LearnGospelMusic.com Community

Please login or register.
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: A/E Guitar Amps  (Read 2530 times)

Offline Fenix

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12085
  • Gender: Male

A/E Guitar Amps
« on: March 11, 2008, 02:30:19 PM »
I have to admit i am not technical at all!! My friend gave me a small parctice amp with an electric guitar and i am using it with my A/E guitar. However it amplifies EVERYTHING!!! All i have to do is touch the strings, even just a little, and i can hear it through the amp.

When i play the electric, it comes out clean with very little fret noise. However when i use the A/E it booms and i can hear too much fret noise; bumps squeaks and all that. It is very small practice amp. Are there amps out there that are specifically for A/E guitars? Will they give a clean sound with very little noise?

In short, are all guitar amps the same?

Like i said, i am not technical so i will get lost if you post jargon and tech-speak. Thanks.
The car, job, house wife/husband are not the reward, God is.

Offline JayP5150

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Gender: Male
    • PEEBSound Guitar Effects

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2008, 03:07:50 PM »
I have to admit i am not technical at all!! My friend gave me a small parctice amp with an electric guitar and i am using it with my A/E guitar. However it amplifies EVERYTHING!!! All i have to do is touch the strings, even just a little, and i can hear it through the amp.

When i play the electric, it comes out clean with very little fret noise. However when i use the A/E it booms and i can hear too much fret noise; bumps squeaks and all that. It is very small practice amp. Are there amps out there that are specifically for A/E guitars? Will they give a clean sound with very little noise?

In short, are all guitar amps the same?

Like i said, i am not technical so i will get lost if you post jargon and tech-speak. Thanks.

There are amps specifically for acoustics. You can play an acoustic through a regular amp, but usually what you experience is a tonal response that just doesn't suit the acoustic.

Do you have a preamp on the guitar? If so, the signal being thrown out of your acoustic is a lot hotter than that of your electric. Usually, with some tweaking of both the pre on the guitar and the amp, you should be able to get a sound that will get you by, but will by no means be flattering.

And, yes, in general, a piezo pickup in an acoustic will pick up all the little noises, tapping on the top guitar, pick click, etc.

If you don't have a pre on the acoustic, then I'm not sure why it would respond that way, as a passive piezo has much less output than your average electric pickup.

Give us a bit more info (what are the controls on your acoustic pre, etc), and we should be able to help you find a tone that's more pleasing. Or, just sit there and twist knobs until you find it  ;)

Offline gtrdave

  • Moderator
  • LGM Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4895
  • Gender: Male
  • Men always ought to pray and not lose heart.
    • Check out some of my music!

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2008, 03:08:33 PM »
It's probably not the amp so much but more the fact that on an acoustic guitar, the body is much more resonant than on a solid-body electric and much more like a giant sound conductor, sending everything it can to the mic/pickup.
An electric guitar, while still having acoustic properties, handles sound differently with the bulk of the sound being generated by the strings and magnetic pickups.

You can try adjusting the amp or the eq adjustments on the guitar to try and lessen certain frequencies that might be giving you more noise than you desire.

As far as your question "are all guitar amps the same?", I'd say not hardly with a better quality and probably more expensive amp producing better quality sound reproduction than a cheaper amp but good quality does not always have to be expensive.
Music theory is not always music reality.

Offline lilBB

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 423

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2008, 03:43:57 PM »
Fender's line of Acoustasonic amps designed specifically for acoustic. I got the 30, love the different tones you can get with it. got a mic channel too. while i wouldnt recommend running mic n guitar simultaneously, in cases of emergencies when we didn't have a separate PA (mic n amp), it did the trick.

 what kind of acoustic/electric you got?

Offline JayP5150

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Gender: Male
    • PEEBSound Guitar Effects

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2008, 04:11:00 PM »
while i wouldnt recommend running mic n guitar simultaneously, in cases of emergencies when we didn't have a separate PA (mic n amp), it did the trick.

I usually feel this way, but if you really think about it, it's no different than if you had a really small PA, you know?

Offline Fenix

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12085
  • Gender: Male

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2008, 04:38:26 PM »
Great!!

Thanks for responding so quickly guys. I am using an A/E Oscar Schmidt. As i said, i am not technical at all and all i know is that it has a "thing" attached to the inside of the guitar that has space for a battery and  volume and tone controls on said "thing". I suppose that makes the "thing" a pick up?

Yes, it picks up every blessed thing...pick clicks, squeaks, God help me if i should drop it on the floor.

The practice amp i have has the very basic controls that comes with tiny amps i suppose; low, mid and high controls, master volume controls, and a gain control. I have turned this down, it also helps slightly if i turn down the low. The sound is also "far". I don't know how to describe it but it sounds like there is an echo and i do not get that tight sound.

Hope this helps. 
The car, job, house wife/husband are not the reward, God is.

Offline gtrdave

  • Moderator
  • LGM Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4895
  • Gender: Male
  • Men always ought to pray and not lose heart.
    • Check out some of my music!

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2008, 05:18:12 PM »
That "far" sound is probably Reverb.

Turning the reverb control counter-clockwise will bring your sound "near".  ;D
Music theory is not always music reality.

Offline JayP5150

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Gender: Male
    • PEEBSound Guitar Effects

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2008, 05:49:46 PM »
That "far" sound is probably Reverb.

Turning the reverb control counter-clockwise will bring your sound "near".  ;D

They should label the reverb control just like that lol.

When I was still just learning (about 13), I couldn't understand how this Fender 410 I played through at church camp sounded like it was on a mountain lol. My next amp had reverb, and I figured it out  :D

Offline JayP5150

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Gender: Male
    • PEEBSound Guitar Effects

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2008, 05:53:47 PM »
Oh, Fenix, turning down the volume on the guitar will lessen the sensitivity.

The actual pickup is under the saddle in the bridge. The box with knobs that the battery goes in is a preamp that boosts the signal and shapes the tone before it goes to a pa or amp.

If you're plugging into an amp made for an electric, cut that volume (on the guitar) back to like 25%. start with the tone in the middle, and your bass, mid, treble in the middle, and boost or cut those from there to get the sound you want.

Offline SanctifiedGuitar

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 313
  • Gender: Male
  • Live a sanctified and holy life.

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2008, 08:09:54 PM »
If really thinking about buying another amp, take your A/E guitar to the store and try out amps before you buy one. :)
Have you been baptized in Jesus' name and received the Holy Ghost?
(Acts 2:37,38 and 19:1-7)

Offline lilBB

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 423

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2008, 08:31:58 AM »
I usually feel this way, but if you really think about it, it's no different than if you had a really small PA, you know?

true. guess thats why it worked so well at the small venue. guess im just stingy  ;).

and COMPLETELY off subject....im digging the guitar in SanctifiedGuitar's avatar....is that the Schecter C-1 or a PRS r somethin?

Offline JayP5150

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Gender: Male
    • PEEBSound Guitar Effects

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2008, 01:26:01 PM »
true. guess thats why it worked so well at the small venue. guess im just stingy  ;).

and COMPLETELY off subject....im digging the guitar in SanctifiedGuitar's avatar....is that the Schecter C-1 or a PRS r somethin?

I'm guessing PRS McCarty? I don't know... I quit diggin into the PRS stuff when I realized they cost as much as a car lol.

One day...

Offline SanctifiedGuitar

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 313
  • Gender: Male
  • Live a sanctified and holy life.

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #12 on: March 12, 2008, 08:41:54 PM »
I'm guessing PRS McCarty? I don't know... I quit diggin into the PRS stuff when I realized they cost as much as a car lol.

One day...

That avatar is a PRS McCarty.  I don't own one yet, because of stewardship priorities.  For now, I'm content with playing my Schecter C-1 E/A.  ;D
Have you been baptized in Jesus' name and received the Holy Ghost?
(Acts 2:37,38 and 19:1-7)

Offline JayP5150

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Gender: Male
    • PEEBSound Guitar Effects

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2008, 06:32:29 AM »
That avatar is a PRS McCarty.  I don't own one yet, because of stewardship priorities.  For now, I'm content with playing my Schecter C-1 E/A.  ;D

Ha, I like that. "Stewardship priorities." That's a much better way to look at it. I'm more apt to call it "this stupid car payment" lol.

J/K. If we're not good stewards with what we've got, how's He going to trust us with more?

Just made me smile, that's all.

Offline Sonar

  • LGM Royalty
  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 366

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2008, 11:50:26 AM »
That avatar is a PRS McCarty.  I don't own one yet, because of stewardship priorities.  For now, I'm content with playing my Schecter C-1 E/A.  ;D

I'm missing something here...

Are you saying the guitar in your avitar is a PRS McCarty?

What PRS McCarty Model has F-Holes? (Or has your avitar been changed?)

The current avitar looks to be a PRS Hollowbody I.

I think the lower priced Hollowbody Spruce version of this guitar is one of PRS' nicer offerings for the money (along with the used Swamp Ash Specials & older CE bolt-ons w/ maple necks).

Offline SanctifiedGuitar

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 313
  • Gender: Male
  • Live a sanctified and holy life.

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #15 on: March 13, 2008, 08:25:42 PM »
I'm missing something here...

Are you saying the guitar in your avitar is a PRS McCarty?

What PRS McCarty Model has F-Holes? (Or has your avitar been changed?)


Sonar, check out this link to receive the answer to your question... ;)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?cpd=0OEY&doc_id=99371&base_pid=519919&index=4
Have you been baptized in Jesus' name and received the Holy Ghost?
(Acts 2:37,38 and 19:1-7)

Offline SanctifiedGuitar

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 313
  • Gender: Male
  • Live a sanctified and holy life.

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #16 on: March 13, 2008, 08:45:19 PM »
Ha, I like that. "Stewardship priorities." That's a much better way to look at it. I'm more apt to call it "this stupid car payment" lol.

J/K. If we're not good stewards with what we've got, how's He going to trust us with more?

Just made me smile, that's all.

JayP, I'm thinking about what you said...below is a fraction of verses I depend on to speak in such a matter...

Proverbs 18:20,21 and Matthew 12:36...check them out during your devotions or before...  :)
Have you been baptized in Jesus' name and received the Holy Ghost?
(Acts 2:37,38 and 19:1-7)

Offline Sonar

  • LGM Royalty
  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 366

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #17 on: March 13, 2008, 11:11:10 PM »
Sonar, check out this link to receive the answer to your question... ;)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?cpd=0OEY&doc_id=99371&base_pid=519919&index=4


Actually...the link raised more questions than it answered.

My friend has what he calls a PRS Hollowbody I. It has nothing printed on the truss rod cover like this photo from the PRS site listed under "Hollowbody I".



So I wondered what the difference between a "Hollowbody I" and a "McCarty Hollowbody I" could be...because I couldn't find anything except the truss rod cover.


Then I found this answer to the same question on the "Birds & Moons Forum":

"All PRS Hollowbodies are McCarty Hollowbody guitars. The HB Spruce has a spruce top with a mahogany back. the HB I has a maple top with a mahogany back and the HB II has a maple top a maple back and mahogany sides. They also made a McCarty archtop with had a fatter body."

So I guess I liked that one MCCARTY Hollowbody Spruce of the PRS hollowbodies I've played...darned pretty guitars.

Still...it strange that PRS doesn't list these Hollowbodies within the McCarty section of their site.

Go figure.   ::)

Offline SanctifiedGuitar

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 313
  • Gender: Male
  • Live a sanctified and holy life.

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #18 on: March 15, 2008, 01:58:58 PM »
Have you been baptized in Jesus' name and received the Holy Ghost?
(Acts 2:37,38 and 19:1-7)

Offline JayP5150

  • LGM Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Gender: Male
    • PEEBSound Guitar Effects

Re: A/E Guitar Amps
« Reply #19 on: March 15, 2008, 03:23:44 PM »
JayP, I'm thinking about what you said...below is a fraction of verses I depend on to speak in such a matter...

Proverbs 18:20,21 and Matthew 12:36...check them out during your devotions or before...  :)


Much appreciated. I was kinda playing around, but it isn't hard to let yourself think carnally in such matters.
Pages: [1]   Go Up