Acoustic Amp for an Electric Guitar?

[Denandannie]

I am considering an hollowbody electric and don't want to buy another amp. I have a Genzler Acoustic Array and a Marshall AS50D. Will the electric guitar sound okay using either or both of these amps?

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Denandannie

I am considering an hollowbody electric and don't want to buy another amp. I have a Genzler Acoustic Array and a Marshall AS50D. Will the electric guitar sound okay using either or both of these amps?

Depends on what you want to play on it. Aggressive rock and roll will sound brittle coming through those full range acoustic speakers. Gentle fingerpicked stuff will sound fine with the tone controls rolled back a bit. I play my Gretsch hollowbodies through my Schertler Jam 200, and it sounds fine with the quiet stuff. There are some MultiFX units that do amp modeling made to plug straight into PA amps and they usually can simulate an electric guitar amp and speaker sound that would work fine in your acoustic amp. I use a Helix Stomp with Fender/Marshall/Vox models that sound great through my Schertler. There are less expensive models that the Helix Stomp that I'm sure would do a great job.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Denandannie

I am considering an hollowbody electric and don't want to buy another amp. I have a Genzler Acoustic Array and a Marshall AS50D. Will the electric guitar sound okay using either or both of these amps?

Yep, what Rockabilly69 said.

[DukeX]

I say give it a try. Or as RG69 mentioned you can also by an inexpensive amp modeler like the POD or J-Station that has lots of presets. These boxes are designed to go through full range speakers or headphones.

[Steve DeRosa]

I know a guy who runs a '59 RI LP through a modeler and Fishman Loudbox...

Excellent player, love him like a brother, don't have the heart to tell him his really nice guitar sounds like crap: thin, nasal, edgy, and brittle - everything an LP isn't supposed to be...

PSA: General rule of thumb is that a good amp can make a mediocre guitar sound good, a good guitar sound great, and a great guitar sound like the voice of the angels - but not vice versa...

Since about 60% of your final tone comes from your amp, plan accordingly: buy with straight-ahead tone as your sole criterion, when you're checking out a potential purchase turn off all the onboard bells-&-whistles (including reverb), and set the EQ knobs at 12 o'clock - if it doesn't sound good when you're playing just guitar-cable-amp it doesn't sound good, period...

By way of reference, $200 buys you a Bugera V5 1x8" tube combo - plenty of volume for home practice/jamming/coffeehouse gigs - or a Bugera T5 or Vox MV50 head, either of which could be matched to a variety of speaker cabs (including a 4x12" if need be) depending on your needs, and all of which feature a headphone out for when you want to practice at 3AM without P.O.'ing your S.O./neighbors/cat...

$400-500 gets a Bugera V22 1x12" combo (or its big-brother V55 if you're going to be doing larger houses/outdoor gigs) or Vox AC10 1x10" - and if you're an early Beatles fan (as I am), own/plan to own a Gretsch (as I do), and work with a drummer whose strong point is technique rather than bombast (yes, they're out there), the latter is a must-play...

If you need loads of clean headroom for jazz/country/surf or as a pedal platform, a clean (discontinued) '65 Twin-clone Fender Frontman 212R can be had for $200-250 - these get a lot of love from the surf guys/gals on a budget, and with a full-size replacement 'verb tank and a pair of upgrade speakers (Eminence Cannabis Rex or Swamp Thang being the cones of choice - no Celestions here, thank you) it'll give its all-tube counterpart a run for its money at one-third the net price...

Of course if cost is no object the field is wide open but, by the same token, in today's market inexpensive doesn't have to mean "cheap" - and if you do it right the first time around, you'll never regret it...

[roylor4]

Steve's post is on point as always. IMHO, you will be seriously disappointed with an electric guitar through an acoustic amp. Buy a guitar and a electric guitar & amp that compliment each other, or buy neither and save yourself the aggravation.

[Paleolith54]

OK, to be clear, it depends on what you're playing. Clean? Loud? Soft? Medium crunch? Heacy distortion? Fuzz? I played with a guy who managed to get bad tone from a Kemper running through a nice H&K tube amp, but that was obviousy not the fault of the equipment. So the equipment isn't the issue.

As a general rule, playing clean or cleanish will sound fine through an acoustic amp. And at reasonable volumes, you can make a decent modeler that's set up right sound fine through an FRFR speaker whether it's through the PA or an acoustic amp. Want a nice tube amp? I agree, but don't do it believing you can't get decent tones through the amp you have because that's probably not the case.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

...As a general rule, playing clean or cleanish will sound fine through an acoustic amp. And at reasonable volumes, you can make a decent modeler that's set up right sound fine through an FRFR speaker whether it's through the PA or an acoustic amp. Want a nice tube amp? I agree, but don't do it believing you can't get decent tones through the amp you have because that's probably not the case.

Several years ago I worked with a studio player who had spent a couple years on the road with a major-name act...

Guy swore by his circa-2K rackmount Line 6 Pod Pro/pedalboard combination for his road/overdub work: got him "that sound" (whatever "that sound" might be) with the push of a button, made everything convenient (and cheap for someone who's paying by the hour for you to sweeten their tracks), but he never liked the "artificial" (his description) tonality - and he had the ears/experience to distinguish it from the real deal in any live or recorded situation (FYI I freely admit I have a hard time on record; no problem live, though - the natural "liveliness" and "soul" are immediately lacking)...

Told me that, given a choice, he would have preferred to go on the road with a Plexi half-stack and a blackface Twin - guitar-cable-amp with an A/B/Y box, mike the speakers, and control everything with his guitar volume and touch alone - but the band's management wouldn't go for it, for reasons unspecified...

While it's admittedly outside my field of expertise, from what I've seen a "decent" modeler starts in the $300-350 range; a dedicated electric-guitar amp can be had for substantially less, a few bucks more gets the OP a gigworthy box that'll handle nearly any situation, the initial learning curve is nowhere near as steep in either case - and while a modeler will unquestionably offer a more "electric" tonality, I personally find a typical acoustic amp's speaker complement sterile and lacking in natural warmth (unlike even a good analog SS electric-guitar amp)...

"Decent" tones - agreed, in the grand scheme; thing is, while I can't speak for anyone else's tonal tastes or analytic aural acuity, if I were given a choice of hamburger or steak for essentially the same price (or less) there's no debate as to which I would choose - and in the same vein, I wonder how things might have turned out had your bud gone straight-cable into that H&K...

[perttime]

If you want to make it sound like an electric guitar, you will need, at the very least, a preamp that emulates the response of an electric amp and its speaker. Tech21 SansAmp might be the "original" but there are many others out there now. There's some pretty low cost pedals that do similar things. I recall Joyo has some cheap ones.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by roylor4

Steve's post is on point as always. IMHO, you will be seriously disappointed with an electric guitar through an acoustic amp. Buy a guitar and a electric guitar & amp that compliment each other, or buy neither and save yourself the aggravation.

Not to be a jerk but this post is way off base.

No, Steve's post wasn't on point to me, the bottom line is how good the modeler is, how good the acoustic amp is, and more importantly how good the person is dialing in the tone. I setup some killer tones with my Helix through my Schertler amps, and the last weekend that I played live, with my Jaguar through that rig, I got two standing ovations. I seriously don't think the audience cared about me using a modeler. And to be clear I also own some seriously good vintage tube amps so I've been around good amp tone most of my life. I even had a killer handwired Princeton Reverb in the car, I just didn't need it.

The OP has a Genzer Acoustic Pro Array which is a decent acoustic amp. As long as he sets up a modeler right he can get a good tone. I know the amp well, I own one.

And I don't care how good the the guitar is (ie the '59 reissue Steve mentioned in his post), if the person setting up the modeler doesn't know how to set up the tones correctly it's going to sound bad. But newer modelers are designed to sound great plugged straight into PAs which a good acoustic amp is a mini version of. I guarantee I could set up a tone with the OPs Genzler and my Helix that no-one on this forum could tell that it wasn't a real tube amp. Digital Modeling/Emulation has come a long way in the last decade!

Many modelers are designed to be plugged in totally flat studio monitors and they sound great.

An example: listen to these tracks, there isn't a guitar anywhere in the room and they sounds pretty real to me...





And if you didn't want to use a modeler you could use an all analog Revival Drive by Origin Effects. That's another pedal that gets the job done.
They make a single channel version of those that sounds great, and they also make a pedal that sounds like a Magnatone that absolutely sounds great.

[perttime]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

....
And if you didn't want to use a modeler you could use an all analog Revival Drive by Origin Effects. That's another pedal that gets the job done.
They make a single channel version of those that sounds great, and they also make a pedal that sounds like a Magnatone that absolutely sounds great.

Oh yes. I've seen high praise for the Origin Effects preamp pedals. A bit on the costly side for "mere pedals", perhaps, but should give great results when you don't want a traditional amp.

.... and they are solid state, so will probably last longer, without any maintenance, than preamps that have tubes in them.

[Dru Edwards]

Denandannie, looks like we have conflicting comments here which makes for a great discussion. There are always exceptions but I recommend trying (if you can) a hollowbody into both an acoustic and an electric amp. I'd choose the electric amp myself because it is voiced differently than an acoustic amp but that may just be my ears prefer that.

A clean channel on an electric amp will sound different than an acoustic amp. That's why acoustic guitarists use acoustic amps and not electric guitar amps. The same is true vice-versa ... putting aside the exceptions.

[jonfields45]

A Fender Mustang Micro will sound great into an acoustic guitar amp, as it does with my QSC CP8.

Simple, cheap, compact solution to use the amp you've got and the amp you might encounter carrying your guitar to an open mic or jam session.

For less money, the Vox AmPlug 2 Clean is another good choice. It will take you from clean to a nice overdrive. Its reverb is not in the Mustang's class, but good enough and probably your acoustic amp has reverb already.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Several years ago I worked with a studio player who had spent a couple years on the road with a major-name act...

Guy swore by his circa-2K rackmount Line 6 Pod Pro/pedalboard combination for his road/overdub work: got him "that sound" (whatever "that sound" might be) with the push of a button, made everything convenient (and cheap for someone who's paying by the hour for you to sweeten their tracks), but he never liked the "artificial" (his description) tonality - and he had the ears/experience to distinguish it from the real deal in any live or recorded situation (FYI I freely admit I have a hard time on record; no problem live, though - the natural "liveliness" and "soul" are immediately lacking)...

Told me that, given a choice, he would have preferred to go on the road with a Plexi half-stack and a blackface Twin - guitar-cable-amp with an A/B/Y box, mike the speakers, and control everything with his guitar volume and touch alone - but the band's management wouldn't go for it, for reasons unspecified...

While it's admittedly outside my field of expertise, from what I've seen a "decent" modeler starts in the $300-350 range; a dedicated electric-guitar amp can be had for substantially less, a few bucks more gets the OP a gigworthy box that'll handle nearly any situation, the initial learning curve is nowhere near as steep in either case - and while a modeler will unquestionably offer a more "electric" tonality, I personally find a typical acoustic amp's speaker complement sterile and lacking in natural warmth (unlike even a good analog SS electric-guitar amp)...

"Decent" tones - agreed, in the grand scheme; thing is, while I can't speak for anyone else's tonal tastes or analytic aural acuity, if I were given a choice of hamburger or steak for essentially the same price (or less) there's no debate as to which I would choose - and in the same vein, I wonder how things might have turned out had your bud gone straight-cable into that H&K...

If he'd plugged straight in, he'd have still had crappy tone because the problem was his ears, not his gear. Which is my point; you can get good tones from the rig the OP asked about, and bad ones from a tube amp. I'd think that would be pretty obvious by now, as even mid-level modelers are being used these days by touring pros. Like Nita Strauss, who seems to get by quite well on her solo tours with a Boss unit.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

Not to be a jerk but this post is way off base.

No, Steve's post wasn't on point to me, the bottom line is how good the modeler is, how good the acoustic amp is, and more importantly how good the person is dialing in the tone. I setup some killer tones with my Helix through my Schertler amps, and the last weekend that I played live, with my Jaguar through that rig, I got two standing ovations. I seriously don't think the audience cared about me using a modeler. And to be clear I also own some seriously good vintage tube amps so I've been around good amp tone most of my life. I even had a killer handwired Princeton Reverb in the car, I just didn't need it.

The OP has a Genzer Acoustic Pro Array which is a decent acoustic amp. As long as he sets up a modeler right he can get a good tone. I know the amp well, I own one.

And I don't care how good the the guitar is (ie the '59 reissue Steve mentioned in his post), if the person setting up the modeler doesn't know how to set up the tones correctly it's going to sound bad. But newer modelers are designed to sound great plugged straight into PAs which a good acoustic amp is a mini version of. I guarantee I could set up a tone with the OPs Genzler and my Helix that no-one on this forum could tell that it wasn't a real tube amp. Digital Modeling/Emulation has come a long way in the last decade!

Many modelers are designed to be plugged in totally flat studio monitors and they sound great.

An example: listen to these tracks, there isn't a guitar anywhere in the room and they sounds pretty real to me...





And if you didn't want to use a modeler you could use an all analog Revival Drive by Origin Effects. That's another pedal that gets the job done.
They make a single channel version of those that sounds great, and they also make a pedal that sounds like a Magnatone that absolutely sounds great.

Okay. First, you clearly have more experience on modeling through a wider variety of options than I do, so I will not argue against tried and true experience, as it's an exercise in futility.

Second, I am not anti modeler, as I own and use a Tech 21 Flyrig and decent tones can definitely be had from it, though it sounds far better through my tube or hybrid amps and used as a stompbox than through my pa. It does many things well through the PA though.

Third - When you start getting into modelers in the $500 and up category, why not just get a good amp? If you are a gigging musician, a small, compact modeler's advantage is quickly demonstrated in efficiency of setup, breakdown, load-in and load-out and consistency of tone. All of these advantages become kind of moot if you are home player and want great tone. There is no cost advantage between a mid-level modeler and a decent amp, but there is a HUGE difference in ease of use (IMO). I tried the Pod Go and it went back after 2 &1/2 days of fiddling and endless tweaking. With a good tube amp, the gratification of good tone is just a few seconds away and only really requires some basic knowledge and a good ear.

So perhaps the OP CAN get really good tones through his amp, but is the process and cost worth it to get there? To me it wouldn't be. As for the OP - I reckon only he can decide that....