If you have never tried playing your acoustic-electric guitar through a small bass amp, give it a go when you have the chance.
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If you have never tried playing your acoustic-electric guitar through a small bass amp, give it a go when you have the chance. The one I use for solo acoustic gigs is an old Ampeg 108, and the resulting tone is rich, and full, and gloriously clear. #GearSquad
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@rickmurnane
I second this bit of arcane wisdom.There often isn't a lot of difference between "bass amp" and "full range" amp, although supplemental features (EQ, tone-shaping, any effects, etc) will be tailored to specific purposes..
Bass speakers, otoh, tend to drop off pretty sharply starting in the high mids. Funny enough, lots of acoustic-electric guitars use piezo undersaddle pickups that sound quacky, fizzy, and brittle starting in the high mids. So bass cabs tend to take that irritating edge off.
Many acoustic-electrics also have wolf tones/feedback resonances around a low F# or G that will start to howl in moderate volume situations. Tthe EQs on bass amps can often sidestep that, where "acoustic" amp EQs may not, and electric guitar amp EQs almost never can.
@geoffduncan Hear, hear. I did forget to mention that I replaced the original speaker with one from Eminence that was recommended by several bass players when the time came. I forget the model and I'm too lazy to open up the cab and remove it to see what's printed on the magnet, but it's an 8" PA speaker, rated over 100 watts. The amp is only 25 or 30, so it doesn't distort a bit. And yes. The amp's simple three band eq can dial in a great sound, taming any tones that nag at one's ears.
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@geoffduncan Hear, hear. I did forget to mention that I replaced the original speaker with one from Eminence that was recommended by several bass players when the time came. I forget the model and I'm too lazy to open up the cab and remove it to see what's printed on the magnet, but it's an 8" PA speaker, rated over 100 watts. The amp is only 25 or 30, so it doesn't distort a bit. And yes. The amp's simple three band eq can dial in a great sound, taming any tones that nag at one's ears.
@rickmurnane
My only other secret weapon when dealing with undersaddles is an LR Baggs Para-Acoustic DI, which has some handy features and a five-band EQ section with selectable midrange and a notch filter.I only have two complaints about it: the fx loop is a stereo-jack send-and-return, which doesn't play nicely with a lot of common situatiuons, and whatever adhesive they use for the backing isn't all that great (so the backing tends to slide off). The latter, of course, is easily addressed at any home improvement store.
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