Re: [LAU] OT: Guitar level- Mic or Line?

On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 02:49:29PM -0500, Reuben Martin wrote: Well, I'd say they are neither. Typical levels for a guitar are well below standard line level, and on many pro equipment the line input Z could well be as low as 10k so, which is too low for a guitar. It can work, but the sound won't be the same. This is because the impedance of a typical guitar is not only high but also inductive, and in many cases (depending on the setting of the controls on the guitar) this can resonates in the audio band with the capacitance of the cable. Connecting it to a medium Z line input will kill that resonance. Guitars expect at least a few hundred k. Use an active DI-box, in particular if the guitar output has to be split for a guitar amp as well. The only reason why guitars are as they are is historical. The first ones were built at at time there were only tube amps. This can easiliy have an high imput impedance. Making the pickup high-Z enabled it to produce an higher output voltage, and require one tube less in the amplifier. For the same reason you could buy high-Z mics 50 years ago. These would be hard to find today. Guitars are unbalanced also only because it's cheaper. Today (and for the last 30 years) it would be perfectly possible to make guitars low-Z, balanced, and compatible with a normal mic input. It would save all of us a lot of trouble, and would also allow for phantom-powered active electronics in the guitar. So why didn't this happen ? Because a guitar manufacturer would push himself out of the market by doing it. People expect any guitar to work with existing guitar amps. Ciao, -- FA Laboratorio di Acustica ed Elettroacustica Parma, Italia Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa.