Live acoustic setup - advice please!

[bleach26]

Hey everyone, just a quick question cause you guys all know your stuff, and er...I don't!

I've been looking to start playing some live sets / open mic type gigs to start promoting my record. My typical setup for recording my acoustic guitar for the album was mainly nashville, using a couple condensers (to the best of my recollection - I wasn't engineering or producing so its hazy now).

I really love the sound we achieved, but for live performance i'd rather avoid any type of guitar miking. I don't have an electro-acoustic, so I'd like to install a pickup and run straight to the board.

I've got my eye on the M1 LR Baggs soundhole pickups (i'm confortable doing the installation and like the option to remove easily). Question is, should I buy the active or passive version of the pickup? I'd rather not have to worry about batteries (though I realize that if I go with passive I might want an active DI, which re-introduces the battery/phantom)

In a perfect world, i'd like to have the passive pickup paired with a passive DI like the a radial JDI or ProDI...but from what i've read i'm fairly certain this may not give me the best results.

Any advice a to what I should do? How do you guys typically run sound for a solo acoustic/voice show and what would you recommend a performer bring to the venue?

Much thanks,

-Jay

[bleach26]

perhaps i'm asking for too many specifics

To simplify a bit, how does my choice of acoustic pickup determine which type of DI I need (active, passive)? Can I run a passive magnetic pickup through a passive DI? Will my sound suffer?

[swafford]

Probably the wrong forum for this question, but here's some answers for you. If you don't get the active, you'll want the Baggs Para DI. It has the impedance necessary to make the passive DI sound the way it should - good to decent. A passive DI is going to yield a flat boring sound with little gain. An active DI of the non Baggs variety may or may not have the necessary impedance to match your pick up.

I've used a dozen of different pick ups on a 1/2 dozen different acoustics in the last 30 years. Hole pick ups, while nice that you can take them out and put them back in, are a pain in the ass. Having wires dangling over the guitar, or losening the strings to plug them into a mini jack in the body...dropping them in the hole....having them come loose in the middle of a show. Just a pain.

Most under the saddle pick ups (my fav is Highlander) draw very little battery power and replacing the battery is no more difficult then taking out the hole pick up you want to get and you do it very infrequently. I'm currently using the Baggs iMix on my main gigging guitar. It rocks. You pay more upfront for the privilege of not having to take it out and put it back in every time you gig. My other guitar has a Highlander IP-1.

[jasonrodriguez]

I have the M1 Passive, and while its a decent pickup, you will definitely want a preamp like the Gigpro from L.R. Baggs, or any of the other million options out there. I also run mine through my active Radial J48 DI, which I love.

I would also recommend going for an under-saddle bridge if you can. The initial cost is usually higher, but the sound and performance is usually better.

[bleach26]

thanks for your input guys, you've definitely given me some food for thought. I'll take a look into the other pickup/DI systems you've mentioned.

My main concern is to have a pickup versatile enough to use most standard setups etc....ie. to walk in, plug in and play with DIs already at the venue. It's a completely foreign world to me, and i'm not sure what the etiquette is for things like that in terms of bringing your own sound gear. Does that make sense or is that overthinking it?

[mintytowel]

+1 on the baggs acoustic preamp/di. I've done sound for tons of world class acoustic singersongwriters, and used them on everyone. They sound great, and aren't too expensive either. The Highlander pickups always work, I think fishman natural matrix are good as well. There are some more expensive set ups that allow you to mix an internal condenser mic with the pick up but honestly I've never had good luck with them. You have to be careful with the sound hole pickups, because depending on your guitar, strings actually hitting the pickup if you have a guitar without much clearance will sound terrible. And also if you play with a band your probably put one of those sond hole plugs in to avoid feedback.

Its no big deal to just pop your own DI in line at a club, unless you get a sound guy who has no idea what he's doing. Probably not worth the hassle if your just hopping up to do an open mic, but if you're doing a full set, it will make enough of a difference to spend a little extra time to get the sound you want.

[mixedupsteve]

I mixed a live show where the guitarist used one of these. It sounded great. A friend of mine has a LR Baggs setup and his has the external pre so no DI is needed.I don't know the model but it sounds great too!

[Chunky But Funky]

Baggs M1 (passive) and D-Tar Solstice in Bourgeois Vintage D and Slope D here. I love this combination. Occasionally, I'll blend in an AT Pro 37 on the second channel. No more undersaddles or batteries here. I also have a Radial J48 just in case.

I'm downsizing my PA to two Fishman SoloAmps. I can't wait.

Doug

[swafford]

Originally Posted by Chunky But Funky

Bourgeois Vintage D and Slope D here.

Doug

Slope D here. Traded my Vintage D for a Royer 122v, boy I miss that guitar sometimes.

Originally Posted by bleach26

My main concern is to have a pickup versatile enough to use most standard setups etc....ie. to walk in, plug in and play with DIs already at the venue. It's a completely foreign world to me, and i'm not sure what the etiquette is for things like that in terms of bringing your own sound gear. Does that make sense or is that overthinking it?

Most open mics are going to be simple set ups - plug into the supplied tuner that's cabled to the supplied DI. But you'll need a preamp if your pick up is passive, so your preamp and a short 1/4" cord.

Other gigs you if you go passive you should have some combination of a preamp and/or DI and the cords needed to connect them. Lot's of shows I've shown up and the sound guy was happy to see me with a DI as his was on the other side of the stage all rigged up for the closer. Others I've been happy to have my trusted Demeter Tube Di after seeing the state of the house DI. It's all different, but the tools you need are pretty standard and easy to carry.

[bleach26]

some great tips here...thanks again to everyone.

I now have a much better understanding of what I might encounter at gigs, and how I can probabably achieve a solution whether I go passive or active.

I'm now leaning towards the M1A (active) version of the Baggs pickup. Its a bit more expensive, and yeah, it does have a battery, but at least I'll know that the instrument is ready to go and will probably sound good regardless of what type of DI I encounter at the open mics. For my own gigs, I could use something versatile like a JDI, which could also serve double duty while recording bass guitar in the studio. I love to get lots of use out of the gear I buy...cost effective!

The LR Baggs Para DI also seems like a solid choice, and I especially like the fact that it has an EQ....though I don't know how good it would be as an all around studio DI (bass guitar etc.). My choice probably would boil down to versatility, since I don't have a lot of dough to spend on one of everything! Though that would be awesome