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Post by Yew on Oct 3, 2011 6:26:30 GMT -5
Hey all, unfortunately my band never took off, but me and the ocalist are looking at doing a few open mic nights, with my accoustic guitar, his voice, and possibly some seasick steve style 'Mississippi drum machine' if we can figure out how to make one.
Im just wondering how would be best to mic my acoustic guitar, as previous attempts using a dynamic mic on the soundhole are quiet, thin, with lots of noise. Im considering mounting an electric pickup or something in it, however any other tips are recommended. Im hoping to do this on the cheap, as the acoustic only cost 50 guitar tokens.
Note; 1 Guitar token = £1
Thanks, yew
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Post by asmith on Oct 3, 2011 6:41:45 GMT -5
My father installed a piezo in his but requires the preamp lugged everywhere to play it. However, the results are spectacular. I used to play Seasick Steve stuff in York with a Dean Markley ProMag with great success. Perhaps try their Transducer pickup. Looks interesting. Plenty of Youtube material on it. Other than that, just tell everybody else in the room to shut the hell up. |
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Post by Yew on Oct 3, 2011 6:46:00 GMT -5
Thanks asmith, would this be york as in the english town just up the East coast mainline from me, or the newer version of york that is a plane ride across to america?
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Post by asmith on Oct 3, 2011 7:44:03 GMT -5
Olde York. It is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Good for a drink and a singsong.
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Post by ashcatlt on Oct 3, 2011 9:25:08 GMT -5
FWIW, I play acoustic fairly often in Circadian Nations. I really just put something like an SM58 on a stand in front of me, centered right about at the sound hole but pointing about 45 degrees toward the bridge and it works fine. I guess I can't actually hear it through the FOH while playing, but I can hear the monitors sometimes, and people tell me it sounds okay. Since I'm not singing I can kind of move in and out from the mic for dynamic and tonal effects. Subtle movements make pretty dramatic changes.
When I've run sound for other folks with this kind of set up I can usually get it to work pretty well, too. It's not likely to end up sounding like a studio recording, but it's good enough for rock and roll. I guess in the end it depends on all kinds of factors: the size and geometry of the room, the PA configuration, the competency of the sound guy...
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Post by thetragichero on Oct 3, 2011 12:14:41 GMT -5
try the mic pointed at the 12th fret
or what ash said, one (or both) of these should do the trick
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Post by JFrankParnell on Oct 3, 2011 13:08:06 GMT -5
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Post by JohnH on Oct 3, 2011 14:34:00 GMT -5
If its an open mic night, then you probably have no control on types of mics or what they go into. So just sidle up to the nearest mic, placed over the sound hole and make sure theres some way of hearing what you are doing, but not too much foldback to avoid screaming howl-round.
Active pickups make live acoustic so much easier - but you need active not just a passive pickup beacuse they wil get plugged direct to the mixer. So if this venture takes off, save up for a nice electro-acoustic.
cheers
John
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Post by Yew on Oct 3, 2011 16:17:09 GMT -5
Active pickups make live acoustic so much easier - but you need active not just a passive pickup beacuse they wil get plugged direct to the mixer. So if this venture takes off, save up for a nice electro-acoustic. cheers John Would my epiphone swingster be of any use, its an archtop, but possibly in parallel wiring into a nice amplifier? or even just preamped itno the desk with a pedal? |
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Post by JFrankParnell on Oct 3, 2011 18:25:13 GMT -5
Active pickups make live acoustic so much easier - but you need active not just a passive pickup beacuse they wil get plugged direct to the mixer. I guess you are referring to the soundhole pup that I suggested, and yeah, you're probly right at that. However, some mixers have channels that are ok to plug a (passive) guitar straight in. Also, I have a friend who regularly rolls his amp into Open Mic. Scares the crap out of me, being that it's a 100 watt Mesa, but it always sounds good. If the host will let you, it's probly the most fool-proof way of getting a good sound at open mic. |
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Post by newey on Oct 3, 2011 19:16:09 GMT -5
Now we are on a topic of which I have some knowledge . . . Wooden StompboxI am still using this, I finally decided simple was best. The box, in its final configuration (or at least its current one), has a single piezo element, mounted to the bottom of the box, wired to a regular 250K volume pot. The box is filled quite tightly with upholstery foam, which is roughly 1/2" thicker than the box, and so is compressed quite a bit onto the piezo element. The cigar box has a clasp that keeps the lid closed and the foam compressed. I play it through my Traynor 40-watt bass amp (1 X 10") with the mids and trebles dialed to "0", bass at about "5". The volume control on the unit is useful for dialing out any feedback quickly, I set it just below the threshhold at which it starts doing so. It's fine for stomping on a carpeted floor, for stage use you'd need to take along a piece of rug and some tape I suspect, to keep it in place. As for the acoustic git, I found this on eBay for about $15 several years back, works pretty good up to small club volume levels, but would feedback too much if cranked much beyond that.  |
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Post by JohnH on Oct 4, 2011 5:44:02 GMT -5
Would my epiphone swingster be of any use, its an archtop, but possibly in parallel wiring into a nice amplifier? or even just preamped itno the desk with a pedal? Sounds like it could be good, particularly through an amp, or if you want to DI, then with a pedal acting just as a buffer Or how about a small processor? Ive got one of these Zoom G2nu's - it has particularly good clean Fender sim and acoustic sim:  Its small and can run off batteries if needed. It'll give you control of your sound to plug straight into a board The old model was also very good for clean and acoustic sim, and is cheap second hand (new has a better interface and is better for driven sounds though):  John |
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Post by 4real on Oct 5, 2011 15:08:34 GMT -5
Even though a guitar has sound holes, these things are not really 'acoustic' guitars...they can sound great electric, and that's what they do. There is nothing wrong with playing an electric guitar clean and quieter, people like chet atkins and Les paul made their names off of that kind of thing.
Billy Bragg did his stuff on a cheap electric, you could take a leaf out his book perhaps, or jack white...that kind of approach.
I used to play an acoustic duo 25 years back and loved the experience...but at the time I only played one guitar...a black les paul custom. It is a great guitar and the way I played it, it sounded great and didn't look to bad (all that black & gold) but I still got some odd looks as some audiences have an 'expectation'.
In fact, that is why I am building my new project. I have been using a strat but I'd been getting a 'knophler' tag from none guitar players, just because of the iconic nature of the beast and the kind of music I was playing I suppose...hmmm
My new guitar is a fully 'acoustic guitar' but I would hate to have anyone mic it, it is quiet and tinny sounding. I'm installing a piezo system in it with a mag pup.
Doing that in your guitar is probably not practical or affordable.
I am with John, and tried it myself with a Behringer Acoustic Modeller which is a very cheap acoustic sim, a little 'hiss' but not too bad and can sound surprisingly convincing...allows you to mix the normal guitar signal or run in stereo.
I have an old zoom which was super cheap second hand and has an ok acoustic sim in it...plus you get all those other effects in it.
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There are some 'prejudices' in some contexts against electric instruments though in some rooms, so take that into consideration perhaps....even if it sounds acoustic or just sounds good, appearances seem to count for a bit.
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For the foot percussion thing, it need not be that elaborate, taping on a piezo will make a sound, there are instruction sites on such things, generally just a piezo in a block of wood with rubber feet so it does not move around on stage. They sell such things here in music shops a bit these days.
I was considering it, though it would be neat to have it trigger a shaker or something, for what I play a 'thump' may not be the thing, there are some gret players who can do this kind of thing with the guitar body or the way they play the strings, so I am working on that kind of technique to create a back beat...tricky though
Too bad about the band, that's the way it goes, but at least you got a vocalist, they can be hard to come by ;-)
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