Challenge: Subbing Electric for Acoustic

[mcknigs]

A friend is recovering from a hand injury. She has the strength to play an electric but not the acoustic that she normally for her solo gigs and fronting small bands.

So if she takes the electric guitar (an older Guild hollowbody w/ one neck pickup) to a gig and plugs it in to the PA in the way she would normally use her acoustic, how will it sound? Significantly different than, say, an acoustic with a magnetic soundhole pickup? What might she do to make it sound more like her acoustic? Or should she go another route, e.g., borrow an amp or a POD? What boxes might she use to make the electric sound better in this situation? Bonus points for something small that won't take up too much room in her luggage when she flies. Cheap and easy to find or borrow are also good attributes.

I have my own opinions but I'm interested in others. Thoughts?

-Scott

 

[shane8]

there are "acoustic simulator" pedals but i don't mind the sound of an electric plugged straight into a pa - doesn't sound very "acoustic" but

 

[mcknigs]

there are "acoustic simulator" pedals but i don't mind the sound of an electric plugged straight into a pa - doesn't sound very "acoustic" but

Yeah, I thought of those but I've never heard anything but bad reviews.

Aside: Atomic Music in MD has a block of wood about the size of a Boss pedal in its used pedal case. Someone took a Sharpie and drew on it so it looks like a Boss Acoustic Simulator pedal. That's always cracked me up...

-Scott

 

[derekd]

Imo, nothing has come out in the past few years that sounds as good as the LR Baggs PADI. It is a parametric eq, direct box, with notch filter for feedback reduction. Great little box for the $. I never play my acoustic thru a PA without it.

 

[mcknigs]

Imo, nothing has come out in the past few years that sounds as good as the LR Baggs PADI. It is a parametric eq, direct box, with notch filter for feedback reduction. Great little box for the $. I never play my acoustic thru a PA without it.

But, unless I misunderstand, that's a solution for making one's acoustic guitar sound better through a PA, not making one's electric guitar sound more like an acoustic through a PA, no?

-Scott

 

[googoobaby]

What about a cheap Variax? They play electric and sound quite good as acoustics. The 300 and 700 Acoustic models sound very good but are a little less electric feeling.

 

[torgeot]

I have one of the Boss AC-2's. It's ok. I used it a bunch, and it sounds more like a piezo pup, but if you use it and just a touch of verb, it will do fine in a pinch, and sound more like an acoustic that just plugging straight in.

 

[daddyo]

When I'm in this situation, I just play with a super clean tone without too much bass and emphasized upper mids for a shimmery sound. My Tele on the middle pup into a Fender amp set low does a decent acoustic guitar.

 

[devinb]

Just embrace solo voice/electric...Jeff Buckley did, lots of other people too. Sure, there are higher expectations for guitar playing associated with electric, but I suspect those associations are made on the type of instrument, and not the tone anyway.