Better Plugged-In Acoustic Guitar Sound Basics: Pickups, PA, Amps & All That Stuff – That Pedal Show

Life too short for long YouTube videos? Please see the ‘Interesting bits and go-to sections’ information below.

In this episode we delve into the world of amplified acoustic guitars. It’s a problem area for literally anyone who plays live with the ol’ flattop. Dan and I both do our fair share of acoustic gigs so we thought we’d start looking at some basics on the show.
We start off by reminding you what an acoustic guitar kinda/sorta sounds like with a mic in front of it, before heading into the world of plugging in via a PA system and/or acoustic guitar amplifier. We also take a brief look at a couple of ‘pedals’, more of which in part 2.

Apology time: I make THREE SCHOOLBOY ERRORS during the show (Mick here)…
I call the non-cutaway Martin a 000-18E. It is in fact an OM-18E - links below.
I explain that a piezo pickup is a piezo-electric transducer. And then like a total dumbass call it an electro-magnetic device. Which of course it isn’t. Piezo-electric transducers use pressure to create a current. Electro-magnetic pickups uses a magnet and a coil. Sorry - brain-fry!
I call the pickup system in the Martin guitars an LR Baggs Lyric. It is in fact an LR BAGGS ANTHEM (link below).

Apologies all round - brain trying to do too many things at once and I didn't have my Shreddies this morning.

Apart from all that, please enjoy the episode!

Pedals and amps in this episode…
• LR Baggs Align Series Session

• LR Baggs Align Series Equalizer

• LR Baggs Align Series Reverb

• Orange Acoustic Pre

• AER Compact 60 III

• Mesa Boogie Rosette 300 Two:Eight

Guitars in this episode
• Martin OMC-28E (with LR Bags Anthem pickup)

• Martin OM-18E (with LR Bags Anthem pickup)

• Collings CJ35 (with K&K Pure Mini pickup)

Interesting bits and go-to sections…
- Oh no – they’re singing! 0:00
- Hello! 3:00
- What are we doing today? 3:45
- What proportion of your gigs are acoustic? 4:20
- …because people like it! 5:51
- The sound of a mic’d acoustic guitar: 8:44
- … Martin OM-18E, OMC-28E and Collings CJ35
- Back in the room: 14:38
- Mick has no sense of humour about acoustic guitars: 15:02
- Are you reluctantly acoustic? 16:05
- Acoustic was nowhere in the 1980s: 16:45
- Plug in… and all the problems start: 18:00
- Oops, we accidentally bought a PA system: 19:14
- The sound of a nice pickup into a PA: 19:50
- …and an undersaddle straight into the PA: 20:59
- And that’s the sound of plugged-in acoustic guitar as we know it: 23:45
- More reluctant purchases: 25:30
- Mick’s acoustic sound, and what we’re not prepared to give up: 26:57
- LR Baggs Align Series: 31:15
- Orange Acoustic Pre Twin Channel: 34:11
- Phase and the acoustic guitar: 36:25
- Tangent time… 39:35
- …combine harvesters: 39;35
- …The Wurzels' sagely advice: 40:28
- Acoustic guitar pickup types: 41:50
- What about a microphone? 43:50
- And back to the program: 45:27
- Acoustic guitar amp – another reluctant purchase: 46:48
- Mick’s acoustic rig: AER Compact 60 3: 47:50
- Piezo pickups and tone ‘problems’: 54:30
- Mesa Boogie Rosette 300: 55:15
- Parametric mids explanation: 58:20
- Oh no, they’re jamming again: 1:00:02
- Acoustic guitar into an electric amp? 1:04:35 (1:05:55) (1:07:45)

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[MikeTaffet]

Seeing Dan and Mick actually performing together might have been the greatest That Pedal Show moment ever, and there’s been some epic moments.

[PatFlanigan]

That Pedal Show has officially become That "how to be a great gigging musician who's ready for anything" Show, and I love it!

[chibisven]

Friendly sound guy here, great show as usual and LOVE this topic because I can't tell you how many crap sounding acoustics I've run sound for. I'm not much of an acoustic player myself, but here's just some sound guy nuggets to enrich this guitar loving audience:
- Acoustic amps are way better than wedges most of the time because the front surface of your acoustic resonates, and changing the location and angle of the stage sound putting a human body between the speaker and the guitar helps enormously.
- cheap sounding pickups just can't be fixed at the board, but the good ones while kinda gross pre-eq can sound fantastic once they've been EQ'd. So far the best sounding direct sound I've ever heard came from a Mcpherson guitar played by a blue grass pro who's been playing longer than I've been alive. The worst sound is tied between Ovation and Ibanez (sorry)
- The back side of speakers put out a ton of low end, so 99 times out of 100, I'm having to trim a bunch of low out of your signal to keep it from resonating into feedback, that's why it sounds so "thin" to you, and sorry but that's just the way it's gotta be
- A feedback buster DOES have a negative effect on your guitar, but it's far less negative that howling feedback, so if you're playing in a loud situation or with a full band, plug that hole.
- The number one sign for me of an acoustic player that's going to give me a good signal is walking in with one of those LR Baggs acoustic preamps, the one with the built in tuner and parametric EQ. I don't know why, but almost everyone who walks in with one of those just does a better job.
- Play your strings harder than you think you should, it just makes everything sound better. I'm not saying full punk rock jackhammer, but put some heat on it when playing live.

Hope that helps, or at least gives you a little more idea of how your sound guy is thinking.

[lance]

"Here Comes the Sun" is such a great song for two acoustic guitars - you get kind of a 12 string type sound with one capo'd up high. My friend and I jam that one often when we see each other. Good singing and playing! I know you guys sing all night at your gigs, so no surprise there. I can see why there are so many acoustic gigs - the bigger rooms with big, loud bands are currently diminishing. It seems that the big clubs all have house DJs and the 'real' music is in small places - restaurants, pubs, lounges, etc. That could be just in my little corner of the world, but our town is losing it's last 300 seat bar, which is where I had a house gig every Saturday.

[jeremyreed]

Dan just showed exactly how to play with another person. As soon as Mick played a lead part in that last section of this, Dan backed off with a much simpler rhythm part. It didn’t take much space up in the mix and it made Mick sound awesome. I wish more musicians understood this!

[barneyharding]

As a regular (aren't we all!) viewer, I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for More Acoustic stuff, please!.... as Mick says.... "people like it!"

[DrBillOwen]

F Me. Here I am in Covid Iso, North of Sydney. My wrists ache from too much guitar, I'm a bottle of Hunter Shiraz in, I've watched ALL of YouTube. And you guys have just made me smile so wide and so long that I feel like a new man. Thanks fellas!

[fishypaw]

Your voices go well together. I'd pay to see this cover band. :)

[aymericmarchand]

Well, as an insignificant part of the TPS audience, I love this!

[MarkPritchardGuitar]

It's Friday, that means one thing....That Pedal

[gcvrsa]

If you are going to use a passive piezo, then you would do well to plug it into a very high impedance input, on the order of 5-10 Megaohms, like a Z.Vex Super Hard-On. Piezos have a very high characteristic impedance, and they improve greatly by plugging them into an appropriate impedance, rather than the usual 1 Megaohm of the average guitar amp or other audio gear. A Countryman Type 85 DI has an input impedance of 10 Megaohms.

[camhaines]

Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Dan and Mick Here - The Here Brothers! sorry, I am a 52 year old father of 4 this is best I can do! Please don't block me. Great show.

[Brandontsmith]

Fantastic episode. Really looking forward to part two. Gotta say, really enjoyed all of your playing here. There's definitely something about the dynamics of acoustics that just make a duo work so well. Also gotta say, that AER amp sounds GODLIKE. Never heard a plugged in acoustic sound THAT good.

[MythosSoundStudio]

Ok - the universe as we’ve known it has just imploded! Dan playing a Martin with a PRS strap, acoustic guitars on TPS, and this videos wasn’t blocked by the YouTube police! LOL. Seriously, you guys do have to take the acoustic set on the road. It would be an amazing show.

[adamandvanessawilson]

A couple of years ago, I was searching for “effects for acoustic guitar” on YouTube, and I stumbled across your channel, then you guys helped me learn how to enter the electric guitar world. If you’re worried that your audience won’t like acoustic episodes, I can tell you that most worship leaders in the US play acoustic and are constantly wanting to improve their acoustic sound through a PA, or they’re wanting to transition to electric. Either way, you guys can make a show about almost anything and you’ll be helping someone out there. Keep up the good work!

[guitarandrewy]

Thank you guys for doing this show! I plug my acoustic into a DI every Sunday (with a few pedals in between) and this has opened my eyes to some new gear. Love all your shows!

[wangbadan]

ive been playing the acoustic guitar live for 20 years. Through my journey i used a few different Preamps before (LR Baggs Para, AER, Firewood DI Japan) until i realised recently that I prefer just a normal DI Box (sometimes without DI) straight into the mixer. That way I rely more on my ears to bring out the most accurate, true-est sound of my acoustic guitar. I no longer wanna be spoilt by choices and options and i just wanted things simple.

[jamesbaker]

Holy Cow! I came across this TPS episode while researching use of a compressor pedal with an acoustic guitar. I love hearing you two play and to hear you sing - Most Excellent Dan & Mick!!!
As always, I come away from another of your presentations with new knowledge to improve my sound/tone.
Best Regards,
James

[douglackie]

I’m 44 and I picked up the guitar during Covid! Now I can not put it down! I should have started a long time ago! But now I am determined to get as good as you guys one day! There is something about acoustic guitars! Keep up the great work!

[maxwarden]

My favorite electro-acoustic sound is actually a soundhole pickup into a clean, fender-y amp with loads of headroom. It's definitely not a typical acoustic sound, but it has a certain warmth and midrange to it that makes it a unique and completely usable sound that actually sits in a mix quite well! It's not gonna jump out at you, but it works great as a sort of bed for the other sounds to sit upon. Listen to The Tallest Man On Earth for some examples, he's a big fan of this sound and will even use it playing solo! Also, Elliott Smith was a big fan of passive soundhole pickups; except he would just plug into the mixer. I think he might've even recorded with one, but don't quote me on that