Acoustics Through An Electric Amp

[Tim]

This post is a follow-up to a post that Tone did back in December 2006. I thought I would reword it and try again since we have new Fretters on board.

I realize that you can not play an acoustic guitar straight through an electric guitar amplifier due to the frequency difference between the two instruments. I am wondering if anybody has tried to tame down an acoustic guitar through a regular amp by using a 7 band graphic equalizer. I want to play my electric acoustic through an amp, but can not afford to purchase an acoustic amp. I would presume one would lower the lows and the highs below neutral, leaving the mids somewhere above natural to suit the sound to the ears.

[t_ross33]

You could cut the lows and highs with an EQ if that's the only option available to you, though I would think it might thin the sound out too much making it somewhat "un-acoustic" if you know what I mean. Should be able to get something useable for home-use if you tweak the EQ of your amp as well. Just gonna have to fiddle with your knobs.

If you can squeeze it into your budget, Washburn's WA-30 is a nice little acoustic amp for not-too-much-coin. Or flea-bay a little keyboard amp. They work well for acoustic in a pinch.

Trev

[Spudman***]

I've seen numerous pros using their regular amph for acoustic. I'm not sure of the actual set up, but the amph is probably just for stage monitoring and the main signal goes from a DI box to the house system. With a good EQ and/or an acoustic multi pedal I don't see any reason NOT to use the same amph for both kinds of guitar. Who wants to haul 2 amphs to a gig?

[SuperSwede]

You can get a rather good acoustic sound in a normal guitar amp if your amp has a power amp input. Just use a guitar with a good preamp, or a separate preamp for acoustics.

[Tim]

I have read a lot of guitar players are going to keyboard amps, especailly when using a modeler. There is better frequency responce using the keyboard amp and the different amp models can be heard better.

[Plank_Spanker]

The whole issue with using keyboard and acoustic amps is that they are designed for full range sound reproduction - not just the broad mids where guitar amps live. You can't capture the timbre and nuances of an acoustic guitar with an electric amp.

The problem with that is shoving a mic on front of the amp for gigs. A single instrument mic will not capture the sound of even the best acoustic amp. Playing the guitar close mic'ed at the soundhole will work, but it's a real pain to sit and play it that way and it's better for studio work.

The answer is to D/I the guitar right to the board and use the monitors to hear your guitar. I do that and use this magic little juice box:




The Yamaha AG Stomp. It's a D/I on steroids. It has chorus and reverb, and the mic sims are excellent. All of your patches can be set in as user presets. It also has notch filters to tame feedback.

My acoustics sound KILLER through the PA and this box!

[t_ross33]

The answer is to D/I the guitar right to the board and use the monitors to hear your guitar. I do that and use this magic little juice box:

Thanks Spanky! That is one unit (among various others) I've been looking at for my live acoustic setup, but haven't been able to track down any impartial reviews yet. I currently DI my acoustic with a Behringer DI20 which allows me to "link" to my acoustic amp for some added warmth on stage. Looking for something to help "shape" my acoustic sound for various songs and genres.

My 2-cents: Full Range/Full Response amp (acoustic or keyboard type) for acoustic guitar (and amp/cab modelling as mentioned) and/or DI to the board. It does make a huge difference. A guitar (electric) amp just doesn't cut it in this instance. As I use both modelling MFX and acoutics, this was a deciding factor in my dumping my Vox AD30VT (which is a great little guitar amp BTW).

But if you're stuck for $$, a home-based player or just don't want to haul extra gear around, you'll have to make do with a good EQ.

Trev

[Plank_Spanker]

I believe that the AG Stomp is out of production, but I'm sure that they're out there to be had.