JCC1996 Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Hi, For the school talent night I will have to reinforce an acoustic guitar. I'm not sure if it is acoustic, semi-acoustic or electro-acoustic so I just want to check my options. Obviously for acoustic it will be mic'd (probably with a multipurpose conducer?) For the other two, I think they would need DI'd? However we don't have any DI boxes in school, and of course no budget, so is it possible to connect straight to the mixer? (the mixer will be no more than 6m away from the instrument). Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBarl Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Hi Joe,You are correct. For the latter if you don't have a DI you can plug the guitar straight into the desk . With a distance of 6M this won't be a problem. One of the reasons that a DI is commonly used, it because in turns the unbalanced jack lead into a balanced signal which can travel greater distances of wire without picking up interference. For the mic option a "Condenser" microphone should be fine. Do check that it you are using phantom power for the condenser that if the desk you are using has global phantom power (phantom power applied to all XLR channels via a single switch) that the other inputs are not sensitive to this. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCC1996 Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 That's what I thought (and why I mentioned the distance)! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Some Bloke Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Don't forget that you can always mic up any form of acoustic (including semi and electro) if you can't run a cable (or even if you can!). Indeed, if you're recording a live guitar, taking the pickup and a mic will give you a rather nice stereo image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Mark is spot on though some guitarists like to DI and place a condenser mic which they think "fills in the sound". Don't ask this old clothears if it makes a significant difference but it has become a habit with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 There are several acoustic pickups, some temp and others permanently fixed. There are lots of mics form the ubiquitous SM58 to esoteric ans expensive ones. The guitar may have pick ups already fitted. HOWEVER please listen to the sound critically, the right mic is the one that sounds right not the one that the book says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCC1996 Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 Thanks everyone, I might well try the pickup straight into the desk with the mic as well. It's not an important gig, as the musicians aren't the star attraction so I have a bit of scope to try things out. Joe Turns out there was no need for this as both guitars have turned out to be plain old acoustic. Thanks anyway! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 All gigs are "important" if only to the guitarists. Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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