Electric on the cheap

[TommyK]

I am on a very limited budget. I prefer the sound of acoustics, but cordless, they lack the volume. I'm contemplating installing a sound hole pick-up in my flat top. This does, however, require that the pick-up be plugged into something. I play mostly at home but have thoughts of taking in on the road to local bluegrass jams. At that time I'd have to bite the bullet and purchase an amp.
In the mean time...can an electric guitar / pick-up be plugged into a stereo component system? What's involved?

[glauber]

To plug it in the back (e.g.: one of the tape inputs), you'll probably need a preamp. If your home system has a microphone input (for karaoke?), it should work in there without a preamp.

[steve in tampa]

back in the days of my childhood, in the evening when everything was still, I plugged an electric guitar into an old tape deck, set it on record w/ no tape in it at all, and used the tape deck as a pre amp, and was able to get some great overdrive, and it did not do the tape deck any good over the long term, but it was fun!

[glauber]

You can get some echo too, by routing one channel's out into the other channel's in, if you have a three-head deck.

[Stillpicking]

Tommy,
Before you go ahead with spending money on elec. output I have to say that the folks I play Bluegrass with would not look to kindly on anyone plugging into an amp with the exception of maybe a bass if it was a stand up with a pickup. Most of the time if people are on stage for a Bluegrass performance the players will be positioned so that they can share a few mics but no one's instrument is usually wired. Now having said that there is always the exception but again if money is tight as it is for a lot of us these days check out what would be accepted in your "Bluegrass Circle" usually pickers will be happy to give you an opinon about what is OK and what is not OK but you have to ask first.

[mandroid]

Model 5 Nady dynamic mic sounds OK, sale priced at 3 fer $20.
[Musicians friend also discounted Behringers smallest mini- mixer to $35.]

[sweetmusic]

You can get a cheap preamp from RadioShack for a couple 30 bucks or so. You don't need anything fancy. While you're there, get a 1/4 inch female adapter for a stereo input. I have an old double tape recorder that I use for on the cheap demos. It works great. If you've got a computer with a mic input, you can also play through your speakers that way.

You know, Pignose used to make a really inexpensive little amplifier for under $200. I don't know why you don't look for something like that?

[Dennis Schubert]

Get a quart jar and put your pickup and amp money in it. Keep adding cash to the jar, and swap for a better guitar when you can afford it. I cannot imagine a bluegrass session where you wouldn't be told politely (or otherwise) that a plugged-in guitar is verboten.

[mad dawg]

There are also headphone preamps that will permit you to crank up your electric axe into headphones. I used one of these for quite off-hours practice sessions when I had a solid-body 8-stringer.