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#1
03-17-2018, 02:46 PM
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I need some schoolin' on amplifier settings
With no imminent plans of hitting the stage again for the next year or so , I've been practicing, polishing and playing unplugged in house. I realize from previous experience I'll have to learn to "play: the amplifier too, so I'm starting to plug in more and more often.
Back in my keyboard/electric guitar performing days the process of getting the sound I wanted was a lot more straightforward. With all the variables of an acoustic guitar set up, I'm having a little difficulty and... I literally despise the sound I'm getting out of my amplified acoustics so far.  Now, I know it's on me to get this done through practice and persistence, but I'm looking for some advice or links to some good primers to help me jump-start the process of getting a decent sound. If it's useful, I'm using a Fishman Loudbox Performer amplifier. (Yeah, I can do a Google search, and have, but there's a lot of noise out there and I've come to really trust the more finely-filtered advice I get on this forum.  )
Last edited by menhir; 03-17-2018 at 02:52 PM. 
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#2
03-17-2018, 03:16 PM
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The pickup you're using has far more to do with the sound than the amplifier, assuming it's a "decent" amp - which the Loudbox Performer is...
First off, "zero" all the tone/notch filters/ etc... start from scratch. Take any FX out of the sound, as well (for now). Next, make sure you have the input gain set so the pickup is giving a strong signal to the input, but not distorting at all. Then, keep in mind that "less is better"... the best you can hope for is that you ahve to do nothing to eq the sound... next, you want to add or subtract frequencies in as small increments as possible to get the sound you want. If the choice is to raise the mids and high end, then decrease the bass first before turning the other knobs... Again, the type of pickup you have will assist any advice you are given immensely... I've been playing "out" for nearly 5 decades, and I long ago gave up on the whole "my guitar only louder" approach to amplifying my acoustic guitar. In my opinion, the BEST you can do is to get a "workable" sound that you can replicate easily from venue to venue. I'm more of a "plug on and play" type of player, as opposed to a "fiddler". Good luck! Take the time to figure out how to get a decent tone from your guitar, and that will serve you well in the gigs to come. A couple standard tips - give yourself some distance from the amp; the closer you are to it, the more likely you are to have interference from unwanted frequencies and feedback. I always make sure that my amp is NOT on the same side of my body as the "box" of the guitar, as the box of the guitar is the first thing that picks up unwanted frequencies and allows them to resonate around inside the guitar and then, out through that amp.
__________________
"Home is where I hang my hat, but home is so much more than that. Home is where the ones and the things I hold dear are near... And I always find my way back home." "Home" (working title) J.S, Sherman
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#3
03-17-2018, 06:15 PM
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Nicely done, jseth. I could not have said it better......
One thing I always did when working as stage crew at festivals. As a final check of amateur performers, I would turn up the volume / gain on their on-board pickup to about "8" before going out. This gave the sound board operator a nice strong signal to work with, but not hot enough to overdrive or distort.
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#4
03-18-2018, 04:22 PM
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Thanks for the advice.
I really needed a starting point. I had been approaching it in much more random manner. It's appreciated. Also, I totally get the part about not expecting the amplified sound to be an exact replica of my living room sound. I'm OK with that, too.
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#5
03-18-2018, 05:30 PM
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Quote:
Louis
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#6
03-18-2018, 06:32 PM
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The Avian has a B-Band Crescent II with both a UST and an AST pickup, factory installed.
The Seagull, much older, has an L.R. Baggs Micro EQ, also factory installed. Actually, I've had better luck with the Micro EQ, probably because it has just a few simple variables to adjust: Volume, treble, and bass only. Still, it's the amplifier setup that needed the most attention. Of course, it didn't help that the instructions fot The B-Band had reversed the labels for the controls. It didn't take long to figure that one out.
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