Veteran Giggers! What was your very first rig? Your current rig?

[TNO]

My first rig was a borrowed all-tube Shure PA with the massive speaker columns that weighed a ton. Yamaha acoustic with a Lawrence sound hole pickup.

Things are WAY better now!

[noledog]

First in late 70's early 80's: Guild D25 w/ Dean Markley PU > DI > PA
Currently: D18/M80, Tak KC70 > two tandem Loudbox Performers
(occasionally my Goodall CJ/M80)
Always used either an SM58 or 57, but now I love the newer 57a Beta!

[dcopper]

1972: A white Moserite copy electric into an electro harmonix small stone distortion- Fender Deluxe amp.
First acoustic gigging rig- 1977 Ovation into PV PA.

Current Rig:
Taylor 914, 814 with K&Ks and Sunrise (or T5) into Redeye Twin Preamp into AER 60/3 or Fishman LB Performer or QSC K8s and Alesis board.

thanks for the thread idea Chris - brought back memories!

[jseth]

My FIRST "rig"? Laughable... good guitar, though; my very first serious purchase, a 1967 Guild D-40, bought new from Fullerton Music Co.! For "amplification"? Two Shure microphones, a 565 and the shotgun variety of that mic, on a mic stand with an adapter arm to hold the guitar mic... I used whatever PA the joint had (back in the late 60's and early 70's, the Shure Vocalmaster was a prevalent unit... and an absolute piece of crap by today's standards! A lot of times I would play through a friend's electric guitar amp if nothing else was around... some sort of (now old) Fender combo amp.

Difficult, if not impossible to be heard in a noisy bar... I just flailed away and hoped it was all good!

Nowadays, I have 2 Mark Angus guitars (6 and 12 string) for stage work, both with Anthem SL pickups... I run those through my Bose L1 Model II or my AER Compact 60/2, using the Bose T1 mixer/ tone generator as a front end... simple, great sound, lightweight, hassle-free... all the things that performing in the 60's and 70's WAS NOT!

Players today are SO blessed with all the many great choices available to use... there many aspects of "the good ol' days" that weren't so good...

[kydave]

My first "rig" for acoustic stuff would have been an acoustic guitar (Gibson B-25-12) in front of a Shure SM-57, voice in front of a Shure SM-58, going into a house PA usually. This was in the late '60s. Early/mid '70s upgraded to a D-28 doing the same.

Tried a couple of POS soundhole pickups (Lawrence & DeArmond, IIRC) VERY briefly during that era...

Mid-'80s put the first generation Baggs LB6 into my D-28 and alternated running it and my Strat through a Peavey 112 Special (a screamer) while my pedal steel went through a Peavey Session 400 steel amp. I used an Ernie Ball passive volume pedal with the D-28/Baggs.

About 10 years ago, all my acoustic started getting K&K pickups. Now my acoustic guitar will put the K&K Pure Mini through K&K Pure XLR preamp and Morley Volume Plus pedal to PA board.

Once in a while when sitting in as a hired gun in someone else's band (my band is acoustic) using both Strat & D-28, I'll run both through an A/B box into a Music Man 212.

now I love the newer 57a Beta

Me too!

[jseth]

kydave;

I was just about to put a comment to you that "the SM-57" didn't show up until the mid-70's... until I googled it and found that it's been around since '65!

I have no idea why I ended up getting those unidyne 565 mics; SM-57 and 58 were much better microphones! Used them for many, many years until I switched to the Beta 58A for my vocal...

Man! Those SM-57's were so tough... I swear I could hammer nails with it and it would still sound just fine! There are a lot of really good reasons why that microphone is so ubiquitous and so highly thought of...

[SpruceTop]

1977: 1976 Martin D-28 --> Shure SM57 Instrument Mic; Shure SM58 Vocal Mic --> 4-channel Peavey powered mixer with two Peavey Loudspeakers (with 12" and Horn).

Present: Taylor ES2-equipped and Trance Audio Amulet-equipped guitars with Shure Beta 58a for vocals --> Line 6 L2t Active Loudspeaker with built-in mixer with effects and semi-parametric EQ. Sometimes I use a TC Helicon VoiceLive 2 for harmonies and its better-quality reverbs.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by noledog

First in late 70's early 80's: Guild D25 w/ Dean Markley PU > DI > PA
Currently: D18/M80, Tak KC70 > two tandem Loudbox Performers
(occasionally my Goodall CJ/M80)
Always used either an SM58 or 57, but now I love the newer 57a Beta!

NoleDog:

I believe you're living everyone's Dream Gig!

Regards,

SpruceTop

[Random1643]

First Rig = Nothing. I sang in a series of vocal bands where we'd have 3-5 voices on the melody and harmonies + 2-3 acoustic instruments. We sang in coffee houses, church basements, city parks,... Covered Woody Guthrie, Beatles, James Taylor, CSNY, traditional folk & blues, other artists and types of music. 1967-71. Most people in most audiences (who were mostly teens like us) were quiet and listened or, even cooler, sang along. I was a keyboard player too; sometimes if the, e.g., church, had a piano I'd play and we'd sing some songs along with that.

Current Rig = I call it my Old Guy Rig cause I sold my crazy heavy Peavey powered mixer*, monster 15" Yorkville mains, monitors, etc acoupla years ago then, once i settled down in MN, I bought a Fishman SA220 Fish Stick. Mostly use the SA220 "as is" altho I have an Allen & Heath ZED 10-FX for additional voices & instruments. For vocals, Shure SM58 into SA220 front channel. Guitar, which varies, into the 2nd channel.

*The powered mixer alone weighed more than the entire SA220 system.

Alt Rig = Simon & Patrick Woodland Parlor >> Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker >> Fishman preamp >> different pedals depending on song >> hand-built Tube Amp Factory 14-watt amp with 6v6s at the output stage. I like this as an alternate for open mics and jams where I play straight through the amp and add vocals through whatever system they have, or mic into the system. I don't mic this rig into the SA220 out of sheer laziness. The Alt Rig is not about acoustic purity.

[alohachris]

Aloha & Mahalo a nui for sharing all those rigs & experiences!

Some of your stories & gear lists really cracked me up remembering the old signal chains & limitations of trying to make them work, night to night. If you think about it, we were all so brave, thinking we could actually pull it off. Before our generation, solo gigging was an unusual thing indeed. But recent technological events seem bent on destroying the relevance of the troubadour. Somehow, we had the stones to try & pull off solo gigging long before the gear was good enough to do it well. Girl's probably had something to do with it, right?

One thing I notice - a common thread if you will - is how many of us older giggers started out our public playing journeys on mic's - for both vocals & guitar - using mainly Shure's & Unidyne's - no vocal nuance at all with those, huh?

Back when mic's was all we had, we really did have to make it work for playing gigs for the most part. Although feedback was always an issue (lost some gigs a coupla time because of it), especially if the gig got more crowded & louder as it went on (common for me), we all survived sonically. Plus, the acoustic guitar usually sounded like an acoustic guitar when playing through mic's, right? Especially when we were mostly strummers, 'Proud Mary' anyone? That's not always been the case when I listen to pickups used alone by giggers - it sounds like something else (you name it here _____________.

Looking at your early rigs, I think that learning how to "work" a mic live was an important part of our gigging experiences. I think you'll agree that those lessons helped each of us in other areas - like mic placement experimentation in the studio, or setting up monitors & playing on stage playing with other players, right? Over time, it became second nature to us, applying mic's quickly for best advantage in any room. Without that experience, amplifying an acoustic rig WELL using a mic can be a very daunting task.

That said, I still think it's amazing how much complaining comes up in threads when some of us dare to suggest using an instrument mic somewhere in the mix - & controlling it to make it work. As if a UST-Soundhole P/U combo or ANY pickup used alone actually sounds more like an acoustic guitar than through a mic?!?

More than the pickups of today, it is modern control units that allow us to be able to use mic's effectively that are the biggest qualitative difference between then & now for live acoustic sound, IMO. That plus electronic efficiency & digital products like Lexicon FX . Remember the sound of those spring reverbs when we accidentally kicked the amp? Hoo, Hoo, Hee-Hee-Haa-Haa-Haa-Haa-Haa-Haa-Hoo-Ah - 'Wipe Out!'

Controlling mic's was always a key issue for most of us. The EQ on those heavy, electric tube amps & larger PA mixers like Peavey's & Tapco's we used provided little control, often just bass & treble pots which didn't help tame an acoustic guitar's 200-500hz mid's much.

Then came the somewhat better & more portable, smaller mixers like the 90's Mackie's which attenuated the mid's, not as much control as today's ZED's & EFX's with sweepable mid's, but better. Then more portable graphic, 1/3 octave & parametric EQ controls like the Rane's arrived, which were a real game changer for me in terms of controlling mic's in most spaces/situations. When I added a Rane SEQ30L 1/3 octave stereo EQ unit to a small Mackie FX-6 I could finally could play almost anywhere using mic's.

Then moving on in my LIVE rig evolution - & with excellent & timely help from Sdelsolray & others - I finally moved into a truly great control unit like the SPS-1. So like all you great friends, my journey has evolved trying every way I could - using over 100 live rigs in 53 years - to help amplify an acoustic guitar for GREAT SOUND & CONTROL in every gigging situation. And still the beat goes on....! Ok, Sonny & Cher, time to sign off!

What do you think?

alohachris

[kydave]

Originally Posted by jseth

kydave;
I was just about to put a comment to you that "the SM-57" didn't show up until the mid-70's... until I googled it and found that it's been around since '65!
... Man! Those SM-57's were so tough... I swear I could hammer nails with it and it would still sound just fine! ...

That reminds me of a show with my last rock band... We had a front singer who didn't play anything, but had a strong rock voice, danced around playing tambourine, wore long fringed shirts (1970...).

He'd twirl the mic on the cable during the lead guitar breaks sometimes. Once he got carried away & let about 6' of cable out, so the mic - an SM58 - was really moving... when the connector let go. This SM58 made a big arc up toward the high ceiling (playing in a college gym dance) & out into the dance crowd, crashing onto the hardwood floor.

He ran out, picked it up & returned; one side of the globe windscreen was dented pretty good, but when he plugged it into the cable it worked just fine.

But using the mics, both vocally and more so for the acoustic, without having to seem stiff staying in one position, yet controlling your dynamics, is an art & more so - a skill - that few bother to master anymore. Plenty of dynamics to be had with that simple combo of a 57 down and 58 up, though, for those with the chops to use 'em, assuming a decent PA setup.

[Bobby1note]

Originally Posted by alohachris

Aloha & Mahalo a nui for sharing all those rigs & experiences!

Some of your stories & gear lists really cracked me up remembering the old signal chains & limitations of trying to make them work, night to night. If you think about it, we were all so brave, thinking we could actually pull it off. Before our generation, solo gigging was an unusual thing indeed. But recent technological events seem bent on destroying the relevance of the troubadour. Somehow, we had the stones to try & pull off solo gigging long before the gear was good enough to do it well. Girl's probably had something to do with it, right?

One thing I notice - a common thread if you will - is how many of us older giggers started out our public playing journeys on mic's - for both vocals & guitar - using mainly Shure's & Unidyne's - no vocal nuance at all with those, huh?

Back when mic's was all we had, we really did have to make it work for playing gigs for the most part. Although feedback was always an issue (lost some gigs a coupla time because of it), especially if the gig got more crowded & louder as it went on (common for me), we all survived sonically. Plus, the acoustic guitar usually sounded like an acoustic guitar when playing through mic's, right? Especially when we were mostly strummers, 'Proud Mary' anyone? That's not always been the case when I listen to pickups used alone by giggers - it sounds like something else (you name it here _____________.

Looking at your early rigs, I think that learning how to "work" a mic live was an important part of our gigging experiences. I think you'll agree that those lessons helped each of us in other areas - like mic placement experimentation in the studio, or setting up monitors & playing on stage playing with other players, right? Over time, it became second nature to us, applying mic's quickly for best advantage in any room. Without that experience, amplifying an acoustic rig WELL using a mic can be a very daunting task.

That said, I still think it's amazing how much complaining comes up in threads when some of us dare to suggest using an instrument mic somewhere in the mix - & controlling it to make it work. As if a UST-Soundhole P/U combo or ANY pickup used alone actually sounds more like an acoustic guitar than through a mic?!?

More than the pickups of today, it is modern control units that allow us to be able to use mic's effectively that are the biggest qualitative difference between then & now for live acoustic sound, IMO. That plus electronic efficiency & digital products like Lexicon FX . Remember the sound of those spring reverbs when we accidentally kicked the amp? Hoo, Hoo, Hee-Hee-Haa-Haa-Haa-Haa-Haa-Haa-Hoo-Ah - 'Wipe Out!'

Controlling mic's was always a key issue for most of us. The EQ on those heavy, electric tube amps & larger PA mixers like Peavey's & Tapco's we used provided little control, often just bass & treble pots which didn't help tame an acoustic guitar's 200-500hz mid's much.

Then came the somewhat better & more portable, smaller mixers like the 90's Mackie's which attenuated the mid's, not as much control as today's ZED's & EFX's with sweepable mid's, but better. Then more portable graphic, 1/3 octave & parametric EQ controls like the Rane's arrived, which were a real game changer for me in terms of controlling mic's in most spaces/situations. When I added a Rane SEQ30L 1/3 octave stereo EQ unit to a small Mackie FX-6 I could finally could play almost anywhere using mic's.

Then moving on in my LIVE rig evolution - & with excellent & timely help from Sdelsolray & others - I finally moved into a truly great control unit like the SPS-1. So like all you great friends, my journey has evolved trying every way I could - using over 100 live rigs in 53 years - to help amplify an acoustic guitar for GREAT SOUND & CONTROL in every gigging situation. And still the beat goes on....! Ok, Sonny & Cher, time to sign off!

What do you think?

alohachris

Chris,

Consider also the impact that personal computers and the internet have had on informing musicians about the existence and availability of gear, and how to use it. Back in the day, you were basically limited to what was available locally, or, mail-order catalog. Nowadays, a quick Google search can inform you of all the possibilities. Musicians are now much closer as a community, and the willingness to share information is boundless.

Bob

[maxtheaxe]

Ah...the halcyon days when we were ingesting everything except halcyon. My first real gig rig in 1971 was a Hagstrom Viking Deluxe in honeyburst, though a Fender Bandmaster with a gigantic Heathkit 2x12 cab that weighed a ton because it was made with 3/4' plywood and had a pair of JBLs. My pedals were an Electro-harmonix 'Black Finger' sustainer and a Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz-Face.

We played a lot of Jethro Tull, Steve Miller, Savoy Brown, Deep Purple...if it was "heavy" we dug into it...lots of British blues-rock played LOUD. Our first real paid gig was a high school mixer in North Bend, Oregon. The band was called "Griffin".

Really takes me back...

[midwinter]

I've gone through many, many acoustic and electric rigs, and my general trajectory is toward simplification. This ultimately meant that I stopped running my acoustic through an amp on stage altogether.

I just got back from a couple of nights of gigging with my new PA rig. I've spent a lot of effort (and money) lately focusing on reducing weight in my PA rig. My old rig, which I built 20ish years ago was this (I swapped out the 25 pound QSC MX700 for this MUCH lighter Crown), plus a Mackie 1202, a Baggs PADI, tuner, and a couple of passive speakers:



It worked fine, but it was a lot to haul for one person.

Recently, I bought a pair of 12" of powered (Class D amp) speakers and a 10" powered speaker (to use as a monitor most of the time and as a main for small jobs).

I replaced that whole mixer/rack/fx/tuner/PADI/amp rack with this:



I have been resisting posting in this thread until I'd gigged a little with this new rig; I just finished playing two nights in a row with it (one job on a third-floor rooftop) and dialing in the gain staging/volume levels, and man oh man does it a) sound great and b) weigh less and c) require fewer trips to the truck/car to get it all out.

In other words, what used to be this:



Is now this: