What's In Your Acoustic Signal Chain?

[pompeii0]

What are you using for pick-up, preamp, DI, FX and amplification (acoustic amp, PA, etc) with your acoustic guitar?

Thanks

 

[exhausted]

Pickups are Baggs Anthem SLs, into a Baggs Para Acoustic DI with a TU-3, Line6 M5, and Digitech Jamman in the effects loop. XLR out of the Para Acoustic to mixer. No amp.

 

[small axe]

i asked the same thing last week as i m going mostly acoustic. i got a taylor, genz benz, and a boomerang. a lot of members mentioned the tone bone pre and others had delays and boosts. i wanna hear more

 

[RGB]

Turner RS6 w/ the Timberline into a Rane AP13 (or a Baggs Para DI) with a G Major in the loop, into either a Bose Classic L1 w/ 2 B1's, or a QSC K10 system depending on the size and layout of the venue. The L1 works better in the more intimate places where the audience is close, and the QSC's work better outdoors and in bigger rooms.

Also have a DTAR Equinox if I use my Taylor 614ceab (Fishman stereo blender) which sometimes benefits from the surgical eq in some venues.

 

[disguiseglasses]

I've got a K&K Pure Western in my Collings and the "chain" is as follows when plugging in (I prefer to mic with a Beta 57A):
Volume Pedal (to mute when tuning via Snark or Peterson) > K&K Pure XLR Preamp > Allen and Heath ZED10FX > QSC K10

Loving the flexibility and simplicity. I had an AER Alpha for a while and it was pretty good for "on the go" light traveling, but I had a difficult time getting a sound that wasn't somehow metallic.

 

[weshunter]

Martin SWOMGT > Baggs para DI -- loop > CS3 > G3 > flashback > loop --> mixer

 

[thekeefus]

Martin > ISP Decimator > Fishman Aura 16 > EQD Dispatch Master > LR Baggs Para DI

..I've never used the loop on the Para DI....should I be?

 

[The Kid]

Guitar with Fishman Onboard Prefix Blender (piezo & condenser mic) > Korg Pitchblack Tuner > Aphex Guitar Xciter > Boss RC20 Loop Station > QSC K10. Sounds awesome! (IMHO)

 

[RGB]

..I've never used the loop on the Para DI....should I be?

It's a serial loop, so keep that in mind, but it works great for me with the G Major...I use ambient stuff very sparingly, but the comp in the G Major just makes the tone and feel for me.

 

[Blues Lyne]

I'm using a Taylor 910 with a Fishman Prefix Plus UST and preamp. I run it through a Tech 21 Acoustic DI. The Taylor sounds wonderful miced, but I've always struggled with the sound plugged in. The onboard controls from the Prefix combined with the Acoustic DI allow me to dial things in pretty good, but there is still that annoying thing that happens when you strum harder with a UST. Picking towards the neck more can help.

I recently installed a Pick Up The World Quackbuster ($100), and it has made a huge difference. It's basically their #27 soundboard pickup with no end pin attached. You wire it in parallel with the UST, which is super easy on the Prefix Plus. It has sockets with set screws so you just insert the wires and tighten the screws, no soldering. The Quackbuster has sticky tape on it and you just peel the backing and attach it parallel to the bridge pins on the bridgeplate (on the side of the bridge pins opposite from the saddle).

As recommended I rubbed a dab of wood glue on first and let it dry to seal the pores in the wood. The tape should work for 4-5 tries at getting the Quackbuster positioned right. There are instructions for other locations if you aren't getting the sound you like in the recommended location. It also has extra tape in case the tape loses its stickiness during your experimentation. For me it worked fine in the first location they say to try and I got it right on the first shot.

When used in parallel with a UST it adds some body tones to the string sounds of the UST, brings in more of the guitars character, and eliminates the harsh "quack" you can get from the UST. It does reduce the output by about 30%, but it's easy to make up if you use a preamp or can up the gain on the mixer. It sounds much fuller and so much more natural, though I still need to pull back some of the mid frequencies. Best of all, I can now use the full spectrum of dynamics. No unwanted effects when I strum harder. As an added benefit, it is supposed to be less feedback prone than just using a soundboard pickup or UST alone.

I'm a little curious about how it would sound on it's own without the UST. It would be similar to the K&K system, but it's one long strip rather than 3 round transducers. But, it sounds so good like this, I'm not too motivated to mess with it.

From the Pick Up The World Website:

How does the Quack Buster work?
1. The Quack Buster produces between 20 and 30% of the over-all signal (depending on the output strength of the saddle pickup), and captures a sense of 'air' as well as the wood & personality of the guitar. Saddle pickups do no do this because they are focused primarily on picking up the strings.
2. The Quack Buster eliminates the irritating 'piezo quack' of saddle pickups by temporarily absorbing the over-voltage spikes that are the cause of this type of distortion. This unique benefit is caused by the capacitance of the Quack Buster temporarily absorbing, then smoothly releasing the over-voltage spikes produced by the saddle pickup.
3. The Quack Buster improves feedback rejection by drifting slightly out of phase with the saddle pickup signal when the guitar begins to go into a feedback mode. There is no loss of detail or other strange artifacts caused by this, and volume levels can be typically raised by a factor of ten before filtering or monitor levels need to be adjusted.

http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/quackbuster.htm

 

[capt4inslow]

Taylor GA6e (Expression System) >
Korg PitchBlack >
whatever DI (currently a Whirlwind Connect) >
Console.

Dedicated sound guy (actually, girl) doing the fiddly EQ to suit the room / mix dynamics.

 

[harpinon]

1. TC Helicon Harmony G
2. Timmy for sweet lead soundz
3. Reverb
4. Delay

 

[(Something)]

Martin D-28 (K&K Trinity Western) -->Boss TU-2 -->Chandler LTD-1 --> Purple Audio MC77

 

[fenderball]

hey harpinon...
how exactly do you use the timmy (settings?) for acoustic? that interests me

i use a tuner, delay/and or reverb....that's it....

taylor or alvarez>tu-2>hermida reverb>dd-5>baggs di>board

1. TC Helicon Harmony G
2. Timmy for sweet lead soundz
3. Reverb
4. Delay

 

[drbob1]

Anyone using the Dtar Mama Bear? I've found with piezo equipped guitars, even solid bodies, it does a good job (better than the Fishman Aura) of making the guitar sound like a studio mic'd acoustic.

 

[ssorl]

Martin D-16GT.....and that's it.

 

[loud-acoustic]

A Collings CJSB (rosewood) or Collings D1 (mahogany) both with Fishman Matrix Infinity PU's -> Boss TU-3 -> Strymon Blue Sky Reverb -> Summit TD-100 Tube DI (no amp) this rig has served me very well from full band to acoustic set ups in Small and Large Venue formats.

 

[erksin]

'94 Sunrise S-1 pickup -> Diamond Compressor -> Mid-Fi Demo Tape Fuzz -> LR Baggs Para DI

 

[loud-acoustic]

'94 Sunrise S-1 pickup -> Diamond Compressor -> Mid-Fi Demo Tape Fuzz -> LR Baggs Para DI

erksin: that reminds me I did use a Diamond Comp in my rig for a while before I got tired of taking the comp off my electric board, Yeah the Diamond Comp works killer on acoustic!
especially if your sound guy isn't using compression at the board.