Unplugging your electro and mic'ing up!

Wolftone

Just decided to unplug and put a Shure SM57 on it. What a revelation!!!!

I can hear all the scrapes and pick noise. I sound 'reet proper and like a pukka player now! 

Anyone else done this and been blown away??

Danny1969

Well not with a 57 normally cos it's a bit honkey for that (and a dynamic mic) but a couple of condensors on an acoustic can sound superb, specially one near the 12th fret and one near the bridge. 

Your right though any mic is a stepup on a lot of the cheap piezo  internal systems fitted. 

ICBM

Almost any mic is a step up from almost any pickup system.

Some years ago I had a Taylor electro (Fishman piezo pickup, pre-Expression system) which I'd also fitted a Rare Earth magnetic to, and which I thought sounded really good. I went to an open mic with it… there were a few other nice piezo-pickup guitars there - Takamines, Yamahas etc - and I was very satisfied to hear how much better the Taylor sounded.

The last performer was a girl with an old Seagull acoustic without a pickup system, so the soundman just stuck a spare SM58 on a stand in front of it. Instantly all the electros, including my Taylor, sounded like slightly varying degrees of rubbish. There really was no comparison.

bertie

ICBM said:

Almost any mic is a step up from almost any pickup system.

QED

octatonic

Imagine how it sound when you use a proper mic!!!

p90fool

ICBM said:

Almost any mic is a step up from almost any pickup system.

I terms of sound yes, but most of my acoustic gigs are in rowdy, cramped pubs. I've never managed to get enough volume before feedback with mics. I don't mean just borderline, I mean absolutely nowhere near enough.

Any tips would be very welcome.

bertie

p90fool said:

I terms of sound yes, but most of my acoustic gigs are in rowdy, 

thats really acoustic p/ups are for, not recording.   Very few peeps use mic'd guitars these days for "live" work - especially where "some" volume is required.

   

ICBM

Exactly. For recording or in a "polite" proper music venue you can use a mic and the sound quality will be worth it. In a rowdy pub you're going to need a pickup and no-one gives a stuff about the sound quality anyway!

In fact I sometimes really wonder why people bother with acoustics at all for venues like that - apart from for looks.

There is a good reason why God invented the Telecaster.

maltingsaudio

p90fool said:

ICBM said:

Almost any mic is a step up from almost any pickup system.

I terms of sound yes, but most of my acoustic gigs are in rowdy, cramped pubs. I've never managed to get enough volume before feedback with mics. I don't mean just borderline, I mean absolutely nowhere near enough.

Any tips would be very welcome.

If you have to bear in mind pub audiences aren't known for their discerning ears, use less gain on the desk than normal make it up on the channel, Hi pass the mic at about 100-120 hz keep the HF down on the channel and take almost all of your acoustic out of the monitors

and make sure your seatedwell back from your front of house speakers and sit still

bertie

maltingsaudio said:

 pub audiences aren't known for their discerning ears,

  I think the phrase these days is,   WORD

tho how much do "we" spend trying to convince ourselves they do !!       

ESBlonde

The bestist way is 'BOTH' for noisy live gigs. The PU does the core sound/volume thing and the mic is blended to get some 'air' into the sound. If the desk has decent EQ you can hack both channels to get the best bits and mix them together. Few low mids or bass in the mic and let the mic give the impression of air on the top.

I have used a simple and cheap tie clip condenser inside the sound hole edge blended with the fitted PU to get astounding tone from relatively humble guitars.

Branshen

Last week, I worked as the soundman at an event for singer/songwriters. I can tell you honestly that a mic-ed acoustic sounds miles better than most, if not all pickup systems. I mic-ed up one songwriter's average guitar with a cheap dynamic, a Peavey PV100, and the clarity was fantastic compared to all other guitars that were plugged in, including a really tasty Martin D-28.

Next time I have any quiet cafe gigs, I'm gonna bring my condenser and see if I can set it up and play without feedback issues.