Do I need a Preamp?

[Exbon]

Hi, recently I installed the JJB 330 prestige pickup to my Takamine G340s, but when I connect it to a PA system it hardly sounds (I have to set the volume really high to hear it) so my question is: Do the pickup need a preamp or it has installation damage?

Thanks for your time.

[akafloyd]

It may depend on a number of things. My first thought is that you may only need a simple DI box. The signal of the pickup is probably not enough to drive the PA input since it's expecting a line level signal (much higher than a guitar pickup). A preamp may or may not give you line level but some preamps have a DI function also that will give you a microphone level through an XLR cable to the PA. It's too soon to say if the pickup is installed correctly. Can you test it another way, say, through an acoustic or electric guitar amplifier?

[Exbon]

I don't own any kind of amp but I would try to test it asap.
So, theoretically if I want to plug to a PA system I just need a DI box. Is that right?

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by Exbon

I don't own any kind of amp but I would try to test it asap.
So, theoretically if I want to plug to a PA system I just need a DI box. Is that right?

That's the standard way to do it with a passive pickup when the mixer doesn't have an appropriate input. Most people would use a simple active DI box for this.

Louis

[kcnbys]

Originally Posted by Exbon

Hi, recently I installed the JJB 330 prestige pickup to my Takamine G340s, but when I connect it to a PA system it hardly sounds (I have to set the volume really high to hear it) so my question is: Do the pickup need a preamp or it has installation damage?

Thanks for your time.

After having installed and used several JJB pickups, I'm surprised you are getting such low output, however, I do very much recommend using a preamp when plugging into a PA system, which will certainly boost the output considerably, and give you the ability to shape the tone.

[lschwart]

It might be worth making sure you've set the gain structure on the PA correctly before deciding that you need to add yet another gain stage to your signal chain.

Louis

[Exbon]

Thanks to everyone for they answers/knowleadge. Something I didn't mension before is that I'm going to (or hope to) do some gigs live from now on. I have spotted this little pedal, the Behirnger ADI-21, it says to be an acoustic amp modeler/Direct Recording Preamp/DI Box, would this help me?

Thanks in advance.

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by Exbon

Thanks to everyone for they answers/knowleadge. Something I didn't mension before is that I'm going to (or hope to) do some gigs live from now on. I have spotted this little pedal, the Behirnger ADI-21, it says to be an acoustic amp modeler/Direct Recording Preamp/DI Box, would this help me?

Thanks in advance.

It's an inexpensive preamp with a DI output, EQ, and a digital model of an acoustic guitar recorded with a mic that you can mix into your signal. It would allow you to go into a mic input on a mixer and the other features will let you tweak your tone a bit more than you can now. There are better, more durable options out there, but the ADI21 is so cheap that it can't hurt much to try it out.

Louis

[Exbon]

Thanks Louis

[Exbon]

Ok, so I bought the Behirnger ADI-21 but it didn't help me at all, I'm guessing because I use the jack 1/4 output instead of the xlr, and also I'm using a 1/4 adapter to 1/8 because I don't have any speakers with jack 1/4 input.
On saturday or sunday I will try with an electric amp, both pedal and no pedal. If it doesn't work it means that the pickup is somehow damaged right?

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by Exbon

Ok, so I bought the Behirnger ADI-21 but it didn't help me at all, I'm guessing because I use the jack 1/4 output instead of the xlr, and also I'm using a 1/4 adapter to 1/8 because I don't have any speakers with jack 1/4 input.
On saturday or sunday I will try with an electric amp, both pedal and no pedal. If it doesn't work it means that the pickup is somehow damaged right?

What kind of set up do you have? If you describe it, we might be able to tell you how to set it up correctly, or suggest more appropriate equipment if what you have is really not the right set of tools for the job. I assumed before that you had a mixer with XLR mic inputs or had access to one.

Louis

[Exbon]

Ok sorry if I didn't explained right, I'll try to do it right now.

The PA system I'm talking about is a home theater (I think is called like that) the standard 5.1 speakers that you use with a DVD player. So I connected my guitar (through a 1/4 inch jack cable) to the behringer ADI-21 unbalanced input.

The home theater has an input of RCA to an aux end (I think is called 1/8 inch jack) so I used an adaptor from the 1/8 to a 1/4 jack and conected the 1/4 jack to the output of the behringer.

I hope it make sense, if it doesn't, tomorrow I'll take some pictures of the setup I'm using.

[Exbon]

Ok so here are some pictures of the setup that I'm doing....





The speakers:




The inputs and outputs of the pedal:




I hope this give you a better idea of what I'm trying to do.

[akafloyd]

That explains a lot. That's not a PA system... You're mixing up components from different places in the amplified sound world that aren't meant to play together.

[lschwart]

Also, I have to say that I'm not sure I see the point of working with a little computer type system like that (the incompatibility issues aside). Your guitar all on its own is capable of making a sound far richer and probably louder than anything you're going to get out of those little speakers. Even if you can get louder than your acoustic sound, you're not going to get that much louder. If you want to experiment with amplified sound get a small acoustic amp or a small PA system.

Louis