At my wits end

[Mike4mus6]

So I’m sure that this topic is as old as acoustic guitars since they’ve had pickups installed.

After several years of playing, using, enjoying, but never fully satisfied…which is frustrating, I am still searching for that “acoustic” sound when my guitars are amplified.

Boss VE-8 was my go to for last 2+ years, but stopped using harmony feature.
Taken out on a live performance, I was disappointed at the sound I dialed in.
The VE-8 sounded good, I thought, when I did Facebook live thru an iPhone with shure mv88+.

Now just got the guitar only Boss AD-10 and I’ve once again dialed in what appears to be “better”, less electric guitar sound. I will be trying that out live in a week.

I have the LRBaggs voiceprint DI, which I used in a live setting and while the sound has been good at home, not so much with the live setting running through a Yamaha Stagepass 400i.

Now I’m looking for small acoustic amps with a DI out that would allow me to go into the Yamaha! While I own an older Fishman loudbox artist, I really don’t want to lug it around to venues. Eyes on Fender Acoustasonic 40 (17 lbs)with DI out

My pickups are 2 Element VTC (Martin Centennial & Gibson J45)
and 2 Taylor’s with the expression 2 system.

So I’m ready to be ridiculed & persecuted for not being able to what I thought years ago would be a much simpler solution. Be gentle

[L20A]

I went the KISS system for my solo shows.
Martin GPC 16 Special Rosewood guitar and Shure SM-58.
Both are plugged directly into a Bose S-1 Pro PA Speaker.

No pedals or other effects.
I'm very happy with my sound.

[YamahaGuy]

What about getting a guitar that on its own sounds good plugged in. Cole Clark checks that box. My Takamine P5DC with the optional transducer pickup does too. Finally, the Yamaha Atmosfeel system in my FGX5 is great too.

[Marshall]

I've got no solution to offer, just an observation: Amplified acoustic guitar sound is not going to be like acoustic sound. Nor should it be. They are 2 different animals. Sure we all hunt for that same joyous connection we get from a good acoustic. But "plugged in and amplified" will always be a different animal. So, it's a matter of finding an amplified sound that satisfies in it's own right, without demanding it to be like the original acoustic.

Of course what satisfies depends a lot on what kind of music presentation you offer. Fingerstyle instrumentals are different than singer/songwriter accompaniment, and even more so from rock-n-roll.

In some ways an amplified guitar has much more versatility than an acoustic. With FX like reverb and delay (and many others) it's possible to build a much more enhanced sound than an acoustic by itself can offer. Not better. Just BIGGER. And playing out is really a bigger experience.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Mike4mus6

So I’m sure that this topic is as old as acoustic guitars since they’ve had pickups installed.

After several years of playing, using, enjoying, but never fully satisfied…which is frustrating, I am still searching for that “acoustic” sound when my guitars are amplified.

Boss VE-8 was my go to for last 2+ years, but stopped using harmony feature.
Taken out on a live performance, I was disappointed at the sound I dialed in.
The VE-8 sounded good, I thought, when I did Facebook live thru an iPhone with shure mv88+.

Now just got the guitar only Boss AD-10 and I’ve once again dialed in what appears to be “better”, less electric guitar sound. I will be trying that out live in a week.

I have the LRBaggs voiceprint DI, which I used in a live setting and while the sound has been good at home, not so much with the live setting running through a Yamaha Stagepass 400i.

Now I’m looking for small acoustic amps with a DI out that would allow me to go into the Yamaha! While I own an older Fishman loudbox artist, I really don’t want to lug it around to venues. Eyes on Fender Acoustasonic 40 (17 lbs)with DI out

My pickups are 2 Element VTC (Martin Centennial & Gibson J45)
and 2 Taylor’s with the expression 2 system.

So I’m ready to be ridiculed & persecuted for not being able to what I thought years ago would be a much simpler solution. Be gentle

A Fishman Loudbox Mini is 3 pounds heavier and has a D.I. out. Would that not be a solution for you?

From owning various Fender tube and solid state amps over the years I'm not a big fan of the solid state stuff, other than the Rumble bass amps. My playing buddy has a Acoustisonic 100 that's been in the shop a few times to get a loose cabinet baffle re-glued.

You could dump the extra amp and go directly to the Stagepass...

I've only had one guitar with the Element pickup and removed it after a few years and went with my preferred K&K Pure Mini pickup.

[martingitdave]

The best digital pedals I've used to "correct" acoustic guitar tone are ToneDexter and VoicePrint DI. I use K&K pickups, but it shouldn't matter too much. I think you should try and play with the stuff you've got until you get a better tone in a loud setting. Practice at the same volume. Otherwise, you might need to consider a stage guitar or fitting one of the guitars that has the Element VTC with the Anthem SL (it has a mic).

[Mbroady]

I've come close to what I hear in my head with an LR Baggs Anthem SL. Have that system in 2 guitars and I can live with the plugged-in sound for both.

[Jeffreykip]

I know they are tough to find in the US, but my Acus amp sounds so true to the sound of my guitar I am sometimes not sure if it is on and have to turn the volume way up to be certain. It has 3 eq dials but I have found that flat, or nearly so, is really the best, and that goes for both my parlor with a K&K and my jumbo with a piezio. Don’t ask me how it does well for both, but it does. Any eq I do is really to go away from the true sound that might be too boomy or thin at higher volume.

I have the 6T which is great for guy and guitar situations, but I have friends with the 5T (their smallest) and with the One For All (the biggest) and they are both amazing- so much so I had to go get one myself, and I am really not a gear head. They all have line out, and weigh nothing - I was lugging around an old Acoustisonic Jr (a perplexing misnomer because it was the heaviest amp I’ve come across) which weighed about the same as me, and although it wasn’t my main reason for getting the Acus, it is so nice. Here in Italy the Acus are easy to come by and one sees them at many, many acoustic gigs with guitars as well as other wood instruments - I’ve read it is more challenging in the states, but I’d say you could order online with confidence. They are pricey but not insanely so. There are a number of Youtube reviews, all positive, but none of them really sound like the amp - it’s better.

PS All that said, I have to agree with martingitdave- your set up sounds nice on paper, and it may just be a matter of fiddling with it to get what you want, with a bit of Marshall’s idea that they’ll never be identical sounds. I know it’s really hard (impossible?) to fine tune the sound you want while playing. A friend who will tweak it for you while you play might be what you need most. If you try some times, you just might find, youll get what you need.

[Methos1979]

I was in the same boat as you a few years back. It's a two-part question and solution. First is the guitar/pickup combo. If you can't mic a nice guitar and amplify that way (and who really can?) then you're at the mercy of two things - the guitar/pickup and the amp/PA.

Guitar/pickup - as someone posted earlier, a dedicated, proprietary, built-from the ground up as an instrument to be amplified guitar/pickup combo will give you the best amplified sound with the least/none amount of needed aftermarket pedals. That's basically Maton, Takamine and Cole Clark. I played Cole Clark guitars for years and still haven't found anything better.

Amp/PA - Dedicated acoustic amps do a decent job but a single point sound system can only do so much. A full blown PA with quality mixer is going to give you great sound but who wants to schlep all that gear around? I don't. Enter the 'stick' systems - your Bose Pro8/16/32 or EV30/50M (there are others). These systems provide excellent sound reproduction with minimal gear/setup.

Of course there are other options with regard to both guitar/pickups and sound reinforcement systems but these two combinations will give you great sound. I'd used many high quality, single point acoustic amplifiers over the years and eventually went with an EV30M for it's built-in mixer and more inputs and the difference between that type of system and a single amp/speaker was shockingly better.

I'm not even using one of the previously mentioned Cole Clarks instead just using guitars with either LR Baggs Element or Anthem StagePro or K&K and I use no outboard (pedal) tone shaping other than what is on the guitar itself (StagePro) or what is available on the EV30M. First time in years that I've been truly happy with the sound of our systems for our gigs.

[Goat Mick]

I think a lot of your issue is with your pickups. I used JJB Prestige 330 pickups in all my gigging guitars and they give me a nice, acoustic amplified sound. The Baggs Element and Taylor Expression pickups are both undersaddle piezo pickups that sound very "quacky" and electric when amplified. I've never used a Voiceprint DI, but I know they're supposed to eliminate that problem. Personally I would rather switch to a better pickup than try to recover my acoustic tone through processing. I know a lot of folks swear by K&K pickups, but to my humble ear the JJB units sound rounder and more acoustic.

[gfirob]

To me the big challenge is getting the stink off of the pickup sound, to get the guitar to sound natural, and K&K’s and a Tonedexter have done the best for me with that, using a variety of amps. I think IR’s are the best route and the simplest route to curing this problem.

[Rolph]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

A Fishman Loudbox Mini is 3 pounds heavier and has a D.I. out. Would that not be a solution for you?

From owning various Fender tube and solid state amps over the years I'm not a big fan of the solid state stuff, other than the Rumble bass amps. My playing buddy has a Acoustisonic 100 that's been in the shop a few times to get a loose cabinet baffle re-glued.

You could dump the extra amp and go directly to the Stagepass...

I've only had one guitar with the Element pickup and removed it after a few years and went with my preferred K&K Pure Mini pickup.

I have a Fender Rumble bass amp that went silent the 3rd time I used it. Sweetwater and Fender both said: "We know there's a problem, good luck". Do you want another one? Solid state amps have major reliabiity problems.

[mike o]

You have really nice guitars playing through a less than stellar sound system.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Rolph

I have a Fender Rumble bass amp that went silent the 3rd time I used it. Sweetwater and Fender both said: "We know there's a problem, good luck". Do you want another one? Solid state amps have major reliabiity problems.

Sorry to hear that! Sweetwater did repair it under their 2 year extended warranty?

I have a four bass playing buddies that use Rumbles with no problem, as well as my personal experience with my 100, which ends up being a very nice giggable lightweight combo.

I can tell you that Rumbles are by far the most recommended solid state combos on Talkbass, with very few reliability issues. I wanted to seriously consider a few other brands, but I always temper my enthusiasm with a lot of research before purchasing anything. The Rumbles came out on top (by far) so that's what I went with. I'm extremely happy with mine.

[Mike4mus6]

Well that was very kind and helpful.
Every reply was informative!
I’m going to continue to fiddle with the extensive gear I own.
I am very “right now” with results and when I don’t get them immediately, I react instead of diving deeper into the process.
The pickup suggestions…I was surprised that the already installed were not ones that were best…but yes a solution. I have looked at the ones with pickup and mic and they seem workable.

I do have some nice guitars I enjoy playing.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT.

My friend and I finally have our first paid show,ever! The owner likes us and will use us in a brunch special entertainment! I am a happy guy!