Electric Guitar Amp w/ Acoustic

[Mhenry41h]

Has anybody ever used their electric amp with their acoustic guitars? I have an Orange Crush 12 practice amp that I use with my Schecter C-1 and was curious if it’s possible to to dial in a bit of a “rock tone” in a non-traditional way?” Anyone ever try it with success?

[Maicobmw]

I use my Gibson J-15 with a Marshall DSL 40 set at 20 watts. Not sure exactly what you mean by rock tone, but I play it clean and get a nice sounding big acoustic sound. I've never really tried to dirty it up but I may try just for giggles.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Maicobmw

I use my Gibson J-15 with a Marshall DSL 40 set at 20 watts. Not sure exactly what you mean by rock tone, but I play it clean and get a nice sounding big acoustic sound...

If you own a guitar with a piezo UST, an electric-guitar amp is the only way to go; when Charlie Kaman (Ovation) developed the first viable acoustic-electrics in the late-1960's they were intended to be used with the standard semi-pro/professional gear of the day, meaning a mid-/high-powered American-voiced tube combo (think blackface Fender/blue-check Ampeg with 12" or 15" speaker[s] - acoustic-electric guitarists would not go direct-to-board in live performance for another decade, and the first dedicated acoustic-electric amps would not make their appearance until the late-1980's), and they still sound their best when plugged into the low-gain input of just such an amp - the natural rolloff above ~5kHz and midrange characteristics suppress the characteristic piezo "quack" and ice-pick highs of UST transducers...

If you're curious about just how dramatic the difference can be, listen to Neil Diamond's rhythm tracks on the first Hot August Night album from 1972 versus Paul Simon's direct-to-board tone at the Central Park concert a decade later: Neil's miked-amp setup sounds like a "loud" Ovation (whether or not that's your favorite unplugged guitar tone is a matter of personal preference), whereas Paul's similar first-generation deep-bowl sounds harsh, brittle, and metallic - every complaint I've ever seen here on the AGF with regard to piezos through modern A/E combos; FYI I still use my '82 Custom Balladeer for occasional live work - ran it through a Peavey Bandit 65 on stage through the '80s/90s, presently using either a Fender Frontman 212R "Twin-clone" or my trusty "blue-light" Bugera V22 - and it's every bit a viable performance instrument as it was nearly 40 years ago...

[Maicobmw]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

If you're curious about just how dramatic the difference can be, listen to Neil Diamond's rhythm tracks on the first Hot August Night album from 1972 versus Paul Simon's direct-to-board tone at the Central Park concert a decade later: Neil's miked-amp setup sounds like a "loud" Ovation (whether or not that's your favorite unplugged guitar tone is a matter of personal preference), whereas Paul's similar first-generation deep-bowl sounds harsh, brittle, and metallic - every complaint I've ever seen here on the AGF with regard to piezos through modern A/E combos; FYI I still use my '82 Custom Balladeer for occasional live work - ran it through a Peavey Bandit 65 on stage through the '80s/90s, presently using either a Fender Frontman 212R "Twin-clone" or my trusty "blue-light" Bugera V22 - and it's every bit a viable performance instrument as it was nearly 40 years ago...

Thanks for that. I will pull them off the shelf and give them a spin.

[SupremeDalek]

Yes, this is how I play amplified in most instances. I do solo gigs through an acoustic amp because of the ease of mic access, but in a band scenario I use the chain below:

Martin guitar>QTron>Boss SD1>Keeley 1962>MXR Carbon Comp>66 Super Reverb

It's awesome. There's good tone here. I don't use my eyes to set the knobs, I use the sound of the guitar. Use pedals for flavor and/or boost, and you can get awesome sounds.

My Martin into the Super has become my sound. Most times folks at guitar shops think I'm nuts when trying other amps this way!

[hotroad]

I also use my Bourgeois and Taylor into my Fender Super and it sounds great. I am also using a Elite Stompmix 6 before the Super. If you watch a lot of YouTube artists playing acoustics you will see that many of them use an electric guitar amp for their acoustic guitars. That includes the Eagles who use a lot of Takamine guitars on stage through some Fenders.

[Mhenry41h]

Wow, I thought I may be asking a complete noob question and was slightly hesitant but what a bunch of great info. Many thanks.

[SupremeDalek]

In case you didn't notice... Vintage Super + acoustic guitar = awesomeness!

It's not a noob question. Like I said, music store people always think I'm nuts for trying it out. I've heard "that won't work with that kind of amp."

Some amps DON'T work well, but I think you can and should plug into nearly everything you can to find out what works and what you like. There's no harm in trying!

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

If you own a guitar with a piezo UST, an electric-guitar amp is the only way to go...

That may have been true a few years ago, but devices such as the ToneDexter will give your piezo-equipped acoustic a mic'd acoustic sound.

Of course, my ToneDexter cost as much as my electric guitar amp, so if you're happy with the sound you get through your electric guitar amp, then I'd say go with it!

[dnf777]

I think its easily done now, and can be done very well with some of the pedals available, or even without. I noticed Marty Stewart on his show (re-runs now) seems to use a Fender Princeton for both his Tele and Martin. Typically, you want a very clean signal, so solid states or powerful tube amps with lots of headroom would be desirable, but it sounds like you want a little overdrive?

Now that you got me thinking, I’m going to plug my ToneDexter into a Princeton and see hiw it works.

[Mhenry41h]

Originally Posted by dnf777

I think its easily done now, and can be done very well with some of the pedals available, or even without. I noticed Marty Stewart on his show (re-runs now) seems to use a Fender Princeton for both his Tele and Martin. Typically, you want a very clean signal, so solid states or powerful tube amps with lots of headroom would be desirable, but it sounds like you want a little overdrive?

Now that you got me thinking, I’m going to plug my ToneDexter into a Princeton and see hiw it works.

How was it? [emoji3]

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by Mhenry41h

How was it? [emoji3]

My wife took my power strip, so Im a little behind on my experiments.... stuck at worknow, but Ill post tomorrow with results. I hope.

[kramster]

Originally Posted by dnf777

My wife took my power strip,

Ok, now what did you do?? Ha

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by kramster

Ok, now what did you do?? Ha

Well, nothing to get excited or disappointed about. Im set up at home, so my Princeton rarely goes above 4, and at that level or below, its a nice clean sound, and the tonedexter feeds it a very nice image to work with. As you might expect, at around 5-6 that clean tone starts to fray at the edges (right where my Tele loves to play!) but it ruins the acoustic tone. (I should say ‘distorts’- ‘ruin’ is subjective and judgemental-some may like that sound)

I really like the clean sound of Princetons at lower volumes, and if mic’d, can see why Marty Stewart uses that set up. While it worked fine, I still prefer my Loudbox and TD for acoustics

[SupremeDalek]

I have had mixed results from tube amps with no mid control with acoustic guitars. I've gotten "meh" results from amps without, but my best tones have come from the ability to control the mids.

If you're looking for a clean reproduction of acoustic tone, a tube amp may not be the fix. I live in that space where it starts to get hairy on the dial. But again, vintage Super with it's 4x10 setup and mid control might be the thing.

Martin through a Deluxe, "meh."
Martin through a Super, "yes!"