Acoustic Guitar volume question

[Folkrocket]

Hello,

I play acoustic guitar and sing. Mostly 60s 70s and 80s stuff. I used to play in bands, trios and duos but these days it's just me and usually in my music room. Rarely out anywhere, especially in the current climate. I've never been a lead player, mostly strumming and fingerpicking. Lately I've been doing a little minor lead playing (breaks, etc) and I find that my volume when playing single strings is very low. I play through a Bose L1. Would a volume pedal help me with this?
Any other suggestions? Again this is only when I stop strumming or fingerpicking and start playing single strings.
Thanks for any comments,
John

[Gordon Currie]

The most popular solution to this issue is a clean boost pedal. It does nothing to the sound except raise the volume when you hit the switch.

A boost of 3-6 dB is common.

[6L6]

Get ye a BOSS GE-7 pedal.

[varmonter]

Yes there is a plethora of boost
Pedals out there. The ge7 is also an eq.
So if you find your let's say too trebly when
The vol is boosted you can back it off a bit.
If you use a mic simply backing away or leaning into it can boost or lower your vol.

[Folkrocket]

Thanks guys.
Varmonter, I don’t use a mic. Pickups in my acoustics into a Bose L1.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Folkrocket

Thanks guys.
Varmonter, I don’t use a mic. Pickups in my acoustics into a Bose L1.

Hi F-R

They are suggesting using an EQ pedal not a mic which will boost the volume for you, not a microphone.

[Per Burström]

I broke my Behringer V-Tone Acoustic ADI21 a few years ago after connecting a power supply with wrong polarity, but if I remember correctly it could easily be setup for just boosting the signal. Great value, check it out!

/Per

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi F-R

They are suggesting using an EQ pedal not a mic which will boost the volume for you, not a microphone.

Yes I was only suggesting that IF you use a mic. Simply working back and forth will boost
Your volume.
I had a FAT BOOST pedal at one time that worked really well and was pretty cheap.
Heres one on reverb.


Fulltone Fat Boost FB-3 https://reverb.com/item/33598055-ful...ntent=33598055

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Folkrocket

Hello,

I play acoustic guitar and sing. Mostly 60s 70s and 80s stuff. I used to play in bands, trios and duos but these days it's just me and usually in my music room. Rarely out anywhere, especially in the current climate. I've never been a lead player, mostly strumming and fingerpicking. Lately I've been doing a little minor lead playing (breaks, etc) and I find that my volume when playing single strings is very low. I play through a Bose L1. Would a volume pedal help me with this?
Any other suggestions? Again this is only when I stop strumming or fingerpicking and start playing single strings.
Thanks for any comments,
John

Hi John, you are playing an acoustic right ? So why play into a p.a. if playing alone ?
Obviously a single string melody / lead line will sound thinner than six strings strummed simultaneously.
However, why not do what bluegrass/country pickers do and incorporate solo lines in your chording like this :

If you'd like some help with this - let me know. (see below)

[Folkrocket]

Hi Silly,
Thank you very much for the response. It’s an honor to correspond with you. I don’t post here much but I check in often and always enjoy what you have to say.

Anyway, you ask why I play through a PA. Mainly because I like it. It’s fun. Also, from time to time I do play out and I like to be in “shape” using a PA, if that makes sense.

I found your video very interesting. It’s given me quite a bit to think about and I believe I can use the concept in my playing. I’m not trying to be a lead player, I never will be. I just want add “lead breaks”, nothing fancy, from time to time.

Again, thank you.
John

[rmp]

I play plugged in at home quite a bit. I'm not gigging much either but in past years, lots of gigs or many years...

I just like the ambience with some reverb and light EQ'ing.

If I'm using my Loudbox, I usually set the amp volume almost on par with the acoustic guitars own primary volume. I just want a wee bit of both in my ears.

A compressor might help, it tends to even out the dynamics. An EQ would probably help too for tone shaping.

so if you are going directly in to the Bose, which with my S1 anyway, can sound a bit sterile straight in. not sure of the L1 is like that. (I prefer to use the Loudbox, and keep the S1 as a reinforcement setup if a gig pops up

So I think either one or both of these in the signal chain would give you some of what you hear missing. Boss makes good ones of each and you wont break the bank to buy em.

[Folkrocket]

Hi rpm,
I find the overall sound I get from the L1 is good. My issue is when playing single notes when attempting a bit of a “lead break” (I’m not a lead player, at all), the volume drops and the sound is “thin”.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Folkrocket

Hi Silly,
Thank you very much for the response. It’s an honor to correspond with you. I don’t post here much but I check in often and always enjoy what you have to say.

Anyway, you ask why I play through a PA. Mainly because I like it. It’s fun. Also, from time to time I do play out and I like to be in “shape” using a PA, if that makes sense.

I found your video very interesting. It’s given me quite a bit to think about and I believe I can use the concept in my playing. I’m not trying to be a lead player, I never will be. I just want add “lead breaks”, nothing fancy, from time to time.

Again, thank you.
John

Hi John, good to hear from you. I hope my method might be of use to you, and, let me know if I can help further.

[jseth]

Folkrocket;

To me, it's a question of my technique.

I play with a flatpick, between thumb and forefinger, then I use the other three fingers on my picking hand to both fingerpick and grab clusters of notes from different chord shapes...

Obviously, if I "dig in" hard at all with the flatpick, the bare flesh/nails on those other three fingers are a lot less prominent than that flatpicked note (s). Over the decades I've bene employing this technique/style (found out about 15 years n that it's called "hybrid" picking? Glad someone named it!), I have managed to be ore aggressive with those fingernails and a bit less aggressive with the flatpick.

Took a lot of "paying attention" to get there, but I am in control of my hands, after all! Worht the effort, too...

Now if I'm chording/strumming a tune and want to fill with a single-note line, it's very natural for me to balance those two sounds. My pick is a Blue Chip TP-1R 50, and it has a nice fat tone to the edge of it, when I want that.

Sure, you can buy a pedal or a boost or try to compensate "strumming too hard / flatpicking too soft", but the easy thing to do would be to teach yourself how to do it. A big bonus to learning this technique/balance is that you will do it, even when you're NOT "plugging in"... balance is a very good thing!

When I plug in and play (Bose L1 Model II), there's quite a different dynamic to the sound (which I LOVE from that Bose rig!). Sounds are quite a bit more 'in your face" out of the Bose; where unplugged, there's a soft compression to the guitar volume and tone. I have to modify my style to accommodate that difference... keep my fretting hand a bit softer, and REALLY watch my picking hand's dynamics and attack... too light and it sounds kinda wimpy, too heavy and ... it's just too much. Keep working it and you'll
get it...

I really think it's more of a learning process than a "buy a pedal" thing... but I wish you great success, however you go with it!


(And Silly had a great tip for you... start by sticking in a few runs and fills while a song's in progress. Get good at having those two chord/note approach balance, and there's a path right there to get you where you want to go...)

[Mr. Jelly]

Chuck Berry came up with a style of playing that worked to transition from playing chord rhythm guitar to single string playing. So did Maybell Carter. They didn't have peddles back then.