Clarence Bucaro,whose new CD ’Til Spring comes out in March, 2009, took some time to chat with Gearwire about his primary guitar, a Gibson J-45.

“It's actually a reissue, but I've had it for 10 years now so it sounds almost as good as a vintage one, at least to my ear.” he says.

He chose the J-45 over other jumbos because it really resonates on stage—among other attributes.

“Other guitars I've found to be too tinny in the high end or too boomy in the bass end, but the J45 does both ends right.” says Bucaro.

When it comes to the pick up system there was some trial and error before he came to the final stop—an L.R. Baggs IMix.

“I use the LR Baggs IMix, which is a dual system pickup blending a transducer mic with the pickup. When I first started touring, I was playing a large spectrum of different venues from small bars to coffee houses to mid-size venues to a tour or two playing major theaters. The problem I was experiencing was that I was not able to control the variance in sound systems, sound engineers and rooms from my guitar causing a frustrating night to night basis for my guitar sound. I have a beautifully sounding guitar, but it's sound was subjective to the many variables of the touring I was doing.”

Bucaro asked around, while out on the road and was pointed to the IMix. He is thrilled with how it works in his J-45.

“I am able to ensure myself the sound I want each night from my guitar by controlling the two inputs,” says Bucar. “If it's a club that can't handle the low end, I can curb it myself and if it's a great club with great sound then I don't have to do a thing and the transducer mic allows my guitar to sound as rich as can be.”

When it comes to recording he usually uses a microphone but not always.

“When recording, I use a microphone on my J45 but sometimes have to use both as my recordings are namely done live in the same room and the bleed of the other instruments can sometimes drown out the guitar, so in that case we use the pickup as well,” he says. “I've done four records with my J45 and, also thanks to amazing engineers, have always heard feedback about how rich the guitar sounds.”

Live he has had no serious issues with the J-45.

“Other guitars I have, but in general my J-45 has always been consistent for me,” says Bucaro, Yoda-like. “Occasionally, I'll get a situation where the sound engineer does not understand the pickup system, and it'll feed at first, but only if there was no sound check and they don't realize there is a mic in the guitar, but it's always immediately remedied either way.”

Bucaro will be touring to support 'Til Spring for most of 2009. He will begin in New York City (where he lives), head through Austin for SXSW and then not to the West Coast.

“But other than that I try and make it down to New Orleans to record songs a couple times a year and go to Nashville and LA to write when I can.” he says.