Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

[Diminished Triad]

Does anyone have experience with an effects pedal/box giving a realistic acoustic sound to your electric guitar? Is there one maker/gadget you prefer for this sound? We play lots of classic rock and many songs need an acoustic guitar for intros and of course for many of the ballads. We are not able to switch off guitars during a song nor are we able to forgo what we need from two electrics playing at the same time. But an effect we could turn on and off at different parts of the song would be a great addition. Thanks for anyone able to share personal experience and recommendations!

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

I'd install a piezo bridge and use a fishman box... But I remember reading a great article essentially saying that when it comes to live music, it's usually the appearance of the acoustic, not the tone that signals to the audience that its time to shift gears into "acoustic mode". Because in all honesty, unless you have a great mic on a good acoustic, it's really not going to sound like it should. However, to get that amplified "acoustic tone" I'd think a simulator with a piezo bridge pickup would do a decent job.

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

Have you considered using a hybrid? I have a pretty cool Parker P38 that came equipped with a Fishman piezo bridge. Slick guitar, too. The piezo sounds pretty close to an acoustic guitar sound, and then it has HSS pickups on the electric side. Flip between acoustic and electric pickups with the flip of a switch, blend all the pickups, or even bi-amp them with a stereo cable.

I've also got a couple of very nice Michael Kelly hybrids. These are semi-hollow body with a piezo inside the sound cavity. The difference between the electric and piezo pickups isn't quite as extreme as on the Parker.

Something to consider.

 

[Securb]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

I am +1 for the Fishman. I have one in my Parker and I had one put in my Iceman aftermarket and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Matt42]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

You could try the Mooer Acoustickar pedal, or another acoustic simulator. It wont hit the sound exactly, but it'll be close enough. Or you could just play those intro parts on a clean electric guitar. 95% of the people listening wont give a crap if you play an acoustic part on an electric.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

You could try the Mooer Acoustickar pedal, or another acoustic simulator. It wont hit the sound exactly, but it'll be close enough. Or you could just play those intro parts on a clean electric guitar. 95% of the people listening wont give a crap if you play an acoustic part on an electric.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/cart/cart.jsp?_requestid=2022797
I listened to the video and the the Boss pedal slightly modifies the sound.....doesn't jump out at you or suggest guitar player is now using an acoustic. Any other recommendations? Thanks!

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

graphtech acousticphonic is the go.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

Does it HAVE to be acoustic? Or is a clean guitar + chorus good enough? If it has to be acoustic, it'll be more complicated (and expensive) but piezos would probably be the way to go.

Or this:

View attachment 44216

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

Or you could just play those intro parts on a clean electric guitar. 95% of the people listening wont give a crap if you play an acoustic part on an electric.

Most accurate and helpful post so far.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

Does it HAVE to be acoustic? Or is a clean guitar + chorus good enough. If it has to be acoustic, it'll be more complicated (and expensive) but piezos would probably be the way to go.

Or this:

View attachment 44216

Good stuff! If this doesn't convince that the $100 effects pedal isn't too bad not sure what will!

 

[Matt42]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/cart/cart.jsp?_requestid=2022797
I listened to the video and the the Boss pedal slightly modifies the sound.....doesn't jump out at you or suggest guitar player is now using an acoustic. Any other recommendations? Thanks!

Did you check out the Mooer? I'm not sure how realistic the Boss one sounds, since I've never used one, but the video of the Mooer looks alright.

What kind of guitar do you have? Fishman and a couple of other companies make acoustic pickups built into different bridges. I know there are Strat, Tele and Tune-o-matic pieze bridges on the market. If you are going that route, you are going to need to either have an ABY box or a stereo Y cable to make it sound authentic. A piezo bridge is still going to sound a lot like an electric guitar if it's running through an electric amp. If you split it with a Y cable or an ABY box, you can run one line to the electric amp, and one to the PA, or to an acoustic amp.

 

[Diminished Triad]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

Did you check out the Mooer? I'm not sure how realistic the Boss one sounds, since I've never used one, but the video of the Mooer looks alright.

What kind of guitar do you have? Fishman and a couple of other companies make acoustic pickups built into different bridges. I know there are Strat, Tele and Tune-o-matic pieze bridges on the market. If you are going that route, you are going to need to either have an ABY box or a stereo Y cable to make it sound authentic. A piezo bridge is still going to sound a lot like an electric guitar if it's running through an electric amp. If you split it with a Y cable or an ABY box, you can run one line to the electric amp, and one to the PA, or to an acoustic amp.

I've read the same....you are correct. Hoping if running a clean amp and relying upon effects pedal/box/boards to create distortion then when we switch to the acoustic through a boss effects box, for example, it will provide what is needed. Otherwise, we will shoot one straight to the mixing board and one through the amp as the Boss and others allow for that choice to be made as you are playing.

Thanks so much.....

 

[MrTondo]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

Or get an A/B box and then on one of the lines create a DI signal from your guitar. You'll be amazed at how bright and hi-fi it sounds, when not played through totally tone-modifying amps (that are a good thing if you love playing your electric guitar, but not so much if you plug in you acoustic). then get it to an acoustic amp, or let the sound-engineer tweak the tone till it sounds a bit more acoustic, an EQ pedal could not hurt either .

 

[rts99]

Re: Acoustic Effect for Electric Guitar Recommendation?

I've tried several of the pickup/DSP systems but I haven't been satisfied with any. I've used the GraphTec piezo bridge w/ on-board processor, the Gibson/Epi LesPaul w/ embedded nanomag pickup & processor, & I've also tried some PC based processing in place of the GraphTec on-board processor. I find the sounds from these pickups/etc thin and unemotional. Most of my "experiments" have been with electric guitar amps. I'm told that a true acoustic amp or acoustic amp & PA will make a difference. I've tried a PA system only and didn't hear any difference.

If the choice is between hauling around an extra acoustic amp or an extra acoustic guitar I'll pick the guitar. It's lighter and easier to move around. Based on my experiences I think the sound quality is far superior.

Good Luck