Kinda following on from another thread about plugging in my electro acoustic into a mixer, most of us (me included) will prefer a mic'd guitar sound as I find the DI sound a bit too boxy and un natural.
It's a Takamine EG321c with a T4 something pre amp inside, its not bad but due to the reasons above I'd like to sound a bit more like a mic'd guitar for use for recording, live streams and my Zoom guitar lessons even.
Should I get a pre-amp pedal or actually mic it up with something like an SM57? I've seen pedals like the Behringer ADi21 and Boss AD-2 which both do a good job of bringing back that unplugged acoustic tone. Using a mic would mean more stands and positioning plus its going in to a mixer where I only have 1 free xlr port so if I was using it with a vocal mic for example I've only got line ins and I read xlr (female) to 1/4" isn't the best for sound quality.
Also I'm experiencing humming issues when I plug it into my mixer so can only put this down to the guitar and maybe battery a powered pre-amp? Would using a pre-amp pedal stop this at all as it will act as a buffer between my instrument and mixer if its got a line out?
Comments
I also plugged the guitar into the mixer and listened through headphones, the humming is there so its not cables or anything its the pre-amp. So I think I need a hum eliminator or something to go between guitar and mixer?
If you're getting noise issues, are you plugging into a small portable mixer and then into a sound interface and a computer? If so it's likely that no part of the system is earthed. Takamines are usually pretty good for noise, so I doubt it's the guitar preamp - although sometimes you can get problems with the shielding in the pickup.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Would a hum eliminator stop this til I think about it maybe mic'ing it (would need a 2nd xlr input on the mixer and an SM57 or something)
And if the mixer is adding hum cut it down two two audio chains.
Recording is different as I can do that separately.
My problem when using it live is that I don't have another available xlr port in my mixer free for the mic'd guitar.
Because the Kemper is earthed...
There's an easy way to test it - connect the Kemper, both to the mains and the mixer via any spare input. It doesn't need to be in the signal path or even turned on. Does the acoustic still hum?
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I remember once when I connected the Takamine to the interface my laptop was charging, when I unplugged the cable it started humming which attributes to your comment on the earthing.
Something like this perhaps:
https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/acoustic/virtual-acoustic
If you have the same little Alto mixer I have then it's not earthed. The earth pin is plastic on the AC adapter. Inside the adapter is just a 250AC to 16V (ish) transformer. Inside the mixer that 16V AC is used to obtain a dual 15V rail from 2 half wave rectifiers. Simple design but good headroom and sounds good.
If I was to get one of those soundhole pickups and it still hums then we will know its not my pre amp that's the issue.
I heard a few acoustic profiles so for a few quid I could get one to use.
For recording I can take the mixer out the signal chain but as I said above it even hums when plugged into my interface so its obviously a grounding/earthing issue with the guitar electronics I reckon. Til I can get it looked at (which may not be for a while) I can use the Kemper or get one of those soundhole pickup things you can screw in and use the pre-amp off that, so if it doesn't hum I'll know its the on-board pre-amp.