What amp?

Okay, I have yet another question. In an earlier thread (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19561) I already mentioned that I needed a new amplifier. West R Lee suggested a Roland AC90 (thanks for that), but there's a little more to it than just an amp for my Guild.

My setup is as follows:
I have two guitars. A Jackson Kelly (as in, a real metal guitar), and a Guild CO-1C (with D-Tar pre-amp). I have a Digitech GNX3, and a Roland Cube 15x. And to be honest, the Cube 15x sounds kind of... bad, in my opinion. If I play with headphones, connected directly to my Digitech GNX3, my Jackson Kelly sounds amazing - but through the amplifier not really. I haven't done much testing yet with my Guild, but I don't really like the sound of my Guild connected to my Cube either (Haven't tried with headphones yet though).

Now, I don't need a huge amount of watts. It's mainly for within my bedroom (which is quite small), though I would like it to be good enough that I can use it at a gig with a microphone in front.

Now I realize I should go to the store with both my guitars and test out pretty much all amplifiers there until I find the best one, but I would like some advise to begin with. Just general advise like:
- How many Watts do you suggest?
- Are there even amps that sound great for both electric guitars and acoustic electric guitars? I don't need the amplifier to do effects like distortion, I'll use pedals for that.
- Can you suggest some good amplifiers? I don't have an actual budget: I'd prefer it to be as cheap as possible, but it has to be good enough for me.

Do you have any other advise for when I go to the store to try out amplifiers?


Thanks!

hi gerben,

in one sentence: no, there is no amp that will suit all possible needs without compromise, especially not for a low budget. and usually for an electric solidbody and an acoustic guitar you need different amps to get a decent sound out of both of them, because they are completely different instruments. of course you can play the acoustic through a small guitaramp, but somehow it will always sound different to the acousticsound.

so let me ask some more questions:
1. do you play in a band, if yes what kind of music?
2. what kind of sound do you want for the jackson, what fx, what amount of gain?
3. what kind of sound do you want for the guild, what fx?
4. do you need a light weight amp or could you carry a load?

but generally a 30 watt tubeamp should volumewise be enough for everything except hardrock/metal.

If you are a beginner, I would choose a one channel 15 watts tubeamp which works great with pedals and has enough headroom at home for your acoustic and I'd buy a preamp for the acoustic with a di-out (i.e. l.r. baggs para di) that you can use with either the amp or a pa or even buy an active monitor later, because at home you will need no amp for the acoustic

Too bad, but not really unexpected. Still, though, I'd like the best solution for this. I need an amplifier that my Jackson Kelly sounds good with, as I actually need an amplifier for that, but I'd just like it to sound amazing with my Guild as well... Or at least just as good. I don't have a low budget, though: I'm willing to pay as much as it takes to suit my needs (well, more or less).

I did experience the same: My Guild just didn't sound right connected to my current amplifier, directly or through my DigiTech GNX3. Even with headphones, it didn't sound great. A friend of mine had it connected to his speakers and that just sounded amazing...

My answers to the questions:
1. I don't play in a band, as I don't really have the time (or schedule where I can so much as make plans) right now, but I do want to join one sooner or later.
2. Well, my DigiTech GNX3 has loads of FX's, so I don't need any on the amplifier for that. But I commonly use gain (sometimes turned up max, Sweet Child Of Mine (Guns 'n Roses) style), reverb... And some presets in the DigiTech GNX3 of which I don't know which effects they use. Sometimes I want the hard metal style, sometimes hard-rock style. Like Guns 'n Roses, Metallica, RHCP...
3. Even harder what kind of sound I want for my Guild. What I play on it ranges from country like John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" to ballads like Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah", to pop like Milow's "You don't know". That's the style of songs I play, and about the kind of sound I want.
4. I don't care how heavy it is. I doubt I'll have to carry it a lot and if I do, I make sure I'll use a car ;-).

(There, is it obvious yet that I know fairly little about guitars?)

I'm not really a beginner, but I'm not a pro either. I do know fairly few songs though, because I've spent most of my time improvising rather than studying songs and the long time ago I took guitar lessons (on my electric guitar)... Those songs I forgot long ago ;-). It's kind of a shame, but right now I've started studying songs again, I've probably learned more in the last few weeks than in the last 3 years (though I only started playing acoustic a half to one year ago or so).

So, if you don't count in budget, what would be good? 15 watts doesn't sound like enough for me, as my current amp is 15 watts and I dislike its sound, though it might be amp-specific.


Thanks for your help!

Welcome to LTG, Gerben!

I believe that Rivera is the only company that is currently manufacturing amps that handle both electric and acoustic; a separate channel for each. The Sedona 55 and the Sedona 100.
Web site link here: http://www.rivera.com/products/sedona/sed55-combo.php.
Pricey, but great amps.

Don't get into the wattage hype. 100 watts is not twice as loud as 50 watts; 30 watts is not twice as loud as 15 watts. In fact, there is very little difference in volume between a 100 and a 50, or a 30 and a 15. Store sales people will always point you to higher wattage 'cause they make more money on the sale. The higher wattage gives you higher head room (undistorted tone) when playing clean at maximum volme, but the actual increase in volume is negligible. 15 watts should be plenty loud for a bedroom; probably too loud to actually play at full vollume without hurting your ears.

For electric, I have a 15 watt tube practice amp at home (bedroom), and I rarely ever take it above half way on the volume. I use a 50 watt tube amp every week in a band, but because we need low stage volume, I have it attenuated way down but with the master volume maxed. I'm probably only playing at the equivalent of about 5 to 10 watts. It's mic'ed into the house PA and is plenty loud.

You want to get the amp that sounds the best to you. Don't worry about the wattage.

If budget is not an issue, why not get both, an electric and an acoustic?

cjd-player said:

...I believe that Rivera is the only company that is currently manufacturing amps that handle both electric and acoustic; a separate channel for each. The Sedona 55 and the Sedona 100.
Web site link here: http://www.rivera.com/products/sedona/sed55-combo.php.
Pricey, but great amps....

Click to expand...

cool, something learned again cjd, thanks.

krysh said:

cjd-player said:

...I believe that Rivera is the only company that is currently manufacturing amps that handle both electric and acoustic; a separate channel for each. The Sedona 55 and the Sedona 100.
Web site link here: http://www.rivera.com/products/sedona/sed55-combo.php.
Pricey, but great amps....

Click to expand...

cool, something learned again cjd, thanks.

Click to expand...

Hey krysh, you still need to teach me how to levitate an amp like you did in your commercial last year. :mrgreen:

Okay, thanks everybody...

The Sedona amps look amazing... Though I think it's too much of an overkill for me. Yes, I don't really have a budget, but I think a lot cheaper amps are equally good for me.

Well, I guess I will get myself two new amplifiers, then. Or at least, I'll get myself a new amplifier for my electric guitar as I won't really need an amplifier for my Guild, it would just have been nice. So I'll get one for my Guild later, when (if) I need one...


Thanks a lot for your help, all of you ;-).

cjd-player said:

... I believe that Rivera is the only company that is currently manufacturing amps that handle both electric and acoustic; a separate channel for each. The Sedona 55 and the Sedona 100.
Web site link here: http://www.rivera.com/products/sedona/sed55-combo.php. Pricey, but great amps.

Click to expand...

Hi Gerben and welcome to LTG! Paul Rivera followed Ed Jahns as chief engineer at Fender from the late '70s into the '80s implementing channel switching, drive/more drive, and other features now long standard on most Fender amps. If you aren't already a member, you might think about joining The Gear Page where they have a lively Buy & Sell section made up of Fender, Marshall, and many Dumble-esque clones. From the asking prices and discussions, you might get a good idea of what stuff is going for and what might be right for you. The only other comment I have is that an average guitar through a good amp will sound a lot better than a good guitar through an average amp. Good luck with you choices and welcome to LTG!

Gerben said:

Okay, thanks everybody...
... I won't really need an amplifier for my Guild, it would just have been nice. So I'll get one for my Guild later, when (if) I need one...

Click to expand...

If you do end up playing acoustic in a band, it's kind of unusual to use an acoustic amp anyway. Typicaly an acoustic guitar output is sent straight into the PA via a DI (Direct Injection) Box or preamp/DI combo. In a band situation, an acoustic amp is usually only used as a monitor for the player, not to amplify for the house. A line-out from the amp then goes to the house PA.

Solo acoustic (coffee house, etc.) or small acoustic ensemble could use use acoustic amps. However, once the house gets sufficiently large, you need a PA anyway, so you're back to DI, unless you have a powerful acoustic amp that can drive a pair of external speakers (effectively a small PA).

Let me write an update. I went to a shop and I ended up with a Vox AD100VT-XL. I think it sounds amazing, especially with my electric guitar and Digitech GNX3. I fell in love with it the moment I played it ;-). And it sounds fairly good with my Guild as well in my opinion.
I realize there are probably even better amps, but hearing this amp I realized I didn't need it... This setup is just perfect for me!

Thanks all for your help!