Acoustic A40 amp- Harsh sound

[Gooch518]

I have an acoustic A40 amp. I have never liked it but was unsure if it was the amp or my guitar so I have tried everything. I am using a Taylor ES2 pickup and I spent a lot of time adjusting the set screws on the pick up thinking that was the problem. I also have a Katana 50 MKII and decided to try the guitar though that with the Acoustic setting. Good news, it is not the guitar. Bad news, the Acoustic amp is still horrible. It is almost like it is two sensitive, if I finger pick a song you can hear the sound of my picking hand fingers sliding across the strings. It is not EQ on the guitar or the amp, I can dial them down and make the harshness go away but then you also lose the sound from whatever you dial back. I can dial it back on the guitar or the amp and get the same results. So I have either an overly bright harsh sound at flat EQ or a muted pillow covered sound if I dial everything back. I put a message into Acoustic Control Company (amp maker) and did not get any reply. Hoping the smart people in here have some suggestions.

[Buc-a-Roo]

A good compressor pedal has an almost magical way of smoothing acoustic tone from an amplifier. In a past life I used one on open mic stages with great success. The unknown quality of the various amplification systems one finds at open mics is mitigated by a little compression........try it.

[BlueStarfish]

From your description I wonder if gain is set too high on the amp? Is there a way to dial back the gain?

[L20A]

I have the same amp.
Mine is hard to get low enough to play through at home.
My answer was the Behringer DI Box that I have posted about.
The DI really tames the amp.

[Medford Guitar]

I think the offered suggestions are great ideas. I have to say though, I question the quality of the amp if it naturally sounds so harsh and can't dial it out.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by L20A

I have the same amp.
Mine is hard to get low enough to play through at home.
My answer was the Behringer DI Box that I have posted about.
The DI really tames the amp.

Hi L20A
Are you referring to the ADI21 preamp with XLR & ¼" outputs?

Yeah it's a great little inexpensive and effective preamp.

I always use preamps to buffer my guitars before hitting either an amp or PA mains/floor monitors.

[L20A]

[QUOTE=ljguitar;7414099][size=2]Hi L20A
Are you referring to the ADI21 preamp with XLR & ¼" outputs?

Yes, that is it.