Using an acoustic amp for electric guitar

[Tricky Fish]

I am primarily an acoustic player. I play nylon string guitars with K&K pickups through an ACUS 1forstrings6 amp. I love this amp, it delivers great acoustic tone.

In the future, I anticipate playing a little more electric guitar, although nylon string acoustic will remain my primary instrument. I don't want to invest in expensive electric gear / amps.

Has anyone had success in playing an electric guitar through an acoustic guitar amplifier (with appropriate pre-amp / modelling pedals such as Strymon Iridium)?

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by Tricky Fish

I am primarily an acoustic player. I play nylon string guitars with K&K pickups through an ACUS 1forstrings6 amp. I love this amp, it delivers great acoustic tone.

In the future, I anticipate playing a little more electric guitar, although nylon string acoustic will remain my primary instrument. I don't want to invest in expensive electric gear / amps.

Has anyone had success in playing an electric guitar through an acoustic guitar amplifier (with appropriate pre-amp / modelling pedals such as Strymon Iridium)?

I play acoustic pretty much exclusively but I do have one electric guitar. It sounds good through my acoustic amps. (My acoustics sound good through an electric guitar amp, too, so maybe my ear is not particularly demanding.)

I will guess that you will be satisfied with your present amp, particularly if you don't want a lot of effects (distortion, overdrive, chorusing and other stuff) that give electric guitars so much range of expression/voicings.

So, get your electric and experiment with stuff on borrowed amps and any pedals you own, buy or borrow (go to an open mic and other players will surely be helpful and generous in letting you have a few minutes on their gear - the more informal venues are pretty flexible in my (limited) experience.

[phcorrigan]

IMO, playing your electric guitar through an acoustic guitar amp will be similar to playing through a PA system. Acoustic amps tend to not color the sound, while electric amps generally will.

If your guitar and pedals give you the sound you want without the added coloration of an electric guitar amp then go for it.

[darkwave]

I have a few tube amps for electric, and consider myself primarily an electric player. That said, my band rig these days is a pedalboard with amp sims through one channel of my Fishman Loudbox 100. Channel 2 is for my resonator guitar, which gets used for about 20% of the set.

Well, *would* be used if covid hadn't messed up our progress!

It gives me the versatility I want and consistency across a range of volumes. I haven't had the chance to try yet, but I was also counting on using the very flexible DI options on the Fishman should we play a larger venue. Works well for me.

[Shaneh]

The thing to be aware of is that I read that using distortion through a tweeter amp can cause damage. Not sure how true it is but many warn about

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Tricky Fish

I am primarily an acoustic player. I play nylon string guitars with K&K pickups through an ACUS 1forstrings6 amp. I love this amp, it delivers great acoustic tone.

In the future, I anticipate playing a little more electric guitar, although nylon string acoustic will remain my primary instrument. I don't want to invest in expensive electric gear / amps.

Has anyone had success in playing an electric guitar through an acoustic guitar amplifier (with appropriate pre-amp / modelling pedals such as Strymon Iridium)?

Hi TF

I was warned by UltraSound years ago that playing electric through their acoustic amp was fine as long as I was not overdriving the amp to produce distortion, because it could cause damage to the tweeter. (I had contacted them about playing electric through my acoustic amps).

The tech informed me that acoustic amps are built to NOT distort, and that electric amps are built to distort easily.

I've followed his advice for over a decade now, and purchased both a moderately priced tube amp and solid state amp (each between $300 and $400). That's the same cost as you aforementioned Strimon Iridium pedal.

I'd suggest you contact ASUS and see what they offer as advice in the matter. It would be their warranty (should there be one still on the amp) if something goes wrong with it.

[SGFletch]

I have used a Fishman Loudbox Artist for electric guitar quite a bit.

It is basically a full-range PA in a small package, so the same concepts apply if you were going ampless on stage. I have used various modelers for amp modeling in front of the Loudbox, mostly a Fractal AX8. I kept amp and cab modeling on.

It doesn't "feel" like an amp, but not many FRFR systems do. In my particular case, it was a great solution for playing gigs with tight spaces or difficult load-ins. I could run my guitar and vocals into the Loudbox, and keeping it close behind me, I didn't get vocal feedback as long as I was between the mic and the speaker.

I gigged like this with a small blues/jazz/funk trio for a couple years. Only had to carry the Loudbox, a mic stand, and a guitar. Very convenient for downtown gigs.

Sorry, long answer, but Yes! It totally CAN be done.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

(edited for brevity and focus)
The tech informed me that acoustic amps are built to NOT distort, and that electric amps are built to distort easily.

I wonder if it makes a difference if the amp is driven to distortion by a boosted signal or if the distortion is created by a distortion pedal (allowing the amp to apply its true-to-waveform natural design parameters to the distorted signal.

If the tweeters could handle the signal strength of the amp applying its designed boost there should be no more problem than the tweeters handling a soprano singer loud enough to break crystal goblets. On the other hand if the simple volume is enough to damage the tweeters, well, then, your technician's advice is well-taken.

Put another way, if you deliver a pedal=distorted guitar signal to the acoustic amp's input and keep the volume within the amp's capacity, I would think the tweeters would not be damaged. On the other hand, if the waveform itself (radically shaped waveform) could stress the tweeters, then all bets are off and an electric guitar amp is the only one to go to full volume.

In thinking about this, I wonder about those performers who run their guitar amps on-stage and hang a microphone in front of the speaker. The mic's signal is then sent to the House sound systemm. Is there the same danger of overdriving tweeters?

I don't have NEAR te expertise to answer this question. But I DO HAVE just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

[Tricky Fish]

Thanks for eveyone’s feedback. I think i can make this work for me.

To clarify, I was looking to treat the ACUS amp as a mini-PA, with pedals providing distortion and amp modelling and cabinet modelling.

I think I might borrow my son’s strat (I dont have an electric guitar yet) and do some testing. Not sure where I will borrow an iridium or similar.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Lost Sheep

…I don't have NEAR te expertise to answer this question. But I DO HAVE just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

Hi LS

Me too (I've been dangerous). My 'tech' for advice was the inventor of my amp, and the one who serviced damaged or not-working gear.

It does make a difference if we overdrive the signal chain or emulate distortion.

We've all seen guitar distortion amplified with a mic-on-an-amp through the house PAs, and we've seen amps/pedals 'emulate' distortion without affect (apparently) to the house horns/high-frequency drivers.

I've also seen horn diaphragms 'melted' in the 60s & 70s by bands using a 100watt amp to try and drive a 5000w auditorium and producing overdriven distortion of the signal chain.

And I understand the desire to be 'efficient' and 'compact' with our gear. And while I 'think' I'd be safe using my Strat through my acoustic amps, to be safe I have equally small electric amps which I know are safe.

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by Lost Sheep

I wonder if it makes a difference if the amp is driven to distortion by a boosted signal or if the distortion is created by a distortion pedal (allowing the amp to apply its true-to-waveform natural design parameters to the distorted signal.

If the tweeters could handle the signal strength of the amp applying its designed boost there should be no more problem than the tweeters handling a soprano singer loud enough to break crystal goblets. On the other hand if the simple volume is enough to damage the tweeters, well, then, your technician's advice is well-taken.

Regarding this question, I guess my Boss Acoustic Singer Live amp has an advantage: a tweeter defeat switch. But I don't rely on it for electric guitar. I have the DeRosa Special, a Bugera V5. I like to run them together, linked with a delay pedal.

[TedBPhx]

I play my Gibson 175 through my Mesa Rosette. Tweeter off. Neck pickup only, roll off the tone and vol. Watch the gain! It yields a more “acousticy” tone that is quite pleasant. Prefer the Twin for that guitar though.

[fuman]

I was in a Dead cover band and I used both my Genz-Benz Shenandoah and my Zoom A1-U acoustic effects pedal. I put a cheap Behringer Tube amp modeling pedal at the front end, turned off the tweeter, and voila. Granted I was mostly the rhythm guitarist, and the parts I was playing didn't call for me to sound like Clapton or Garcia, but it worked pretty well.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by fuman

I was in a Dead cover band and I used both my Genz-Benz Shenandoah and my Zoom A1-U acoustic effects pedal. I put a cheap Behringer Tube amp modeling pedal at the front end, turned off the tweeter, and voila. Granted I was mostly the rhythm guitarist, and the parts I was playing didn't call for me to sound like Clapton or Garcia, but it worked pretty well.

Hi fuman
And you turned the tweeter off!

That's a nice feature…plus the Shenandoah series is more like a powered PA speaker than and acoustic amp (I almost bought one).

They were like a copy of the SWR California Blonde (which also permits turning the tweeter off). The Genz-Benz weighed ⅓ as much.