its price, I'd have a hard time replacing it but I will if I have to.

I love it for its simplicity of use but I don't enjoy its bulk. If there's a version that could run on batteries even better but I doubt it.

If you're looking for something simple to use and quick to dial in...this is it. But if you like to fiddle around a lot and experiment maybe not.

The Mama Bear is easy to use you just have to play around with the target instruments inputs. Once you have what you like you are there

Sound Quality is great, But you do have to use a good guitar. I use a Taylor custom build 812c with a D-tar wavelength pickup. And it sounds great the best I have ever tried. I have a Godin thinline A6 that doesn't sound very good with the mamabear. So all I use is the Taylor and the mamabear, with great sound. I must add here that a good sound system helps too. If you play though a cheap or bad sounding Pa you will get that bad sound with your guitar. Great PA's = great sound.

So for no problems I have had it for a year and a half.

I haven't needed any but from chat on there forum and asking questions and getting answers right away I don't think it would be a problem. Plus a friend of mine did have a problem with one and they send him three different ones to try and worked out his problem.

With the mamabear I play in a acoustic guitar duo. Music from the 60's on up until today, folk, rock, blues,. We both use custom built guitar and love a true pure acoustic guitar sound. I have been playing for 43 years and with the mamabear I am getting the best acoustic guitar live sound that I have ever gottin. If it was lost I would replace it in a heartbeat. I have tried everything believe and this is the best.

Pretty straightforward to set up and the manual supplies most of what you need.

I'm using the MamaBear with an Alvarez acoustic loaded with a D-Tar Wavelength pickup and a Fedner Deluxe Power Stratocaster with a Fishman Power Bridge.

MamBear does smooth out both pickups but also adds an odd resonance to the tone that I can't get comfortable with. I noticed the same odd sound with the Yamaha MagicStomp Acoustic's Dread setting. It's like every target setting of the MamaBear has just a touch of resonator guitar in it. It's not a natural acoustic sound. I've tried anything from very dry to completely wet settings and I can still hear it. Overall, I'm a little disappointed in MamaBear, but I will probably continue to use it until I find something that sounds better.

Too soon to tell, but it appears to be well made.

Haven't need it.

I play in a church band where I use both the Alvarez acouxtic and the Power Strat. I run the acoustic pickups through Mama Bear and into a UltraSound AF50DS3 and the electic throuh a Vox AD15VT or AD50VT, depending on the room.

I've been playing 43 years and my electrics include a Gibson ES335, ES135 and SG STandard and a Fender Deluxe Power Strat.

If it was lost or stolen, I don't think I'd replace it. I would look for something else.

I like the ease of setup and the control layout. I would like to see it in a rack mount size. I'm not completely impressed with the sound quality.

I love the idea behind the Mam Bear. I don't need or want a load of effects on acoustic. I hope that a future version will nail the sounds better.

Extremely easy to use. Does not take much to figure the settings out. Manual was very short and to the point.

I'm using a Parker guitar with a fishman (VT vintage tone) piezo pickup system. Took a little patience and working with my EQ to experience the best mama bear has to offer. If your impatient this pre-amp won't impress you. Took me several hours of going back and forth through the settings to get the sounds I like. But after I figured it out - this mama bear is amazing. Acoustic tones are realistic. Subtle is a good word, it won't make a poor guitar sound good - but it will make a decent piezo like mine sound like a real acoustic!

Built like a tank, I won't be carrying any spare. Coming from Seymore Duncan and Rick Turner I would expect the highest quality!

Their site is very helpful. Also issues and questions from Seymore Duncan have been answered in a very timely manner.

I've been playing guitar over 40 years. have used many acoustic set-ups. Play a variety of Country and Rock styles. I am selling most of my guitars because my Parker guitar with this mama bear has incredible versatility. I have been doing exhaustive comparisons over several decades trying to get a guitar I like to play that has the acoustic tones I want. This combination gives that to me!

Takes some tweaking, but that's the fun of it, right? Once found, "perfect" settings are easily repeatable due to the numbered multi-position switches. The first switch has 16 settings for your guitar "input" type, from piezo to coax-type undersaddle, to magnetic soundhold pickups. Second switch is the "output" guitar type, with sounds from Parlor Guitar to Super Jumbo (1-16).
There is also a very effective bass-cut switch, mute button and phase-correction switch for feedback control.
Wonderfully subtle changes are possible with the "blend" control. The manual is pretty standard, but explains the basics well.

Gibson, Collings, Taylor, Bourgeois... all benefit from Mama Bear's
ability to calm the harshness of under saddle and magnetic pickups.
Instructions are plain that Mama Bear is NOT designed for use with
contact pickups (like B-Band AST, Baggs I-beam), or for microphones.
Unit is very quiet. I use it with a full range PA and with a
Fishman Performer amp.
It uses what DTAR calls "AGE"... acoustic guitar emulation (32-bit digital) to clone the sound characteristics of various guitar body types. Only negative for is the resonator guitar settings, which don't sound convincing to me. Dred (mahogany or rosewood), Slope-shoulder, Grand Auditorium, Jumbo, OM and Botique are among my favorites.

Just played with it for a couple of days, but my other D-TAR unit, an Equinox equalizer, is quite rugged. No backup required.

Never had a problem that required customer support.

Maily strummed chords for worship services. Some fingerpicking.
Been playing over 35 years and have tried most performance acoustic gear. If stolen, I would replace it (and hope insurance would reimburse!) It's pretty expensive, but worth it. Gives your ears a rest from the harshness of many under-saddle pickups!
This is a subtle unit, but very effective. Have a bass-heavy acoustic/electric? Mama Bear will smooth it out. Under saddle
QUACK? Gone! Mid-range hump? You can find a setting that makes it flat. Don't expect magic... as the instructions say, it can't make a bad-sounding guitar sound good... but it CAN make a average guitar sound like a gem!
Handy outputs for BOTH XLR with ground-lift (to PA) and 1/4" (to acoustic amp).
On the negative side, the cabinet design is hard to place in many stage conditions. They do make an optional mic-stand mounting adapter which would keep it from slipping off the top of an amp. Don't over-do the blend! Subtle is the name of the game. Punch the
bypass switch on and off to compare the setting your tweaking, to "no-effect". This unit is a keeper!