If you’re a national jam-grass powerhouse such as Greensky Bluegrass or Infamous Stringdusters, new acoustic innovators like the Punch Bros. or traditionalists like Ricky Skaggs or Rhonda Vincent, you’re performing with top end mics, in-ear monitors and highly-experienced, pro sound people. But if you’re a local acoustic trio from Portland, OR performing at Oregon wineries and the like, you’re lugging your own gear and managing your own sound while trying to get your lovely acoustic instruments to sound like, well, lovely acoustic instruments. The quest for natural sounding amplified sound in acoustic instruments is never-ending; it’s the holy grail of live sound!
Now that Roots ‘n’ All Acoustic Trio is a few months and a handful of gigs old, we’ve been mostly happy with our self-assembled and managed live sound. Our Americana music, singer-songwriter, new acoustic, alt country, folk and bluegrass-adjacent tunes project clearly and with minimal wrestling of dreaded feedback. So, we thought we’d share the gear we use to achieve just that. Please note we have no affiliation with any of these gear brands; it’s just the stuff we use.
Guitarist/vocalist John Stocks starts with some very fine 000 sized acoustic guitars from the venerable Martin Guitar Co. and a Decophonic Model 47 resonator guitar. His guitars are typically equipped with K&K Mini transducer pick-ups, quite popular with acoustic musicians. The instrument signals are then sent to either an Aphex Acoustic Xciter foot pedal or a T.C. Electronics Booster/Line Driver. Both provide EQ and tone-shaping controls before the signal is sent to the PA mixing board.
Bassist Duane Ransom plays a gorgeous Furch Bc62 fretless acoustic-electric bass equipped with a K&K pick-up. His signal then goes to a Genzler Magellan 350 Bass Amp and Acme Flatwound Bass cabinet. Duane provides a natural sound more like a classic upright bass while enjoying the comfort and playability of an electric bass.
Finally, mandolin and acoustic guitar player Mike Smith starts with a Northfield Big Mon mandolin and a Martin custom shop 000-18 acoustic guitar. For his mandolin, he uses a Meyers Feather clip-on mic with a belt-clip preamp for fingertip volume control. His Martin has a K&K pick-up run through a ToneDexter foot pedal. The ToneDexter uses microphone wave map imaging to make the pick-up sound more like (but not exactly like) a high-end microphone. Mike “trains” his ToneDexter with a Neuman KM184 SDC microphone.
Finally, the instrument signals and vocal mics run into a QSC TouchMix digital mixer, Bose S1 Pro main PA speakers and Yamaha 10” wedge monitor speakers.
If you ever see Roots ‘n’ All playing in your neck of the woods, come listen for yourself!