Mirco
441 posts
Nov 17, 2016
7:19 AM
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Anyone know about acoustic amps? I already have a big stage amp (Bassman) but am looking for a smaller amp for smaller venues, recording, practice.
What do you think about "acoustic amps", like the Marshall Acoustic or the Fishman Loudbox? Acoustic amps produce a cleaner sound, which would be good for playing different sorts of gigs (not just the Chicago style blues).
If I play through an acoustic amp, I have the ability to play bright and clean, but I can always dirty up the tone in other ways (microphone, pedals, technique). If I start with a dirty sounding amp, I can never get a clean sound from it.
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Marc Graci
YouTube Channel
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Goldbrick
1693 posts
Nov 17, 2016
8:34 AM
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I have had good luck with the 4 speaker epiphone 3o regent
There are used one on ebay
The fender acoustasonic 30 is also good
Acoustic amps stay clean and have smaller speakers and/or tweeters. They do not take well to dirtying up
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barbequebob
3312 posts
Nov 17, 2016
10:09 AM
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Personally, I'd just as soon do it toally old schol and just play straight thru the PA and have the mic run a bit hot so that you don't need to damned near eat the mic or tight cup it at all to hear yourself.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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hvyj
3165 posts
Nov 17, 2016
11:39 AM
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For quite a while I was using an SWR Baby Baby Blue acoustic bass amp. I liked it. Some acoustic guitar amps are just too high gain for harp, but some keyboard amps sound pretty decent. It has been my experience that when an acoustic amp has an XLR input and a 1/4" input, for some reason harp always sounds better through the 1/4" input even if you are using a lo-z XLR mic. Of course, this means you need to use an IMT.
Last Edited by hvyj on Nov 17, 2016 11:42 AM
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Joe_L
2678 posts
Nov 17, 2016
4:48 PM
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Don't waste your money or your time. There is a reason why you don't see people using those amps. If you want a clean sound, play through the PA and work on your microphone handling technique and tone. Lynwood Slim and RJ Mischo sounded great playing through a PA and getting a variety of tones without using pedals and other stuff. Wouldn't it be cool to go places carrying a vocal mic, a cable and your harps? It would be freeing.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
Last Edited by Joe_L on Nov 17, 2016 4:48 PM
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Barley Nectar
1272 posts
Nov 17, 2016
8:00 PM
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I don't have an acoustic amp but I can see the benefits. It is your personal PA. Vox sound good and the miked harp can be whatever you want it to be. Great for one man shows or coffee house gigs. This type of amp may also work well for country and bluegrass styles. That Marshall AS50D is a reliable amp in my experience.
Last Edited by Barley Nectar on Nov 17, 2016 8:03 PM
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hvyj
3166 posts
Nov 17, 2016
8:07 PM
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Well, Lee Oskar has been known to use an acoustic amp. Once upon a time, I used to play primarily through the PA . And yeah, it is liberating to carry just harps, a mic and a cable. BUT, having my own amp gives me more control because when you play through the board, it's not always positioned where you can adjust the EQ and volume on the channel you are playing through. Also, a monitor feed can be a terrible source of feedback but with no monitors it's often hard to hear yourself. Carrying your own amp if it has adequate power obviates those two problems.
But playing through the PA is cool, too, especially if you use an XLR mic. And then, of course, there is a certain warmth that you get from a tube amp. I strongly prefer to play through my own mic, but I tend to sound pretty much like me no matter what I plug it into. The worst equipment scenarios forr me are having to use a bullet mic or having to play through a vocal mic into a PA channel EQ'd for vocals.
Last Edited by hvyj on Nov 17, 2016 8:17 PM
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BC
64 posts
Nov 18, 2016
6:55 PM
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I bought my own active PA speaker. It is a 50W with two 4.5" speakers. I use it with an SM58 microphone on a stand. I use this to play acoustically. It has three channels with mixer so I can hook up a guitar and/or my iPad as well. I used it at a small private gig back in August and it worked great. The place I played did not have any sound system, so this whole set up was nice to have.
BC
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Chris L
145 posts
Nov 19, 2016
7:08 PM
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Hi Mirco!
I have a Genz Benz Shenandoah Jr Acoustic. It sounds fantastic played clean or with a multi-effects pedal. It is only 35 watts but has a line out so it can be used as a monitor and send a signal through the PA at the same time.
The built in effects include several reverbs, 2 slap-back delays, chorus, mild auto-wah and a rotary speaker emulation in case you choose to use the effects package. And if you play acoustic guitar or dobro style slide-wow!
As you say, You can always dirty up the sound, but if you want to run a multi effects pedal you MUST have an amp you can run super clean like a PA amp, which you can with this acoustic. Only you know what use you might have for an acoustic amp, but try one out if you get a chance!
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Spderyak
100 posts
Nov 21, 2016
9:36 AM
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We use the Fishman Loudbox fine with no problem.
also I use a Vox da5 and it's newer version.
We play them all as clean, no distortion, as we can.
(Not a fan of the distorted sounds that some like)
It works for us for practice, recordings and even some light gigs
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