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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | I may do some concerts playing both electric and my Ovations. Any suggestions on an amp that sounds really good for both that doesn't have a price tag like the Rivera Doyle Dykes?
I've had Parkers, Godins, Hamers, etc. with both mag pickups and a bridge piezo, but never had an amp that worked equally well with both mag and piezo.
I could run electric through a stage amp and send the acoustic to the board, but can't predict a reliable monitor mix.
One other option is the better Variax electric, which has an acoustic patch. One amp would work, but it wouldn't sound like my Ovations.
Whatcha think? |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | While Rockman gear itself is dated, the premise and method are still valid. The final stage (the amplifier to the speakers) is a FULL RANGE amp with FULL RANGE speakers. Then, put the appropriate pre-amp in front for Acoustic or Electric to switch between.
The actual choices of gear depend a bit more on your style. I played mostly electric. So I had a pair of Roland Bolt 60's with fuller range speakers than guitar speakers. I only used the clean channel so I got great "Acoustic" tone. I used Rockman pre-amps or ART or stomps or whatever to get my electric sound.
I'm guessing the Boss L1 series with the right pre-amp might make an excellent electric tone if you were playing primarily acoustic.
Also... when you say "electric".. that's not really saying much.
Anyway... hope that's some food for thought.. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Miles, thank you and good observation of ambiguity.
Point of clarification: "electric" = guitar with magnetic pickups. Right now I have Strats. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Such an amp does not exist, and whatever solution you come up with will be a compromise. Best bet is to get the best acoustic amp (or PA) you can afford and use amplifier simulation for the electric guitars. There's a bunch of digital modellers around such as the Line6 Pod and it's various clones, but for my money the SansAmp pedals sound and feel way better. They don't have the programability but they provide 1 killer tone with the abilty to morph it using the character function. I use one of the SansAmp "Character" pedals for Lap Steel (the "Blonde" Fender amp simulator) and it's killer, either into our Bose L1's or whatever the house provides
The other thing that's worth checking out is the iphone/ipad amp modelling Apps. I have Amplitude and intend to use that for our upcoming USA gigs instead of schlepping my entire Lap Steel pedalboard across the pond |
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January 2003
Posts: 92
Location: San Francisco, CA | Most O/M's I play my Model 1869 Custom Legend through some pedals (BOSS DM-1 Analog Delay and a BOSS CH-1 Super Chorus) into a '72 Fender Vibro Champ with a line out for the PA if needed.
Works great with either my Ovation or an electric guitar. |
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December 2004
Posts: 1673
Location: SoCal |  
Try one of these. Great for acoustic. Nice for clean electric. A pedalboard in via the return on the effects loop bypasses the acoustic preamp and feeds the power amp direct. The 12 inch is a Celestion V30. I've seen a few on eBay recently go for cheap. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by Paul Blanchard:
Miles, thank you and good observation of ambiguity.
Point of clarification: "electric" = guitar with magnetic pickups. Right now I have Strats. Actually I guess my ambiguity was ambiguous.. :)
When I think electric, I think distortion, sustain, metal, rock etc.. That's a whole different set of frequencies then lets say Rock-A Billy, Jazz, or traditional Country.. all electric.
But... the premise still plays out. If you can get a great clean tone from your acoustic, there are a host of modeling amps to help you create something close to what you'll like for an "electric" sound. |
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January 2009
Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | That's how I read Miles' question. There is a big difference between electric satin jazz, country twang, or death metal grunge/thrash. What kind of electric guitar music are you playing? |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Lots to think over, and I realize how narrowly I read Miles question. What kind of electric guitar signal the amp is asked to replicate is a big part of the equation. Back later, but thanks -- again -- for now. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Style of music will vary, but mostly pop/rock and some country. |
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October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | I used a Korg brand Tone Works modeling box for my electrics when playing in the church band through the PA. (Other brands such as Line 6 POD get excellent reviews though I have not personally used them.) The box makes for a nice DI solution as well as making a lot of different tones quickly available. Since we were a cover band, having the ability to change tones fast was really convenient.
The ToneWorks is a stereo box with mono input, so if your PA can take a stereo signal you can get stereo reverb and chorus effects.
The Ovations always get plugged directly into the PA via either a DI box in the venue or via XLR cable if the guitar has that output.
Another option would be to buy a small amp to use as a DI for your electric guitar. The amp becomes your stage monitor, and the modeling preamp sends the signal out to the house PA. I've done this, and Sara has done this a lot with her acoustic amp setup. We've never had a ground hum problem so far. If you want to buy an electric guitar amp anyway, look for one with a line out and the front end modeling for your electric guitar. Your acoustic guitar will still have to just DI into the PA system. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | How will using one amp for both "predict a reliable monitor mix"? |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Damon,
One amp becomes my monitor and/or my source of stage volume. It's just a matter of being able to be heard on stage, and the sound system is likely to be way less than ideal due to being in Central America on a low budget. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I'm using a Genz Acoustic Pro clean with the tube preamp up all the way, and a pedal board in front. I, too, go back and forth with acoustic and electric guitars, and sometimes even on the same guitar (yeah, VXT!). I've also used a Vox AC15HTVLT1 hand wired class A model. I saw Kaki use a Fender Vibro King run clean with her pedals and she regularly switched between acoustic and electric models, liked her sound, so I figured something similar to her setup would do me just fine. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | If you want to go with one amp, then Temp's method is the best. When you want to go electric, just plug in a sansamp. I recommend you look at two:
The GT2 or the SansAmp Para Driver.
As for the iPhone Apps, I have no idea. |
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Amp for both acoustic and electric?
