jakekelly's blog posts

Songwriting: Knowing the basics for your band.

One of the great pleasures in life for songwriters is playing one of their songs with a full band backing them up:

In this video, Jake Kelly walks you through some simple steps to make the most out of your plugged in acoustic guitar tone.

Fishman Rare Earth Humbucking and L.R. Baggs M1a Acoustic Guitar Pickups

A side by side comparison of the Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker and the L.R. Baggs M1a active acoustic guitar soundhole pickups.

You got a Publishing Contract!

Congratulations, you did it! Somehow you broke through the mucky muck and landed a meeting with a publisher, someone who can actually do something with your songs.

What To Write: People Like To Feel Good.

Not that there aren’t exceptions, but people like to feel good. If they are going out to dinner, generally they like to order food that will make them feel good.

Fishman Blackstack Pickup Installation and Review - VIDEO!

Jake Kelly goes through installation and demo of the Fishman Blackstack Pickup. Check it out!

Songwriters In The Round: Part 1

It happens in living rooms all across this great nation whenever there’s a party with two or more songwriters in the room and a guitar close at hand. Someone will plead, “Play us a song!”

Acoustic Guitar Pickup Primer: Part 9 - Conclusion

Amplifying your acoustic guitar to get a usable sound doesn’t have to be a compromise (other than monetary expense). From this series you have probably learned that technology has caught up with the needs of discriminating musicians, and now there are systems that sound so good that they can be used in the studio as well as the stage.

Jake Kelly's Acoustic Guitar Pickups Overview - VIDEO!

Jake Kelly's companion video for his series on acoustic guitar pickups gives you the whole enchilada - everything you need to know about pickups!

Acoustic Guitar Pickup Primer: Part 8 Acoustic Amplifiers

When talking about acoustic guitar pickups, preamps, direct boxes and the signal path your electric acoustic transverses, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the breed of amplifiers designed for acoustic instruments.

Acoustic Guitar Pickup Primer: Part 7 Direct Boxes

In order to run your electric acoustic guitar into most professional P.A. systems, you need to plug into a direct box, which is also commonly referred to as a D.I. box or line transformer.

Acoustic Guitar Pickup Primer: Part 6 Outboard Pre-amps

Many factory equipped electric acoustic guitars have a preamp installed on the rim of the guitar giving the performing guitarist control of their sound at their fingertips. But few owners of vintage or boutique guitars are willing to perform such modifications to their expensive instruments. Hence, the internally mounted pre-amp and the inside the soundhole controls were born.

Acoustic Guitar Pickup Primer: Part 5 Onboard Pre-amps

The signal produced by any pickup source, whether it is an on-board mic, magnetic pickup, or piezoelectric pickup, is just the first link in the signal chain. Before it reaches the audience’s ear it most likely will be run through a pre-amp, direct box, another pre-amp, a power amp and, finally, speakers…not to mention the tens, if not hundreds, of feet of cables that connect them all together.