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Old 10-28-2017, 02:17 PM
Nolefinity Nolefinity is offline
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Default Acoustic electric volume questions

Though I’ve been playing acoustics for 30 years, I have almost no experience plugging them in.

This summer, I bought a Fender Mustang GT 40 and, because of the full range speakers, was pleasantly surprised at how good my $100 Rogue acoustic sounded through the Mustang’s basic Studio Preamp setting with some hall reverb (likely thanks to the Rogue’s pretty good Fishman pickup system).

But, the Rogue isn’t fun to play, and I’ve had my eye on a Taylor GS Mini natural (non-acoustic electric). So I bought one and added their ES Go pickup that’s made for it. But it is soooo quiet compared to the Rogue, I assume because it doesn’t have a preamp built in. It’s just a plug and play pickup.

QUESTION #1: How can I get more volume out of be GS Mini? I know nothing about preamp pedals. I also saw a Mooer “clean boost” pedal that I thought about trying, since it looks like it adds volume without gain. Is that a good idea? Or do I need a preamp pedal? I know I could also buy a Fender acoustic amp, but I want to see if I can solve this with the Mustang first.

QUESTION #2: I also purchased a GS Mini Bass, which has Taylor’s built-in ESB system. I know the Mustang isn’t a bass amp, and I am only playing softly at very low volumes so as not to damage the amp. But I have been surprised at how the volume is much lower in this guitar than the Rogue acoustic with the Fishman, even though the Taylor bass has a built-in preamp I believe (volume and tone control on the side of the guitar). Would a preamp or clean boost solve that too?

Thanks for any advice you can give me!


Last edited by Nolefinity; 10-28-2017 at 02:55 PM.
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Old 10-28-2017, 03:30 PM
edmang edmang is offline
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Probably need some sort of clean boost pedal. TC Spark mini boost http://www.tcelectronic.com/spark-mini-booster/ or one of the MXR boost pedals https://www.jimdunlop.com/category/p...ffect=100074-2 would be considerations for me.
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Old 10-28-2017, 03:46 PM
Yamaha Man Yamaha Man is offline
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This is what I use and it works great, it adds 11db of gain to your signal......


https://reverb.com/p/dunlop-echoplex...B&hfid=6491407
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Old 10-28-2017, 04:21 PM
MiG50 MiG50 is offline
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I have to guess that you have an active preamp in the Rogue (battery supplies power and boosts signal output) whereas the GS Mini has a passive pickup. Not sure about the GS Mini Bass... it looks like it has a battery-powered preamp, but the button batteries might just power the tuner, rather than boosting the output signal.

There are preamps on the market specifically to boost the output of passive pickup designs. Many of them are built with an integrated DI, which is what you would need to plug into a larger PA system. But for your bedroom use, a basic preamp or booster should do the trick. There are on-board options that can install in your guitar, or foot-pedal options (including just basic clean boost pedals). The LR Baggs GigPro would be high on my list for your situation.
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Old 10-28-2017, 06:12 PM
Mandobart Mandobart is online now
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What you'll probably find (like most of us) is that amplification is the great equalizer. Take a $500 guitar and a $5000 guitar, play them side by side acoustically, and you'll likely be able to hear the difference blindfolded (if you can't, save your money!)

Now put the same pickup in each and plug them into the same setup and play - not quite so easy to hear the difference. If you mic them each, you hear more of the original acoustic tone.
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Old 10-28-2017, 08:03 PM
Nolefinity Nolefinity is offline
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Really great comments and answers, everyone. Appreciate the help. I’ll check out some of these links.

Looks like he ES Go output is just too weak and passive.
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Old 10-30-2017, 07:59 AM
Stratcat77 Stratcat77 is offline
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The LR Baggs Venue is a great preamp and has a very nice adjustable boost built in (and a tuner). I love mine.

https://www.lrbaggs.com/preamps-di/v...coustic-preamp
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Old 10-30-2017, 08:24 AM
roylor4 roylor4 is offline
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There are a couple of ways to fix/address these issues.

1) Get a preamp pedal. Nothing wrong with any of the other preamp suggestions, but the one I use is low cost and works extremely well - Behringer ADI-21
I'm not sure if it will work well with the bass but will give you the boost you need for the GS Mini guitar and probably the bass too.

2) Use a different setting or tweak the acoustic settings using the Fender Tone amp software. All of my guitars have passive inputs w/no built in preamp. I have a Fender Passport Mini and although the software is different, it should act in a similar way. Go into the acoustic preamp and A) Boost and shape the gain or B) use an electric guitar amp setting with the volume WAY up and the gain turned low. I used B for my guitars and A for my wife's banjos (also equipped w/passive pickups, just hotter). This process should also work to some degree with the Mini Bass.

I am not familiar with your amp, but I'm pretty sure you can address these issues through using the tone app software.

FYI - Bass sound waves are much longer than those in the frequencies of a guitar. Even using a regular bass amp, the volume will be louder 12-15 ft away from the amp than right next to it. Seems odd, but true. Why? Science.

Good luck.
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