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Post subject: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 9:38 pm
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I do meddle a bit in acoustic instruments too, including 12-string, tin flute, blues harp, fiddle, and even classical flamenco guitar. Everything except singing.

Frankly, I'm looking for a "one amp to rule them all".

The Fender Acoustasonic just doesn't cut it, I'm afraid, with the TS input tuned for guitar and the XLR input tuned for singing, and neither doing well with the high register of the flute or rapid tremolo of flamenco.

Do any of you have some good recommendations for an all-round acoustic amp? Preferably one that weighs less than my better half, and costs less than a vacation.

Fishman? Crate? Hook a portable PA to an amp cab?
What do you people use for various acoustic use, and are you happy with it?


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 10:41 pm
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Art, in the acoustic amp department I have tried the Acoustasonic 150 and thought that it was great with all the features, especially for the 50 dollars my friend paid for it at the Goodwill store lol. I have no other experience with amps designed for acoustic use so, have fun shopping. :D

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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 4:56 am
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I guess you have to try as many solutions as possible :? You suggested Fishman , and their Loudbox (Mini) is quite good. A fellow band member (and I :lol: ) really loved the sound of the Roland AC-60. But seriously , in our band, we use a Laney LA65D for most of the mentioned purposes. We have used it for miking up dobro, banjo, fiddle - and also go directly with my 12 string acoustic (With Fishman Matrix Infinity) + my Ibanez nylonstringthing ,AND we've even tested it with an acoustic bass guitar , and was pretty satisfied. And , of course we use it for singing both on small gigs and most of our rehearsals. Today, in a a couple of hours, we will be playing a private gig (birthday or wedding? not sure :roll: ) The Laney will be the heart of it , and we will just play directly on our backline. Yes , we love it 8)
PS- I think the LA65D is outgoing - there has come a A1 , that I know nothing about , but it might be ok......?

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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 6:57 am
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A friend uses this and it sounds great!

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ ... gQodqToAqQ

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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:22 am
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Depends on the size of venue. (Though larger ones should have a house PA)

I guess favourite would be a powered mixer and speakers. It all depends on budget, but a PA could offer extra income.
egbehringer-europower

mackie

Alternatively a mixer + active-pa-speaker-

For a highly portable set up that will fit in a medium wheeled suitcase (* I can get to gigs and rehearsals on the bus)...........
I use a Mustang I and Roland Cube in tandem.
Studio Amp on Mustang can get a good clean sound, as can the equivalent on the Cube. Both amps have efffects,reverb etc. and the Mustang has a compressor and noise gate.

For a pure acoustic guitar (one without pickup or bug) I would use a good condenser (eg Rode NT3 or similar) into the Mustang and an SM58 or comparable dynamic to the Cube


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 4:37 pm
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Fishman Loudbox Series. I have a Loudbox Mini, but will probably move up to an Artist or Performer. Great natural sounding amp. Mine has been rock solid.

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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 8:49 pm
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DonX14 wrote:
I use a Mustang I and Roland Cube in tandem.
Studio Amp on Mustang can get a good clean sound, as can the equivalent on the Cube. Both amps have efffects,reverb etc. and the Mustang has a compressor and noise gate.

For a pure acoustic guitar (one without pickup or bug) I would use a good condenser (eg Rode NT3 or similar) into the Mustang


Last I checked, the Mustang I have in the basement does not have an XLR input. And can't run without an electric guitar amp emulation either - even the "clean" settings will simulate tube break-up when the input becomes high. That's exactly what you don't want in an acoustic amp.


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:06 pm
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asgeirman wrote:
But seriously , in our band, we use a Laney LA65D for most of the mentioned purposes. We have used it for miking up dobro, banjo, fiddle - and also go directly with my 12 string acoustic (With Fishman Matrix Infinity) + my Ibanez nylonstringthing ,AND we've even tested it with an acoustic bass guitar , and was pretty satisfied. And , of course we use it for singing both on small gigs and most of our rehearsals. Today, in a a couple of hours, we will be playing a private gig (birthday or wedding? not sure :roll: ) The Laney will be the heart of it , and we will just play directly on our backline. Yes , we love it 8)


Now that sounds good - a workhorse that handles near everything, and is affordable, and looks like it can survive both practice and a few pubs.
Pub, fiddle, tin flute - yeah, playing drinking songs can be fun, even if the money doesn't exactly come rolling in! :)

The phase switch might come in handy too. I love my Dean Markley soundhole pickup for the old 12-string (what I'm probably best at playing), but it's prone to pick up more than it should. I'll check out what the local stores have, but this sounds like a good workhorse. Ty!


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:24 am
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Funny you mentioned the Dean Markley sound hole pickup ; I came to remember that I have one lying around . After a quick search , I found it and put it into my old Levin w36 acoustic (the sound hole of my 12string is already occupied by the Fishman control panel )
I hooked it up into the Laney , and I was actually impressed , as I've never really liked the sound of that pickup. Now it sounded better than ever ! Still I swear to use Fishman/B-band and other similar systems.
About the money : Yesterday we played for 30 minutes, and we got payed $500 (there are 5 of us to share) plus food :lol: Nothing to brag about , but If we could do this every day, it could make a nice income :D

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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:06 am
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Try a small bass amp. They have clean tone controls and low internal gain. I have several customers gigging acoustic music with them and they perform very well. They are also inezpensive


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 9:12 am
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TimsAudio wrote:
Try a small bass amp. They have clean tone controls and low internal gain. I have several customers gigging acoustic music with them and they perform very well. They are also inezpensive

But do they go high enough up in the treble range? The third register of a tin flute or overtones of a fiddle can be rather high Hz.


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:03 am
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You could look for a used Fender Acoustasonic SFXII amp. IMO they sound so much better than the current batch of new Fender acoustic amps.
Kenny V


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:33 pm
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Most bass amps don't roll off treble. Most of them have pretty flat response through the spectrum.
Sure, a 15" speaker won't have much treble response, but a 12" should be OK. If it also has a tweeter, that helps.
You can pick them up pretty cheap and they have plenty of power for the clean headroom and low gain that avoids feedback.
If it has an effects loop, you can plug in a little 2 channel mixer and add an XLR microphone for vocals.
One amp you might consider is the Bassman 100 PR595. It has excellent high frequency response out to 30-40KHz.
Another is the Ibanez Troubadour or Ibanez Soundwave SWX65 These both have extended high end response as well


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 7:22 pm
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I played acoustic for over 30 years before I got my first electric. I have a Crate, an Acoustasonic, Fender Rad Bass and (hate to say it but...) one of those Peavey Vypyr Multi-instrument modeling amps. All seem to work fine for me but with the exception of the Peavey I use them with a little tube preamp turned down low. The Fender Rad Bass is a good clean amp for acoustic guitar but not so much for bass.


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Post subject: Re: Acoustic amp recommendations?
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:10 am
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For the solo guy (guitar/vocals) nothing seems to quite work as good as these do.

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/sho ... /index.jsp

I've heard a lot of guys use these and I'm always real impressed with the results.


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