fiddle amlification

[CGRAYEVANS]

are there any discussions on the various and best ways to amplify a fiddle?

[George Bretz]

CGRAYEVANS,
I can’t help with amplification, I just play harder and don’t stand close to any banjo players.
However, I did find the attached comment from Casey on an old thread, describes his set-up.
Hope this helps,
George

Hi there, Tim, and thanks for the question. I have a setup which includes a custom built condensor microphone suspended over the f-hole (built by Joe Mills in Nashville) as well as a L.R. Baggs peizo pickup mounted in the bridge. Essentially, I can mix and independently eq the signals using a Rane AP13 preamp, depending on the application. For gigs with a bunch of stage noise, I rely exclusively on the bridge pickup – for solo gigs and low stage volume, you can use a close mounted condensor mic with less chance of feedback and a more natural sound. Hanneke, too, uses a clip on condensor mic. In the studio, I use a combo of the above as well as a Shure SM-81…but this is more of a studio application than a live application.

Roland is right, however. If you’re doing small or infrequent gigs, it’s tough to beat the old sm-57. Start there, and if you’re looking to upgrade, there are certainly some higher end options. I would recommend using a preamp if you do go with a close mounted mic on the fiddle. You’ll have more control and will be probably happier with the end result.

Hope that helps, sir!

[robhanson]

I do not know if there are any discussions, however I can offer up a suggestion or two. I can assume you have an amp, or a pa-system and you would like to amplify your violin.

Today this is really easy. You can either mic it, use a pickup or go pickup – wireless. For pickups just do a search on the web and you will find a lot to choose from. As far as which is the best, that is debatable.

For clip-on mic’s, there are a few. I have found the Synthesizer DPA 4099 to be the best for string instruments. This can also be set up in a wireless configuration. Feedback can be an issue but, you can EQ out the frequency that is causing the feedback. (ring out your monitors). This means only remove the frequency that is causing the feedback. If your pa-system/amp does not have frequency analyzer, you can use a phone/iPhone app to identify the frequency to remove. Usually in the 6K range.
Lastly, I like going wireless. You will still need a pickup on your fiddle. I have found Line 6 Relay G10II or S fits the bill here. (No cable, 24-bit, 50ft to 130ft transmission range). If you need more than a 150ft, there are options.

One other thing to note. For violins wireless or not. You will get the best results, use a parametric EQ. This will help with feedback and the quality of the sound.

I hope this helped.

Kind Regards,
Robert Hanson

• This reply was modified 3 months, 3 weeks ago by robhanson.

[Casey Willis]

Good advice here, George and Robert.

Fiddle is such a tough instrument to amp. I generally go with a mic, but still occasionally use the piezo/mic setup you describe from the other thread, George. The only thing I’d add to that is when I do choose to do a loud gig and just use the LR Baggs Piezo bridge, I also use a Baggs Venue pre-amp.

C

[Louis Blackwell]

Hi all
After years of feeling that working with a vocal mic (like an sm-57) was the best choice for me for both vocals and fiddle, because I do both in performance, I recently had a bad experience when the sound guy didn’t provide a good mix during the fiddle breaks. I thought it would help the sound engineers if I provided a quality signal for them to work with and so I asked for advice from locals and decided to try an “LR Baggs violin pickup with external jack mount” (found it on Amazon with that exact title) (it’s probably the same pickup Casey mentioned and is integrated in a quality violin bridge which must be properly fitted on your fiddle), and the external jack is mounted on the left side lower bout; I’m lucky in that I could drive to Robertson’s violin shop in Albuquerque and get an excellent luthier to install the new bridge and the external jack mount. I also purchased an LR Baggs Venue acoustic guitar DI device, it says it’s for acoustic guitar but it works just fine with the signal from the violin pickup and when properly setup gives a very nice signal to the sound mixer.

I was concerned that the new bridge with the attached pickup would reduce the quality of sound when the fiddle is played acoustically — to my ear it has turned out to be excellent; when I do play with a sound system the DI must be properly setup for the amplified fiddle sound but I really love it!

[George Bretz]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Louis. Very valuable. So you run to the PA, do you ever run to an amp and then mic the amp?
Thanks again,
George

[Louis Blackwell]

I’ve never tried mic ing the output of a PA amplifier;

Altho I haven’t checked the output signal level of the LR Baggs Venue, I think of it as a a ‘pre-amp’ in that it has a signal volume control with it’s own power source (it uses a 9 volt battery or can use a powered wall plug) and so I presume it can boost the output of the piezoelectric pickup from the fiddle bridge so you have a control of the signal level fed to the PA via the cable from the Venue to the PA mixing board
Louis

[Casey Willis]

Sounds like the same Baggs bridge pickup, Louis.

Another newer Baggs preamp many professional accoustic guitar/mando/fiddle/etc. players are using is the VoicePrint DI. From what I gather, you record yourself playing on an iphone app, and the device emulates your specific accoustic sound once you plug in. I like the idea, but from what I can tell there is no built-in tuner or boost button for the VoicePrint…which makes it less appealing to me for those times I do plug in. There are always trade-offs, right?

[John Jeansonne]

I’ve played in a lot of country bands. The best setup that has worked for me is the Barcus Berry Violin Pickup (model 1320) and the Fishman Loudbox Artist amplifier. The tone is great.

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