Originally Posted by YeOldRocker
I'm not sure what size rooms some here are playing, but most venues I've encountered, even solo, are way too noisy to use a mic and there's no way even the loudest dread would cut the room(s). Whether that's because of the crowd noise itself, the size of the room, or a loud vocal PA, or other musicians (in a band setting), or whatever. Most sound people won't even let you set up a mic for your guitar, so that's usually not an option, anyway.
Which ultimately brings me/us back to acoustic pickup systems. Some do a better job of sounding more like your actual acoustic guitar than others, but those also tend to feedback more in loud(er) settings. EQ, phase buttons, compression, and other processing, usually help kill some of the overly bright/brittle problems, but many purists don't want to add any processing at all, saying that now all you've got is an electric guitar. Truth is, even the best pickup systems won't sound exactly like your unplugged acoustic guitar. But it doesn't mean it has to sound bad; part of accepting processing is understanding you're trying to recreate natural acoustic sound, unnaturally. Most of us don't have a problem doing that to our vocals over a PA system, but somehow an acoustic guitar must stay completely acoustic. In most live settings, unfortunately, that can't be done.
The reason to play an acoustic with a pickup instead of a true electric is because they are very different instruments, physically speaking, and those differences affect the way you play; your technique changes, picking and strumming attack are different, string response is different, etc. So, other than having a cleaner signal from a true electric, it's really not a substitute for an acoustic guitar, rather just a way to not deal with problems inherent in amplifying an acoustic. Depending on the music, that might be a fine choice to make, but it really isn't an alternative to an acoustic guitar, per se.
To me, it's less about how much your actual guitar sounds like itself over a PA, and more about how you're playing the music. I've played electrics most of my life and am/was much more comfortable on an electric for the better part of, well, let's say lots of years. But as I began to play more frequently on acoustics, particularly solo shows, I've adapted my style and the songs themselves for that instrument.
Overall, my takeaway is not to get too precious about acoustic sounds coming out of the PA; it will still sound like an acoustic guitar, amplified, and your playing will support that. Which is ultimately the point.
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