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  #1  
Old 01-28-2014, 10:46 AM
kmcmichael kmcmichael is offline
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Default inexperience with acoustic amps

I have no experience with acoustic amplifiers. Please use small words and type slowly in your replies.

I have a small PA purchased to help a friend in a brief period of hard times. It has never been turned on.

I am interested in using an acoustic amp for small single gigs. I would like to run two mics through it, one for vocals and one on the guitar. I have a K&K in my guitar that I would like to run through a looper, only to lay down a little rhythm to improvise over. I would also use the mic to play the c

I am not a fan of acoustic guitar pickups and doubt I could ever be happy using only the pickup, but think I could live with it for backing rhythm.

I have been a guitar player for 40 years but my expertise lies elsewhere. I have not been a professional full time musician since 1987.
Is this a viable option or would one in my position be better served by a PA?
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Old 01-28-2014, 11:44 AM
StevenL StevenL is offline
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You won't find many (or any affordable) dedicated acoustic amps with 2 mic inputs. You could get an amp with one mic input and and line out to go into your PA. If you don't want to use your guitar pickup, just go with PA and be done with it.
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Old 01-28-2014, 12:20 PM
lschwart lschwart is offline
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It may be that the small PA will be best for the gigs you want to play (that depends of the gigs, of course--size of the room, level of noise, etc.), but the Fishman Loudbox Artist, the Genz Benz 150LT, and the Marshall AS100D are all reasonably affordable combo amps that have 2 mic inputs.

Louis
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Old 01-28-2014, 01:01 PM
kmcmichael kmcmichael is offline
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Apologies, I would like to use three inputs, one for vocals two for the guitar. My wish was not to use the PA at all, only carrying the amp.
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Old 01-28-2014, 01:05 PM
lschwart lschwart is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kmcmichael View Post
Apologies, I would like to use three inputs, one for vocals two for the guitar. My wish was not to use the PA at all, only carrying the amp.
What's your budget?

Louis
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Old 01-28-2014, 01:20 PM
kmcmichael kmcmichael is offline
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I have a friend trying to trade me one as a partial payment for an archtop.

T simplify my question, can I use an acoustic amp in lieu of a PA?
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Old 01-28-2014, 01:30 PM
lschwart lschwart is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kmcmichael View Post
I have a friend trying to trade me one as a partial payment for an archtop.

T simplify my question, can I use an acoustic amp in lieu of a PA?
Yes, but it depends on the kind of gig we're talking about and the amp itself (they're not all the same when it comes to volume and sound dispersal). What kind of mic will you be using and what amp is your friend trading to you? If you've got two mic inputs and one instruemnt input on the amp, you can certainly run both the K&K/looper and a mic for the guitar and another mic for your voice. If you don't have the inputs, you can use a small mixer to give you the inputs you need and sum them to one input of the amp, or you could use a 2 channel mixer/preamp unit to blend the two guitar sources to one input. Beyond that, it's just a matter of putting the mic in the right place and dealing with feedback issues (a common, but not insurrmountable, problem when you try and amplify an acoustic guitar with an external mic).

Louis
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Old 01-28-2014, 05:14 PM
kmcmichael kmcmichael is offline
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The amp is a Trace Elliot TA100R. He is also offering an Ashdown acoustic radiator 1. I do not know yet as to how he plans to value them. I do not have any excitement regarding this acquisition. I thought it might be an alternative to using a PA. It seems to be a limited option. There are some Fender suitcase type PAs that might be more suitable and smaller than my current unit.
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Old 01-28-2014, 06:00 PM
lschwart lschwart is offline
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Neither of those amps alone will do what you describe wanting to do. At least not without adding a small mixer or at least a 2 channel blender/preamp. They might be adequate (maybe more than adequate) volume-wise for small, quiet gigs--for all I know they will sound good--but there are other amps that are likely to do better and have the inputs you need.

That is, if in the end you want to do the gig with an amp, rather than a small PA. If you want a small portable, look at the Yamaha Stagepass units before the Fender offerings. And there are also some very good powered speakers out there right now that will handle a lot (even with just one speaker) at a decent price point. And there are the Fishman SA220 and the Bose Compact, too (these offer another way to split the difference between a combo amp and a PA). But a lot depends on what you're looking to spend.

Louis
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Old 01-28-2014, 09:53 PM
kmcmichael kmcmichael is offline
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Thanks for the input. I am thinking I will pass on the small amp and attempt to get my larger PA working.

I never thought about powered speakers. I have a set of studio monitors and could in a pinch use my DAW for a mixer?
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  #11  
Old 01-28-2014, 11:17 PM
lschwart lschwart is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kmcmichael View Post
Thanks for the input. I am thinking I will pass on the small amp and attempt to get my larger PA working.

I never thought about powered speakers. I have a set of studio monitors and could in a pinch use my DAW for a mixer?
It would depend on the monitors. Many are made to sound good close up in a small studio setting and might not have enough projection to fill a performance space with music. A small mixer and a powered PA speaker (or two for larger spaces) like the RCF 310a, QSC K8 or K10, Yamaha DXR8 or DXR10, EV ZXa1 or ZLX-12p, and there are others, will make for a very nice small PA for a soloist. And then, as I mentioned, there are the Fishman SA220 and the Bose towers.

The Schertler Jam Series mixers have several inputs (really built-in mixers) and might be worth a look. Again, it all depends on what you're looking to spend.

Louis
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