…very careless with my return key there!

not disputing the value of monitors/PA systems etc in general! Just that in small clubs (which in most cases is gonna be what musicians reading this thread are playing) I'd be able to hear myself perfectly fine if I wasn't going through a monitor. (Or PA for that matter) Every monitor mix I get always has my voice at Wembley Stadium level, often with a fair bit of reverb on it, and acoustic guitar dwarfed by it. Suspect this is cos I play a lot of 'acoustic' nights (rather than 'folk'nights): lots of rock singers who don't sing that loud cos they're used to singing through a mic, and who strum their guitars with a pick. (I on the other hand sing comparatively loudly but I fingerpick comparatively quietly with ends of fingers cos I've never managed to grow my nails.) I've often achieved a better atmos and performance in small clubs by not bothering with amplification or the stage and just playing from the floor in the middle of the audience. You end up quieter than other acts on the bill, but the audience that listens *really* listens.