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  #1  
Old 12-07-2019, 08:05 AM
fuman fuman is offline
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Default Make Acoustic sound more "electric"?

This may be an odd question for this group: I have an upcoming holiday party gig with a violinist. Space is at a premium, so I can only bring one guitar. But several of the songs we are playing would benefit from a semi-hollow electric/rockabilly type sound.

I'll be playing a Taylor with an Expression 1.2 pickup. I don't own any pure electric effects pedals, but I may be able to borrow a couple. Would some reverb/slap echo help me coax a more electric tone out of my guitar? Most of what we're playing is best suited to a straight-up acoustic, and I don't own a good electric guitar right now anyway. Thanks.
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Old 12-07-2019, 08:29 AM
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Joe F Joe F is offline
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I've really been tempted to get one of these Fender Smolder pedals specifically for that purpose. Then run about 150. Lots of yakking but some cool demo parts too here:

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Old 12-07-2019, 09:47 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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My old-school answer to this question has been a magnetic soundhole pickup. The old ones didn't really try to sound "acoustic" and you could plug them into a guitar amp and sound surprisingly good in a number of vibey ways (I always point out Gabor Szabo and Elmore James as examples, but even the Beatles J160e Gibsons were the same idea)

But I don't think you have an electric amp or effects either. If it's rockabilly a bit of slap echo and the way you play could carry the day even with a basically acoustic guitar sound from your existing pickup.
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Old 12-07-2019, 10:00 AM
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I don't know about achieving a semi-hollow electric/rockabilly type sound, which is a righteous sound indeed, but a couple of years ago one guy in an acoustic duo playing through a Bose L1 M2 at an outdoor gig used an Ibanez Tube Screamer to generate a surprisingly believable solid-body electric sound, I'd say more Les Paul than Strat. YMMV and I don't know how tweakable it is to the hollow-body direction. Cant recall his guitar but it was some standard-issue quality acoustic with the usual on-board pickup that he played as an acoustic 90% of the time.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...mer-mini-pedal
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Old 12-07-2019, 10:11 AM
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Chriscom Chriscom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe F View Post
I've really been tempted to get one of these Fender Smolder pedals specifically for that purpose.
Wow, that Smolder rocks! You may have just found my Christmas present to myself!

Edit: Turns out AGF'er AeroUSA (Aaron Short) reviewed this, very helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_D43UTAYME

Last edited by Chriscom; 12-07-2019 at 10:33 AM.
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Old 12-07-2019, 10:32 AM
Petty1818 Petty1818 is offline
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I had the ES1.2 and found it always sounded like a semi-hollow and not very acoustic. I feel like it already has a very magnetic tone to it so maybe even just an eq pedal to emphasize that even more?
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Old 12-07-2019, 10:36 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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Borrow someone's tube screamer (clone). A small amount of overdrive will work very well with ES1.
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Old 12-07-2019, 11:57 AM
Nick84 Nick84 is offline
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I can confirm the Smolder is awesome! I have it on my board and it’s given my acoustic some really cool new sounds!
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Old 12-07-2019, 01:11 PM
fuman fuman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Petty1818 View Post
I had the ES1.2 and found it always sounded like a semi-hollow and not very acoustic. I feel like it already has a very magnetic tone to it so maybe even just an eq pedal to emphasize that even more?
Playing through a balanced line, you're right about that. I will try the Tube Screamer knock-off I have and see if I can find something with a little slap echo.

Thanks for the advice. And, wow, that Smolder looks like fun!
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Old 12-20-2019, 06:35 AM
fuman fuman is offline
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Default Follow Up

Just wanted to follow up on the gig. As it turns out, the venue had an unusual sound support situation: A wall jack with one XLR input and a pair of left/right RCA jacks. They also had a wireless mic system with two mics for us. The output was through ceiling speakers dispersed in the room. What I wound up doing is running my Yamaha THR10C through the headphone jacks via an RCA splitter cable.

The sound was very good. Despite me thinking I wanted more of an "electric" sound, I played it subtle, using the "acoustic" model with a little chorus and reverb/echo. It worked out better than I expected. If you get a chance, check out the THR amps. I've been extremely pleased with mine as something to noodle around on with the cheap Squier Strat I picked up. Additionally, the power situation would have made running an extension cord awkward and maybe a little unsafe. No problem; the THR runs on 8 AA batteries.
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Old 12-20-2019, 07:12 AM
cdkrugjr cdkrugjr is offline
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Did you try running it through a 100W Plexi turned up to 11?
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Old 12-20-2019, 09:55 AM
fuman fuman is offline
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Default Follow Up

Just wanted to follow up on the gig. As it turns out, the venue had an unusual sound support situation: A wall jack with one XLR input and a pair of left/right RCA jacks. They also had a wireless mic system with two mics for us. The output was through ceiling speakers dispersed in the room. What I wound up doing is running my Yamaha THR10C through the headphone jacks via an RCA splitter cable.

The sound was very good. Despite me thinking I wanted more of an "electric" sound, I played it subtle, using the "acoustic" model with a little chorus and reverb/echo. It worked out better than I expected. If you get a chance, check out the THR amps. I've been extremely pleased with mine as something to noodle around on with the cheap Squier Strat I picked up. Additionally, the power situation would have made running an extension cord awkward and maybe a little unsafe. No problem; the THR runs on 8 AA batteries.

Last edited by fuman; 12-20-2019 at 09:56 AM. Reason: delete. I accidentally reposted. Sorry.
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  #13  
Old 12-20-2019, 09:57 AM
fuman fuman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdkrugjr View Post
Did you try running it through a 100W Plexi turned up to 11?
\m/
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