Can't Dial in Good Sound Through Amp

[MikeB1]

Greetings from New York...!!!

So I’m snowed in and figured I would take some time to try to really dial in a nice sound with my Yamaha Silent guitar (SLG200nylon) and my Roland AC33. For those of you who might not be familiar with these products, I added links for demos of both. This is the newest version of the Yamaha that has been around for a while.

Now I’m no Phil Keaggy, but he seems to get a great sound out of the Roland; same for the player in the guitar demo.

My problem is no matter what combination of settings I use, the bass is overwhelming. Through the headphones, the guitar sounds great; a nice balanced sound. Through the amp, it sounds muddy and like I’m playing in a barrel.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Roland Demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq30Y1VgD4c

Yamaha Demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjItdly3ngE

[muscmp]

You've probably tried this but turn the bass off and the treble up on both amp and guitar. Also try aiming the amp up by putting a book under it, if it is on a carpeted floor.

Play music!

If you have access to a graphic EQ, place it between the Yamaha and the Roland and ring out the offending frequency, which you can then cut to get your amp sounding closer to what you hear in your headphones.

When I first got my Bose L1C, I was unhappy with the guitar sound until I did this and found the offending frequency to be 1600 Hz. I use my PADI to attenuate it and it sounds fine now.

[pops]

A lot of rooms are hot in the 125-250 cycle range and can make sound muddy. The Eq is a good idea to find what is offending. I have a P.A. that I have to turn the bass off on every channel even for a stand up bass, so that is definitely worth a try. I would keep the guitar volume wide as a lot of guitars roll the bass off with the volume down. Have flun.

[MikeB1]

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

I did try turning bass to zero but will try these alternatives.

I don't have an EQ, so I guess I will start looking at my local store as soon as I can dig out.

[121]

Location of your Roland amp may have something to do with higher bass response.
Is the amp located in or near an inside corner of the room.
Or just a few inches away from the wall.
Try moving the amp to the middle of the room and see if the bass response is reduced.

[MikeB1]

Wow 121, you nailed the location of the amp.

It is in the corner of the inside wall and right up against the wall.

I will try moving it!

[ljguitar]

Hi Mb1

Set the amp on a chair up off the floor and away from the intersection of a wall or corner. Setting an amp on the floor near an intersection of wall/floor amplifies bass (corners even magnify it more).

I run my acoustic amps about 20-30 inches off the floor.

[MikeB1]

Wow, the difference is UNBELIEVABLE. You guys are awesome and you made my night. I was getting really frustrated about the awful sound. I just couldn’t understand why a quality amp and guitar sounded so bad.

When the amp was in the corner of the room, not only was the bass overwhelming, the bass just kept sustaining forever like thunder.

I put the amp on a chair about 20 inches off the floor and moved it out of the corner to the middle of the room. I kept the bass on the amp and guitar to zero. I turned the treble on the amp to ¾ and full on the guitar. I also turned the reverb on the amp and guitar to zero.

Immediately the guitar sounded more balanced; like magic! I then started to tweak the sound using the guitar controls, turning the reverb to one quarter.

The new Yamahas also have a combination control to combine the piezo pick up and a microphone recorded sound. I turned this control totally to the piezo.

When I learn how to upload recordings I will let you guys hear the results of your great insights.

Thanks so much to all of you for your help.

Now who can help me shovel out my car!

[MBE]

Glad you got it sorted! The effect of positioning of a speaker/guitar amp is a factor that many people simply do not know about. In the electric guitar world, FRFR amps (full range, flat response) are becoming the rage in order to amplify amp-modeling devices.

A lot of FRFR amp reviews are punctuated with ones along the lines of "Horrible, nothing close to flat response. Maybe mine was defective, because I don't understand all these other positive reviews." Usually, these people have the speaker against a wall or in a corner, on the ground, pointing roughly at their knees. Getting the amp up off the ground (or at the very least tilting it) and away from walls and corners is the key. An "acoustic amp" (oxymoron though it is) such as your Roland is a close cousin of FRFR amps; I'm not surprised the results are the same.

[MikeB1]

Thanks MBE,

This was definitely a revelation to me.

It was really baffling to me since I knew both the amp and guitar were capable of producing great sound.

The effect of simply moving the amp a few feet was amazing. I have been playing for hours now, enjoying the sound.

[jseth]

Mike - Glad you figured out what worked IN THAT ROOM... because it is going to change everytime you play in a different room...

Remember, the converse of moving your amp out of that corner is also true for when you WANT more bass response... against a wall gives you more, and in a corner will give you more still... and on the floor gives a better bass than up in the air!

So, now you have a bunch of ways to "tweak" the sound/output of your amp, without even touching the tone knobs!

Ain't life grand?!!!