So, you’ve got a soundhole pickup for your acoustic guitar – great choice for a natural sound, especially when playing live. Many players, like yourself, opt for soundhole pickups such as the Seymour Duncan Woody for their warm tones and ease of installation. However, the immediate realization often hits: where’s the volume knob? Unlike electric guitars or acoustics with onboard electronics, soundhole pickups typically lack a readily accessible volume control. This can be a real challenge when you’re on stage needing to quickly adjust your level, particularly in a dynamic band setting.
When integrating your acoustic into a live electric band setup, running through a pedalboard with a DI/preamp like the Tech 21 Acoustic Fly Rig or Trace Elliot Transit A makes perfect sense. These units offer essential DI functionality, preamp shaping, and often effects, streamlining your signal chain to the PA or mixer. But the question remains: how do you get that crucial volume control at your feet, or within easy reach, without sacrificing your pedalboard setup?
The quest for external acoustic guitar volume control leads many to explore options beyond the guitar itself. Beltpack preamps emerge as a potential solution. Units like the older Baggs Mixpro/Gigpro, Schatten volume preamps, and beltpack offerings from Fishman and K&K are designed to sit on your belt or guitar strap, offering immediate access to volume adjustments. The crucial question then becomes: can these beltpack preamps effectively integrate with your existing pedalboard preamp? The answer, thankfully, is generally yes.
You can indeed run your guitar into a beltpack preamp for volume control and initial signal boosting, and then send that signal into your pedalboard unit. Think of the beltpack preamp as your first stage of control, managing your guitar’s raw output. The signal then flows to your pedalboard, where your Tech 21 or Trace Elliot unit takes over for further tone shaping, DI conversion, and effects. This “two preamp” approach is perfectly viable and gives you the best of both worlds: immediate volume control and comprehensive pedalboard functionality.
While dedicated acoustic preamps like the Fishman Platinum or older Baggs units can handle preamp, DI, and potentially volume control, they might limit your desire for pedalboard-based effects and tuner. Beltpack volume control units bridge this gap, allowing you to maintain your preferred pedalboard workflow while adding that essential volume knob for your soundhole-equipped acoustic. Exploring these options opens up a range of possibilities for taming your acoustic guitar volume in a live performance context, ensuring you’re always in control of your sound.
