What's the best sounding Acoustic Guitar amp?

[SAguitar]

I'm in the market for a sweet sounding Acoustic Guitar amp, and would like some feedback from y'all. I don't need a giant one, just something for my own monitor, but I want nice tone. In electric guitars, I am a Tone Freak, but I'm looking to play more acoustic in our worship sets, and need an amp.

I have an old Alvarez-Yairi guitar, dreadnought-size, basically a Martin D28 copy. It has Brazilian Rosewood sides and back, Spruce top, and I have installed a Fishman Prefix Plus piezo into it. I know, whaddaya want from a piezo pickup? But are there any amps out there that are voiced for those pickups, and sound nice?

Thanks for your input,
Stan

[reverbbb]

I really dislike the Marshall acoustic amp. I don't care too much for the sound of the Fender either.

I have a Crate Acoustic-125 that sounds amazingly nice. It has Direct output, EQ, Reverb, Aux In, Vocal In and Chorus (that really stinks). Very small and functional. These things can be found fairly cheaply on the used market - $200~$400 I think.

The SWR is good, but it is expensive and I find just as much to like about the Crate for less money.

[SAguitar]

I've played with two guys who used SWR's and I did like the tone of both of them (Strawberry Blonde, and California Blonde). Good presence, and not too much piezo quack. :cool:

[Teleguy]

SWR's are great, but pricey.

If you can find an Acoustic (brown tolex) they sound superb for low bucks usually (used).

I had the Tech 21 Bronzewood 60, which I thought sounded great, and had great reverb, but if that's 60 watts I'll eat my hat. Seemed more like 30 ss watts. :banghead

[Pearly Gator]

Trace Elliot are THE BEST acoustic amps. The one with 4X6" speakers is awesome.

I have the Trace Elliot TAP1 preamp. It's the front end of said amp in pedal form. It removes all "quack" from piezo pickups, which is something to listen for when shopping for an acoustic amp. The Trace plugs straight into the board or computer or even a monitor. It has both 1/4" and XLR outputs. Plugged into a guitar amp, you immediately have a great acoustic amp.

PG

[TheViking]

....AER
http://www.aer-amps.de/ in the USA they are distributed by www.fredcoynersales.com
I have tried a whole bunch of them and they sound YUMMY

[ptrallan01]

If I remember correctly setting 16 is the basic bassman setting. Sounds nice with an acoustic.

Peter

[SAguitar]

Has anyone tried the Fishman Loudbox, or the Ultrasound AG50-DS3? I have also been recommended Crate's acoustic amps, and some Berhinger models on other forums.

I looked at AER's website, and they look like they are serious Tone mongers, but I think they are a little outside my budget.

[Teleguy]

I had some kind of lil' Ultrasound, briefly.
Pretty low end gear, low headroom on mine (the speaker was teensy), maybe it was a 30, but it sounded ok.

[beatlenut]

I have a Genz Benz Shenandoah 100. Very natural sounding. Can hook 2 mics, 2 guitars in. Can also put on a speaker stand and you can plug it direct into the PA.

[SAguitar]

Hey Beatlenut! I have been lookin' at those online and they do look very interesting. How are they at handling peizo pickups? Do you use one of those quacky things in your guitar? How are the effects in that unit?

Thanks, Stan

[beatlenut]

I use it with my Taylors (Fishman blenders) or my 10th Anniversary Ovation with a K&K passive Classic pickup. Works real well with both.

The effects aren't really that great. The chorus effect you cannot tweak, only the level. I only put a touch of chorus and delay and reverb in anyway so it suits my purposes.

Just clean it sounds amazing.

[SAguitar]

I love the tone those Taylors have with their new pickup system. They really sound sweet. If I was really serious about this acoustic thing, I would probably go that route. Right now I'm just looking at a setup to make the best use of the guitar I have. :cool: