pedal board vs Baggs Venue DI advice

[SalFromChatham]

Hey guys and gals,

I have two amplified guitars: a J45 TV with a K&K and a Gibson J45 Studio with a Baggs Element VTC.

I have been gigging for the last five years in an acoustic duo, and have tried many amplified options, including Fire Eye, the Venue DI, and even a pedal board a few years back. While I always seem to get a great standard rhythm strumming tone out of all my experimentation, I never can get the clear solo boost / lead with fatness and oomph that my partner gets. He has a Martin D41 with a Fishman UST, and a Boss 3 pedal box that includes a delay, a compressor, and a reverb.

We gigged yesterday. I used the J45-TV, as the other guitar needs the Element ribbon adjusted, because the high E is too quiet. Anyways I felt my solos were too thin and lacking sustain.

What do you guys think? I am open to your thoughts. I am not looking for holy grail natural James Taylor tone. I am looking for versatile bar gigging solution with pleasing sound. I have been topyng with selling my Venue DI and getting a similar board as my partner...

[varmonter]

Hey i grew up in Scotch Plains..
You might also want to look at a helix
stomp. Very versatile with all the great
effects you could ever want. sort of a
pedalboard in a small box.
.

[JackB1]

The Venue is just an EQ pedal. Sounds like you need some compression and a boost pedal for solos. Your Venue already has a boost switch. The Baggs Session DI gives you some nice compression and saturation than can fatten up your tone. I think that will give you what you are looking for.

[southpaw pete]

Yeah, I agree. I'd try grabbing the LR Baggs Align Session to run into the venue. The CompEQ and Saturation really make a great difference.

Originally Posted by JackB1

The Venue is just an EQ pedal. Sounds like you need some compression and a boost pedal for solos. Your Venue already has a boost switch. The Baggs Session DI gives you some nice compression and saturation than can fatten up your tone. I think that will give you what you are looking for.

[JackB1]

I just got one myself. They are a great quick and dirty way to improve your guitar sound without much fiddling.

Originally Posted by southpaw pete

Yeah, I agree. I'd try grabbing the LR Baggs Align Session to run into the venue. The CompEQ and Saturation really make a great difference.

[southpaw pete]

Originally Posted by JackB1

I just got one myself. They are a great quick and dirty way to improve your guitar sound without much fiddling.

I agree. It's interesting how something can be so subtle, but still make such a difference. It fixes something in my eq I just couldn't adjust otherwise, and adds such a subtle compression and tasty thickness to the tone.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Hey i grew up in Scotch Plains..
You might also want to look at a helix
stomp. Very versatile with all the great
effects you could ever want. sort of a
pedalboard in a small box.
.

Not sure how this is relevant, but I am a 1975 Graduate of Scotch Plains Fanwood High School.

I find for single note lead boost I need a switchable compressor which I use for the boost function. I start with the second gain wide open, minimum attack, and then adjust the pregain for the desired volume boost. That is the minimum compression setting. I then experiment with reducing the second gain and increasing the first until I get the right amount of compression.

You also need to adjust your technique when using compression boost. If you've trained yourself to hit the strings extremely hard during solos, you will need to learn to up the compression and back off the pick attack to get the best tone.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Not sure how this is relevant, but I am a 1975 Graduate of Scotch Plains Fanwood High School.

I find for single note lead boost I need a switchable compressor which I use for the boost function. I start with the second gain wide open, minimum attack, and then adjust the pregain for the desired volume boost. That is the minimum compression setting. I then experiment with reducing the second gain and increasing the first until I get the right amount of compression.

You also need to adjust your technique when using compression boost. If you've trained yourself to hit the strings extremely hard during solos, you will need to learn to up the compression and back off the pick attack to get the best tone.

OP is from chatham.
I went to union catholic. class of 73.
Yes i agree to much comp will squash
your lead if you hit it too hard.

[PANDAPANDELO]

I know it's not the same thing, but the HX Stomp also have a Mic Preamp in it that add a little of saturation if you want the effect of the LR Baggs Session DI or Align Session. It's not the same thing, but it gets close.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by PANDAPANDELO

I know it's not the same thing, but the HX Stomp also have a Mic Preamp in it that add a little of saturation if you want the effect of the LR Baggs Session DI or Align Session. It's not the same thing, but it gets close.

You must have figured out your no sound problem! The LA Compressor in the HX Stomp is my favorite to date.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by varmonter

OP is from chatham.
I went to union catholic. class of 73.
Yes i agree to much comp will squash
your lead if you hit it too hard.

My high school rock band "Omega" played a dance at Union Catholic probably after you graduated.

[Stratcat77]

I've used just the Venue for a few years now and am very happy with my overall tone and the sound I get using the boost for solos. If you want something with some saturation, you'll need to add something else as others have said, but for a nice clean boost, you should be able to get that with the Venue. I do add a touch of reverb and delay via my mixer (Allen & Heath ZED 10fx).

[PANDAPANDELO]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

You must have figured out your no sound problem! The LA Compressor in the HX Stomp is my favorite to date.

I did, Jon! It was intermittent, but after a firmware reinstallation, it have never stopped again. Hahahahaha It's a great piece of gear! And I'm so happy with it that I'm not even using my microphones to record my acoustics. It's going all with the HX Stomp! And I'm liking the results!

This was recorded yesterday! Even on the strumming parts, the sound is great, for me. Pretty close to what I was achieving with my condenser microphone (AT2035): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eElWBefHs88

You can even see the HX Stomp behind me. Hahahahhaha

[SalFromChatham]

Thanks all