Effects on an acoustic

[otter272]

Anybody familiar with effects on acoustic guitars? What would happen if I ran my acoustic through a distortion pedal?

[tlniec]

I like the sound of an acoustic with some chorus. Not sure how other effects would sound; never really tried it.

One time, I did plug my friend's Ovation into a SS amp's drive channel, just goofing around, and the results weren't too impressive (IMO).

[Singin' Dave]

Typically, a distortion pedal and an acoustic don't work too well together given the propensity of an acoustic's body to vibrate and cause wicked, unmanagable feedback. But it has been done. Give it a try and see what you think (but use a feedback buster or some other sound hole cover).

I agree w/ tl- a little chorus is about all the effects I use.

[otter272]

Cool thanks.

I actually asked a couple other places and I was told that it is a very interesting sound but if you are going to use it on a regular basis than you need to also buy and use some sort of equalizer to cut down on the feedback.

[slider]

if you plan on running your acoustic through effects, and I do on occasion, I find that a nice equalizer helps the overall sound (feedback too).
I also use , sparingly, a little compression. helps even out some distortions and gives some nice clarity to the mud.

[Khan Fused]

Ibanez PF5CE thru a Boss Metal Zone II. The results were so-so, but the amp was an Ibanez practice amp. I might try again using our Crate 130, which has reverb & chorus.

Might be okay if you're trying for some really strange acoustic sounds.

[guitarcapo]

I like the sound of chorus, delay, compression and maybe a little reverb. Wah, distortion, flange and phase effects seem not to sound too good though. It's not just the feedback...an acoustic has so many overtones and the sound is so thick that those effects seem to be overkill and just not sound harmonically pleasing.

[Terry Allan Hall]

When gigging with my trio, I run my acoustics into a pedal board full of Boss FX, one of which is the HM-2 (IMHO, the only pedal that can make a piezo-equipted acoustic morph into a Les Paul Custom )...the trick with running an acoustic/electric into either overdrive or distortion is to get one with 2 or 3 bands of EQ, so you can tame the feedback.

And run through a small, clean amp, letting the major amplification come from the PA.

And, last of all, use FX sparingly...a little goes a long way.

[EnzyteMan]

My processor has a bank of "for acoustic guitar" presets.

"New Age Acoustic" is detuner and reverb. Detuner basically is a multi-voice chorus that doesn't modulate, just thickens the sound.

"Simulated 12 String" steroe pitch shifter, chorus, reverb

"Chorus/Delay w. PEQ" self-explanatory

"Acoustic Phase/Panner" phaser + auto panner (pretty cool, really)

"Stereo Detune/Reverb" again, self-explanatory.

[auditorium]

run it through a VHS casette deck for overloaded, saturated goodness.

[Buck62]

The only effects you should ever use on an acoustic guitar are the clean ones (ie: chorus, reverb, delay...).

Why would you want to degrade and bastardize the wonderful tone of a natural, acoustic instrument?

If you want a heavy-guitar tone, why not just use an electric???

[Gear_Junky]

If you run acoustic through overdrive, you'll look as silly as Kurt Cobain at his Unplugged in NY concert

(I like Cobain, I'm just being humorous here!).

Anything can be done, but who's gonna eat it?

For me, I'd stick with reberb, chorus, maybe warm natural delay (analog delay= echo) interchangeably with reverb. If I wanted anything beyond that, I'd just use an electric - easier to control and play.

But who's gonna stop you?

When I first started playing, running my acoustic through a drive-channel on my electric mini-amp is what made me buy an electric guitar and start a band. So it was good at least for that.

[solitaire]

Originally posted by auditorium run it through a VHS casette deck for overloaded, saturated goodness.

 

Doesn't Focusrite make a machine that does just that (for a hefty price, that is), adds tape saturation?

 

I like natural reverbs with some detune/ chorus and some valve saturation, for that magic, big and spacious sound.

[solitaire]

Originally posted by otter272 Anybody familiar with effects on acoustic guitars? What would happen if I ran my acoustic through a distortion pedal?

Could work with a magneto or piezo P/U. Mic'ed is another story...

[univox5138]

I actually like my Small Stone set for a low speed setting. That or a little chorus or delay.

[Terry Allan Hall]

Originally posted by Buck62 The only effects you should ever use on an acoustic guitar are the clean ones (ie: chorus, reverb, delay...). Why would you want to degrade and bastardize the wonderful tone of a natural, acoustic instrument? If you want a heavy-guitar tone, why not just use an electric???

Ever try playing "Aqualung" and do both the acoustic AND the electric parts, when you're the only guitarist in the band? This allows me to do so.

FX are just another "color" to use in creating your masterpiece... but, again, they're best used sparingly!