Acoustic guitars with XLR out = DI? phantom?

James85

I have been seeing acoustic guitars with XLR outs lately. Last night I walked over to a girl..holding my 1/4 inch and DI. She said "Oh-I have a thingy down here." I could not put my cable in her thingy so we we in direct, XLR into the snake. She also had "some knobs" up top but I could not check them out on stage.

I could get no sound out of her guitar so we used a DI and 1/4 inch. The next guy had the exact same guitar, went in XLR, no sound. He twiddled the knobs and we got music. BUT..after a while I would get a little weird pig squeal every so often. It was like a "digital" sound. It had to be the guitar.

Do these guitars contain a real DI? Do they need phantom power or do they use a battery. I had a girl with a similar "advanced" acoustic guitar hook up and send out a weird, weird distorted guitar sound. She said she never had that happen. ANY ideas? Gain on the guitar too high or low?

Gadget

How about some Idea what make/model of guitar your talking about here?
Gadget

James85

OK-had to do some digging. The guitars were Washburns. Washburn does not offer any info on the electronics on line. They don't have manuals either. Customers are told to visit their retailer. But I did find this on the small FAQ section.

"I have an Equis System, but the XLR jack does not work. Why?
In order for the Equis system's XLR jack to function, a ¼" "dummy jack" must be in the regular ¼ " input jack to activate the electronics. When using the XLR jack, the on board preamp controls will shut off. The idea for the XLR is to run direct into a mixing board or recorder in which the EQ or controls on the mixing board will control volume and EQ."

There are on-board preamp controls (and EQ?) that are deactivated when a 1/4 inch is plugged into the guitar AND an XLR is connected. Is that how you read it? Otherwise just plugging in a 1/4 inch and DI box would also deactivate the preamp-right?

There were a few users confused on the issue, on their forum.

I will call the manufacturer and ask about the XLR.

Gadget

Yes, that's typical to have to plug a 1/4" jack in because that completes the battery ground for the preamp. I can't argue with allowing the mixer to be the tone controls either. I would, in fact, prefer that way anyway... so there's your answer!

G