Live setup for an acoustic guitar?

[ALago1]

Hey Everyone,

I've been playing guitar for almost 10 years now and it has been a while since I've been on stage but I'm looking to get back into it.

I'm mostly looking to play just solo acoustic guitar shows but am confused as to how to go about doing so. The guitar I want to use is a Takamine without any pickups on it. Should I invest in an acoustic guitar pickup or just mic it using the house mics? I appreciate any feedback!

[Ron Green]

1. I love the last sentence of your post!

Seriously, it seems that every acoustic guitar player I've worked with in the last 10 years has had some sort of built-in transducer, rather than taking chances with open miking situations. You could have a nice pickup put into your Takamine and then you'd be ready for any sound reinforcement challenges.

[ALago1]

3. Haha!

That was by no means intentional.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. The general consenus from what I've heard however is that pickups make the instrument sound much more "tinny" and less "warm". Do you have any personal experience as to which acoustic pickup is best? Thanks!

[Ron Green]

4. I would recommend K&K.

I have used their pickup on my double bass for almost a year (after using the Underwood for 20 years, and a Fishman before that), and if their guitar pickup is as good as the bass pickup, I highly recommend it. It's not cheap, but it sounds more like the acoustic instrument than anything else I've ever heard.

[dbt]

2. Look into a Fishman.

If their guitar pickups are as good as their fiddle pickups, that would be the way I'd go.

[Idylle Moon Dancer]

5. and a EQ

I recently got a Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker. It sounds good, but
definitely loses some of the natural tone. More recently I got a
L.R. Baggs EQ and it helps a lot. Go to a music store and try some
things. Any one with a decent selection and decent staff should
be able to help you out.

Overall, I think your best bet for getting natural sound is with
a decent mike and a decent engineer, but with a pickup and EQ you
can get pretty close, and it's more convenient I think.

[dbt]

6. Roger that.

If your pickup is piezoelectric, it will tend to have a rather pronounced midrange--referred to as "snarky" by the pros. An EQ box will be a good move.

What Crab Nebula says about a decent mike and a decent engineer is true: that's how you get the best acoustic sound. But move six inches and your sound is altered. There are so many variables at play with a live mic and a room with an audience in it; most sound operators will welcome an acoustic guitar with a pickup. It will cut your soundcheck time drastically, as well.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. The Fishman EQ Is Really Good Too

My friend has one. He's got a Fishman mike on a flattop and an archtop. It sounded good, but not stunning. Then, one time i was up in the right direction, he asked me to pick up the EQ/Pre-Amp. It made a HUGE difference. The woodiness of the guitar became more present, the response increased, and the resistance to feedback went up tenfold!

Your recommendation is right on the mark.
The Professor

[Bonhomme Richard]

7. I would recommend getting a new guitar.

Hell, we could all use a new guitar - right? I have a Martin D-18 and I have used it in live performances, before I had 3 acoustics, when I needed to have one guitar set up in open tuning and the other in standard. Frankly it was very restricting keeping in proximity to the mike.
Yes the Martin sounds better than the Ovations I have but I don't really know if the audience could tell the difference (when I happened to have the guitar/ mike distance correct) and the convenience of modern acoustic/electrics far outweigh the difference when I played out in addition to keeping the show running smoothly.
Just my opinion but it was one less thing I had to worry about.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. I use a Swiss-made Schertler Guitar Transducer

You can check them out at this website. They're kind of expensive. I think they retail for around $300 but you can find them cheaper online. They also make them for pianos and other instruments and you can sometimes find piano Schertlers on Ebay for less than $100, used. I'm not sure how it works, but I believe the concept is different from either a microphone or a piezo.

http://www.schertler.com/prodotti_ing/pickups/guitar_dyn-g.htm

I bought mine in the US through the Internet from Guitar Adoptions and got a pretty good deal for the Schertler and an Ultrasound Acoustic Amp.
http://www.guitaradoptions.com/prodcat/customer/home.php

I play nylon string jazz fingerstyle guitar and the Schertler gives a more accurate natural acoustic sound to my guitar than anything else I've tried, either microphone or pick-up wise. I also have an old archtop steel string jazz guitar and I've tried the Schertler on that and the sound is gorgeous. The only problem is that you can't really crank up too loud for some reason, as the sound gets muddy at high volume. But if you're an acoustic player playing to a small room, you can get a wonderful sound from the Schertler, as though you were just playing a loud unamplified guitar. The thing I like about the Schertler, apart from its sound, is that it isn't implanted into the guitar. It's a small round disk about the size of a 50 cent piece that attaches to the guitar's body with putty. The vaccuum is very strong and it holds quite well and you can experiment with it, moving it around the soundboard until you get the tone you like. You can also switch it from one guitar to another.

I've also heard good things about a piezo system by K&K. I heard a guy playing an acoustic jazz guitar with a K&K system in it and I was pretty impressed. Their system uses several piezos that are attached at different places beneath the soundboard and I think their piezos are of better quality than Fishman's, which I have owned and disliked.
http://www.kksound.com/