[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by ajspence

...We use Takamine, Martin, and Taylor guitars, all with onboard preamps and I am generally happy with the sound. But I've read discussions and reviews talking about improved tone, compression, etc, that DI boxes and the like can provide. Also I've seen acoustic performers using them whose sound I liked, though I'm not sure if the DI boxes had a lot to do with that.

Hi Andy...
The time most of us use a direct box between the amp and PA is when we have long cable runs. Standard guitar cable (1/4'') is really only designed for short runs of 15 feet or so. After that it's prone to audible degrading of the signal.

XLR cables can easily be run 250 feet or more. The Snake on a stage will allow you to plug in a mic cable, then maintain the integrity of the signal all the way to the board of the PA.

So if you already like the plugged-in tone of your guitars, and do not have to do long runs, your present rig is just fine.

If you go to a large venue and have to patch into their stage system, you need at least a passive Direct Box between the amps and the snake which carries the signal to the board. It will transform the signal to match it to what the PA board need.

Hope this helps...