Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

In your opinion, what do you see as a Brilliant Acoustic amp ?

Weird question, i know . . .


. . . still would love to hear your suggestions.


GO !

 

[the toad]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

I run mine into a Zoom G3, for a bit of "HD reverb", then into a mixer and PA or monitors... I just use the onboard active EQ and gain controls on my Takamine GD93ce...

Sounds better than any "acoustic amp" I've played... An acoustic amp is basicly just a full range compact PA system... Vs electric amps which color the signal and are focused on midrange mostly... So just skip the "special packaging/naming and just go thru a PA... The better the sound system the better your results...

I also like the Line 6 Stage Source powered PA speakers because they have reverb built in but they're kinda pricey for my humble means..

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

I love my Fishman SA-220. Pricey and more of a small PA system. Works a treat for solo gigs.

But plugging straight into a PA works great too. Did it for years but the key is a good power amp and PA speakers that don't suck. You could also look into a powered speaker with a 10 or 12 inch speaker but your not going to get effects as a rule.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Thanks guys . . . keep 'em coming !

 

[Matt42]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Fishman Loudbox Mini. end thread.

Seriously though, it's a great amp, super light and it sounds awesome. If I were ever to go with an acoustic amp rather than a Baggs Preamp into the mixer, the Fishman Loudbox Mini would be my first choice.

The Fishstick (SA-220 mentioned above) is great for a solo guy, but it can be really tough to manage in a band situation. I used to do sound for my ex-g/f's folk band, and their lead singer/guitar player had one of those. It might have partially been him being a PITA, but I always hated sound checking that thing. It's hard to beat for a solo/duo set up, though.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Please define brilliant???

As in bright? Or a brilliant design??? As in genius.

Hard to hate Loudbox
The Bose PA is pretty cool
A Marshall 100 watt acoustic is awesome
Old Trace Elliott is cool...

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Straight to PA for me. The secret: seymour's mag-mic!

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

I've always been happy using my small PA, which is an old Peavey XR-600C top box, and any of the various speakers I've had. Peavey 112-HS monitors, 1012 Impulse, SP-2s, or Yamaha Club V 115M.

One of my friends is using one of the small Mackie mixers; a simple rack with a Furman power strip, an EQ, Dbx compressor and an Alesis Quadraverb; with one of the high powered JBL EON 115 power speakers. He'll often have a classic, a steel string and a 12- string and voice for his solo gigs. He has a second EON if he needs it. He gets a very consistent tone from room to room....natural. He's used this for several years, even with a band.

Around the house, I use an Acoustic AB-50. These are great little amps, designed for acoustic bass, but I've used mine for my drum machines and my guitars, too.

Lots of good stuff on the market. I do like the Fishman stuff; the Carvin acoustic amp is decent; the Marshall; and the GC Acoustic brand are all worth looking at.

Bill

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

any Bass Amp and I mean Any Bass amp
works fine as a nice big clean amp for Acoustics

for years I used my Carvin Redline for just this
two tens and 600 watts worked great

then I got a deal on some powered Carvin PA speakers
each one with its own 400 watt power amp and three band eq
the ability to daisy chain them together is nice
also have XLR and RCA inputs with separate volume control
makes each one a stripped down Mixer as well

Powered PA for the win

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

i kinda hate acoustic amps. The cheap ones sound, well, bad and the expensive ones are usually expensive because they try to fit a big sound into a small package. As such amps like the AER try to squeeze a lot of low end out of a small speaker. All of them hurt my ears after a while.
One of the big things about playing an acoustic guitar is the fact that it vibrates against your body. Amp with small speakers simply cannot replicate this. As such, the only way i have found to get a really satisfying amplified image of an acoustic guitar is to use big speakers, so i end up lugging a PA system. Often, i will use only one speaker cab, but for me, anything less than a 15 inch speaker just leaves me feeling uninspired. Most acoustic guitar soundboards are 16 or 17 inches wide. It is physically impossible to get an accurate image of that with an 8 or 10 inch speaker.
When you think about it, the job of an acoustic amp is to provide a flat frequency response. Its the same job with a PA system, the only difference is that Acoustic amps try to fit that into a small box.
Big wattage for headroom and big speakers are the way to go for me. Piezos sound bad enough before trying to squeeze them thru undersized speakers.
I do understand that for a lot of gigs, portability is an issue and this is where acoustic amps come to the fore, but there is always a compromise.
In the end it is up to the individual player to work out what they can live with and how much gear they want to lug.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Trace Acoustic. I know one of the soundguys who work the PA at Telluride. You bring any other amp to the stage, and they promptly put it to the side, and you go into one of the Traces onstage.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Please define brilliant???

As in bright? Or a brilliant design??? As in genius.

Hard to hate Loudbox
The Bose PA is pretty cool
A Marshall 100 watt acoustic is awesome
Old Trace Elliott is cool...

IMHO . . . a BRILLIANT acoustic amp = GREAT tone and fantastic value for your money.

Too many times i found that the amp changes the guitar tone too much.
An amplified Martin NEVER sounds like the non-amplified Martin.
I want the amplified tone to sound 100% just like the unplugged tone.

Is there such an amp ?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

This http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/speakers/portable_amplification_systems/l1_compact/index.jsp

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

I want the amplified tone to sound 100% just like the unplugged tone.

Is there such an amp ?

No.

But you will get a lot closer to it using a good mic rather than a piezo.
Downside of course is dealing with proximity, bleed and feedback.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

No.

But you will get a lot closer to it using a good mic rather than a piezo.
Downside of course is dealing with proximity, bleed and feedback.

Whill a sounhole pick up be more accurate than a piezo ?

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Any kind of piezo or sound hole pup is a compromise. Flip a coin as to what is "better". A good mic is of course preferable as far as sound quality but then you run into MANY other issues, all of which can sink your efforts for the best sound quick as a bunny. There's a reason touring pros plug in just like us weekend warriors.

Your skill as a musician and performer is 100 times more important than your rig.

 

[Matt42]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

I prefer transducers to piezo or magnetic. I've got the K & K Mini, and while it's not 100% accurate, it doesn't have the some shrill high end that I associate with most piezos.

And no, no amp will ever sound like an acoustic unplugged. The closest I've ever gotten is running the K&K Mini equipped guitar through an LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI and running into the board and out of our JRX125 speakers. It's not perfect, but it's better than anything else I've tried other then using a mic (which brings its own set of problems). Even running a mic into the board isn't 100% accurate. It's a lot closer, for sure, but not perfect.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Whill a sounhole pick up be more accurate than a piezo ?

Neither type give you the movement of air that an acoustic generates but at least a blend gives you two different sound sources.
The best you can hope for is a good "electroacoustic" sound from any pickup system.


a big plus one to slyfoxx.

 

[jtougas]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

Amp? Tech21 Bronzewood... Which is no longer made. When testing it out in the store, found a setting that was impossible to distinguish from the guitar being played.

Barring that? Tech21's Paracoustic DI... Same circuit, in a DI pedal. Sounds great.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Please recommend me a Brilliant Acoustic amp.

An amplified Martin NEVER sounds like the non-amplified Martin.
I want the amplified tone to sound 100% just like the unplugged tone.

Is there such an amp ?

no

No.

But you will get a lot closer to it using a good mic rather than a piezo.
Downside of course is dealing with proximity, bleed and feedback.

since i primarily only play on stage i deal with this all the time and in general i really dislike playing acoustic guitar. i typically play my martin which is a great playing, great sounding guitar. i also have some taylors which play like butter but dont deal with my heavy handed style well. i have a magmic which is a great pup and i always used a lr baggs para acoustic di which gave me a passable tone and feel but i still basically hated playing acoustic plugged in. then i got my fishman loudbox mini. it makes everything better. sounds pretty realistic and it feels right too. it doesnt sound like the natural guitar but ive given up on that. i just wanted something that didnt make me cringe and dread the whole experience. the fishman loudbox mini did it for me.

the best tone youll get from an acoustic through any amplification is a good small diaphragm condenser mic through a good pa. this is completely impractical if you are on stage with any electric instruments or a drumset without isolation shield.