Impedance Matching question

[pikappant82]

Does anyone reccommend using something like a direct box to match the signal from an acoustic guitar pickup going direct into a mixing board? I'd never thought about it before until I was reading into it today.

[Glyder]

Well if the accoustic guitar has a built in preamp and the cable run is short you can just use a 1/4" guitar cable to the line input but if you're going any distance a direct box is the way to go.

[pikappant82]

 

Well if the accoustic guitar has a built in preamp and the cable run is short you can just use a 1/4" guitar cable to the line input but if you're going any distance a direct box is the way to go.

 

 

By distance, do you mean anything more than 20 or 25 feet?

[prosigna]

 

By distance, do you mean anything more than 20 or 25 feet?

 

 

Yes. Plugging into the board should work fine with a standard 25-foot or less guitar cable.

 

Do not every use a XLR -> 1/4" TS adapter (w/o transformer) to plug into a snake. You would have no protection from phantom power and could fry your guitars electronics. They do make XLR -> 1/4" TS transformers and of course DI boxes to plug into a snake.

[pikappant82]

I see. Plugging into a snake through a direct box is the only time I've used one. I just wasn't sure if my guitar's preamp was doing the job properly. But I can see what you are saying about long cable runs putting up more resistance and causing some noise.