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  #1  
Old 07-21-2019, 03:58 AM
ShaMN ShaMN is offline
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Default What is the difference between acoustic guitar amp to electric guitar amp?

At the begin I thought they have different frequencies but when I think about it again those are the same notes so it should be the same frequencies
am I right?
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Old 07-21-2019, 07:44 AM
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Acoustic guitar amps are designed for acoustic guitars which means they are designed for clean tones and not tones that have tube sounding compression like electric guitar players gravitate to. Most have added EQ and note attack settings geared for acoustic guitar. Any amp will work though that is true. The point of amps are to amplify sound. From that point they are designed for the market they are trying to sell to.
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Old 07-21-2019, 08:31 AM
Audie Audie is offline
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They work and they work well. One just has to know what to do. The frequencies are not the issue. The issue is active pickups in the form of a preamp that accompanies acoustics and understanding the wattage of tube vs. solid state amps. EQ'ing and compensating accordingly with the preamp is the most important, followed by speaker choice, and the most overlooked; what input to use on the specific tube amp.

We have to understand acoustic amplification was not a commercial thing until the 90's. Yes, I remember the acoustic catalogs of Martin, Taylor, Gibson and Guild being exempt from electronic amplification on most or all models for the longest time going back to the 70's. when I first discovered guitar catalogs. ( The internet of the day.) In the late mid 90's the brands began touting their onboard amplification. The point is acoustic amplification is very young compared to electric. Granted the gap has closed significantly as testament of the outdated large barn door style electronics I speak of from the the mid to late 90's. An electric amp will work, it is just knowing what to do. Again, KNOWING WHAT TO DO! Hope I helped.
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Old 07-21-2019, 03:45 PM
RockerDuck RockerDuck is offline
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Acoustic amps are just Powered PA's with a (usually) 2 channel mixer, complete with a mono DI out, like a mixer. You can sing out of either channel and the guitar in the other.
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Old 07-22-2019, 07:41 AM
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What's the difference? One will get your guitar sound out there past a bass player and drummer and the other won't.
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Old 07-22-2019, 08:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShaMN View Post
At the begin I thought they have different frequencies but when I think about it again those are the same notes so it should be the same frequencies
am I right?
Hi ShaMN

Acoustic amps are like a mini-PA system, and are designed with more bass, and a better tonal balance than an open backed electric amp. It's not just frequency, but quality and balance of tone throughout the bass-thru-treble spectrum.

Electric amps are generally designed to overdrive easily, and acoustic amps are designed to never overdrive.

If you want an audible test, just plug an ipod playing light rock music into an electric amp, and then an acoustic amp and listen. There are some Jazz amps which will do both…they start at about $2000. (Riveras come to mind)

Keyboard amps work well as acoustic amps.



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Old 07-22-2019, 08:52 AM
Mandobart Mandobart is offline
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Desribed in good detail in this recent thread.
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Old 07-22-2019, 12:05 PM
Birdbrain Birdbrain is offline
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Default In my (limited) experience...

Electric guitar amps are specialists. They do that one thing very well, with wide variations of tone. Acoustic amps do several things well, aiming at a standard of sonic clarity and realism. But once you start adding effects, the acoustic amp becomes more versatile still. My Bose Acoustic Singer does a fine early-Metheny chime once I add chorus and reverb. So you might enjoy playing an electric through an acoustic amp, but an acoustic guitar won't work so well through the electric guitar amp.
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Old 07-22-2019, 09:01 PM
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I just got through playing a set on my electric guitar amp and it sounded great. That's why I do it. You boys and/or girls need to quit thinking over drive and high gain stuff. Sure that is what an electric amp can do, but not all they do. Again, knowing what to do makes it work. I am certainly not going to fuss with anyone over it. It works, I'm not saying no more.
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Old 07-22-2019, 10:03 PM
Chipotle Chipotle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Audie View Post
I just got through playing a set on my electric guitar amp and it sounded great. That's why I do it. You boys and/or girls need to quit thinking over drive and high gain stuff. Sure that is what an electric amp can do, but not all they do. Again, knowing what to do makes it work. I am certainly not going to fuss with anyone over it. It works, I'm not saying no more.
It'll make sound, sure. Maybe even good sound. But even low gain clean settings, many electric amps are voiced differently since they only have to deal with the midrange heavy signal coming from electric pickups and effects. I have one electric guitar amp that works decently with acoustics; two others, not so much. Why fight to make something work that it wasn't designed for?
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Old 07-24-2019, 12:13 PM
swivel swivel is offline
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I have been going through this for a couple of years. I have now had 4 acoustic amps: Loudbox mini, Roland AC40, Fender Acoustasonic 40, and one other that evades me.
My problem is in the Duo I play acoustic some and an archtop electric some. The acoustic amps sound pretty good but nothing like a small open back amp for archtop.
The open back guitar amp for acoustic can be a bit bright and takes some major EQ adjustment.
Universally the acoustic amps are warm and somewhat compressed. I thought maybe it was the closed cabs but I opened up one and it wasn't a huge difference.
So I continue to try to solve this dilemma. I'm trying to keep it small, but I think having two dedicated channels may be the answer, one EQ'd for acoustic and one for electric. But still... would like an open back setup and to get rid of the soft warm sound of the acoustic amp with the archtop. Need two built in one!
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