Nylon String Amp

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Frank Story

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I use a nylon string guitar with a piezo pickup and have been playing it through our church pa system. Although our pa is a good one with lots of power, I don't like the flat sounding tone of my guitar plugged in straight and would like to buy a small and LIGHTWEIGHT amp to mike through the system. It always seems that piezo guitars sound better throught pa systems than guitar amps so, to make all this a little briefer, would you buy a very small pa system (like the Fender or Custom) or guitar amp? To nail it down a little, I want it absolutely clean with no distortion wanted or needed and a nice clean reverb. Suggestions, experience and opinions welcomed!
 
I would suggest micing the guitar if possible, since that using an amp is still incorporating the crappy sounding piezo.
 
Get the sound person to add a little reverb to the guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
We play lengthy cantatas and I need the freedom to squirm around that the piezo allows. Being close-micd for that long could lead to early retirement for my chiropractor.

Our church sanctuary is large with good acoustics so our pa system didn't need and doesn't have reverb. The only way I hear myself is through close monitors that sound dry as dust to me. The sound guys in the back say it sounds good there but it's hard to take from the monitors.

The so called "acoustic" amps that I've seen didn't do much for me and would be power overkill. I just need something small to mic and use for my own monitoring and practice.
 
I'm with Tom. Consider Yamaha AG stomp. That will give you many options on the sound coming off the piezo, then run it straight into the PA. There's some setting on that puppy that will give you the sound you want.-Richie
 
Thanks guys. I'll go have a look and a listen to the pre-amp option. Are any of you familiar with the Korg AX10? I saw it advertised in a magazine and Korg claims a lot of nice acoustic effects are available with it.
 
I've got an SWR Strawberry Blonde acoustic guitar amp. It's pretty small (80 watts), single channel, and has reverb and an effects loop.

Many months ago I brought my acoustic to Guitar Center and tried out every acoustic amp they had. I tried the Gibson, Fender, Trace Elliot and a couple others I can't remember right now. They all sounded like ass except for the SWR. The SWR sounded very natural. The other amps sounded really processed and artificial.

Anyway, the Straberry Blonde isn't super loud but it has a balanced out. You could use the amp as your monitor and run an XLR cable from the amp to the board. That way you would have more control over your guitar tone and you would have a nice sounding "monitor" to hear your guitar.
 
Well the other thing is a nylon string guitar with piezo's is going to sound a little plinky no matter what you do--it's the nature of the beast--it doesn't have the power, attack and sustain of steel strings. That's neither good nor bad, just different. I suspect a combination of some reverb and careful eq-ing will give help a lot.
 
I definitely will agree with Scottgman- the Strawberry Blonde is my acoustiv amp of choice. I've heard nothing that compares with it for natural sound reproduction, and that includes the California Blonde, which is trying to be a mini PA also.-Richie
 
Just a final follow-up - a local store had a Roland Jazz Chorus 50 that I tried, really liked and bought used for $200. I tried MANY amps including some of the "acoustic"models before deciding on this one. The messages about Roland amps on this site led me to try it.
 
I play a nylon all the time and have only been happy with the amplified sound of one guitar, an Ovation Country Artist with the OP-1 pre. Acoustically the hybrid guitar (14 frets to the body) isn't much but I've never played anything that gets close. I usually run it through a PA but sometimes use an acoustic guitar amp. I think I got the black one in '97 and liked it so much I bought a spare. Like I said, it's not much acoustically and doesn't record well but for live work I wouldn't use anything else, except maybe a Godin.
 
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