Re: Need some ideas with regards to live sound
I have the same instrument and set-up as the guy in Soundfarmer Pete's band, except the EQ/gain is Arion, not Boss. For my main band, most of the time I leave it at one setting and vary the dynamics as needed with my pick attack. Since the acoustic is not used much as a rhythm instrument in this band (lots of riffs, cross-picking, and other melodic-oriented textures, predominantly), what you describe is not a big issue here. (For the electric, I have the volume knob.) For the seasonal cajun-country-bluegrass band, the place we play most of the time has a grounding problem with its electricity, which causes a noticeable hum on my rig, so I use the pedal as a volume cut-off between songs. Oh, and I never have liked what a compressor does to my signal. Always sounds cheesy or phony to me.
So why am I ringing in when I'm not using this the way that would be most helpful for you? Well, I did have some thoughts on the matter. One is, that if you use an EQ/gain pedal for a volume boost, you sill lose the EQ when you click it off. You will either have to decide whether you want the EQ'd signal for your solo or rhythm (remember, you can set the volume on the pedal to be lower when it's on). You may want to set the EQ on the pedal flat and adjust the EQ on the board, so the pedal adjusts only the volume.
The other is I completely agree with everything Tim said. At some point you have to rely on your playing rather than your gear. Technique trumps technology. For twenty years I used a multi-effects unit (Yamaha REX 50) at one setting most of the time - distortion + reverb - that was flexible enough that I could vary my sound just by how I played. Taking this approach a bit further, it's pretty amazing to think how much Hendrix got out of what was pretty rudimentary equipment by today's standards. Not that that's what you're going for, but it's food for thought.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
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