Looking for simple amp good for electric and acoustic

[rstl99]

Hi all.
I'm mostly an acoustic player, but have recently started jamming with some people, including drummer and bassist, so I've taken my Strat out of the closet and am re-acquainting myself with it.

I own an old Peavey tube amp from the 70's, which is very loud but also very HEAVY to lug around. I'm hoping to get a reasonably simple, light, and loud enough amp (don't need something very loud, we just jam in small rooms). Preferably, something I can plug either my Strat or one of my fine acoustics in and get a decent sound.

I should point out that I have a POD amp simulator that I plug my Strat in, so would just need a simple amp that doesn't have all that electronics built in. A friend of mine recently bought an acoustic amp (Traynor?) - he only owns acoustics, and I was shocked by the number of switches and buttons on it!!

Does anything exist along the lines of what I need? I just called a music store and they said an electric/acoustic amp doesn't exist, and wouldn't sound good if it did.

Thanks for your help and insights.

[mutantrock]

Since you are using a POD for your electric tone I suggest you look at a single powered PA speaker on a Tripod. This one lets you plug in both electric and acoustic and adjust volume of each. Carvin and QSC make something similar for a few more dollars.
Yamaha MSR250 Active Powered Speaker w/built in mixer and EQ.

[rstl99]

Thanks a lot for the suggestion. It's a bit "outside the box" for what I was looking at (guitar amp) but would provide me with a solution that would work well with either or my acoustics or my electric, I suppose. I like the idea of a clean sound device like that, which could prove useful if I ever get into the situation of playing live somewhere...

My friend paid the equivalent price for a Traynor acoustic amp a couple of months ago, and it has so many buttons he is a bit lost in how to use it. He just plugs in his guitar with pickup and no eq, and a voice mic.

I read very good reviews of the QSC K10 but as you say it's a bit more pricey than the Yamaha MSR250/400. Do you own a Yamaha yourself? I like the mini-eq in it (none of my acoustics has an eq built in).

Thanks again, something to think about for sure.

[mutantrock]

I have a pair of QSC K8 and a Yamaha mixer. I had considered the Yamaha or Carvin because they had a mixer and tone controls . The Carvin has effects as well. The QSC is higher quality ( sound wise) but does not have all of what I needed for mixing so I got the Yamaha mixer.

[southpaw pete]

Yep, powered PA speaker would do the trick.

I run my electric through a Sansamp Liverpool, so I often use a Mackie SRM350 for my acoustic or electric. Sounds great IMO.

I'd had a Laney GC50A for a while, which was a kind of hybrid amp with a channel for acoustic (decent eq with sweepable mids...) and a channel for electric (with overdrive...) and a tweeter that could be turned on when running acoustic. Sounded decent, but filt like a bit of a compromise for either instrument, if ya know what I mean. I'm much happier with the powered PA speaker.

[leeasam]

I second the Powered PA speaker. At least a 12" woofer. Will give the Pod a good big sound. If you need some acoustic EQ any small preamp will work just fine-- like Baggs or Ultrasound both which also act as a DI box.