Watersilk
New Member
Hello all,
I'm a bit confused.
I've been using a rather odd amp setup. I started off playing acoustic guitar, so naturally I bought a small acoustic amp, an AER Alpha.
It is very small, but an amazing amp, very clear, high quality, just the thing for an electro acoustic guitar.
When I bought an electric guitar, I naturally wanted to use my AER, yes, an acoustic amp. Crazy idea? At least the salesman thought so, in a huge music shop in the centre of London, the Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street.
He said, NO! You cannot use an acoustic amp for electric guitar! You have to buy a guitar amp for that purpose. I said my AER is a fabulous amp, he agreed, "yes they are amazing, I used to be a rep for AER, but they are 'acoustic' amps and it will not work with your electric guitar! Acoustic amps are quite different to electric guitar amps!"
Well, I knew that, but I had a plan. The back of the amp looks like this:
I asked the salesman to bear with me and at least hear me out:
An amplifier combo is made up of three parts: pre amp, power amp and speaker. The only part of an acoustic amp, that is made for an acoustic guitar, is the pre amp. He thought about this for a moment, I could see by his expression, he was most probably thinking what crackpot idea is about to come....
I said, if instead of buying a guitar amplifier, what if I was to buy a Line 6 Pod? Because of the input options on the back of the amp, I could plug the Pod, which is actually a pre amp, into the AER, bypassing the AER 'acoustic' pre amp, going straight into the Power amp; would this work?
The salesman looked at me, not knowing what to say, I could almost see the cogs turning in his mind... he said that he had been selling AER amps for years, but he has never heard of anyone doing this! He said, I'm going to fetch an AER amp and a Pod. He plugged the Pod in, picked up a Strat and started to play... he played and played, his smile just grew larger and larger...
Needless to say the the setup worked, actually, it worked very well. The Pod's signal fed straight into the power section, hardly any colouration, just whatever colour I had selected on the Pod. So, I could select an amp, a Vox AC30, the good quality signal fed straight to the power amp... I was so pleased. I had a small system for bedroom playing! But...
I dreamed of having a larger cabinet, a couple of 12" speakers and a 'real' analog Valve amp, not a digital transistor amp simulator, but a real amp!
I bought a VOX AC30, tone is important to me, so I got the hand-wired model.
I had heard that playing through a valve amp is a 'right of passage' some special experience for those who have been using transistor amps; but I can't get used to it, I expected it to be noisy, a constant buzz, it is after all '50's technology, but it's the muddiness I can't live with. Notes also seem to be very uneven, in intensity and a horrible sound like there is a lose connection, rather like playing a worn out LP, when the needle drops onto the grove, a scratchy sound. The surges, scratchy interference and muddiness take away the joy of playing!
Has anyone here any experience with this amp model? Is there a design fault with these models? I should be enjoying this amp, but I'm not.
I'm a bit confused.
I've been using a rather odd amp setup. I started off playing acoustic guitar, so naturally I bought a small acoustic amp, an AER Alpha.
It is very small, but an amazing amp, very clear, high quality, just the thing for an electro acoustic guitar.
When I bought an electric guitar, I naturally wanted to use my AER, yes, an acoustic amp. Crazy idea? At least the salesman thought so, in a huge music shop in the centre of London, the Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street.
He said, NO! You cannot use an acoustic amp for electric guitar! You have to buy a guitar amp for that purpose. I said my AER is a fabulous amp, he agreed, "yes they are amazing, I used to be a rep for AER, but they are 'acoustic' amps and it will not work with your electric guitar! Acoustic amps are quite different to electric guitar amps!"
Well, I knew that, but I had a plan. The back of the amp looks like this:
I asked the salesman to bear with me and at least hear me out:
An amplifier combo is made up of three parts: pre amp, power amp and speaker. The only part of an acoustic amp, that is made for an acoustic guitar, is the pre amp. He thought about this for a moment, I could see by his expression, he was most probably thinking what crackpot idea is about to come....
I said, if instead of buying a guitar amplifier, what if I was to buy a Line 6 Pod? Because of the input options on the back of the amp, I could plug the Pod, which is actually a pre amp, into the AER, bypassing the AER 'acoustic' pre amp, going straight into the Power amp; would this work?
The salesman looked at me, not knowing what to say, I could almost see the cogs turning in his mind... he said that he had been selling AER amps for years, but he has never heard of anyone doing this! He said, I'm going to fetch an AER amp and a Pod. He plugged the Pod in, picked up a Strat and started to play... he played and played, his smile just grew larger and larger...
Needless to say the the setup worked, actually, it worked very well. The Pod's signal fed straight into the power section, hardly any colouration, just whatever colour I had selected on the Pod. So, I could select an amp, a Vox AC30, the good quality signal fed straight to the power amp... I was so pleased. I had a small system for bedroom playing! But...
I dreamed of having a larger cabinet, a couple of 12" speakers and a 'real' analog Valve amp, not a digital transistor amp simulator, but a real amp!
I bought a VOX AC30, tone is important to me, so I got the hand-wired model.
I had heard that playing through a valve amp is a 'right of passage' some special experience for those who have been using transistor amps; but I can't get used to it, I expected it to be noisy, a constant buzz, it is after all '50's technology, but it's the muddiness I can't live with. Notes also seem to be very uneven, in intensity and a horrible sound like there is a lose connection, rather like playing a worn out LP, when the needle drops onto the grove, a scratchy sound. The surges, scratchy interference and muddiness take away the joy of playing!
Has anyone here any experience with this amp model? Is there a design fault with these models? I should be enjoying this amp, but I'm not.
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