My Acoustic Guitar Quandry

This past Saturday, Ken and I (of KenCasey fame) were a sort-of opening act for a brass band from Springfield. We were at a Toys-for-Tots gig in Chicopee and we played the before-dinner time slot. It turned out to be about 45 minutes and when we arrived, we didn't know how much gear to bring. We brought it all. In fact, I bought a used microphone mixer a day or two before so we could use Ken's PA speaker. We were ready for anything.

Why did this matter? We were told that there would be around 400 people in attendance. (I'm guessing it was closer to 200, but I could be wrong.) The small amps we normally use are enough for a lounge, but not a dining hall. Fortunately, the Brass Attack of Springfield were already set up and they let us plug into their PA. Nice! ...and thank you very much...

...but, the problem for me - and it's one of my own making - is that my acoustic guitar, which I chose to use for the night, doesn't really have a good pickup system. It produces a very low signal that the mixer I was using (my old one) couldn't really amplify signal enough for the PA. So, as we were playing, Ken had trouble hearing me. He told me later that the only way he could tell if I was doing an instrumental part was to look at my fingers. If they were moving about the frets, then I must be. Ugh.

Part of the problem is my own hearing. I have hearing aids and they generally do a good job. But in this environment, not so much.

So, what to do next? Well, I've been going over that in my head and there are options. I'm one who looks at problems as opportunities.

• get a better pickup for my acoustic
• never use the acoustic at a large venue
• buy a new guitar better suited to stage amplification through PA systems
• buy a proper interface that works with PA systems
• get a proper, light weight acoustic amp (did I say I hate dragging heavy amps around)
• ...and maybe something I hadn't thought of before

As we rarely ever get to play a crowd this large, it may be something that never comes up again.

One last mitigating fact, my guitar has developed a crack from dryness. I'm now using a humidifier but that's only a band-aid. (In fact, I have a real band-aid over the crack for symbolism, but that's another story.) I'm thinking about going to a proper luthier and having a proper pickup system installed. That may mean cutting into the wood for a battery/control thing-a-ma-jig. But, I have to admit, it might just be cheaper getting a guitar with something like that already installed.

Now, where did I put my Ibanez semi-hollow electric guitar.