Acoustic live - recomendations?

[glynb]

I shorlty hope to have a cheepo Ovation acoustic guitar (a new model straight out of the shop) to use live. A long story, but my daughter's ex-boyfrind smashed the head off it and if i can repair it then it's mine. It's current in clamps with copious amounts of wood glue - keep your fingers crossed for me!

Anyway, assuming i fix it, do you have any recomendations for using it live. ie Should I plug it through my Marshall combo, or patch it directly into the PA system in order to get a clear acoustic sound? It is the model with an internal pickup, so no micing up on stage required. I plan only to use it for the odd song, when i break a string on my Telecaster!

For studio work would you use both the internal pickup and a mic? and maybe stereo the results?

 

[Treeline]

Sounds to me like you might be looking through the wrong end of the telescope. First, see if the guitar is playable when all is said and done. If you're OK there, then try it out using whatever you have already - meaning probably a dynamic mic pointed somewhere around the octave fret. If that works, then experiment a little, but try keeping your expenditures to a minimum - like a stretch of cable to run to the board, or use a passive DI box in line to the board.

The chances of the guitar working out well aren't real promising, but what the heck - there's nothing to lose. Once you get familiar with it you'll have a better sense of what is worth trying. I wouldn't use this instrument as a springboard to drop any real cash on an amp just yet.

 

[SmattyG]

I don't know why you would mic up a guitar that has a pickup unless it's a really nice mic... You'll almost for sure get a better sound by plugging your guitar straight into the P.A. system, without the feedback problems. If you plug it into your guitar amp, it will sound different, but maybe you'll like it as well, so try both.

Try miking it too, but IMHO, that's the hard way to do things....

Good luck with your repairs!