Pathetic newbie questions
 

I just bought a Breedlove Stage Concert acoustic/electric (a/e) guitar. It's my first guitar that isn't acoustic only.

QUESTION 1: My amp has knobs for Bass, Mid, & Treb. So does the LR Baggs pick-up on my guitar. WHICH of these should I use in order to adjust Bass/Mid/Treb --- Amp, pick-up, or both?

QUESTION 2: The pick-up has a "Presence" knob. What is that?

QUESTION 3: When adjusting Bass/Mid/Treb, it's hard to do so because I hear the guitar's own lovely sound PLUS I hear the amp's reproduction thereof. This situation "confuses" my ears. I wonder if it would be better to use earphones in order to do the adjustment?

QUESTION 4: My other 2 guitars have pick guards. The Breedlove has none. As I play, I can hear my flatpick clicking against the wood rather more often than I like. Is there a reason why I should NOT have my tech install one for me?

QUESTIONs 5&6: I have a wire for connecting guitar to amp, but it's long (for mobility during performance, I suppose.) For practice I plan to buy a shorter wire from Amazon. I noticed that wires come in various prices. 5) What is the advantage of the high-priced wires over the cheap ones? 6) Is that advantage worth paying for?

QUESTION 7: My amp has several doo-dad knobs, such as chorus, echo, & reverb. I prefer an amp that gives a good reproduction of the guitar's natural sound, without all the bells & whistles that I shall never use. Can you recommend an amp that does what I am looking for?

Unto all: aloha from Hawaii. Mele Kalikimaka

I can only confidently answer Q4, as Im unsure of the rest.

You will definitely scrape through your guitar's finish and expose bare wood. Now some people dont like pickguards because they they feel they are ugly and prefer a bare top.
No reason not to, other than preference Id say.

Keep in mind that a pickgaurd doesnt protect every bit of the top where your pick will hit it. Mainly the space between the soundhole and the pickgaurd is vulnerable.

With regard to your question number 7, I would look into a Dean Markely Amplifier.

https://www.deanmarkley.com/products...tic-amplifiers

Another popular option is the Fishman Loudbox series.

https://www.fishman.com/products/series/loudbox/

I also can only answer Q4: If your picking is inaccurate enough that you hit the tip with the pick, without a pickguard it will eventually damage the guitar top. (And even it it does, a lot of great players having guitars with dinged up tops. Worry about it forget about, there is no wrong answer.

Oh, and as to the question unasked: There is not such thing as a pathetic newbie question. There are only questions that you do not know the answer to. Pathetic would be not asking. We have all been in your shoes, so don't worry about asking about something seemingly basic. There are a lot of knowledgeable and nice people here. And some like me...

Welcome to the monkeyhouse.

Question 1:
It depends. Set your amp to mid point on all the EQ knobs and adjust only the guitar settings. Repeat with the guitar settings in the mid point and adjust the amp. Which sounds better. There is not real right or wrong, but one of the two may have better sounding EQ.

Question 2:
On one of my amps, the presence control seems to boost the mid range. It makes the guitar stand out more in a mix of tone, like in a band. You can then hear it's presence, more that way. That's my theory, anyway.

Question 3:
If you are playing at low enough volumes that you hear the guitar acoustically over the top of the amp, you will get more off a combination of the two, rather than just the amplified sound. Headphones would help solve this, but to be honest, just adjust the volume of the amp up a little and you will hear your adjustments fine.

Question 4:
Yes, Get a pickguard. They even have clear ones, so no one will know ! :). I don't hit my guitars with a pick, when I play, so it's not been a problem for me.

Questions 5 & 6:
The cheap ones are really just that. Cheap. The super high priced ones may not be worth it. Certain brand names come to mind that have higher prices , just because they can. I have started to like the cloth covered ones. Like this Kirlin 10 foot cable. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They don't tangle as easy as the rubbery ones, they look cool, and I don't get hum and the end covers have stayed on. It's around 12 bucks.

Question 7:
I have an older UltraSound amp, from before they were just made by Dean Markley. I would suggest one of those. If you can find them on the used market. However.... Just because your amp HAS those features, doesn't mean you have to turn them on. Leave them off and see. I think most acoustics sound nicer with a touch of reverb, so don't fear turning the knobs.

Here is what I can answer and a few more questions for you.

QUESTION 1: My amp has knobs for Bass, Mid, & Treb. So does the LR Baggs pick-up on my guitar. WHICH of these should I use in order to adjust Bass/Mid/Treb --- Amp, pick-up, or both? Both but you may choose to set one and use the others.

QUESTION 2: The pick-up has a "Presence" knob. What is that? This boosts the upper mid-range frequencies

QUESTION 3: When adjusting Bass/Mid/Treb, it's hard to do so because I hear the guitar's own lovely sound PLUS I hear the amp's reproduction thereof. This situation "confuses" my ears. I wonder if it would be better to use earphones in order to do the adjustment? That may be the best option for you. You will have to try it and decide.

QUESTION 4: My other 2 guitars have pick guards. The Breedlove has none. As I play, I can hear my flatpick clicking against the wood rather more often than I like. Is there a reason why I should NOT have my tech install one for me? None whatsoever or buy one and put it on yourself.
it's not difficult

QUESTIONs 5&6: I have a wire for connecting guitar to amp, but it's long (for mobility during performance, I suppose.) For practice I plan to buy a shorter wire from Amazon. I noticed that wires come in various prices. 5) What is the advantage of the high-priced wires over the cheap ones? 6) Is that advantage worth paying for? There have been reems and reems written about this and other audio wires. I could go into a long explanation but a decent quality one with good connectors is all you need. The rest is marketing which works on many people. That's why they sell them.


QUESTION 7: My amp has several doo-dad knobs, such as chorus, echo, & reverb. I prefer an amp that gives a good reproduction of the guitar's natural sound, without all the bells & whistles that I shall never use. Can you recommend an amp that does what I am looking for? without knowing which amp you have, I couldn't say. If it's an acoustic amp or a solid state guitar amp with a clean setting (no sound colourization), then leaving it on the clean setting and having everything set to normal and turning off the echo, reverb, etc. will give you the closest to your guitar's natural sound.
However, not all pickups will produce the natural sound of your guitar,
so if that is really important to you, you may want to change the pickup or mic your guitar.

I hope this is helpful. Enjoy your nice guitar.

Also this :)
Welcome!

Welcome aboard.

1) First zero out (or U if that’s what you have) all your settings. Then set your amp EQ to get it where you want it. Then, because you may be 10’ away, use the guitar settings to fine tune.

2) Well answered.

3) Whatever works best. For me, if you hear the guitar over the amp, the amp isn’t loud enough. Move to a large(er) room and turn the amp up.

4) if you like the no pick guard look install a clear guard. I have none on some, tortoise on some and clear on a couple. I have a “cling” one for a Taylor that I use sometimes.

5/6) Either use the long instrument cable all the time or just buy a 10 footer for home. I would get a Monster or another with a lifetime warranty.

7) Use the ones you want and leave the other effects alone. Your needs and taste will change over time and you may use them later.

Remember that many questions are answered with opinion and preference. Try them all and use what works for you.

Q4: Taylor makes removable floppy plastic pick guards that adhere by (I assume) static attraction. Smooth it down and peel it off if you don't like the way a pick guard looks. No adhesive is involved and, Taylor says, it won't damage the finish. I apply when I am going to use a pick, otherwise, the guitar is "naked."

Q4 - if you are scraping the top with your pick you need to correct your style and play less hard and more accurately.

A comment about Question 4:
There is no need for a pick guard if you are strumming with a technique that does not scratch the guitar. Strumming back and forth across the strings, parallel to the top, will not scratch the top. If you are blindly strumming like a rock star, then you probably will need a pick guard. Depends on your style of playing.

I'm all about keeping existing equipment. I fail to understand how buying an amp without FX is going to be an advantage over one that does. Simply do not use the FX. Then, one day you will want to experiment like all us plugged guys do and you'll have the option.

Set your EQ to where it sounds good. The presence knob takes your EQ adjustment and adds a bit more upper mids and trebles, or as some people say, it sweetens those frequencies to have a slightly better presence in the overall EQ'd mix. Try it.

About the difference in sounds between the guitar and the amp, the various brand's pick-up systems for all acoustics these days are emulators mostly. They are filtered to sound like acoustic guitars but go ahead and call your system manufacturer and ask them if their system gives an faithful reproduction of your guitar's sound. You'll hear a response that sounds like crickets talking but otherwise nothing to the affirmative.

Buy a guard, or don't strike the finish with the pick. The latter is the more preferable strategy. I've never struck the finish with a pick. Suggesting better technique only so don't deflect it as being snarky. I owned a Breedlove like yours for years and never struck the finish on it, or any other guitar, with a pick.

I set the last source in the chain to a level that sounds good without distortion. That would be the guitar. Crank it up, keep the amp dial rolled down, and listen to the guitar's output from its preamp. If it sounds good, roll the amp dial up to a level you like and you should be set. Move around in front of the amp and check for feedback. Your amp should have a dial for cancelling it.

The cords can be problematic. I've had a couple that went bad on me. Would I fall for the ridiculously priced claims of gold contacts, yada-yada? No. I bought a Fender cord that was mid-rangy and haven't heard anything affecting output. That's a cord about 4 feet long. It connects the amp to a wireless receiver. I use a Nady MGT-16 wireless system. The guitar has a wireless transmitter plugged into the cord jack. No trip-wires for me, not anymore. I've ruined expensive cords by getting tangled in them. I walk when I play. It's a decent system that's dependable at 100 feet line-of-sight.

Plug in and have some fun.

Great questions bellgamin! I have had similar questions. The replies have been helpful!

I just bought a Breedlove Stage Concert acoustic/electric (a/e) guitar. It's my first guitar that isn't acoustic only.
I have a Breedlove parlor and get great compliments on its sound.

QUESTION 1: My amp has knobs for Bass, Mid, & Treb. So does the LR Baggs pick-up on my guitar. WHICH of these should I use in order to adjust Bass/Mid/Treb --- Amp, pick-up, or both?

Hmm I would try setting the eq on the amp flat then adjust the baggs until
You get the best sound you can . Then adjust the amp to
Try and improve that sound. Small increments.

QUESTION 2: The pick-up has a "Presence" knob. What is that?

Answered already adjust it til you like what you hear.

QUESTION 3: When adjusting Bass/Mid/Treb, it's hard to do so because I hear the guitar's own lovely sound PLUS I hear the amp's reproduction thereof. This situation "confuses" my ears. I wonder if it would be better to use earphones in order to do the adjustment?

What you hear through headphones will be different than what you hear from your amp. Like said get some distance between you and your amp than turn it up. If that's not doable try the headphones. But you may have to
Re adjust when you get to a bigger room

QUESTION 4: My other 2 guitars have pick guards. The Breedlove has none. As I play, I can hear my flatpick clicking against the wood rather more often than I like. Is there a reason why I should NOT have my tech install one for me?

Don't hit the top. That's the easy answer .. don't hit the top. It's all muscle memory. You can learn not to. Or get a pick guard. Or wear a hole. Willy cares not. It adds some mojo. But kills any resale value. Unless your Willy.

QUESTIONs 5&6: I have a wire for connecting guitar to amp, but it's long (for mobility during performance, I suppose.) For practice I plan to buy a shorter wire from Amazon. I noticed that wires come in various prices. 5) What is the advantage of the high-priced wires over the cheap ones? 6) Is that advantage worth paying for?

Get a 12 foot monster acoustic cable. Buy it local
It will be the last one you buy. If it goes bad they will give you a new one.
My local store asks no questions. I have gotten 3 of them for free in 20 years.
Worth the cost. But get it local so you can return in shop. Think about the ends you want. Right angle to straight. Or any combo.
Always best to figure which combo of ends you like before dropping serious coin on this cable . You only have to do it once.

QUESTION 7: My amp has several doo-dad knobs, such as chorus, echo, & reverb. I prefer an amp that gives a good reproduction of the guitar's natural sound, without all the bells & whistles that I shall never use. Can you recommend an amp that does what I am looking for?

Well turn it off if you don't like it.you may learn to like just a little over none.
I like the aer compact 60 but it's the one I have. I like the effects but use a
Stompbox effect for the foot switch convenience..,aloha

Unto all: aloha from Hawaii. Mele Kalikimaka