So this afternoon I went down to luthier Jim Warwick in Vienna to have the K&K Pure Western Mini pickup installed in my acoustic. It's a set of three ~1cm circular contact pickups that mount on the bridge plate. The sound coming out of his ~$2000 acoustic amp was tremendous. Unlike piezo pickups which sound almost too bright, this one's a lot more mellow. If you don't cut back the midrange, it sounds lusciously warm, warmer than any acoustic guitar I've ever heard. With a little bit of eq on the amp, however, it really did sound a lot like an amplified version of my guitar, which was pleasing. For the hell of it, when I got back home I played it through the Fender Frontman 25R electric amp I'm renting, and it sounded surprisingly good. I was listening on headphones, so there was probably better high frequency response, but still impressive.
Next up, the Outta The Way Cafe in Rockville for their weekly open mic. It's billed as electric rock/blues, so I called the host to see if acoustic playing was alright. He said it would be ok for a few songs, so I went. I signed up around 8:30, and played at midnight. In between there were two groups of guitar-bass-drums who each played about an hour backing up the people who were singing. The final act was this ridiculously powerful blues shouter whose version of "Got My Mojo Workin'" came right before I went up to play, and floored me.
So I get up there, plug in my guitar, and play Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My," thinking it would appeal to the older crowd, and would make a good compromise between acoustic intimacy and rock 'n roll power. I was wrong. Few people recognized it, and it doesn't really suit my voice. Also, my guitar playing was sloppy, and thanks to the excellent string-string-definition of the pickup plugged into a good PA, it was very obvious.
Next I got a lady from the audience to sing lead vocals on Simon and Garfunkel's "Cecilia" with me, and another two guys to play some percussion. That want alright, I guess. The person playing the drum kit had this kind of country beat going, which was odd.
Then "Sweet Child O' Mine," with keyboard, bass, and drums. The house seemed to like it, but I have decided I really don't have the vocal chops to sing that yet. And, since I had a bass player, all the cool details in my arrangement kind of got lost.
People said nice things to me afterwards (I suspect because they could tell it was my first open mic), which was nice, but it was a very harrowing experience. I don't think I'll play acoustic at an electric open mic again, just because the mood change necessary is so great. I think next week I might show up with my electric tuned to open G and play some Stones and/or White Stripes and/or blues tunes with the band. I also need to go to an acoustic open mike, where I can work on my originals.
Anyway, all told a fun but anxiety-inducing experience. 4 hours of (mostly) great music is nothing to sneeze at.
~Sam
Sam ?,
I'm not sure but didn't you say you were a beginner? Not that it matters that much but man I've got to give you credit for getting out there and doing that on your own. Are you a naturally outgoing person?
I've been playing for about 5 yrs off and on and there's no way i'm ready for that, although i have no desire to be a one man band either.
Well good luck in your search for an acoustic open mic and I'm sure each time it'll get better.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Sam it is.
I'm not a naturally outgoing person, and I've played guitar for almost 2.5 years. I don't know if I'm beginner or intermediate, but performing is the best way to get better fast. The people I've played for more informally have all been pleased with it, so I figured an open mike was the next step. I was way outclassed by all but a few of the acts there, but so it goes. More importantly, I hope to get some feedback on my originals when I go to the acoustic open mikes.
~Sam
Sam,
I've gone to a fair amount of open mic's and I have found they vary widely in terms of talent. I've been to some that are basically beginners/home musicians getting a chance to play out and I've been to some where there are mostly people that are playing in bands already or have been playing forever and there is a big difference.
You may want to go and sit in a few open mics just to get a flavor for the type/level music being played. A buddy of mine went to some when I was living in Charlotte and we thought we found one to play at but they told us they preferred acoustic guitars and that they didn't want loud electric guitar music (exactly what we planned on playing) so it was good we checked it first before showing up with instruments and getting shut down after the first 30 seconds.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
