I am playing rhythm guitar in a big band, which is a new project for me. The guys whose sound I like the most in this context are Freddie Green and Django Reinhardt. What they have in common is that they liked to play an accoustic guitar without amplification (they differ in other ways quite a bit, but I'm thinking more of the sound of the rhythm guitarists in Django's bands).
I really want to be able to reproduce the acoustic sound of my instrument with as little alteration as possible, so that I really capture the timbre of the acoustic guitar, which I prefer in big band context.
I play a Flame Maple, 5th Avenue Series, Godin Guitar. I like the sound of it. The maple gives it a good percussive sound (note that this exact model isn't available right now, but it's like the one at the end of this video).
I play a decent 30w amp with minimal effects. UPDATE: I am using a sunn alpa 112r amp
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So I'm thinking I should get a microphone for my guitar, and play it through the amp, rather than playing through the pickups. I don't like the sustain using pickups gives me, and I also don't like that it amplifies the subtle harmonics I get from muting strings more than it amplifies the percussive sound of the guitar.
My questions are:
1) Does the mic'd guitar through an amp setup make sense?
2) What is the minimum cheapest gear I could get to accomplish a very literal amplification of my sound.
3) Based on this question I came up with one potential setup with:
- microphone: Audio Technica AT2021
- pre-amp: ART TubeMP
- cable: Milletech XLR Female to 1/4 Inch TRS Jack Lead
Is this the right setup? Do I need the pre-amp? Is this the right cable? Also, would I benefit from a pre-amp even if I do use the pickups? I am very new to amplifying my sound. I have always played acoustically, but the big band setup requires a little more output.