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  #1  
Old 12-15-2019, 03:48 PM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Default How to listen to my guitar in a group

I have a plain acoustic guitar, and have starting playing in a group with a few other guitars. I use a flat pick and play individual strings, in what might be called alternate, back or cross picking, no strumming. With the other guitars bump-chucking away, I cannot hear the notes and runs that I am playing and so my right hand becomes disoriented as to what strings it is hitting. It is like playing while deaf.

I see Billy Strings has a wire taped from his sound hole, along the fretboard, and maybe that is the same wire appears behind his neck and goes to an earphone in his ear.

I there some kind of pickup that I can put in the sound hole that will send my playing into an earphone, preferably wirelessly? So I can hear myself inside the din of a group?
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Old 12-15-2019, 06:13 PM
Pnewsom Pnewsom is offline
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Pretty sure that wire is a mic on Billy's guitar added to the other pickup. He gets a pretty good sound.

As for hearing yourself, maybe look for a smaller group of better players, hopefully not all guitar players.
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Old 12-15-2019, 06:21 PM
agfsteve agfsteve is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
I have a plain acoustic guitar, and have starting playing in a group with a few other guitars. I use a flat pick and play individual strings, in what might be called alternate, back or cross picking, no strumming. With the other guitars bump-chucking away, I cannot hear the notes and runs that I am playing and so my right hand becomes disoriented as to what strings it is hitting. It is like playing while deaf.

I see Billy Strings has a wire taped from his sound hole, along the fretboard, and maybe that is the same wire appears behind his neck and goes to an earphone in his ear.

I there some kind of pickup that I can put in the sound hole that will send my playing into an earphone, preferably wirelessly? So I can hear myself inside the din of a group?
If you're not loud enough for you to hear, then aren't you also not loud enough for the others to hear? I realise that it could be that those in front of you hear you just fine, due to the way an acoustic guitar projects sound, but I'm still curious.
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Old 12-15-2019, 07:16 PM
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In our jam once in a while we have to remind each other to be sure that you can hear other instruments over your own. If not you are playing to loud. If the group wont do that for you, switch to banjo.
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Old 12-15-2019, 07:27 PM
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You can certainly use an active pickup in your guitar that you run from your 1/4" jack to a powered in ear monitor. That would take you about 5 minutes to set up. However, I suggest what other's have mentioned - tell the others you are playing with to learn how to play properly with a group of acoustic players.
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Old 12-16-2019, 08:11 AM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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You can certainly use an active pickup in your guitar that you run from your 1/4" jack to a powered in ear monitor...
I don't have any kind of pickup or jack on the guitar.
I can see that Billy Strings and most all pros have pickups and jacks, and plug into their stage equipment. But Strings also sometimes has a little wire, crudely taped from his sound hole, along the fretboard, and then to? Maybe it is feeding the earphone that he also wears.
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Old 12-16-2019, 08:15 AM
Tone Gopher Tone Gopher is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
I don't have any kind of pickup or jack on the guitar.
I can see that Billy Strings and most all pros have pickups and jacks, and plug into their stage equipment. But Strings also sometimes has a little wire, crudely taped from his sound hole, along the fretboard, and then to? Maybe it is feeding the earphone that he also wears.
Please post a picture, even a screen shot, to show what you are talking about.

It may save a lot of poor conjecture.
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Old 12-16-2019, 08:37 AM
Misifus Misifus is offline
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Running a wire from a mic to an earbud is not likely to help. You’d need some sort of amplifier in the system.

Another approach might be to put a sound hole in the side of the upper bout. Those are useful for providing the player with more direct feedback.
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Old 12-16-2019, 09:05 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
I don't have any kind of pickup or jack on the guitar.
I can see that Billy Strings and most all pros have pickups and jacks, and plug into their stage equipment. But Strings also sometimes has a little wire, crudely taped from his sound hole, along the fretboard, and then to? Maybe it is feeding the earphone that he also wears.
Well if I understand you correctly he (Strings) explains it in this "Rig Rundown" interview, starting at about 1:30





So in his case it is the wire from a mic placed inside the sound hole that is blended with the undersaddle pickup and that sound is then fed to his in ear monitors.

But understand that is for use on stage amplified and is a very different situation from an acoustic guitar pull/jamb

As others have mentioned attempting to amplify your sound while might be a solution , (it will mean purchasing a wireless mic and amplification system and in ear monitors) And arguably that is not really the issue or problem.

The problem and solution is probably 3 fold or 2 fold if you think you currently play sufficiently loud
So #1 would be playing a bit louder (but arguably in a group this can backfire and simply cause the others to play louder also)


#2 learning to better hear (developing the learned skill of critical listening) your playing within a group, as opposed to solo.

And also
#2 Addressing the "group" dynamics. Which I am guessing is the real or primary issue BUT can be tricky, particularly if you are the new comer.
Like any group of humans , guitar groups can have a multitude of perspectives and agendas, with good news and bad news. If the participation is based on mutual enjoyment of music and group playing then you may be able to explain your difficulty in hearing your instrument. And suggest as L2OA mentioned that everybody try to become more aware of clearly hearing everyone playing.

But if on the other hand one or more of members view participation as a competition, then You must decide if you can change that attitude, or consider moving on and finding a different group.
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Old 12-16-2019, 09:38 AM
JERZEY JERZEY is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post
I have a plain acoustic guitar, and have starting playing in a group with a few other guitars. I use a flat pick and play individual strings, in what might be called alternate, back or cross picking, no strumming. With the other guitars bump-chucking away, I cannot hear the notes and runs that I am playing and so my right hand becomes disoriented as to what strings it is hitting. It is like playing while deaf.

I see Billy Strings has a wire taped from his sound hole, along the fretboard, and maybe that is the same wire appears behind his neck and goes to an earphone in his ear.

I there some kind of pickup that I can put in the sound hole that will send my playing into an earphone, preferably wirelessly? So I can hear myself inside the din of a group?
There are tons of good pick up systems you can use. Go see a qualified tech not employed by a big box store. Always bring your own monitoring gear with you even when you practice. Wireless is going to cost you big #$$$$
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Old 12-16-2019, 09:45 AM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tone Gopher View Post
Please post a picture, even a screen shot, to show what you are talking about. It may save a lot of poor conjecture.
Screen shot:
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Billy Strings pickup.jpg (20.5 KB, 188 views)
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Old 12-16-2019, 09:50 AM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
... in his case it is the wire from a mic placed inside the sound hole that is blended with the undersaddle pickup and that sound is then fed to his in ear monitors...
I can see that wire is taped on the back of his guitar into a sheath that holds his main pickup cable.
Why does it have to be blended with an undersaddle pickup (which I don't want). Why can't that sound hole mic go straight to an earphone? Is not Strings is using that soundhole mike with an earphone so he can monitor/isolate his own playing? Or is that mic not connected, even through his main sound system, to that earphone at all?
With the best equipment money can buy, why is Strings crudely taping a sound hole pickup all over his Preston Thompson?
And if that is not going into his earphone, what is?
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Last edited by vintage40s; 12-16-2019 at 10:14 AM.
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Old 12-16-2019, 09:51 AM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Originally Posted by JERZEY View Post
There are tons of good pick up systems you can use...
I do not want a pickup with a jack and a cord to an amp. I don't want that at all.
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Old 12-16-2019, 10:08 AM
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Quote:
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With the other guitars bump-chucking away, I cannot hear the notes and runs that I am playing and so my right hand becomes disoriented as to what strings it is hitting. It is like playing while deaf.
Boom-chucking? Hmmmmm.

Are the other guitars dreadnoughts? Is your guitar less clamorous? (I ask because most of my boom-chucking friends are playing dreads.)

A simple solution, one that might actually work this close to the holidays, is to ask Santa for a guitar with a sound port.
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Old 12-16-2019, 10:44 AM
agfsteve agfsteve is offline
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It sounds like you want something like a soundhole microphone or pickup that somehow has a headphone output. I haven't seen anything exactly like that, but maybe something like the iRig Acoustic Stage can do that? It looks like you would have to plug it into a phone, though, then plug headphones into the phone.

I think you can plug phones straight into a Tonewood amp (maybe?). Having said that, I am assuming a Tonewood amp can be used on non-electric acoustic (an acoustic with no output jack).

I have no personal experience with any of the above, I'm just wondering it all.
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