Wish A dedicated Acoustic block (or preamp; for use with an acoustic - NOT a sim)

[Ugly Bunny]

I would love to see an Acoustic block; it could be some combination of an EQ, compressor, notch filter, maybe even an IR loader, etc; all the things that you'd find in an LR Baggs or Fishman Acoustic preamp.

Right now when I play live, I just end up sending the signal out to my Fishman preamp. I know it's possible to create great sounding acoustic patches, but it requires quite a bit of finesse and quite a few blocks to get it just right.

I think it'd be cool if Cliff tore apart one of the above mentioned brands, see what made them tick or what makes them special, and then add something dedicated to acoustic/electric guitar processing, be it its own block, or even just its own amp in the Amp block that required minimal tweaking to have a nice, full, stage-ready acoustic guitar sound.

 

[Admin M@]

Try the TUBE PRE amp model with no cab. It's pretty impressive on Acoustic guitars! It hasn't really take much more than that in my professional experiences.

You've got the option for an input low cut, great clean PRE and POST EQ, plus simple knob controls for tone, great dynamics control including a killer Output compressor, and more.

if you also want an IR, use the IR block, or add the Cab block where you also get the very cool preamp sims and a great Room simulator that can also be used to evoke the reverberation of a guitar body.

 

[Ugly Bunny]

Grat ideas. Like I said, I know it's possible to achieve a decent acoustic tone; and the way you describe is basically how I've done it. But I think it'd be cool to have a dedicated acoustic preamp model or block; I mean, there's gotta be a reason all those pedals and preamps exist, no? And despite how good I've been able to make my acoustic sound with the above mentioned settings and blocks, it still just immediately sounds better going through my Fishman. I'll play with it some more. I shan't recall my wish, though

 

[chris]

Grat ideas. Like I said, I know it's possible to achieve a decent acoustic tone; and the way you describe is basically how I've done it. But I think it'd be cool to have a dedicated acoustic preamp model or block; I mean, there's gotta be a reason all those pedals and preamps exist, no?

They exist so acoustic customers have gear to buy. Seriously. I was purchaser and GM for a large music store. I know a bit about this or that.

An acoustic amp is really a “mini pa” system and is a “fuller range” amp for an acoustic guitar. They need something to buy, and it is convenient to have a speaker just for yourself. People were using their marshall combos for acoustic and it sounded bad. So dedicated acoustic amps were born and continue to be a huge part of the acoustic MI market. Acoustic pedals are also created to have more to sell, with the side benefit that they actually come in handy for the acoustic performer too. Well, most of them.

There is really nothing specific about an acoustic guitar as far as tone goes, compared to an electric guitar. Electric needs an amp to generate its tone. An acoustic signal path (pickup, effects, amplification) is designed to be as transparent as possible. If anything is specialized, it’s the EQ frequencies chosen for notching out typical feedback. But honestly that’s it. You can plug an acoustic straight into a PA and get the desired tone because the amp (or pedals) doesn’t create the tone at all - it helps shape it a bit. But the PA can do a better job of that.

Just like there’s no single block to make an electric sound good, there’s no single acoustic block. I understand the wish, but from a gear and design standpoint, having things separated and choosing what you want is much more useful.

 

[pauliusmm]

Get a good acoustic pickup system. That is all you need for acoustics. Really it sounds best if you dont mess with the signal processing.