I have a dilemma, when I first bought my Martin acoustic guitar the shop guy said, if you ever want to put a pickup in there we can do that a later stage. So I thought, oh yeah that's a good idea and I bought the guitar, I was under the impression that a pickup and EQ controller were parts of the same thing. Now as you know Martins are not cheap and for the same price I could have bought a lesser named guitar with pickup and EQ all built in. About six months ago I decided to put a pickup into the guitar cos I had finally worked up the courage to do a live performance, so I was quite shocked to find out that the pickup (Fishman Natural II) was stand alone and not that cheap either. Also the music shop said that it as a general rule they refuse to cut a hole in a Martin guitar and put an onboard EQ control in. So I just went with the pickup and decided to save up for a an inline pre-amp (Fishman pro EQ II) with EQ controls on it. The question is that do I really need this, ultimately I have no control of what comes out of the mixer anyway as the soundman is going to have his way regardless of me. I guess I just feel that for all the money I've spent I don't have the kind of control that others who have spent less have. What do you think?, is my slight resentment clouding my judgement ?
Cheers
Paul
I have one of THESEfor my Schecter electric and I love it. $30 bucks. I wouldnt cut a hole in your guitar either. heh
Good luck
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
Yeah, just get an EQ pedal. Much better idea. It's more effective/responsive anyway.
"Today is what it means to be young..."
(Radiohead, RHCP, Jimi Hendrix - the big 3)
One of the guitarists in our church band had a pickup installed in his Gibson acoustic, but he did not get a preamp. He runs a line from the guitar to a DI box to the mixer. The signal from the guitar is quite weak, but it comes through and we EQ it at the board, and dime the volume there as well. It's a workable solution, but if the band played any louder he'd be completely lost in the mix. As it is, he's just barely heard. I do not know what brand or model of pickup it is though; others might have more juice.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
i have a soundhole pickup that's plenty loud through an amp. i plan on getting a much higher quality one and running it through a pedal EQ into my acoustic amp, which also has EQ, so it'll come through loudly
That Danelectro EQ that Jim (geoo) recommended works great, I have two of them. Not only will it allow you to EQ your guitar to just about any tone you want, it can also be used as a boost. When the volume slider is in the middle it is neither boosting or cutting your signal from the guitar. But you can push it up and get up to 15db boost. It will tend to distort if you push it all the way up. But you can get lots of boost with this pedal. You can cut your signal as well if you choose.
So, if you are getting a weak signal this will work well for a boost. You can use it for a nice volume boost for a solo. Or, you can use it to EQ your tone but cut your signal. Then when it's time to solo you cut it off for a volume boost. So it's very flexible.
Great pedal as good as other brands costing 2-3 times as much.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Hey thanks guys for that advice, I had a read of the reviews on Musicians Friend and there seems to be consensus out there that this is a good buy. I've also found a dealer down here that stocks it, (Musicians Friend doesn't ship internationally) and at a reasonable price. I think I might be coming down with a variation of GAS.
Cheers
Paul
An EQ can act as a preamp so it would work fine but, are you sure the pick up was installed correctly?
Would suck for you to buy something when all you needed to do was raise it or change the battery or something. Don't get wrong though, EQ's are your friend and I would easily recommend one anyway, but make sure the gear you have already is working up to snuff.
I'll throw my hat in for the Danelectro EQ as well. I just picked one up last week, and can't believe how much better my tone is with it. 8)
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
Well having said that the local music shop had a Danelectro (according to his computer) when I got there he didnt, but he did have a Behringer EQ700 for the same price, so I bought that instead. Im pretty happy with it too, certainly gives me a lot more control.
Im finding that my "ear" for that "right" sound has changed over the last 12 months. I used to mainly play my Yamaha F310 which has a very bright tone (it has a laminated top). So when I got the Martin I would put light strings (10's) on it to make it sound more like the Yamaha. But recently I put some new strings on the Martin and got quite a shock as to how bright they were not the sound Im looking for now. In fact it seems to me that it's only after a week of being exposed to air the that strings are starting to sound more like what I want.
Is that cos they needed to stretch a bit or do you think it has more to do with changing tastes.
New strings always sound very bright for a week or so. Some people love this and change strings often to maintain this bright tone.
I like old strings, they have an even tone and are easy to play. If a string breaks I will often just put a replacement string on. I usually only change all strings when I want to clean my guitar well.
I read many years ago that Eric Clapton never changes strings. He likes old strings too. They bend well.
Different strokes for different folks.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Hey Paul,
I'm like you, I don't like very "brite" sounding strings. Have you tried GHS Vintage Bronze strings? I just did a couple weeks ago, and really like them.
http://www.fqms.com/GHS_Acoustic_Guitar_Vintage_Br_P13312C1064.cfm
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
Cheers Dan,
no I normally use D'addario's, but Ill check out Vintage next time Im up for strings, if I can get them down here that is.
Thanks
Paul
