EliasMooseblaster Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 I realise a lot of modern acoustic guitars have preamps built in; unfortunately mine don't. Mine have passive pickups, which I use for live performance. Whilst the sound is perfectly serviceable for plugging into a PA system, I wonder if an outboard preamp might improve things. The (possible) need has become a bit more pronounced as I've been live streaming over the last few weeks, where I've been plugging the guitars straight into a little Behringer mixer with very limited EQ and no effects. The tone isn't bad, but I wonder whether a preamp/DI might "bring it to life" a little more. I see that companies like Behringer and Hotone make inexpensive preamp+DI boxes...anyone know whether they're worth a punt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 1 hour ago, EliasMooseblaster said: ... Mine have passive pickups... Do you know (and can you tell us...) what kind of pick-ups these are..? Basically, there are piezo pick-ups, magnetic pick-ups and 'microphone' pick-ups. These will all require different treatment, so any worthwhile reply would need to know. A photo might help. Any joy..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 20 hours ago, Dad3353 said: Do you know (and can you tell us...) what kind of pick-ups these are..? Basically, there are piezo pick-ups, magnetic pick-ups and 'microphone' pick-ups. These will all require different treatment, so any worthwhile reply would need to know. A photo might help. Any joy..? A very good point - I looked at some demos after posting the above, and was struck by how many people were using guitars with piezo bridge pickups! Mine both have magnetics: one has a magnetic pickup of unknown provenance in a "lipstick" style housing, built into the body; the other has a Fishman Neo-D which I pop into the soundhole when I need to amplify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 7 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said: ...Mine both have magnetics... Neither of these pick-ups need specific pre-amps to work well. How to 'liven up' the recorded sound..? Depending on the 'quality' of your acoustic sound, the recording room, and your budget, a decent large-diaphragm condenser mic, placed a foot or so away from the guitar, might be an option, if your mixer can supply phantom power. Superlux E205 (£33...)..? AKG P120 (£73...)..? Rode NT1-A (£153...)..? Just a few from an enormously wide selection available. I can't think, off-hand, of a pre-amp or such for magnetic pick-ups that 'warms' the sound up, but others may have suggestions. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 30 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: Hope this helps. Indeed, that helps enormously - you may have just saved me a lot of money! Fortunately I have a large diaphragm condenser, with appropriate outboard phantom power, which I'd actually been thinking about connecting before, to add a bit of "ambience" to the sound. I might give that a try on tomorrow evening's live stream. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
