He says his guitar is unique in that every note on every string plays at the same volume. It makes it fun to play lead, because you don't have to worry where you're at. It's not much of a solo instrument, but I can't really play by myself worth a darn, so it doesn't make much of a difference. Welch and Rawlings switched their stage amplification rig in 1996 from pickups and DIs to external microphones. Rawlings explains that the change has made setting up for shows easier, although they do need to be a bit more hands-on during setup than they used to be.
Fancy microphones can be very difficult.
The one thing that's nice about the Shures is that their quality control is low enough that they are all different. They're like snowflakes. If we carry a complement of eight microphones, we can go into a hall and find the right one for the room and the system. In high school he made enough money to buy himself an Epiphone Texan. The brown National Duolian he used on his first records was a long-term loaner from a friend who was sent to prison.