Why aren't there amps for acoustic and electric guitars?

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by yamjam

Thanks everyone for all the responses! I'll check out those links, but from the sounds of it (oh man, crappy pun alert!), I should just buy two different amps.

Or a good modeler, as others have said, into a good FRFR speaker. BUT...

The truth is that it all just depends on what you want to do, at what volume, to what standard, etc. Noodling or practicing at home quietly? I have a $45 Peavey electric practice amp that absolutely kicks butt with my Anderson Crowdster at conversational levels. Really quite amazing, as it should sound like crap but it doesn't. A bit louder? I go from the Crowdster into a Tech 21 Acoustic Fly Rig into the clean channel on my Boogie Express 5:25+, and get a tone that's plenty good enough for practicing at home without feeling like I'm giving up too much. For live performance? None of those work for me; I need either an acoustic amp or go through the Flyrig into the PA.

For home use and recording, there's a plethora of computer-based stuff that will satisfy almost anyone.

So maybe you need to really think through precisely what you want to do, then see what advice you get.

[Tahitijack]

Yes, you would be better buying two amps (electric and acoustic), if you can afford it.

Aside for what has been mentioned a used Fender Acoustasonic 150 would be a good choice. It is not a tube amp, so if you like it enough to take it home from a place like Guitar Center, buy their insurance policy.

Good luck in your search and BTW I have and use that amp a lot.

[Dru Edwards]

Lots of great responses. An acoustic's amp purpose is to replicate the acoustic guitar's tone as close as possible. Not so with an electric guitar amp.

I've played acoustics through an electric guitar amp's clean channel at band practice lots of times and it suited the purpose for the rock songs we played. Didn't sound nearly as good as the guitar sounded unplugged though.

[CASD57]

What I'm figuring out is this... You have the Roland Street series and the Fender 150 Acoustisonic ....Maybe others
but the easiest is this"
Modeling pedal like the Helix stomp or Zoom G1 series or ?
Into a Flat Response speaker "FRFR"
My setup because I could not find a combo amp like your looking for.
Headrush 108 $219
Zoom G1Four $89
Mixer of your choice, I'm using a $69 Pyle PMXU43BT that has effects a Small Yamaha mixer would be my 1st choice (If money wasn't an option)something with Delay/reverb
So my setup cost $380...
I've got a lot more variety ...2000 peak watts, and more adjustment ability then any combo you could buy at this time.
And it sounds great...

[rllink]

It depends how you want to be. I've played an acoustic instrument on an electric guitar amp that I bought for twenty bucks at a garage sale for years before I knew there was a difference. You can credit that to the internet. I usually play it on the clean setting. Some purists might say that it isn't a true representation of the acoustic sound. It is good enough for me and I've never had anyone listening complain or even comment. If I have my druthers I would rather play and acoustic on an electric guitar amp than the other way around.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by yamjam

Sounds interesting - is Helix the brand or the model? Got a link by any chance? Thanks!

Line 6 Helix.

[Howard Emerson]

It’s very easy to use an acoustic amp for both and get better overall results for both. Pedals and/or modeling amp heads can be efficiently played through a good acoustic amp.

Next time you see Larry Campbell playing live he’ll probably still be using the pair of Fishman Loudbox Performer amps I saw him using for his electric, flattop and mandolin.

Meanwhile, here’s my Tele through a Loudbox Performer with no pedals:



The built in delay is the effect.

Regards,
Howard Emerson

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by yamjam

Sounds interesting - is Helix the brand or the model? Got a link by any chance? Thanks!

Helix is the flagship Line 6 modeler.

Bob

[robj144]

The portable amps do. Check out a Yamaha THR... portable, does both, and they sound great.

[GangstaPat]

I notice someone posted the Rivera Sedona, I'm a fan. Also on the inexpensive end Blackstar Makes a "Superfly". A 15 watt amp that does both. If you wait for Musician's Friend to run a sale they can be had for a pretty reasonable price. Not bad for what it is. Definitely not a toy but not a Rivera either.

[Willie_D]

Peavey Vypyr VIP amps are for electric guitar, bass, and acoustic. But only one channel, so no vocals.

[Long Road Home]

I went through something like this, too. A little background might be helpful.

I have a Carvin AG300 amp, which I really liked for acoustic and vocals. When I bought my Eastman T184MX electric, I also picked up a 50W Boss Katana amp. It’s a good little modeling amp, but there’s only one channel, so no vocals.

Then I tried the Eastman through the Carvin amp and discovered that it was fine for playing clean. I was looking for something to add a little dirt (like I could with the Katana). I tried a Boss Blues Driver pedal, but wasn’t really happy with the sound I could get through the Carvin.

I was also looking for something that I could play through that would allow me to plug and play through a PA in order to avoid carrying an amp completely (we do/did some half hour gig-ettes as well as open mics).

My solution was to buy a Tech-21 SansAmp NYC ParaDriver DI (possibly the world’s longest name for a small box). I put that on my pedalboard, along with a TC Helicon tuner and Boss GE-7 equalizer. When I play the electric guitar, I bypass the GE-7 and go through the Tech-21, which is dialed in for the electric guitar. When I play the acoustic guitar, I bypass the Tech-21 and go through the GE-7, which is dialed in for the acoustic. The vocal mic goes straight to the Carvin (or through a small mixer when we need more mics than it can handle). I’m a happy guy with this setup.

[ljh505]

You're in the portable and/or modeling amp space for a dual use amp. I have the Blackstar Super Fly portable amp in the camper - AA battery operated or 12V high capacity rechargeable lithium-ion or 110V A/C adapter. It has both acoustic and electric input modes. I plug in my Traveler Escape silent guitar for acoustic mode, or a standard solid body electric for electric mode. In electric mode, it has both a clean and a gain channel. Pretty cool product.

At home I run my electric solid body guitars through a multi-effects modeling pedal like a Boss GT-1 or Line 6 Pod Go and then into a solid state acoustic guitar amp. Just tell the modeling pedal in its settings that your output is going into a full-range amp and not into a standard electric guitar amp.

[fishwatcher]

I don't have much experience with dedicated acoustic guitar amps (so take that with a massive grain of salt), but I do play my acoustic into my Katana 50, which has dirty, clean and an acoustic channel. I'm quite happy with it and while it'd be nice, don't think I will be getting a dedicated acoustic amp anytime soon.

The new Katana MK II actually has two acoustic channels.

There are a few videos on YouTube that show how well the Katana does with acoustic guitar.

Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdUr2nJvXWo

Maybe others can share why the Katana would be acceptable, favorable, or not as good as a dedicated acoustic amp.

[Br1ck]

A big part of guitar tone is the voicing of the speaker and pushing it into breakup. Electric guitar lives in a narrow band of midrange. The tone producer vs tone reproducer concept is a good one. Good tube amps can get pushed into saturation. Acoustic amps need to be full frequency mor like a PA speaker. If I were doing this today I'd have a QSC K12 powered speaker, a good acoustic pre and an amp modeler with good IR capability. Good enough for any audience. Many venues frown on electric guitar amps these days.

Check out Rhett Schull's videos regarding using modelers more often than not.