27 May
2008
27 May
'08
7:09 p.m.
Back on Tuesday 27 May 2008, Fons Adriaensen was like:
On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 02:49:29PM -0500, Reuben
Martin wrote:
Well, to you I would say "neither". To somebody asking if they should plug it
into their mackie mixer line input or mic pre-amp input, I say "line" simply
because I know the chance of them actually going out an purchasing a DI is
kind of low, and if they're going to plug it direct, it's better for them to
stick it in the line input than fry the mic pre-amp. :o)
Back on Tuesday 27 May 2008, Simon Williams was
like:
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. Are guitars mic or line or what?
Hi-Z Line level. (The output level can vary quite drastically depending
on the type of pickup though) [...]
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.
I think I read an article in TapeOp a while back that Les Paul did just that.
IIRC, he rewired a pickup to be Low-Z because he thought it better retained
it's character by being able to plug it directly into a preamp. Or something
to that effect. I should dig around and see if I can find that article.
-Reuben