Acoustic preamp/tuner pedal recommendation?

Lebarque · March 2017

Hi, all. Asking for a friend - not my area of expertise.

For plugging acoustic into PA for gigs.
Acoustic preamp
Tuner (although I guess he could get a clip on)
Nothing TOO expensive.
A few extra frills wouldn't go amiss.

Any recommendations?

Lewy · March 2017

My recommendation would be to get an LR Baggs Para DI and use a good clip on tuner. My experience of tuners built into floor based preamp pedals (LR Baggs Venue, Fishman Aura Spectrum DI) is that they aren't really up to snuff and don't justify the size or cost they add.

crunchman · March 2017

Boss AD2 would be worth a look - less than half the price of the Baggs.

Lewy · March 2017

What's his typical gig scenario? Is he playing with a band, solo - his own PA, open mics etc? I think it dictates how much tone shaping capability he needs his preamp to have.

If I was plugging into a basic mixer (so 2 band eq, or 3 band but no sweep on the mid) I'd want more EQ on my preamp. Likewise if I was doing the sound myself I'd want to be able to set the mixer fairly flat and tweak my sound from the stage as opposed to having to keep getting up and going to the mixer etc. If I was playing gigs with a sound engineer and good PA I wouldn't bother at all, plug into a DI box and let them sort it out.

Context is important I think.

ICBM · March 2017

crunchman said:

Boss AD2 would be worth a look - less than half the price of the Baggs.

It's a totally different thing though, so not really comparable. The Boss has no real EQ and no XLR output - it's an 'enhancer' rather than a preamp.

The Boss line puzzles me - there's the AD-2 (basically a slightly more sophisticated TC Bodyrez), the AD-3 which is about the right size and price but has something most players don't want (chorus), not the one they do (tuner), and the AD-8 which does everything but is too big and expensive. Even the old AD-5 wasn't really right as none of the functions are footswitchable and it still has no tuner, although it's very good-sounding.

That said I have been considering swapping my Fishman Aura for an AD-8 as the Aura is just too fussy, although it does sound great when you (finally) get it dialled in right… and the tuner is crap, as Lewy said.

crunchman · March 2017

According to the spiel the Boss AD2 does have a balanced DI out. I assume you would use a TRS to XLR cable.

ICBM · March 2017

crunchman said:

According to the spiel the Boss AD2 does have a balanced DI out. I assume you would use a TRS to XLR cable.

Ah! Yes, that makes sense. I just saw the 'Line Out' jack and assumed it was simply a high-level unbalanced for going to the typical 1/4" input on an old-style PA.

It still seems rather light on features given what they can cram into a Boss compact enclosure these days though...

Ideally they need something the size of the AD-3 but with a tuner instead of the awful chorus, and possibly with the 'acoustic resonance' control from the AD-2. I'd actually buy one of those since it also has the useful 'electric guitar amp' output like the AD-8. (Which I currently use an old AC-2 for.)

Lebarque · March 2017

Thanks all. He needs a bit of flexibility I would say. Sometimes plugs into a crappy PA in rehearsal shed, sometimes into decent PA at pub gig. Not too much tweaking desired I would say. Just wants a sweeter sound than plugging a passive Fishman pickup straight into the PA. He's started making noises about wanting something that makes it sound like a 12 string too. I will try to dissuade this!

ICBM · March 2017

Lebarque said:

Just wants a sweeter sound than plugging a passive Fishman pickup straight into the PA.

*Anything* will be better than that. Passive undersaddle piezos sound terrible without a preamp.

Lebarque said:

He's started making noises about wanting something that makes it sound like a 12 string too. I will try to dissuade this!

Get him to listen to Warren Zevon's 'Learning To Flinch' live album, that should do the trick… I think it's so called because that's what you have to do in order to tolerate the guitar sound

. It's an Ovation 12-string - and possibly the worst guitar tone in recorded history.

That said, if he really does want to do that - and you can guarantee not to be within earshot

- then the Boss AD-3 does look like a possibility.

Modellista · March 2017

I think the question depends if you're happy with the basic tone of your guitar, or if you want some sort of modelling.

I can't comment on modelling - I use a Yamaha A3R which has a decent modelled preamp in it with all the adjustments that the Boss pedal above has built in. But if you're happy with your basic tone, it's not fashionable or trendy, but nothing beats the versatility of the Zoom MS-50G.

Co-incidentally yesterday I first set one up for use with an acoustic, and I can't think of much, nay anything, that comes close to its versatility for a one-stop tone shop.

You get 6 effects in a chain, so I've gone for EQ -> Noise gate -> Compressor -> Tremolo -> Tape Echo -> Reverb.

The EQ is set to shelve off the low end, sub 160Hz. The noise gate is self-explanatory. I really like a compressor on acoustic guitar - you can give it a good strum and it doesn't blow your head off. The tremolo is set slow and low, just to give a bit of movement. The Tape Echo is used more as room reflections, and I like the Hall preset on the Zoom, it's big but not too big.

What else can do all that for such a small, cheap unit? In my experience unless you're doing a proper festival or similar, people just plug acoustic guitars straight in without a second thought for compression or reverb, or even EQ for that matter. You need something in case that's going to happen.

I guess this isn't considered a pro-quality effect, it's just a stereo line out so you might need a couple of DI boxes, but then that's no different to the Boss.

I was being a bit picky, and this thing works great.

If you want to hear it, I did a couple of demo recordings with the Zoom. Forgive the singing (and playing for that matter, ha!), but it does demonstrate what a £50 pedal can deliver. Everything is straight into the desk without any fiddling in the box. Could do with some more production, but hey ho.

https://soundcloud.com/martsharm/hold-back-the-river-live-solo-acoustic-07-03-17

https://soundcloud.com/martsharm/rolling-in-the-deep-live-solo-acoustic-07-03-17

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Acoustic preamp/tuner pedal recommendation?

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