Last Sunday, I saw myself playing support again for Martin Stephenson and the Danties (yes, the full band!) at Manchester’s Band in the Wall. I’ve been aware of this venue for some time but have never been – mainly because I can usually see the performers I like in Sheffield or close more easily than heading to Manchester. That said, I recently saw The The at Wolverhampton Hall, and it’s not unusual for me to head to Leeds or Birmingham for someone special who’s never going to perform in my local venues. I was pleasantly surprised that given the BOTW location, it’s not that difficult to get to as the crows fly via my home in the Peak District – about 1hr 20mins when travelling outside the commuter time. That’s just another 20 mins journey when commuting into Sheffield at peak time. So that makes BOTW a viable option for seeing someone play if they aren’t in Sheffield or Nottingham.
Anyway, BOTW did not disappoint. It’s a terrific venue, and the sounds are just awesome – crafted in no small part by Andy behind the desk. I love the venue and hope I get to play there again. I really really do. Okay I’ll stop now.
The big plus is had my own dressing room which made me feel like Judy Garland at the end of her time in London. Sadly, there was a light bulb mirror. This was my first dressing room, and I suspect when I play somewhere else, it’s going to be quite a step down. In the end, I didn’t sit like Belinda Nomates. I hung out with Martin Stephenson & Dainties, asking Martin for all the stories about Kitchenware Records, Roddy Frame and the Prefab Sprout gang.
I’d have to say there’s a little part of me that still feels a bit awkward performing. It isn’t so much the nerves or the audience – but the small voice in my head asking, “Do you sound shit”. Perfecting a genuine acoustic sound in an amplified setting is fraught with challenges. In part because its a contradiction in terms – to be acoustic means in my head to not be “plugged in” and of course that means to be heard at large venues means plug-in an instrument and hoping the fidelity and nuance of the acoustic sound isn’t lost. Look, I know this sounds prissy and pretentious, but it does seem a bit of a challenge for an acoustic guitarist, whereas other instruments, such as violin, cello, and double bass, all sound great to me. I think some of that is due to technical “advancements” in acoustic guitar implication. Back in the old days, “plug in any acoustic guitar” didn’t exist. Watch any footage from the olden days. You will see a vocal mic and another mic for the guitar. Interesting some guitarists still do this – albeit augmenting that sound with 1/4 line to the body of the guitar. When I saw Damien O’Kane in Kate Rusby’s band (yes I know they a couple) I saw his guitar had a conventional mic stand on it. When I saw Laura Marlin play at the Leadmill, she had a setup where her mic stand had 2x instrument mics at waist height. But these are top-of-their-game/draw performers who can afford that and are rightly given the respect they’re due. Good luck to you, an aspiring musician doing a support slot turning up with an instrument mic and stand. I suspect any self-respecting sound engineer would probably enquire, “Who the fuck do you think you are?” :p
One limitation of the conventional instrument microphone and stand is the inability to “move” around – and I think that’s why many guitarist even acoustic musicians prefer it – that said you won’t mind me propping one leg on a monitor and thrusting the base of my guitar in my crotch any time soon.
I’ve got a couple of guitars (ahem), and I’ve experimented with a number of configurations for amplifying an acoustic. I generally prefer something built-in to the guitar – and have gone as far as paying for LR Baggs Anthems to be fitted to guitars that were not electro-acoustic. Many of these now have built-in microphones. Are they any good? The LR Baggs are great – but I find I roll off the mic component altogether. They sound “twangy”, and if you touch the guitar, you hear a LOT of unwanted body noise. It makes me wonder why I bother with this style of guitar “pick-up” if I’m not going to use the built-in mic.
According to Anderson’s website, “The sound of the transducer and Piezo pickups can be considered a bit brittle or unnatural, especially with that characteristic ‘piezo-quack’, but that can be managed.”. I’ve definitely heard the quack in small venues that have less good gear and/or a sound engineer who’s more used to making the sound for a loud rock band – than a sensitive singer-songwriter wearing their heart on their sleeve. It’s one of the reasons I stay away from open mics – that and people asking if you know “Angels” by Robbie Williams and other open-mic-ers who pack up and fuck-off as soon as they have done their 3-songs leaving you, little Miss Billy no-mates,, with crowd talking and drink thru your songs. Honestly, why put yourself through grief and humiliation? I’d rather stay at home and play my ACOUSTIC guitar. 🙂
So what does seem to work? Definitely, a pre-amp can be used to dee-quack an acoustic guitar – allowing additional compression, chorus, and reverb(s). I have two. I’ve been using the Fisherman ToneDEQ for a while. I love its simplicity and ease of use ness. That simplicity means less tech to think about – and more getting up, getting in and getting out. I think you could do the same with individual peddles. LR Baggs does some cute wooden ones, but now you’re talking about multiple patch cables, board, etc. What’s nice about the Fisherman is its throwability into a gig-bag and go-ness. It’s discrete and unlikely to antagonise your friendly sound engineer. You lob 1/4 cable from it to the DI box, and everyone is as happy as Larry. I “did the research” on mid-range pre-amps before buying one second-hand and this seemed to score highly. What’s missing is the tuner/bypass – it would be perfect if it did. [Hint Hint, Fishman]. I also like the wood design; it makes me think it’s more acoustic than being in shiny silver metal [I am taking the piss here, by the way]. So either I ask the sound engineer to mute you OR take your tuner/bypass – a must if you use more than one guitar in set IMHO.
More recently, I lashed out at the eye-wateringly expensive Grace Designs Felix2. In fact, I only used it last night in Sheffield. I didn’t “risk” a new bit of gear in a gig that was very important to me, so I used it at a local charity gig with my mate, Chris Rust, up in Sheffield. I knew if something went spectacularly wrong, Chris and the audience would be very forgiving. So the beauty of Grace Designs Felix2 is its very robust design (it’s built like a tank) and its flexibility (you could call it Felixabilty. Yup. I’m doomed as a marketer). So it has 2x guitar inputs (great if you want to use 2x guitars with different settings – as your knob twiddling can be done pre-gig. Knob twiddling is not recommended in a live stage environment – not least as such behaviour will probably get you in trouble with the venue, musicians union and fellow artists). Another application is one input, which can be 1/4, and another is a DPA Core Mic clamped to the body of the guitar, as well as the 1/4 input and “blending” or “mixing” the two together. That’s the Felix2 default configuration – you could argue that it is pointing you in that direction. Could you use the Felix2 without a DPA Core Mic. Yes. It’s an excellent, if costly, piece of hardware. Some might say if you are a Professional Amateur like myself that doesn’t gig very much, it’s a hammer drive home a nail – any pre-amp in the 200-500 range would probably do a sufficient job without creating a Felix2-shaped black hole in your credit card statement. As for me, I sold a Fender Princeton Amp, and I’m selling a Godin Guitar and Effects unit to fund my insanity. Yes, that was expensive. You could buy a very, very nice guitar instead of a black box and microphone. It’s your call.
Given the cost of the Felix2+DPA setup, you won’t see them on eBay or Reverb anytime soon. The DPA show up more often – but they are often sold by violin and other acoustic instrument players – and you need the acoustic guitar version. Is there a downside to the Felix2? Yes, and in the last couple of months, I have wondered if I had made a stupid mistake buying one. I’ve made plenty of foolish musical purchases in my life, where selling them on has caused a significant cost. The thing I didn’t understand about the Felix2 is that it’s not just a pre-amp. It is also a DI box. So, my sound engineer unplugged his XLR from his DI box and plugged directly into the outputs at the back. It does the complete job…
- There are lots of buttons, and the manual is somewhat cryptic, understandable for somebody with a lot of experience or an education in sound engineering. If you’re not very technical, it could be challenging. I got the basics going but wasn’t happy. I was able to approach the wonderful Jack Badcock and seek his advice, and he did a couple of videos for me, which helped immensely and made me redouble my efforts. Thanks, Jack!
- Buttons that get pressed accidentally. You need to do a serious check of your settings before starting a sound check or invest in a packing setup that protects the knobs (those things again – I won’t do another knob joke in this post). The common one is unpressing the big red phantom power from the Felix2 to the DPA. Perhaps Grace Designs make it red to make it easy to see? We all love a red button don’t we?
- Possible feedback between the DPA mic and other sound sources
- Clumilsy knocking the DPA mic off the guitar mid-performance with an embarrassing thud
- Using multiple guitars means removing and adding the mic and putting it somewhere temporarily whilst you do the operation.Have you ever balanced, put 1/4 jack on a mic stand, only for it to fall off? Then find yourself scrabbling around for pointy end of it? When I saw Magpie Arc at the Sunderland Fire Station this year – they were using a rock climbers carabiner clipped on to themselves – thread the 1/4 cable thru the carabiner and into the guitar, when you unplug and switch guitars your hands are free. Great for the boys in jeans and belts, less good for us girls in dresses without pockets.
1/2 Getting happy with the Felix2 comes with using the unit as often as possible and becoming familiar with the device until you can easily troubleshoot it.
3. Your friendly sound engineer will help. I found that the “gain” setting was too high on the DPA Mic. Reducing the gain – and the mysterious feedback went away. There is a notching facility on the Felix2. But I don’t understand what this means or how it works.
4. Be less clumsy. This is linked to No5. If you use 1 guitar all the time you can find the right place and use the same place/position all the time. Beware of being the type of guitarist who uses capo high on the neck and spending time around the dusty end of the 12/14 frets and higher if you have big hands like me. You need to play ALL you songs in a set and make sure the DPA isn’t going to get in the way.
5. Use one guitar. Learning to retune – quickly and accurately under the glare of an audience. This is my project for 2025. The added benefit if you support a musician is less shit to lug from your car/van and venue. One thing that wow’d me about Jack Badcock in Belper. Did the man do two sets with no support – with one guitar? There’s a lesson for all of us noobs out there. If a pro does something a particular way, chances are – they have been through your learning curve, and there’s a good reason why they do things how they do. If you’re travelling by train or bus, you know what I’m saying.
Your friendly sound engineer will thank you for not bringing 5 guitars for 5 song set. 😀