tukk04

I've been looking at soundhole pickups for my acoustic when I got to thinking, "do I really need this?" I have a couple electrics, so I'm now on the fence about deciding if I really do need to electrify my acoustic. What's your opinion, is it actually worth it to amplify my acoustic if I have my electrics? I know there's the obvious difference in tone, but I'm not sure if it's really something I need.

Edit: sorry, genre would be somewhere between modern Surf Rock+Punk like Tijuana Panthers/Wavves and alt-country/folk ala Deer Tick and Neil Young. I'd be switching between my tele and a Yamaha FG700S for acoustic stuff, but some songs on acoustic will be more like

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Cathbard

If you are gigging your guitar has to be as loud as your vocals, if you are amplifying the vocals the guitar needs amplifying too. Whether you use a sound hole pickup, a piezo bridge pickup or a microphone affects the tone coming through the PA. Which you use is a matter of taste more than anything else. I'm a piezo man, myself. It gives close to the quality of a mike and the convenience of a pickup.

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Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
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Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
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Cathbard Amplification

tukk04

I should have mentioned, Yes I will be gigging this setup. What I mean't more is if it's really that useful to have an amplified acoustic if I could just use an electric, basically how much use does your A/E see. Do you find it useful or just want to get back on your electric? I'm planning to use it with echo, chorus, and tremolo pedals through the FOH or ss or tube amp (I'll test with both at home to see which works best for my purposes) for solo gigs or with a keys player and possibly a drummer, It'd be some fingerpicked, some flatpicked songs.

BTW, very cool JD amps cathbard.

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tubetime86

No mention of genre?

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Cathbard

Horses for courses. Sometimes you can get away with an electric with effects but if you really need an acoustic, use an acoustic. You wouldn't play Needle and The Damage Done on an electric now would you?
The problem with sound hole pickups is they never truly sound like a proper acoustic. Fitting a piezo pup under the bridge will give far better results. Either that or buy an acoustic with a piezo bridge already installed.

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

tukk04

I'm exactly the kind of bastard that would
But yeah, thanks for the suggestion of a piezo, I'm going to look into a piezo setups and see if I could find more on the fishman soundhole pups I was looking at. I was thinking about soundhole pickups mainly for ease-of-use, but a good piezo would work well too with an endpin jack.

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jessem131

Honestly it seems that if you're going to play acoustic on stage, then yes. If not, then no. Only you can answer that.

Kato10

I prefer to just use a SM57 ran through the PA. But I want my Martin to sound like a Martin.

jj1565

imo, electrics dont really cut it when the song calls for an acoustic.

you can just put a mic in front of it, if you dont want to bother with a pickup.

^fyi, you can still tell its a martin with a good pickup.

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Jenneh



Set up Questions? ...Q & A Thread

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trashedlostfdup

i don't really like acoustics, i play classicals, but the only i would ever gig an acoustic would be mic'ing it. the sound hole pickups leave much to desire, i don't even think piezo gets a true sound like a mic. but a mic is more of a pain in the ass.

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Cathbard

I was already running two mikes for vocals and harp when I was doing acoustic gigs - and you want me to use a third one for my guitar? I had too much shit going on already. Piezo ftw. You're doing a gig, you've got effects going on at the desk anyway so any shotcomings can be sorted out there. If you can't get a decent sound out of the desk using piezos you're a useless bastard that probably should have stayed at home.

__________________
Gilchrist custom guitar
Yamaha SBG500
Telecaster
Ibanez Iceman
Roland GP-8
Quadraverb
Abbey Harmonic II
Marshall JTM45 clone
Marshall JCM900 4102 (modded)
Marshall 18W clone
Fender 5F1 Champ clone
Marshall 1960A

Cathbard Amplification

jj1565

bingo.

ive never had an issue. dont see all the hub-bub here.

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Jenneh



Set up Questions? ...Q & A Thread

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Mephaphil

Slightly off topic but possibly useful to the TS.

I have a Stratacoustic, well my friend has it. The pickup in it isn't amazing, it's the type that is in the sound hole and sits on the inside like a stethoscope. Is it easy to change that easily or should I just put one of the ones that sit over the hole?

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jj1565

it's hard to get inside thin bodied acoustics, to run the wires to the output jack.

the easiest fix by far, is to skip the jack and pop in a
soundhole pup, with volume.

especially on a guitar like a stratocoustic, which is lower end and probably not a forever guitar. then you can move the pup when or if you ever want to.

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Jenneh



Set up Questions? ...Q & A Thread

Recognised by the Official EG/GG&A/GB&C WTLT Lists 2011

Arby911

Hey now! I love my stratacoustic!! Best camping guitar I've ever had, and the neck is always familiar...

But I'm nearly certain mine has a piezo pickup, which doesn't sound like what the poster above is describing?

You're the expert, so expert me!

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The man who holds to a belief because of tradition, or hides it because he fears he may be shown to be wrong, does not love the truth but manifests a coward’s faithfulness to his prejudices.