Putting together an acoustic rig - need recommendations
 

Hey guys!

I’m a Swedish guitarist that recently moved to Nashville. I’m here on a work visa sponsored by Guthrie Trapp and currently I’m playing with country singer Tracy Lawrence. I sold a lot of gear before I moved overseas so I didn’t bring an acoustic with me to Nashville. Just bought a Blueridge BR-183A and now I’ve gotta decide what pickup system to put in it. I might also be interested in getting a preamp.

I wanna be able to use it both in smaller settings such as duos/trios but also in loud full band settings. I’m mostly an electric player so can’t say I’m specifically a finger picker, flat picker or strummer but will do a little bit of everything.

What would you guys recommend? Any advices, experiences and opinions are truly valuable for me!

Thanks a lot,
David

I Have the LR BAGGS Anthem SL in both my stage guitars, and I've been very happy with the sound throgh either my Bose L1 Model II or my AER Compact 60. The Anthem is far more "touch sensitive" than my previous Fishman UST systems.

If you need the option to play in a loud setting, then i"d recommend the full Anthem; the full version has far more ways to adjust the sound, even to the point of using only the UST portion of the pickup, for those higher decibel situations where employing the True-Mic portion of the pickup might be problematic.

The Anthem is a dual-type pickup, with an under saddle transducer to handle primarily the frequencies below 14o hz. and a bridgeplate-mounted tiny microphone, the True-Mic, to handle the higher frequencies.

I felt that installing the pickup affected the "unplugged" sound of my two Angus handmade acoustics, but amplified sound is good enough that I've had them in the guitars for 7 years or so now... since your new guitar is a less expensive instrument, having a pickup affect the tone or volume a bit may not be an issue for you.

I like the Baggs M1A, it's a magnetic soundhole pickup and does great in loud band situations. But it also picks up body knock and sounds good solo in quiet rooms too. Not as natural as a mic, but less quacky than a UST.

As far as preamps go, I have a pair of BBE acoustimax preamps that I have set up for different instruments. Good eq and preamp for not much money.

I've also been experimenting with Boss VE-8, but I haven't fallen in love yet.

Good luck with your search!

My thoughts would be a magnetic sound hole
pickup like the baggs m80 or a sunrise.
Although you can get a more natural tone
out of a soundboard transducer type like a kk
or jjb . the mag pups are more versatile and
will give a string response more in line with
what your used to (tele?). Plus when you
sell the blueridge and buy a martin you can
take the pickup with you.. ha lol.. ;)
There are many great preamps out there.
i've kinda settled on the grace design felix.
because i play mandolin and guitar in the band.
and it's two channels allow for different eq settings
for each instrument.

One of your sponsors here has a K&K Pure Mini and the matching Pure XLR preamp on their closeout page right now. You simply can't do any better for double the money.

https://shorelinemusic.com/collections/closeouts

If your guitar were a dread I'd say it might not be workable for a loud stage, but I think with the OM you could get pretty good results attenuating some bass and mids.

You'll fully appreciate it when you do the more quiet rooms. This system is as close as I've gotten over the years to thinking I didn't really need a good quality external condenser mic on my guitar too (although I always used one!)

Good luck.

Since you’re in Nashville you ought to pick up a Takamine. One that has the CTP2 preamp preferably. It’s what everybody uses down there.

I'd look at the Fishman Matrix Infinity. It works well, easy to install, sounds good, been around for a while and is a proven reliable work horse, fits in well with a band situation, wont break the bank, has it's own onboard preamp, those that don't mind the plugged in sound, like it. I can't find anything to complain about when it comes to this pickup.

That's a nice tip...
 

...And It sounds like what I need right now, since I just bought an un-amped acoustic that's a keeper. But I have no knowledge of this product. I understand that I need some kind of preamp for volume control and signal boost, right? The XLR description only talks about connection with a PA system, but I'm not that professional. I would use an acoustic combo amp. If this K&K is suitable for that, it's a deal.

The K&K pure mini can be run straight in to most amps or mixers (it's passive but with more gain than most) It's just much better with the preamp to give the tone control and boost of the signal. The XLR output on the preamp just sweetens the deal.