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What acoustic amps do you all prefer? I'm looking for something <$500 for just playing around the house and occasionally a small venue such as a coffeeshop, etc.

Thanks!

John

Zeta makes a nice (to my ears anyway) acoustic amp. They are a very little known company that started making electric fiddles which sound remarkably good.

I too am wondering about this. A coworker is looking for a good amp for his acoustic. Anyone else with suggestions?

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I have a Crate that I like a lot. I'm not sure of it's model number. It's a 60 watt with two speakers in it. It also has nice spring reverb and chorus. I think it runs about $500.00. Look into the Ultra Sound acoustic amps. I haven't played through one but I've heard they are the best there is.

Fender acoustisonic jr is one I used at church for a while and I liked it.

I hear a lot of good things about AER, but I don't know if they're out of your price range or not...

I had a little 30W Ultrasound for a while that I loved, really great natural acoustic sound. I sold it only because I almost always plug into a PA and it wasn't getting used. Good looking amp, and solid, has that "feel" of really good quality. I think some of the bigger models have a mic input so a solo performer could use it as a mini-PA. I don't keep up with that group anymore, but they used to get rave reviews on the RMMGA usenet newsgroup, and the owner was a pretty active contributor there.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I am totally happy with my Genz Benz Shenandoah Jr.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Look on ebay, you can probably find a SWR California Blonde for under $500 used.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Just bought a little Marshall acoustic amp, AS50R, with twin 8" cones, a real tank reverb and a mic input. Wonderful sound, fairly lightweight and seems to be quite rugged. Walked out, new, with just over $300 in it. Felt like I got a decent deal.Bill Greene38812.6743055556

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Fishman makes a very nice one for just under $500.

Quadruple the budget and you could get a Bose PAS which is the best system I've ever heard for acoustic instruments.   It's absolutely awesome.   

Rule of thumb...spend as much on the amp as the guitar is worth...and don't expect a $3,000.00 guitar to sound really good through a $500.00 or otherwise cheap amp.   Also, you need lots and Watts of headroom for an acoustic amp to sound right and not compressed.

[QUOTE=Rick Turner] Rule of thumb...spend as much on the amp as the guitar is worth...and don't expect a $3,000.00 guitar to sound really good through a $500.00 or otherwise cheap amp.   Also, you need lots and Watts of headroom for an acoustic amp to sound right and not compressed.[/QUOTE]

With one qualifier ... I had a buddy long time ago who used a twin stack Marshall...

I'm sure the Bose sounds fine, but holy cow, look at all the stuff you need to lug around:



That's what I'm trying to get away from--lugging an entire PA system around. There's no need to spend $2,000 on an acoustic amp to get it to sound good. There are a lot of choices out there for much less. It's the 95% solution again. You end up spending an additional 4-6 times as much to get that last 5% improvement. Law of diminishing returns.

Cheers!

John

I've got a California Blonde, and there's no comparison.   The Bose is not 5% better, it's a good 300% better.   Not kidding about that, either.

I played an Ultrasound today (50 watt amp, $549) side by side with a Rivera Sedona DD model ($2,300) and they are both very comparable. I'm a life long classical player so I'm picky about natural sound. It was about a 50/50 split with people in the music store who preferred the sound of the Ultrasound over the Rivera. I think what I'm finding is every amp sounds like me when playing, meaning the player drives the sound of the amp more than anything. I was able to get some great sounds out of a little cheapo Kustom for $199. I think the amp doesn't make nearly as big a difference as the player, and there are some great sounds at every price point.

Cheers!

John

Rick - I'm with you on the sound of the Bose system. I heard a fellow play a reasonable sized coffee shop with half his Bose system and it was amazing. That's coming from a guy who is not a Bose endorser in the home and car audio stuff I've heard over the years.

John I hear you about the lugging thing. Years ago I played with a drummer whose motto was a good club player is: 1 part weight lifter, 2 parts entertainer, 1 part musician and 3 parts business man.Anthony Z38813.8791087963

If you are looking for an occasional amp with extreme portability, very nice sound, and relatively inexpensive, you should audition the Roland AC-60. This is a very small amp with great features and value. We have been using it for two years and really enjoy the amp - great for plugging in an acoustic guitar and voice mic around the house or in a small venue. It has a DI output to plug into a PA system when needed.

I'll have to check it out. I have a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 now and think it's an outstanding amp for my electric guitar. It has the best stereo chorus of any amp I've ever played, and it's clear as a bell. I did,'t realize they made an acoustic amp.

John

What's really bizzare to me is, (well...I have to preface this with....I dream in color, very vivid and realistic dreams that can seem totally real to me, and sometimes I lose track of what I've dreamed and what's real....no, I'm not schizophrenic!), I could have sworn I saw an ad somewhere for an acoustic amp that Grit Laskin is selling under his name...and I've been looking for the ad with no luck. Must have been another one of those stupid realistic dreams again!
   Maybe I am nuts!

Sorry Mr. Laskin...but what a great idea! Just don't put inlay on them all...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."