Acoustic and Folk · Pedalboards by Genre

The goal: an amplified acoustic that sounds like the guitar itself, only louder, with no feedback.

Going direct to the PA

With a DI you don't need an amp. Run an XLR cable from the preamp/DI to the mixer or stage box and use stage monitors to hear yourself. Set your sound at the pedal so the sound engineer can keep the channel flat.

Tweak it

Hunt feedback at gig volume. At soundcheck, raise the level until a note starts to howl, then sweep the notch to it and cut.
Quacky pickup? Piezo pickups can sound harsh; trim Treble and the upper mids a little.
Soundhole cover. A rubber cover helps a lot with feedback on louder stages.
Less is more. If strumming sounds flat and lifeless, back off the compressor.

Signal chain

Guitar to amp, left to right. Settings are starting points to get you close: trust your ears.

1. Guitar

Acoustic guitar with pickup

2. EQ

Acoustic preamp/DI

Bass: 11:00
Mid: 12:00
Treble: 12:00

The key pedal: turns the pickup's weak signal into a strong, balanced one for the PA, with EQ, a notch filter and often a phase switch to tame feedback. Level unity. Sweep the notch to find the boomy frequency (often around 100-250 Hz) and cut until it stops ringing; try both phase positions at volume and keep the one with less low-end boom. Some players put it first, others last so the DI output feeds the PA directly; either works.

3. Tuner

Tuner

Many acoustic preamps have one built in, with a mute switch. If yours doesn't, add one.

4. Compressor

Light compressor

Sustain: 9:00

Evens out strumming and keeps fingerpicked notes from disappearing. Attack on the slow side, Level unity.

5. Reverb

Room or hall reverb

Decay: 10:00

Replaces the natural air an amplified pickup loses. Mix 9-10 o'clock.

6. LooperOptional

Looper

For solo players who want to build a rhythm part and play over it.

7. Amp

What matters is that the DI's balanced XLR output goes to the PA.