Acoustic Amplifier

[Richard]

Hi Tomas,

I watched your latest RGS Live and appreciate you for talking about different recording options for my practice sessions. Thanks for putting that together for me and everyone else.

I am also looking at a small amplifier for my acoustic guitar. It does have a built in pick up and I’d like to see how that sounds as well as have the ability to sing into a mic (very low volume. Nobody gets hurt that way). I have no plans to sing outside my home. I think it would be fun, and nice to hear the sound coming at me instead of away from me as I play. I might be crazy, that’s why I’m looking for other thoughts. I’ve seen a few amps within a price I can afford.

I do plan to purchase the recording equipment, and looked at the focusright Scarlet on Sweetwater from your link. That with headphones may be all I need in the end, but still any thoughts on the amp are welcome

Thanks

Richard

Discussion

[Tomas]

I use the small affordable ($199) Yamaha THR5 10-watt 2×3″ Modeling Combo Amp. It’s a good quality amplifier with some neat modeling effect to change the sound of your guitar to imitate other guitars. I particularly like it because it’s portable. Mostly I use it with the Boss RC-3 looper. I play a chord progression on the looper and then solo over the changes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a mic input. Not so good for singing and playing.

I think a good amp for the money is the Fender Acoustasonic 40 – 40-watt Acoustic Amp. I haven’t tried it myself but I have tried several the older Fender Acoustasonic amps and I thought they were good bang for the buck. Going for $229 at Sweetwater.

I’ve used the Peavey Ecoustic E208 30-watt 2×8″ Acoustic Combo Amp briefly. I thought it sounded good and has many features. It has two inputs that can be used for either guitar or mic. I’ve read several reviews that say they hear a lot of hiss (noise) when you’re not playing. I don’t remember that but I wasn’t really looking for it either.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more money ($349) I’d take a good look at the Fishman Loudbox Mini BT 60-watt 1×6.5″ Acoustic Combo Amp.

[Richard]

I have never recorded before, so I really am not sure what to ask. Having thought about it though, and reading about it at Sweetwater, I wonder if your experience recording using a headset to listen to yourself gives useful feedback ? I started to think if I did use an amp while recording, it might give a bit of unwanted feedback being so close to the recording. I will also look on You Tube for any how to’s as well. Thanks for your response.

[Author]

Replies