Getting a jazz tone with a powered speaker

[Ken Carr]

I play acoustic mostly. I have pickups in my guitars and I play through a QSC CP8 with a Tone Dexter and EQ pedal. For years I have chased a good amplified sound for acoustic guitar, and this is what I am currently doing. I recently picked up a Godin Multiac Steel Natural. It has a chambered body, acoustic wooden bridge, undersaddle piezo pickup, LR Baggs Lyric mic, and a Seymour Duncan lipstick magnetic pickup. It is a hybrid guitar that is meant to be amplified. First of all, it is a great guitar for fingerstyle. I am trying to learn some fingerstyle jazz stuff on it. The problem is, playing this guitar through the CP8 powered speaker sounds too sterile for jazz. I would like to get a warm jazz tone using the lipstick pickup. I usually use my EQ pedal (Tech 21 Q-Strip) to shape the tone. It does ok. But it still is missing something. I don't want to buy a new amplifier. I have been looking at reviews of the Tech 21 para driver version ii pedal. It is supposed to emulate a tube amp and give the tone some warmth with some tone shaping. It can produce clean sounds and variable amounts of overdrive. It might be the ticket for adding some jazz color to a clean powered speaker. Has anyone else here used this pedal? Can you recommend this or something else that might work well for this application?

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by Ken Carr

I play acoustic mostly. I have pickups in my guitars and I play through a QSC CP8 with a Tone Dexter and EQ pedal. For years I have chased a good amplified sound for acoustic guitar, and this is what I am currently doing. I recently picked up a Godin Multiac Steel Natural. It has a chambered body, acoustic wooden bridge, undersaddle piezo pickup, LR Baggs Lyric mic, and a Seymour Duncan lipstick magnetic pickup. It is a hybrid guitar that is meant to be amplified. First of all, it is a great guitar for fingerstyle. I am trying to learn some fingerstyle jazz stuff on it. The problem is, playing this guitar through the CP8 powered speaker sounds too sterile for jazz. I would like to get a warm jazz tone using the lipstick pickup. I usually use my EQ pedal (Tech 21 Q-Strip) to shape the tone. It does ok. But it still is missing something. I don't want to buy a new amplifier. I have been looking at reviews of the Tech 21 para driver version ii pedal. It is supposed to emulate a tube amp and give the tone some warmth with some tone shaping. It can produce clean sounds and variable amounts of overdrive. It might be the ticket for adding some jazz color to a clean powered speaker. Has anyone else here used this pedal? Can you recommend this or something else that might work well for this application?

Ken,
First and foremost: Have you achieved the tone you're looking for when playing it through a guitar amplifier? You need not buy an amplifier to answer that question, but that question needs to be answered before anything else.

It's also possible that the guitar might not have that potential, but then again I've heard Joe Pass play jazz on a Telecaster, and it sounded like Joe Pass, not Steve Cropper, so......

It may not be the powered speaker that's the problem. It may simply be a matter of a better interface for the guitar.

Cart before horse.

HE

[jonfields45]

The Boss IR-2 will solve your amplifier emulation problem and add a selection of useful reverbs. I have an incoming Tonex One which is another take at similar functionality.

With the IR-2 I like the Tweed Bassman model with hall reverb for rich clean tones and for light overdrive. The Twin Reverb model is another good choice.

[Rudy4]

It might be nice to swing down to a local dealer and try out a Taylor Circa 74 amp.

[Ken Carr]

I'm curious what you think about the Tonex One once you have time to play with it.

[mr. beaumont]

A very simple and inexpensive option will be a reverb pedal (whatever you want, you really only need a little) and a preamp like a Tech 21 Blonde (or the REALLY inexpensive Joyo American)

[Brent Hahn]

The PA speaker probably has a crossover and a tweeter or horn for "clarity" and "air," which isn't going to be very jazz box-y. Are you also singing through the same speaker? If no, maybe you could MacGyver a kill switch for the tweeter.

[YamahaGuy]

The secret to my electric pedalboard is an ART MP tube preamp. I replaced the cheap Chinese 12ax7 tube with a Sovtek that breaks up nicely when setting the dials (input and output) to 3 o'clock. I get a nice tube amp sound running direct into a PA. The only other "tone shapers" I have are an MXR Dyna Comp and an MXR 10 band (silver) EQ. If I dime my humbucker equipped guitars I get a nice crunch. Throw drive or distortion at it and it's a nice lead tone. Roll back the volume pots and I get a nice warm clean.

[rollypolly]

A tube amp.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by rollypolly

A tube amp.

FWIW, the "classic" jazz box amp for the players I know personally is the Polytone. But these days those stay at home and folks are gigging with Quilters, which sound very similar and weigh half as much.

Both are solid state.