Bluegrass guitarsists who use dreads plugged in

[DurangoArbor]

Edit: This post is not meant to be an acoustic vs electric bluegrass discussion

I see a few bluegrass players using smaller body guitars these days, but for the most part bluegrass guitarists still stick with dreads, even if every show they play is plugged in. It seems like a smaller guitar would be more comfortable, easier to EQ, and would be less prone to feedback.

Besides tradition, is there a big enough sonic difference even when plugged in? Is there a play-ability factor I'm not considering?

[Silly Moustache]

Jut before the plague, I saw two bluegrassy acts on a couple of weeks apart, but on the same stage.

Venue seated about 250 - 350 people.

The first was John Reischmann and the Jaybirds. Full bluegrass band - mandolin, Banjo, fiddle, bass, and guitar.

They had three condenser mics on stands. They mostly only used two.

Sound was perfect.

Second gig was Tony Furtado and Ron Block. Both fine guitarists and banjo players.

Both walked on stage with one of each and plugged all four instruments in.

I was at the back for this one! The sound was deafening, as loud or louder than a rock band.
I know Ron and Tony separately, spent time with both. but, we left before the interval.

I don't go to bluegrass festivals any more but I'm told that more and more plug in as they can't get decent sound engineers any more.

The music suffers of course.

[Robin, Wales]

If it's plugged in then it's not bluegrass.

Oh dear! Did I just say that out loud?

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

If it's plugged in then it's not bluegrass.

Oh dear! Did I just say that out loud?

What? Dunno! Is this thing on? tap,tap,tap.

===================

After many years of playing guitar, dobro, mandolin etc, and even having 'lectronics installed in all I am now convinced that any acoustic instrument plugged in -becomes an electric instrument.

Microphones through a good p.a. I'll happily accept.

[rstaight]

The Bluegrass jams I attend have a rule, acoustic only. The one exception is the bass player. There are not enough stand up bass players so we allow a retired gentleman to bring is electric bass. He does have the volume at an acceptable level.

[J Patrick]

…I prefer my Bluegrass straight up….for me that means fully acoustic and played through microphones in an amplified setting…..I can’t say I’ve ever actually admired a plugged in tone for any acoustic instrument for any kind of music….but Bluegrass really suffers from lack of authentic acoustic tone…

….most of the plugged in Bluegrass I’ve heard live in recent years has been more Bluegrass derivative rather than actual Bluegrass….a good quality plugged in sound works for a lot of it….and may actually work better for some of it….

….at the end of the day I’m a whatever works for you kind of guy….and if you can play and the sound is acceptable I’m all ears….

[bfm612]

Originally Posted by rstaight

The Bluegrass jams I attend have a rule, acoustic only...

Isn’t that just illustrative of how dependent all this is on the size of the venue? I imagine people plug-in for large venues because as good as your guitar is it’s not gonna carry. You can’t be not amplified if you’re playing Red Rocks. Billy strings is an exception since he uses effects petals but I think a lot of other bluegrass and bluegrass-adjacent players plug in so they can kick in their boost when they’re soloing for example. If they’re just in a bluegrass jam in someone’s basement then of course they’re gonna be unplugged.

(I’m just gonna leave that comment up there even though I’m only now realizing that the debate is largely around plugged versus mic’ed. Silly me.)

[Driftless]

A dread has a certain kind of sound. If a pickup can't deliver the difference between very different sounding guitars, what good is it?
I suppose if someone wanted to settle for a pickup sound live, they would still want their guitar to sound appropriate for the type of music they play when they record.
I personally don't understand why people playing acoustic music wouldn't use microphones.

[PineMarten]

I'm more active as a bassist, but most gigging acoustic guitarists I know locally seem to have one main live guitar whether it's used acoustically in a pub session or informal get-together, plugged in at a louder bar or mic'ed in a classier venue. Some might have a dedicated beater for outdoor use or sharing with others (open mics etc), and many will have boutique or vintage instruments that see home playing and recording. But picking an instrument type and sticking to it certainly looks like the norm around here.

[PeterM]

I once was in a small room, maybe 100 people max. The Americana band was all plugged in. After about 15 minutes of each band member dinking around with the sound and their monitors, I yelled out "how about playing something". 5 more minutes dinking around and they started. The sound was mud after all that. We left.

Room that size needs NO amplification.


I asked later...they even had their own sound person with them!

[Tnfiddler]

I DETEST the sound of EVERY acoustic plugged in. I’m traveling to Colorado to play 4 bluegrass shows, next week and luckily, they’ll be mic’d! I plug my dreads in at church and the country gigs I do, but I prefer microphones for bluegrass. That being said, I totally understand plugging in for large crowds in large venues.

[Mr. Jelly]

The young bluegrass type bands I am seeing all are wired for sound. The guitars have pedal boards like rock bands. Face it if you want guitar lead playing with mandolins and banjos you need the electric sound help. Otherwise, it's plink, plink, plink and a waste of time. Real bluegrass bands like the days of old have gone the way of old time country music. The majority of musicians don't know how to do it. That's just the way it is. Whether I like it or not doesn't really seem to be a concern.

[rllink]

The times they are a changing and so is bluegrass. The traditionalists out there are fighting it but they are getting fewer and fewer. It isn't anything new either.It has a name, newgrass and it has been going on since the eighties. So long, that early newgrass has become mainstream bluegrass. I like it myself. I really like playing bluegrass, but I don't necessarily like everything bluegrass. Same with the new stuff, some of it I like and some of it I don't.

Anyway, we were talking about bands being plugged in. The fact that they are plugged in and don't sound like Bill Monroe doesn't assault my senses in itself. I don't want to plug in, but then I don't want to do anything inovative, I'm just lucky if I can hang on. Acoustic is fine for me.

[rllink]

Originally Posted by rstaight

The Bluegrass jams I attend have a rule, acoustic only. The one exception is the bass player. There are not enough stand up bass players so we allow a retired gentleman to bring is electric bass. He does have the volume at an acceptable level.

Same for me, some just because they want to keep it all acoustic, but also so everybody and their sister isn't hauling combo amps and pedal boards into the jam and trying to set it all up.

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by DurangoArbor

I see a a few bluegrass players using smaller body guitars these days, but for the most part bluegrass guitarists still stick with dreads, even if every show they play is plugged in. It seems like a smaller guitar would be more comfortable, easier to EQ, and would be less prone to feedback.

Besides tradition, is there a big enough sonic difference even when plugged in? Is there a play-ability factor I'm not considering?

To actually address the question you’re actually asking….which I think is why use a Dreadnought for amplified Bluegrass when a smaller bodied guitar might actually deliver superior results?……I think that acoustic amplification has evolved to a point that using any guitar shape and size is a non issue…Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle are getting their sound on the guitars they are used to playing…..and it’s a really great sound….

…..for myself….I learned to play Bluegrass on a Dreadnought and when I first started plugging in about 25 years ago it was in fact hard to get a great amplified sound….things evolved pretty quickly and I’ve been able to get decent tone for the last couple of decades….I played Saturday night with my Kopp K-35 plugged in..(K&K and Headway preamp)…..We only did a couple of straight up Bluegrass numbers but our rigs sounded good…..i do find that with the right setup at least some of a Dreadnoughts character will come through compared to a smaller bodied guitar…..

….there’s a lot to getting great plugged in sound and everything in your signal chain is a factor…..Pros usually have it worked it out to their liking and are using the best of the best gear available….the rest of us are trying our best….many are succeeding….