Members BlueStrat Posted October 3, 2013 Members Share Posted October 3, 2013 SLScott86 wrote:On the subject of Rocketking's last comment, how many of you here play your acoustics through an amp mic'd by a house sound guy? As opposed to running DI or running your own sound? And then, how often is it mic'd with anything less than the studio-caliber SM57? That comment is a bit of a head scratcher. I think his point was that it's easy to sound great whren you have a sound guy working you, and when you're playing in a band, why does one need a 4-12 cabinet if one speaker is being miced? So why does one need a ton of gear on an acoustic gig to sound good? It's comapring Apples to anvils, I know, but that seems to be his point. I would counter by saying that if you want a convincing acoustic sound for an acoustis gig, buy a decent sounding acoustic guitar and a decent PA to play it through. A good PA can make a marginal guitar sound passable, but a bad PA can make even a 1948 Martin D-28 sound like crap. You can get decent gear today that is both compact and lightweight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 3, 2013 Members Share Posted October 3, 2013 I missed that portion of Potts's post and now it makes more sense. Our guitarists bring 4x12's to monitor themselves reliably. They could go 2x12 and put it on a stand, but the 4x12's have wheels and are really easier. The 8x10 bass cab on the other hand... well... it sounds really good so whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted October 3, 2013 Members Share Posted October 3, 2013 SLScott86 wrote: how often is it mic'd with anything less than the studio-caliber SM57? I'd not use "studio caliber" to describe a 60's vintage mic like the SM57 but YMMV. I'd normally use a condenser mic in the studio but the SM57 is plenty good enough for a bar gig - would work great on my $40 Johnson . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 3, 2013 Members Share Posted October 3, 2013 That's what I mean- the sound guy will 99 times out of 100 mic the cab with a mic that lots of pro studio engineers also use to mic a cab. I like ribbons myself, but the 57 remains a tried a and true studio mic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 I was so so pumped when I got the M3 expansion piano patches which were a HUGE upgrade. I use them for one song because it's just too much most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 No, that's went people like me. I sing songs, I sing them passionately or with energy. I get a show every couple of weeks. Potts does all that, plus brings a lot to the table on the guitar. That's why he's working as much as he wants and more. Sure, guitar tone is not at the forefront of why people like anyone, but it's certainly indicative of taking the time to get every detail in order, which is what separates the best from the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thewthrman Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 SLScott86 wrote:No, that's went people like me. I sing songs, I sing them passionately or with energy. I get a show every couple of weeks. Potts does all that, plus brings a lot to the table on the guitar. That's why he's working as much as he wants and more. Sure, guitar tone is not at the forefront of why people like anyone, but it's certainly indicative of taking the time to get every detail in order, which is what separates the best from the rest. That's a beautiful thought.No roll eyes smiley. I just really wish I believed it.People can tell when tone is bad - barely. But they can't tell a good acoustic tone from a great. It doesn't even register and there is no way that it indicates anything for them. That is my experience. I get that there is this over all impression of someone who has their sh it together if you guitar sounds decent. But that criteria for decency is pretty broad.Get a good solid tone that isn't noisy or scratchy or in some other way annoying and move on. People might respond to something I play on the guitar. Maybe 5% of what I am trying to do to get them to respond works. But playing the lowest common denominator songs is like a skinner box: Red light comes on, audience salivates, hits button, receives food pellet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 That, too is a beautiful thought. Time to book more shows! I didn't really mean that from an audience perspective by the way. It's more of a correlative relationship than a causal one. The guy who is picky about his tone is likely to have his stuff together in general. But it's one aspect... chops, arrangement, performance, pants, music stands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yer Blues Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 What kind of DI boxes are you guys using with acoustics. My guitar has a Fishman system in it.... Should I get something like a Fishman Aura pedal or a LR Baggs DI box? I think Potts was saying he just uses a Boss EQ pedal. Thus far, I've just gone direct with a volume pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 I suppose it depends on how content you are with you're tone. My Fishman system just has a tone knob that seems to basically just cut or boost the highs. I EQ at the PA. It was OK... The Soloamp seems to sound much better, but I haven't gigged with it yet so MMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yer Blues Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 Is all the direct box going to do is provide EQ that my onboard system already has? That's what I can't figure out. If that's the case then that is why Potts probably just uses an EQ pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted October 9, 2013 Members Share Posted October 9, 2013 A true direct box simply converts the signal from unbalanced to balanced The Para DI is an EQ that doubles as a direct box. The Baggs Venue DI is a step up. There are tons of others on the market as well. I believe the Aura digitally alters the signal, or is that only the pickup system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 14, 2013 Moderators Share Posted October 14, 2013 ^^^ A DI also lowers impeadace to match the input of a console rather than a high impeadace amp input. The lo-z also helps to not lose highs for longer runs, like back to front of house Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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