Acoustic guitar amps: are they worth buying?

[guitarbilly74]

I am starting yet another project that is all-acoustic. Not a big deal, just a jazzy thing to play lounges and stuff with a singer.

 

Anyway, I only own big amps at the moment (JCA, Marshall) and there is no way I will try to use them on this project. I was thinking of buying an acoustic guitar amp, but I think it would be best if I bought a small SS electric guitar combo like say, a Peavey Bandit because it would also double as a small jam amp for electric guitar and I could use the clean channel with a touch of reverb for the acoustic project.

 

I will try it this weekend but does anybody have experience on using a ss combo on the clean channel vs. an amp designed for acoustic guitar?

[ss454]

I like the Genz Benz Shenedoa series myself. I had a Shen 60 for a while and you can run two guitars or a guitar and a mic into it. I think a dedicated acoustic amp is good to have in your arsenal honestly.

[Khoifish321]

from my experiences, a PA sounds better 90% of the time. I've had an acoustic amp, it was alright, but PA just works much better.

[guitarbilly74]

 

no, a PA sounds better 90% of the time. I've had an acoustic amp, it was alright, but PA just works much better.

 

 

yeah the singer does have a small P.A. she is going to use, I could just plug into that...

[ShaneV2]

Acoustic amps are kind of a rip off IMO. For the price of a good one you could get a powered speaker and something like a Fishman Aura and probably be better off.

 

EDIT: posted before the post above me was up. I'd just use her PA for sure.

[dicky sofa]

JC-120

[teemuk]

I can't really agree with rip off sentence. They usually come packed in with some very useful features lacking from the small PA -types of things, like proper tone controls and feedback eliminator, sometimes also effects like compressor, or time-based stuff like reverb, echo, chorus, etc. to name a few examples. Plus they're usually kinda compact package. Anyway, guess you could file a lot of that to the "preference" category, though.

 

Acoustic preamp unit + powered speaker question is sorta like do you want a combo or a piggyback amp? Personal preference again. If you already have a good PA then you may not need a dedicated acoustic amp but just some interface box. If you need a portable solution for jamming in places where possibilities or even existence of decent PA is questionable then an acoustic combo is a marvellous solution.

 

I've tried an acoustic few times through an ordinary guitar amp combo. Horrible solution. They color the sound a lot and their response doesn't cover nearly the entire spectrum of an acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars are also very prone to acoustic feedbacking so those feedback suppressors really come in handy.

[THEE HAMMER]

I really liked the Hartke Acoustic combo I had a while back with the ribbon feature or whatever it was called, looked sort of like an old tv set.

 

Regardless it sounded like pure sex with my now departed Taylor 810, playing acoustic with a Faux "Merle Travis" style like I do is impossible on a traditional amp.

 

and at 100-200 used not a bad investment.

 

Lately if i've played live it's been into a Bose L system through a DI box, or other cheaper solutions in coffee house type places.....

 

 

Yea yea I know.... acoustic blasphemy and all.

[Sheik_Yerbouti]

 

 

This is what you want!

[newholland]

i'm a much bigger fan of the SDC on the 12th... i just can't stand that lunchbox fulla nickels sound that a bridge pickup has.. ugh.

 

MAYBE with a bridge/ommi mic mix you can get feasible sound... i know plugin electrics are super convenient, but man do they sound bad most times.

[tlbonehead]

from my experiences, a PA sounds better 90% of the time. I've had an acoustic amp, it was alright, but PA just works much better.

same here. I do solo gigs, and use acoustic for a few songs at every band gig.

[Cibyl]

It's really dependent on the situation/size of the venue you're playing. Most times going direct to the PA (in my experience) is best as long as you have proper monitors for reference. I've played smaller places where all they had were mains (no monitors) so that left me with out a reference. In that situation I'd love to have a good acoustic amp.

[Johnny Z]

Try one.