Members MDMachiavelli Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 WI'm looking for opinions on how to amplify or reinforce an acoustic electric mandolin. I really have it narrowed down to two options. My first option is to run the mandolin into a acoustic amp like a Fishman Loudbox and then mic the amp. I have played through a loudbox before and the sound was unbelievably good. My second option is two run the mandolin through a preamp straight to the mixer, using something like a ToneBone PZ Pre. The reason I mentioed the PZ Pre exactly is because it has dual inputs. That way I could connect my mandolin and acoustic guitar into the preamp and A B the two through the same channel on my mixer. This would really be a convenience for me, but sound is more important than convenience. Just for the record I'll be using the mandolin to play country, but kind of an "electric" country. Definitely not "Bro Country", I guess the best example I can come up with is something like Marty Stuart High On A Mountain Top. Anyway, any suggestion mentioned or not mentioned here would be greatly appreciated.rite Something, or Drag and Drop Images Here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 You don't mention if monitors are part of this equation. Running through your amp would give you that ability if it's not already provided. Should stage volume be a problem (or other feedback/sound issues) going direct would be advantageous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted November 20, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 Yes I will have monitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted November 21, 2015 Members Share Posted November 21, 2015 All other things being equal, I would lean towards going direct whenever possible. Less equipment to haul and connect, greater control over potential feedback issues and less gear on stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted November 22, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 22, 2015 Gotcha, thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monthlymixcd Posted November 23, 2015 Members Share Posted November 23, 2015 We have a mandolin on a lot of the stuff we cover (the country stuff, sure... but adds a LOT to those disco standards, too. Mando is all over the ABBA stuff.) and we just go direct to the mixer and put enough in the foldback monitors that the musician (normally the rhythm guitar player) can hear themselves, but not a lot. With such a small soundboard (and the musician's hand resting on it most of the time as well) resonance feedback is not that big of an issue. In our case, the Mando is an old Gibson A style and has a Fishman bridge transducer and I use a BBE Magnum D.I. active direct box phantom-powered. Sounds great! I just need to remember to mute it when it's not in use... and then of course to un-mute it when it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted November 24, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 24, 2015 Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dbMontana Posted November 28, 2015 Members Share Posted November 28, 2015 We use passive K&K soundboard pickups in my son's mando run direct through a Tonebone Pz-Pre. The nice thing about that preamp is the hi-Z input option for passive pickups. Hey, Chris Thiele uses three of them on his pedal board if one needs a professional recommendation! My son also has an AT Pro 35 clip-on condenser which I'll blend in for admittedly a bit more natural sound on quieter stages but GBF descreases drastically with that option. I have mixed other folks at my normal venue who have run their mando through a Fishman Loudbox (mini) and that has worked ok but, as a sound guy, I generally prefer the direct routing method. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 28, 2015 Members Share Posted November 28, 2015 Normally as a tech I prefer direct, but as a player I prefer an amp, so I understand both points of view. I did a couple of "in the trenches" tech gigs for a band that normally does bigger gigs, but we approached the low pro gig the same way. Their mandolin/fiddle player, has a couple of electric "mandolins" and an electric fiddle, and he uses his own amps and prefers to send a post amp signal. He's a great musician and I was happy to accept his post amp sounds and just tailor to suit the PA and mix. It can work both ways, but for picky players, it might be less trouble to let them have control over their sound. Here's a clip from a higher profile gig - tech unknown...[video=youtube;A2QmtH4OcHw] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted November 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 29, 2015 I ended up getting a Fishman Loudbox Artist and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I don't think I am going to need anything between the guitar and the amp. To be honest I was a little skeptical about the size of the amp but it sounds amazing. I t has the two channels like I need, one for guitar and the other for mandolin. The only thing so far is that it doesn't seem like you can mute one channel. but it has individual gain controls so you can at least cut one down while you use the other. I can't get over how good the sound is on this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mshifflett Posted November 29, 2015 Members Share Posted November 29, 2015 Nice choice, Fishman makes some good equipment. I always keep a couple of Fishman Pro-PLT-101 preamps around for banjo and mando players at festivals to use in a pinch. They end up really liking what they hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted November 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 29, 2015 Nice choice' date=' Fishman makes some good equipment. I always keep a couple of Fishman Pro-PLT-101 preamps around for banjo and mando players at festivals to use in a pinch. They end up really liking what they hear.[/quote'] I've only had it a few days but so far the sound is phenomenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mshifflett Posted December 1, 2015 Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members popgadget Posted December 1, 2015 Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 It looks like the loudbox has individual (pre) DI's for each channel as well as one (post?) for the mixed output, which is surprisingly flexible, I think that I would try them before using a mic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted December 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 The Loudbox Artist (the middle one) does infact have individual DIs (pre mix) and it also has a post mix combined DI. I didn't know that until I went to buy it. You're right, that is a very good feature and makes using the Loudbox instead of a preamp a no-brainer (in my opinion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted December 10, 2015 Members Share Posted December 10, 2015 We have a mandolin on a lot of the stuff we cover (the country stuff' date=' sure... but adds a LOT to those disco standards, too. Mando is all over the ABBA stuff.) and we just go direct to the mixer and put enough in the foldback monitors that the musician (normally the rhythm guitar player) can hear themselves, but not a lot. With such a small soundboard (and the musician's hand resting on it most of the time as well) resonance feedback is not that big of an issue. In our case, the Mando is an old Gibson A style and has a Fishman bridge transducer and I use a BBE Magnum D.I. active direct box phantom-powered. Sounds great! [b']I just need to remember to mute it when it's not in use... and then of course to un-mute it when it is.[/b] I use an LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI. It has an effects loop with a TRS jack. I use a footswitch connected to a TRS plug. The Tip and Ring are connected together which allows the signal to flow through the effects jack uninterrupted. Engaging the footswitch connects the Tip/Ring to ground shunting the signal and effectively muting the output of the DI. The footswitch can be operated by the player onstage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted December 12, 2015 Members Share Posted December 12, 2015 Engaging the footswitch connects the Tip/Ring to ground shunting the signal and effectively muting the output of the DI. The footswitch can be operated by the player onstage.I'd not be shorting the send to ground myself, I'd use a SPDT footswitch to short the tip and ring together in the "on" position and just short the return (tip or ring?) to ground in the "off' position. Might need a bleed resistor (1 megohm?) to ground on the send to prevent pops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDMachiavelli Posted December 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted December 13, 2015 I use an LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI. It has an effects loop with a TRS jack. I use a footswitch connected to a TRS plug. The Tip and Ring are connected together which allows the signal to flow through the effects jack uninterrupted. Engaging the footswitch connects the Tip/Ring to ground shunting the signal and effectively muting the output of the DI. The footswitch can be operated by the player onstage. Did you test any of the other LR Baggs preamps/pedals before choosing the Para Acoustic? If so what made you choose the one you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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