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Shure SM57 into guitar amp?

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TinLipTinLip Frets: 368
in Live
Am helping the missus out with some music this weekend and one of the acts needs to mic up his acoustic guitar. He doesn't have a pickup for it so I was thinking of setting up a mic to pick it up. 

Is this a good idea? When I do my home recording I can easily plug the SM57 into my Focusrite Scarlett and then into my PC- but not sure that I can do it straight into the amp.

Thoughts?


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Comments

  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3590
    It is not an ideal mic because the frequency response does not match an acoustic guitar very well. The impedence mismatch of the mic into the guitar amp will play havoc and worst of all the frequency response of a typical guitar amp is woeful compared to a nice crisp deep acoustic guitar.
    Other than that it's a good idea.
    So it might add some volume in a small venue if the guitar carries quite well on its own but don't expect miracles.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 72382
    Even worse, the SM57 has a natural frequency peak in the upper mids, which correlates to most guitar amps - which is one reason why it's perfect for *mic'ing up* a guitar amp - but if you put it *into* a guitar amp it's very likely to cause feedback for exactly the same reason.

    Particularly as you will probably need a fair amount of gain unless the guitar can be held very still very close to the mic... and guitar amps don't have notch filters or any other way of fighting feedback.

    You'd almost certainly be much better off buying any magnetic soundhole pickup, no matter how cheap.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

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  • TinLipTinLip Frets: 368
    Ah, @ICBM that is where my understanding was incorrect. I have used the SM57 mic'ed up to an amp before with good results but clearly not the same as mic'ing up a guitar.

    Thanks for the advice, liberal spreading of wisdoms for you both.


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  • mike257mike257 Frets: 374
    Assuming there's some kind of PA system involved, you'd probably be much better served putting your mic or pickup (whatever you end up using) straight in to that rather than into a guitar amp.  Acoustic guitars have a broad frequency range and a wide dynamic range.  Guitar amps aren't exactly the most flat and un-coloured sounding pieces of kit and won't put the tone of an acoustic across in the best light.
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