All -
I have a McIlroy a-30 acoustic guitar (incredible! http://www.mcilroyguitars.co.uk) and currently it has a B-Band AST / A1 Pickup system. For recording, it sounds incredible blended with mics, but live- it is very feedback sensitive. I play a lot of Praise and Worship music in a band setting. I love the way the AST sounds - but I know I need to change the pickup system here. I know this is a little off topic - but I figured several of you would have some great advice.
Thanks -
Dave
Topic Tags
Comments
A common problem. I was able to play and test the L.R. Baggs ne
A common problem. I was able to play and test the L.R. Baggs newest (soundhole) pickup at the NAMM a couple shows back. I believe it has several configurations and does have a combo-floating mic (more money) but the basic pickup was pretty amazing. It was on a Clapton Martin model and you could put it right near the speakers and no feedback. That was one of the main purposes of the design so no tone killing rubber soundhole add-ons are necessary. It could have been as high as $199. I got tired of waiting for it to hit the stores and ended up buying a similar, Fishman model but I still think the Baggs is the better pickup.
I have that pickup system in a Santa Cruz guitar. Any soundboard
I have that pickup system in a Santa Cruz guitar. Any soundboard transducer pickup is a little more prone to body resonance feedback than an undersaddle pickup, because it's more closely coupled to the soundboard. Typically you'll hear this feedback at the main resonance frequency of the soundboard, around 100 - 110 Hz (roughly the low G note), although every guitar is different.
The usual solution for this (if you can't adjust distance or angle to the main or monitor PA speakers), is cutting the feedback frequency with a parametric EQ. Set it to a very narrow and deep cut, then sweep back and forth around the 100 Hz area until you find the frequency that kills the feedback. If you're not afraid of blowing speakers (or your ears), you can find it more quickly by sweeping a tight boost frequency, until the guitar starts taking off into the feedback zone. Then set it to cut, instead of boost.
If you try feedback notching with EQ and you still can't control it, then you coud try an undersaddle pickup. This type is usually a bit less sensitive to the problem. Or you could try a magnetic soundhole pickup, which won't have the most natural acoustic tone, but it's the most feedback-resistant of all acoustic pickup systems. I would try feedback notching with EQ first though, before you swap out the pickup... because that AST is a nice pickup with a fairly natural tone (as much as any of these things ever sound natural). It has a little more background noise in the preamp than I like, but I don't hear that in typical PA applications.