Acoustic Guitar Amps For Archtop?

[rsclosson]

I have a pair of Acoustic AG30 amps that I sometimes use as a small PA. Alesis mixer into both of them stereo. However, sometimes I just use one of them for a solo guitar gig. The sound is surprisingly good; especially considering the 8" speaker. Onboard effects are great and it fills a small room beautifully.

Has anybody else tried this?

[pcjazz]

Yup. Schertler David and Unico; Ultrasound 100 and formerly a Trace Elliot. Ideal for acoustic archtops mic’d or with single coils.

[feet]

Sure, into a Roland ac33 or a carvin pa thing. Pretty nice, but if you have access to better effects or a more comprehensive eq, so much the better.

[Gitfiddler]

Some acoustic amps do sound pretty good with archtops. Just make sure the piezo horn is either turned off or disengaged if it has one.

[Klatu]

Acoustic Image Clarus

[Woody Sound]

Absolutely if you want a more "acoustic" sound. The Genz-Benz amps for example, sound fabulous.

[Woody Sound]

Some acoustic amps do sound pretty good with archtops. Just make sure the piezo horn is either turned off or disengaged if it has one.

Um, then why bother with an acoustic amp? That higher freq is the whole point of getting the better acoustic sound. If that's what you want of course.

[Gitfiddler]

Um, then why bother with an acoustic amp? That higher freq is the whole point of getting the better acoustic sound. If that's what you want of course.

I have an old SWR Strawberry Blonde with an 'on/off' switch for the piezo horn. To my ear my archtops sound better with the horn off, so I turn it off. With acoustic guitars the horn sounds great. Granted my hearing has deteriorated over the last 60+ years, so maybe its me. But everyone hears differently. Thankfully there are a number of amp options available to satisfy just about every musician.

[gitman]

I used the first generation ACOUSTICUBE by AER for many years as my go-to amp when playing smaller gigs (no drums) : in particular the combination of a DeArmond pickup into this amp was a great match.

[docsteve]

I play a Hofner archtop from around 1960 fitted with a Fishman bridge pickup through a Marshall AD-50. Everybody congratulates me on the sound - although I'd prefer a more electric sound for some solos. Still searching for some pedal to achieve this.

[Woody Sound]

I have an old SWR Strawberry Blonde with an 'on/off' switch for the piezo horn. To my ear my archtops sound better with the horn off, so I turn it off. With acoustic guitars the horn sounds great. Granted my hearing has deteriorated over the last 60+ years, so maybe its me. But everyone hears differently. Thankfully there are a number of amp options available to satisfy just about every musician.

I guess my thing is that since covid, I've been leaning toward a more clear, intimate acoustic tone at home. Less midrange and less thunk. Just getting to be my preference. Like this:

[Stringswinger]

The Henriksen Bud/Blu amps are sold as "acoustic" amps (and they do have a defeatable tweeter which makes them useful with piezo's and contact mikes). They are great archtop/w magnetic pickup amps (and I have used my Blu with solid body guitars for jazz gigs which worked out quite well)

I have used the Acoustic Image Clarus paired with a Raezer's Edge Cabinet for many years with all the same guitars that I use my Blu with (My current Clarus is the Series 4 Plus, a great amp). I also have an AER Compact 60 that works well with all of my guitars (Though with magnetic pickups, I do not think the AER is as good sounding as my Henriksen or Acoustic Image).

That said, in addition to my three solid state "acoustic" amps. I have three tube amps (two Fenders and a Mesa). For rock, blues and fusion, the tube amps rule. Arguably the tube amps, which are all voiced for magnetic pickups, are still the preferred choice for magnetic pickup equipped guitars while the acoustic amps shine with piezo or contact mike equipped guitars.

And I am in complete agreement with Gitfiddler that the best results for an acoustic amp with magnetic pickups are mostly found with a defeatable tweeter (though that tweeter can come in very handy when taming a dark, boomy room).

At a minimum, I would want to own two guitars, an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar. At a minimum, I would want to own two amps, a solid state "acoustic" amp and a tube amp.

[medblues]

I have used the Acoustic Image Clarus paired with a Raezer's Edge Cabinet for many years with all the same guitars that I use my Blu with (My current Clarus is the Series 4 Plus, a great amp). I also have an AER Compact 60 that works well with all of my guitars (Though with magnetic pickups, I do not think the AER is as good sounding as my Henriksen or Acoustic Image).

Which one is louder at max, the Henriksen Blu or the Clarus with Raezer's Edge ?

[Stringswinger]

Which one is louder at max, the Henriksen Blu or the Clarus with Raezer's Edge ?

I cannot say. They both have more clean headroom than I would ever need.

I think the EQ on the Henriksen is more guitar specific than the AI but I am quite pleased with both anps.

[Doctor Jeff]

I use the Fishman Artist with all my guitars, including archies with magnetic pickups. It has a very clean tone, is light, and is VERY loud.

It does have an adjustable tweeter, but I have not found this to make much difference with magnetic pickups. I think I read somewhere that the frequencies amplified by a magnetic pickup are too low to be affected much by the tweeter, but I could be misremembering something here. It seems to make much more of a difference in taming the higher end of the piezo pickups.

[Stringswinger]

I use the Fishman Artist with all my guitars, including archies with magnetic pickups. It has a very clean tone, is light, and is VERY loud.

It does have an adjustable tweeter, but I have not found this to make much difference with magnetic pickups. I think I read somewhere that the frequencies amplified by a magnetic pickup are too low to be affected much by the tweeter, but I could be misremembering something here. It seems to make much more of a difference in taming the higher end of the piezo pickups.

I think it depends on the tweeter. On my Henriksen having the tweeter on or off makes no difference with magnetic pickups. On my three ER Raezer's Edge cabinets, it makes a lot of difference. With the Henriksen, the tweeter is either on or off, With the Raezer's Edge cabs, you can dial in as littte or as much tweeter as you like.

[TedBPhx]

With the Mesa Rosette the 175 sounds awful until I remember to defeat the tweeter.