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playing an acoustic guitar through an electric amp

casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
edited June 2004 in Musicians and Gearheads
So yesterday a buddy of mine gave me his guitar to hold on to. He wants to get rid of it and sell it for like 100 euros, but is too lazy to actually, well, sell it. Now it's in my custody to play. So he basically just gave it to me. It's an electro-acoustic Saehan SDC61N. For what I've read on the net so far its a cheap Korean guitar, it doens't have an EQ, just a volume and a tone knob. Not that I really care... What does matter is that I only have an amp for electric guitar. Does that matter, apart from the sound? I mean, can I damage the guitar or the amp by playing it through it?
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Comments

  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    it'll just sound weird but it won't hurt anything.
  • casper leblanccasper leblanc Posts: 1,246
    all is cool then
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    you'll probably get a lot of feedback starting at pretty low volumes too.
  • mulacmulac Posts: 97
    yeah, i just play my electro acoustic through an electric guitar amp and the feedback is kinda annoying but i'll do no damage.


    it kinda gives it a unique sound though, which i find cool
    the passenger is life
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    A soundhole mute will help with the feedback... it's just a rubber disc that sits in the soundhole, cuts down on the body vibration and the resonance that would cause feedback. It kinda hurts the unplugged tone, but it can be easily removed for jamming between plugged-in sessions.

    The biggest problem plugging an acoustic into an electric amp is impedance... but it won't cause any damage to either the instrument or the amp. Ideally, you'd be plugging into an acoustic amp like the Fishman or a Genz Benz. The other option, if a good PA is available, is plugging in through a good D.I. box (like exhausted's new toy).

    Of course, with a cheap A/E, it's not like you're going to get much better fidelity.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • mendicant_1mendicant_1 Posts: 39
    when my band was recording in a studio, i played my Martin through my Marshall,...yes,..i played an acoustic-electric Martin through a Marshall JCM 900,...and it didn't sound too bad,...i obvously had the clean turned up,...sounded better than running it directly though the board
    Your head will collapse if there's nothing in it -Black Francis
  • Lukin_ozLukin_oz Posts: 257
    I may be getting things confused here... but what should you use for an acoustic amp? and what do bands like oasis etc who use elctric acoustics use for heavy distortion sounds?
    Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    Originally posted by Lukin_oz
    I may be getting things confused here... but what should you use for an acoustic amp? and what do bands like oasis etc who use elctric acoustics use for heavy distortion sounds?

    Well, most people looking for acoustic tone from an amp will get a specific acoustic instrument amplifier. In the big leagues, though, most of the time it's a DI box that sends the signal straight into the PA system.

    I'm not familiar enough with Oasis to say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet they play electrics for distortion tones and acoustics for clean, acoustic tones. I know that Noel Gallagher plays a Gibson (or is it an Epi?) hollowbody electric that kinda looks like an acoustic (with a Union Jack painted on it).

    For someone interested in getting sorta-acoustic and sorta-electric tones out of one guitar, look at the Epiphone John Lennon J-160E:
    http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=92&CollectionID=10
    Or the Gibson version, the John Lennon J-160E Peace:
    http://montana.gibson.com/guitars/J-45/jlpeace.html

    Those two guitars are built with a magnetic pickup, the same type used in typical electric guitars (rather than a ribbon [LR Baggs] or piezo pickup used in typical acoustic-electrics).

    I know that Kurt's guitar in Nirvana Unplugged was an old Martin with a magnetic pickup, which he ran into a DI and then into a Fender Twin Reverb. I believe the model was a D-18E.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    Originally posted by mccreadyisgod

    I know that Kurt's guitar in Nirvana Unplugged was an old Martin with a magnetic pickup, which he ran into a DI and then into a Fender Twin Reverb. I believe the model was a D-18E.

    it also sounded like an ass smoothy. :p
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    Originally posted by exhausted
    it also sounded like an ass smoothy. :p

    It wasn't meant to have true acoustic tone... when Kurt picked it up, he got it because it was "different." (Only 300 or so were made).

    I'd love to have one of the Epiphones, those things are pretty sweet. But they aren't the way to get a guitar that sounds like a mic'ed up acoustic.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    it was definitely a unique tone. i guess it just didn't suit my ears.
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