Learning to go electric

[merhere]

I've been playing acoustic for a lot of years, but I recently decided to add electronics. One reason is that I want to work with a looper. Anyway, I had a K&K Ultrapure Western Mini installed in a D4 and bought a Genz Benz Shenandoah amp. I'm learning how to control the sound and I would appreciate some pointers regarding the equalizers and the volume control on the preamp and amp.

Is there a recommended method for balancing the system - bass/mid/high levels?

Ive turned down the bass levels on the amp because the bass was a bit boomy. It sounds good, but I think there is a better approach.

Thanks

 

[tele4tone]

Gayla Drake Paul has a lot of articles on Premier Guitar.

I find her opinions to be thought provoking and informative. I can't say I always agree, but she gives solid advice. YMMV

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Article_Search.aspx Search for Gayla Drake Paul in the author section.

Jeff

 

[evenkeel]

I would positively NOT say this is "right" but my approach is as follows.

The two guitars I take out to play are the Martin D2R and the Guild D-35. Both are set up with K&K western pickups. I use a K&K pre amp/E.Q.. The preamp has simple volume, bass, mid and high controls. At a open mic I don't bother with how the host has set up the P.A.. I set the all the tone controls on the E.Q. to the middle, turn up the volume until it sounds ok and then adjust the tone controls. With the Martin I'll typically back off the bass and bring up the mids, leaving the high end in the middle. The Guild likes a bit more low end, mid range in the middle and back off the top end.

If I'm playing thru my P.A.. I set the tone controls on the PA in the middle, add a bit of reverb, and push the volume on the pa up fairly high. Then adjust volume and tone on the K&K pre amp/E.Q. as noted above.

 

[merhere]

Thanks for the input. I'll be working with it this weekend.

 

[plaidseason]

I like simple EQ. Give me anything parametric and my eyes go glassy. My setup is that I EQ before I go into the effects box. Basically:

Boss TU2 tuner > Behringer ADI21 (aka Fake SansAmp) > Yamaha Magicstomp (which is what I use for all my effects) > Aphex Acoustic X-citer (which basically boosts my low end and makes things a lot less muddy).

The overall lesson I've learned is this . . . so much is dependent upon the room. My setup transfer well to rooms that aren't natural rever chambers. Often I barely have to tweak anything at all. But if I'm somewhere like a big wide open club . . . things start to get crazy in a hurry - what sounded like a beautiful shimmery and ambient wash back home is now a big mess of sound upon sound. But sometimes there are happy accidents in that too. Sometimes I use the wrong patch and it turns out to be better than what I thought was the right one.

-Chris

 

[cjd-player]

Genz Benz Shenandoahs are fabulous amps. I have the older Shenandoah 100. I think their best feature, apart from the great sound, is the parametric eq on the mids. But it can be a nightmare if you don't understand what it does or how it works. It is very typical to have to take some mids out from an amplified acoustic guitar.

Each guitar will be somewhat different, but with the K&K mini that I had in my D-55 I took down the mids at around 750 Hz. I can't remember the exact settings without the looking at the amp, but I believe I had the mids level knob at about 9:00 o'clock. So if I remember correctly, both mids knobs were at about 9:00 to 10:00 o'clock. I believe that I also tweeked the bass down a bit just as you have done. I think that is typical for the K&K.

 

[merhere]

Thanks. I am still trying to figure the parametric EQ control. It really changes the sound, but its noticeably affected by the other EQ and volume settings. Interesting.

Also, I'm getting more pick noise than I would like. I think the right settings will hide some of it.

 

[cjd-player]

Also, I'm getting more pick noise than I would like.

You can also switch to a heaver pick to reduce pick noise. Light picks give a very "clicky" sound on the strings.